UNIVERSITY Of UITAWA HEART lNSTffiJl'E J IN5TITlIT DE CAllDIOLDGIE DE L'UNIVERSl'TE O'OTTAWA
40 rue R~kln Street, 0'ttaWi!l. Ontario K1Y 4W7

July 13, 1999

Cst John E, McDonald
Tactical Team Operations
474 Elgin Street
Ottawa,ON

HE: Taser Less Lethal system
Dear Cst McDonald,

Your request for comments on the Taser Less Lethal system was forwarded to me since
Dr.Keon is presently out of town. I am a Cardiac Surgeon here at the Heart Institute as well
as the Co-Director ofthe Pacemaker Clinic. I have reviewed the infonnation you provided and
I am reassured that this system appears to be safe for its use in controlling violent offenders.

device would interfere in any significant way with pacemakers
however, I did not see any information with regards to its use with patients with implantable
cardioverter defibrillators aCD). I somehow doubt that the electrical signal created by the
Taser electricity would activate the rCD but this was not commented on in your literature.

It does not appear that the

Otherwise, certain!y the device appears to bequite effective in controlling violent offenders and
I suspect that the extremely limited potential for causing any serious injury is far outweighed
by the importance of controlling the offender safely and quickly.

I would be happy to discuss this with you at any time.

P. Hendry, M.D., FRCSC
Division of Cardiac Surgery
PH/gh