Posted: 8/29/2008 1:00:38 AM EDT
|
I've always wondered this. Would an EMP blast take out a pacemaker, or are they shielded from such a thing? Tell me what you know! Kris |
| I seriously doubt it. They are already pretty well shielded against most forms of EMI, I imagine EMP wouldn't phase them. EMP is seriously over-rated as a threat. If you're within a close enough radius for things like pacemakers to be effected, the blast, overpressure, heat, and radiation would concern me a hell of a lot more. |
|
Pacemakers these days are pretty damned tough. We regularly hit patients with defibrillation energies of several hundred Joules, and their pacemakers generally take that hit with no problem. That may not sound like much, but a defibrillator can produce some nasty burns if the correct pads (gel in the old days) are not used. By comparison, a Taser only generates about 2 Joules. I'd actually expect a modern pacemaker to take an EMP pulse. |