If you’ve been hit by a taser with barbs, make sure you keep the puncture wounds clean, counsels Alberta Health Services in Canada. And be aware that you may have burns and muscle pain. Heat or ice may help with sore muscles, as well as over-the-counter pain relievers.

Despite the fact that tasers deliver a 50,000-volt jolt, it is thought that there is little risk of cardiac or heart problems, according to Dr. Slovis. However, the risk might be understated because much of the data comes from research on healthy volunteers. “There’s a minimally elevated risk for people with underlying cardiac issues,” he says. Even outside of study settings, Dr. Slovis adds, “there have been autopsies performed where they can’t find any structural heart disease and attribute it to abnormal rhythm either precipitated by delirium or the delirium plus taser.”

A party wishing to rely upon electronic evidence, such as an audio or video recording, must be able play the recording during the hearing in a manner that will allow all the participants and the LTB Member to hear or view the recording. The LTB will not provide any hardware or software necessary for a recording to be played. This is the responsibility of the party intending to rely on the electronic evidence.

The landlord must file any evidence intended to respond to the tenant's section 82 issues at least 5 days before the hearing.

The rules governing by when a party must disclose their anticipated evidence to the other parties and the LTB are contained in Rule 19 of the LTB Rules of Procedure.

To help ensure your anticipated evidence is placed in the correct file in a timely manner you should submit your materials to the LTB as follows:

Any item that has not been accepted by the Member as evidence during the hearing will not be considered by the Member in making their decision.

Some people have experienced minor trauma when the tased have fallen onto hard objects, says Dr. Slovis. And in one randomized, controlled 2015 study published in Criminology & Public Policy, researchers found that healthy volunteers who were tased experienced diminished short-term memory and trouble processing new information.

Each document and attachment should only be filed once. Parties should not submit the same item more than once, should not send emails to multiple LTB email addresses, or submit the same materials in different formats, unless the LTB directs this.

In accordance with Rule 10, a landlord who has filed an application about rent arrears must provide the LTB and each tenant with a completed copy of the "L1/L9 Application - Information Update" at least 5 days before a hearing being held by videoconference, telephone or in writing. If the hearing is being held in person, the landlord must bring 3 copies of the "L1/L9 Application - Information Update" to the hearing.

This Practice Direction addresses how parties to a Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) proceeding are to format and serve the LTB and the other parties with copies of the materials they wish to rely upon at the hearing, and how the LTB deals with this anticipated evidence.

Communications and materials which relate to more than one application cannot be submitted together. A separate submission must be sent to the LTB for each application and materials relating to each application must be filed separately. The exception to this are combined applications e.g., an L1/L2 or T2/T6 filed at the same time, or where applications have been ordered to be heard together by the LTB.

Tasers may not be as dangerous as you think, but they still pose a significant risk if you fall into one of these categories.

In a sign of the continuing unrest gripping the United States after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, two Atlanta police officers recently lost their jobs after tasing two students from two historically black colleges and dragging them from their car during last week’s protests in the city.

A taser essentially stuns you, hence the moniker “stun gun.” “You can expect to feel just a total loss of muscle tone and the inability to move anything for a brief period of time,” says Corey Slovis, MD, chairman of the department of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center as well as medical director for the Nashville fire department and airport. “You’re truly stunned and are not able to move anything.”

According to Robert Glatter, MD, an emergency physician in New York City, people who have been tased have “suffered seizures and cardiac arrest and dangerous arrhythmia like ventricular fibrillation.”

If you are unable to upload your materials to TOP, or email your anticipated evidence to the LTB or use SCM, you may mail your anticipated evidence to the LTB. You can also file your documents in-person at a ServiceOntario location that accepts documents on behalf of LTB. If your anticipated evidence can be made available in hard copy, such as documents or printed photos, you may mail the hard copy to the LTB. You should keep the originals and mail a copy. Documents sent to the LTB will not be returned. Electronic evidence should be contained on a USB stick in one of the formats set out above. The USB stick will not be returned to you. It is the parties' responsibility to ensure that the evidence is received by the LTB by the deadlines contained in Rule 19.

Documents or attachments which do not comply with this Practice Direction may be returned and the party will be instructed to refile according to this Practice Direction and the Rules.

An item does not automatically become evidence once it has been given to the LTB or the other parties. It is up to the LTB Member hearing the application to decide whether to accept an item as evidence during the hearing.

One person who was tased described shooting, excruciating pain that shook his brain like a “peanut in a jar.” Another person said she felt like bees were crawling through her skin.

But they have resulted in harm, even death in certain groups of people. People who have died after being tased generally have been described as “agitated” or in a state of “excited delirium.” “Almost all of them have a history of psychiatric disease or have cocaine or other stimulants on board including also having alcohol,” says Dr. Slovis. The deaths have also typically occurred after multiple shocks, he adds.

If you do not follow the requirements set out in this Practice Direction and/or under the LTB Rules of Procedure, your materials may not be considered at your hearing.

If you are trying to send the LTB evidence by email that meets the technical requirements set out above, but it cannot be successfully sent, the issue may be limitations or restrictions imposed by your email provider.

It is up to the LTB Member hearing the application to decide whether to accept anticipated evidence provided by a party after the deadlines set out above. In making the decision, the Member may consider any submissions from the parties. Factors the Member may consider include, but are not limited to:

If a tenant wants to raise issues under sections 82(1) or 87(2) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 during a hearing for a landlord's application about rent arrears but has not provided the required disclosure by the deadlines set out above, the tenant must provide an explanation satisfactory to the LTB Member explaining why the tenant could not comply with the requirements.

“In rare cases, they can cause significant damage or bleeding to structures and, in very unlucky cases, significant damage to eyes if they’re shot into eyes,” he adds. “My understanding is that the training is to aim for the center chest and back so as to avoid hitting faces but, theoretically, if they hit the eye, there’s a pretty significant chance might lose vision.”

One man who was tased after speeding in California said that one of the barbs settled so deep that he needed surgery to remove it.

Rule 19.7 states that a party who fails to comply with the disclosure rules or an order or direction made by the LTB for disclosure may not be permitted to rely on the evidence at the hearing.

Depending on how you submit your anticipated evidence to the LTB, only specific electronic formats may be accepted so be sure you have reviewed the requirements below and provide your materials in accordance with this Practice Direction.

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Tasing is not often used in crowd-control situations but is frequently used by police officers against individuals. “It’s very much targeted toward a single individual whereas other weapons [such as rubber bullets and tear gas] are used more for crowd control,” says Ian Wittman, MD, chief of emergency medicine at NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn.

American Public Media Reports, an organization that focuses on independent investigative and documentary journalism, says that about 400,000 American patrol officers carry tasers. There are different guidelines for how to use tasers, including some from the American Civil Liberties Union. First off, officers need to be trained. They also need to issue a verbal warning, such as, “Stop, get on the ground, or you will be tased” and avoid targeting the face, neck, and groin. Other guidelines include refraining from using a taser if a person could fall.

Compared to other measures used to subdue people, tasers are actually relatively safe and were deployed for people not obeying commands to get down on the ground. “Originally, they could be used with impunity because they immobilized a person without inflicting permanent damage unless someone got shot in the eye,” says Dr. Slovis.

The LTB encourages parties to discuss how to exchange their anticipated evidence to ensure that it is received on time and in a format that all parties can access. In many cases email may be the best way for the parties to exchange their materials. However, if a party does not agree to receive disclosure by email, the other parties must provide that party with a hard copy of all the evidence on which they intend to rely by the deadlines in Rule 19. Anticipated electronic evidence that is not emailed should be given to the other party using a USB stick in one of the formats set out above, unless the parties agree on another method or format.

Anything a party wishes to rely upon at a hearing to support their case may be considered evidence. This includes documents, pictures, and physical objects, and electronic items such as audio or video recordings, pictures stored in electronic format, emails, text messages, social media posts. Only relevant evidence should be provided.

A Member may also decide to permit a party to submit evidence or submissions in writing by a specified deadline after the hearing.

In accordance with Rule 19, all parties must provide the other parties and the LTB with a complete copy of the evidence they intend to rely upon at least 7 days before the hearing or 5 days in the case of responding evidence, unless the LTB orders or directs otherwise. Responding evidence is something that addresses an issue raised by the other party's evidence. This rule also applies to Case Management Hearings (CMH).

Unless you and the other parties have agreed in writing to accept service through TOP, you must also serve the other parties with a copy of all the materials you upload into TOP by the deadlines set out above. The parties can use the Consent to Disclosure through Tribunals Ontario Portal form for such an agreement. To upload the form, login into TOP, choose your file number and select "Documents, Evidence and Requests," and pick "Consent to Disclosure through TOP" in the dropdown menu.

There are two types of tasers, explains Dr. Wittman. One delivers an electric current when it is pressed directly against a person. The other fires two barbs into the person. “Electrical currents travel through the attached wires,” he says. “Police departments usually use the barbed tasers because you don’t need to be in physical contact.” According to the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, the devices deliver 50,000 volts of electricity meant to overwhelm the central nervous system. The shocks are delivered in bursts of five seconds, but this can go on indefinitely if the finger stays on the trigger. (Make sure you know about ways to handle a medical emergency.)

If you are unable to upload your materials to TOP or send your anticipated evidence to the LTB by email due to size of the file, you may ask the LTB for permission to provide the evidence using the Ontario Sensitive Content Management (SCM). You should email the request to the LTB email address identified in the Notice of Hearing. If your request is granted, you will receive an email from the LTB with instructions on how to send your file to the LTB using SCM.

The Stanford report found that the muscle contractions produced by tasing can result in strain-type injuries to organs, joints tendons, and ligaments.

Caselaw and written submissions containing legal argument may be accepted by the Member during the hearing but are not considered evidence.

A tenant who intends to raise issues under sections 82(1) or 87(2) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 during a hearing for a landlord's application about rent arrears must provide the other parties and the LTB with the following at least 7 days before the hearing:

“The barbs themselves are shot as a projectile at high speed,” says Dr. Wittman. “They look like little fish hooks which keeps them embedded.”

Uploading materials to the Tribunals Ontario Portal (TOP) does not mean materials have been provided to the other parties unless you have entered into a written consent agreement that specifically provides for this, as discussed below.

The Stanford Criminal Justice Center recommends that tasers never be used on children, pregnant women, elderly individuals, people who are mentally ill, and/or under the influence of drugs.