Electric Shock

What is an electric shock?

An electric shock happens when you have contact with an electric current and the current passes through your body. It can cause serious injury or death.

You can get an electric shock from:

• contact with exposed parts of electrical appliances or wiring
• lightning
• electric arcs from high-voltage lines
• machinery.

What are the symptoms?

A mild electrical shock can cause a mild tingling. A severe electric shock may knock you unconscious, burn you, and cause internal damage. The outside wound may look minor, but the internal injury can actually be quite severe.

What is the first aid for electric shock?

You can save a person's life and prevent injury to yourself if you take proper emergency action when someone gets an electric shock:

• The first step is to make sure that the electrical contact has been broken. Use something that does not conduct electricity, such as a piece of wood, cardboard, or rubber, to try to move the person away from the source of electricity. Be careful or you could also get an electric shock. Turn off the electric power by unplugging the appliance or flipping the circuit breaker. Do not try to move someone who is touching a high voltage wire.
• Call for help by dialing 911 or another local emergency number. Have someone else do this if you are giving CPR.
• Keep the injured person lying down. Do not move someone who may have a neck or spine injury unless absolutely necessary.
• See if the person can respond to you. For example, speak to or tap the person. If there is no response, start CPR.
• If the person is pale or feeling faint, have them lie down with their legs slightly raised. Keep them covered with a light blanket or coat until help arrives.

If the person is burned:

• Take off burned clothing that is not stuck to the skin.
• Remove any jewelry and tight-fitting clothing from around the burned area right away. It might be hard to remove later because the burned area may swell. Do not remove clothing that is stuck to the burn.
• Do not put ice water, butter, ointment, medicine, or spray on the burn. Do put the burned area in cold water or apply cold moist cloths briefly to bring the body temperature back to normal. Leaving the burned area in cold water too long can cool the body too much, especially if the burned area is large.
• Avoid touching the burn. Cover the burned area with a sterile dressing or a clean cloth. Do not use anything that is heavy or has loose fibers, such as a towel or blanket.

Keep checking for breathing. If the person is not breathing, keep giving CPR until medical help arrives.

How can I help prevent electric shock?

You can help prevent electric shock around the home by doing the following:

• Childproof all electrical outlets with plastic plugs.
• Install ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) on electrical outlets.
• Stay clear of electrical power lines when you are trimming trees or using gardening tools.
• Teach children about electrical safety. Teach children to keep toys away from wires and to stay clear of wires when they are climbing.
• Do not touch fallen wires. Report fallen wires to the police or local utility right away. If you are in a car and a wire has fallen on it, stay in the car and drive away if you can. Do not touch anything metal in the car until the source of electricity is removed. If you cannot drive away, do not get out of the car. Call for help and wait.

To protect yourself from lightening strikes:

• Watch for developing thunderstorms. If you can hear thunder, seek shelter right away in a safe building or vehicle. Picnic shelters, dugouts, sheds, and other partially open or small structures are not safe. A safe vehicle is a car, SUV, minivan, bus, or tractor with a hard top.
• When you are indoors during a storm, stay away from showers, sinks, bathtubs, hot tubs, and electronic equipment such as TVs, radios, computers, and corded phones.
• Stay inside until 30 minutes have passed since you last heard thunder.
• If you are caught outdoors during a thunderstorm and cannot run to safe shelter, there are things you can do that might lessen the chance of being struck by lightning: Stay away from tall, isolated trees or other tall and isolated objects. Lightning typically strikes the tallest object. That may be you in an open field or clearing. Get to a low spot and stay at least 15 feet apart from other members of your group so the lightning won't travel from one person to another if one of you is struck. Keep your feet together and sit on the ground. Do not lie flat on the ground.
• If you are swimming or boating when a storm is approaching, get out of the water. If there is no time to get out of your boat and onto land, stay low and avoid contact with the water. If the boat has a cabin, go into the cabin.