An article in the Washington Post explores the question of whether or not stun guns, or Taser electronic control devices, are suitable for use in a hospital environment.
Robert Philibert, a professor at the University of Iowa who has studied the use of Tasers and other weapons in psychiatric care, says the use of such weapons is increasing to control violent patients. He said that although a better choice than a gun, a Taser still poses a threat that “breaches the trust and the understanding of the patient.”
Jeffrey Ho, an emergency room doctor who wrote a paper about the use of Tasers in health care settings, says that they can effectively control violent patients and prevent escalation of dangerous situations.
“The hospital environment is not 100 percent calm and peaceful all the time,” he said. “Acts of violence do occur against staff, physicians, nurses, those types of things, and really the best method of security is to be proactive.”
According to a spokesperson from the Taser company, 151 hospitals in the US use the devices.
View Hospital Experts Debate Wisdom of Using Stun Guns to Control Violent Patients in its entirety.
