Taser M26 - Manual (Page 4)


ADVANCED TASER® M26 Operating Manual • MMU0008 Rev: B
See www.TASER.com for current specifications. A citizen model of the M26 is also available
where legal and has different operating characteristics than the law enforcement model.
Sale of cartridges with wire length longer than 15’ is limited to law enforcement only.
The M26 has an internal memory that stores a record of every deployment. See the
DOWNLOAD section for more details.
NEUROMUSCULAR INCAPACITATION (NMI)
The human nervous system communicates with simple electrical impulses. The command
center (brain and spinal cord) processes information and makes decisions. The peripheral
nervous system includes the sensory and motor nerves. The sensory nerves carry information
from the body to the brain (temperature, touch, etc.). The motor nerves carry commands
from the brain to the muscles to control movement and can be involuntary in response to
the sensory information. An example would be the involuntary muscle reaction to pull a
hand away from a hot object.
TASER technology uses similar electrical impulses to cause stimulation of the sensory
and motor nerves. Neuromuscular Incapacitation (NMI) occurs when a device is able to
cause involuntary stimulation of both the sensory nerves and the motor nerves. It is not
dependent on pain and is effective on subjects with a high level of pain tolerance.
Previous generations of stun guns could primarily affect the sensory nerves only, resulting
in pain compliance. A subject with a very high tolerance to pain (e.g., a drug abuser or a
trained, focused fighter) might be able to fight through the pain of a traditional stun gun.
COMMON EFFECTS OF NMI
The use of TASER technology causes incapacitation and strong muscle
contractions making secondary injuries a possibility. These potential
injuries include but are not limited to: cuts, bruises, impact
injuries, and abrasions caused by falling, and strain-related injuries
from strong muscle contractions such as muscle or tendon tears,
or stress fractures. These injuries are secondary in nature and not
directly attributable to the electric output of the TASER device,
but are possible consequences of the strong muscle contractions
the TASER device induces to produce incapacitation. Some
of the effects may include: