Electric Shock

Abstract

When human beings were first designed, the designer must have considered that someday they would live in a society in which they were in constant and close proximity to electrical energy. Human skin is a naturally protective barrier to the flow of electricity, but still, under the right conditions, humans can become part of the electric technology and electrical processes that touch every aspect of our daily lives. Commercially generated electricity has been a part of our world for over 100 years. Injury from electrical contact can run the gamut from momentary pain to extensive physical damage that can impair multiple‐organ systems. Primary mechanisms of electrical injury include thermal injury from the electrical energy imparted during the shock, ventricular fibrillation caused when pacing is interrupted by electrical current flow, and electrically induced respiratory arrest. Secondary injury includes soft tissue damage and broken bones resultant from falls and impacts caused by electrically induced muscle contractions. Other secondary injuries caused by electric arcs include flash burns and blunt force trauma. Although electric shock has been studied for well over a century, unexplained responses to electrical contacts still remain, which lead researchers to conclude that, given the complexity and variability of the human machine, human response to electrical energy is far more complex than was originally believed.

Electrical Safety, Electrical Hazards, and the 2018 NFPA 70E: Time to Update Annex K?

“…The heart muscle stops pumping blood either due to cardiac asystole or ventricular fibrillation. Cardiac asystole is the stopping of the heart; asystole occurs from contact with high voltage which generate shock currents greater than 1 A in the body [12], [13]. Cardiac asystole does not necessarily lead to death, since a fall or blow to the chest may cause the heart to revert to a normal rhythm without medical defibrillation.…”

Case Management for Persons with Substance Use Disorders 1

“…Psychiatric symptoms was reported by two studies, showing no difference between experimental and control (Morse 2006;Sorensen 2003 Since none of the studies reported data on rehospitalization rates that could be extracted, no effect sizes could be computed on this outcome measure. Only one study provided information concerning treatment satisfaction (Morse 2006), showing a non-significant effect that favoured the case management condition (SMD= 0.38, CI=-0.01-0.77). Four studies reported outcomes on HIV risk behaviour (Coviello 2006;Martin 1993;Rhodes 1997;Sorensen 2003).…”

“…Two of these studies were conducted in criminal justice settings (Martin 1993;Rhodes 1997). Three studies targeted homeless substance abusers: two predominantly consisted of alcohol abusers (Braucht 1995;Cox 1998), and one recruited substance abusers (mainly alcoholics) with co-occurring mental disorders (Morse 2006).…”