Stun Guns - Not Just For Self Defense Anymore

The stun gun is a well-known non-lethal weapon that works by applying electric current in a jolt to shock the target's nervous system, causing violent muscle contractions and rendering the target helpless. However, a new use for the stun gun has come into being: the treatment of venomous bites.

After years of disrepute, the use of electricity in medicine began making a comeback in the 1980s. Electricity is used in certain nerve therapies, and to break up painful kidney stones. After years of largely anecdotal evidence, the matter started to receive major study in the 1980s, and so the shocking thing is that the possibility of using electroshock to treat snake and spider bites is not better known.

A study of the use of electroshock to combat venomous bites appeared in the July 26, 1986 edition of the British medical journal The Lancet, authored by Dr. Charles D. MacKenzie of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Dr. Jeffery Williams of the University of Michigan, and Dr. Ronald H. Guderian, a missionary physician in Ecuador, based on Guderian's experiences there. And more recently Dr. Stan Abrams M.D. posted an article on his website, SpiderBiteTreatment.com, that describes the exact method of application for using a mini stun gun for treatment of the Brown Recluse Spider bite. While treating a poisoned bite with anti-venom is a well-established procedure, there are practical problems involved. Sometimes the creature that produced the poisoned bite is unknown, and therefore, the type of anti-venom that must be used can only be guessed at. Some patients may be allergic to the anti-venom, or may need to travel long distances to the anti-venom, which are expensive and must be carefully stored and cannot be easily or widely distributed. Finally, a patient debilitated by spider or snake venom may not be able to even make the trip. On the other hand, while stun guns are widely available, there is a also wide variety of available machines that can be refitted to provide the necessary electric current.

The basic procedure is simple: using wires with alligator clips, you attach the leads to the extremities of the bite area, and apply a one-second shock. The clips are rotated around the bite wound area in either a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion, until half a dozen shocks are applied. Care must be taken to achieve good skin contact, to avoid arcing and skin burns. In theory, the current works by breaking down the hydrogen bonds of the poison, as well as reducing any metal ions and cytotoxic polypeptides that might be present.

There are obvious problems with using electricity to treat snakebites, however. Just as the reckless application of the "cut and suck" technique of treating snakebites can make matters worse by accidentally cutting an artery, the improper use of electrical shocks on people with heart conditions can be fatal. As of 2006, 180 taser-related deaths had been reported in the US. Therefore, this is not a technique that should be applied by anyone who has not received some basic training in it.

Thomas L. James is the founder of Quality Protection Products Inc, the leading source for non-lethal self defense weapons and security products in Northeastern Oklahoma. For more information on the use of stun guns as a treatment for snake or spider bites visit http://hiddencamerasforhome.com/blog/?p=21

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