VANCOUVER — The company that manufactures Tasers has issued a new "targeting guide" to police who use the weapons.

In a Sept. 30 training bulletin, TASER International instructed users to — in the interests of evading "controversy" — refrain from targeting the chest area to avoid impact to the heart.

"When possible, avoiding chest shots with electronic control devices avoids the controversy about whether ECDs do or do not affect the human heart," said the bulletin, which is posted on the company's website.

While maintaining the weapons are safe, the company recommends users aim for the abdomen, legs or back. The website also includes a diagram highlighting the recommended target areas on a suspect's body.

Both the Vancouver and Calgary police confirmed Thursday they'll be following the new avoid-the-heart directive.

"We are training to aim at lower centre mass as of yesterday," said Vancouver Police Department spokesman Const. Lindsey Houghton.

Previously, officers were trained to aim at the upper chest and upper back area, he added.

RCMP have not yet announced whether they are implementing the new guidelines.

Calgary police Chief Rick Hanson sent a memo to the rank-and-file Wednesday, announcing the change.

"Clearly there has been more and more medical research that has been conducted that has caused a change in this target," he said.

TASER International said the new directive improves the safety of the weapons and enhances officers' ability to defend themselves against post-event lawsuits.

Should a suspect die of sudden cardiac arrest after being hit by a Taser in the chest area, it would place the officer, the law enforcement agency, and TASER International in the "difficult situation of trying to ascertain what role, if any, the Taser ECD could have played," said the company bulletin.

Calgary police field training co-ordinator Staff Sgt. Chris Butler said Calgary officers will aim for the diaphragm or lower whenever possible — but he stressed that, in an emergency situation, an officer might not be able to hit exactly where he aims.

"Even if the officer's intent is to put the laser dot on the abdomen and fire the Taser, by the time the darts actually impact the subject's body, it could be in a different position," Butler said.

The use of Tasers by police has been highly controversial in Canada, with more than two dozen deaths being associated with the devices.

Zofia Cisowski, the mother of Robert Dziekanski, has filed a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court against the federal and provincial governments, the Vancouver International Airport and the four RCMP officers involved in her son's death.

Dziekanski died in the arrivals terminal of the international airport on Oct. 14, 2007, minutes after he was Tasered five times.

Retired judge Thomas Braidwood, who is overseeing an inquiry into the death, this summer released a series of recommendations, including banning the use of Tasers by police unless a suspect is physically harming someone or about to while committing a criminal act.

Closing submissions continue this week in the inquiry.

The Alberta government recently completed testing on all of the Tasers used by municipal forces in the province.

In the second round of tests, 970 of the weapons were examined to see if they were meeting manufacturer's specifications. Of those, 88 — about nine per cent — were operating outside of specifications, said Alberta solicitor general spokeswoman Michelle Davio.

In the first round of testing, about 12 per cent of the weapons failed to operate as specified.

Those found not to comply have been returned to police departments who will decide to get rid of the weapons or fix them. If they choose to repair the Tasers, they will have to be re-tested before put back into use, Davio said.

With files from the Calgary Herald