Watching Alias, I saw the lead characters breaking into a hig security prison to rescue Sydney, and the went in using dart guns. Whenever they shot someone, the victim was “knocked out” by the dart immediately. I know this is TV, and its in movies too.
Do those darts really knock out the person instantly? or does it take a few seconds/minutes?
If it does: what chemical is used? could I do some experimental chemistry with household chemicals to make the same stuff?
I think it is just in Hollywood that darts have an instant effect. When I’ve been sedated in a hospital, it takes several seconds for the drug to travel to the brain, and that is when the drug is injected directly into a vein. An injection into a muscle, which is likely with a dart, takes much longer to diffuse into the circulatory system. When they shoot animals with tranquilizer darts, it usually takes a minute or two for the drug to take effect.
My first post in 3, 2, 1…
A friend of mine was telling a story about the time he spent as a patient at a mental health clinic and how they would entertain each other. Supposedly, they used to have competitions to see who could keep struggling the longest after being injected with Thorazine. The record was around 10 seconds and that was after an intramuscular injection in the thigh or buttocks.
MKS has it right regarding tranquilizer darts & animals. I was involved in an effort to live-capture deer in an over-populated urban park and move them farther into the countryside.
Even with good, accurate shots into the deer, it took 1-2 minutes before they went out. (And a deer can go pretty far in a couple of minutes!)
But a vet there said that this was much slower than when he put an animal out before surgery. He explained that in surgery, he knew the actual weight, age, & condition of the animal, so he could use a more exact dose of sedative to put the animal out quickly. With the trank darts, they use a minimal dose, so that if they hit a smaller deer, they don’t die from an overdose.
But of course, that wouldn’t work very well for Hollywood!