Washington, DC- The first known case of a patient's irregular heartbeat being brought into a regular rhythm after being shocked with a Taser device is reported today online in the Annals of Emergency Medicine ("Fortuitous Therapeutic Effect of Taser Shock for a Patient in Atrial Fibrillation").

A 28-year-old man with a history of mental illness was brought by police to the emergency department.  The patient developed hypothermia and an irregular heartbeat as a result of hiding in a lake after his initial escape from police custody.  His irregular heartbeat rose as high as 145 beats a minute.

He was treated for hypothermia and assessed by emergency physicians and cardiologists. The patient became agitated and uncooperative, and began to remove his medical monitoring devices and intravenous line.  After he threatened hospital staff and police, a police officer shocked him in the chest with a Taser device.  The patient's heartbeat immediately fell to a regular rhythm at 120 beats a minute.

"This is the first report of a patient receiving a shock of this kind and having a positive outcome," said the study author, Dr. Kyle A. Richards of the Department of Cardiology at Hartford Hospital, in Hartford, Ct.  "In this instance, the patient received a very low dose of electrical current, but it was still enough to restore him to regular heart rhythm.  This is the law of unintended consequences at work, or so it seems."

Annals of Emergency Medicine is the peer-reviewed scientific journal for the American College of Emergency Physicians, a national medical society with more than 25,000 members. ACEP is committed to advancing emergency care through continuing education, research, and public education. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, ACEP has 53 chapters representing each state, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. A Government Services Chapter represents emergency physicians employed by military branches and other government agencies. For more information visit www.acep.org.

# # #