Taser saved suicidal woman, say police

A Taser stun gun may have saved the life of a woman on the Gold Coast and prevented
officers from being seriously injured, Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson
says.
Mr Atkinson said that on Wednesday police attended a young woman, who had cut both
her wrists severely and was bleeding, at the top of a three-storey Gold Coast
parking lot.
He said the officers saw that the woman, who he described as "seriously disturbed in
terms of mental health issues", had a shard of glass in her hand.
"What the Taser enables the police to do is to resolve a situation without anyone
being injured, including police," Mr Atkinson told reporters on Thursday.
"She wasn't a small woman, she weighed approximately 100 kilograms.
"The police used a Taser on her.
"She dropped the shard of glass, they overpowered her and took her to a mental
health facility.
"Now, if they hadn't had the Taser they probably would have had to engage in
physical contact with her to try and get her away from where she was and disarm
her."
Mr Atkinson described the police operation as "brilliant".
"Quite possibly, had they not had the Taser they might have been injured in that
struggle with the shard of glass," he said.
"She could be dead, she could (have) sustained further serious injury, the police
could have been injured, but with the Taser, that was resolved without any further
harm to her and without any injury to the police."
A review of Tasers is underway following the death of a man in the state's north in
June.
* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact
Lifeline on 13 11 14 or SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263) or visit
www.beyondblue.org.au.