Ever received a severe electric shock?

[veraletta]

I remember as a small children about 8 years old, that my step father left the cover off the light switch and I was walking thru the hall and didn't notice it until I touch it, I remember it being hard for me to let go of the wire, I felt like the wired held on to me. LOL
I never said any thing to my parents as I was afraid my step would get mad at me over it. LOL.

 

[OzFan]

Our family was preparing for our annual camping trip to Key West, by washing our motor home. My mom wanted to plug in the fridge, so they hooked up everything with an extension cord. It was laying in a huge puddle of water. Well, my then baby sister toddled over to the metal steps. When I saw her she was just standing there shaking, like she was having a seizure. I ran over to her and when I grabbed her, I got shocked. It wouldn't let us go. I couldn't scream or anything. I guess the second I grabbed her the electricty went through her and into me. We both were treated and released, but the ER doctor told my mom if it wasn't for me, she would have probably died. That was 29 years ago.....and I still to this day tell her it is because of me that you are still here! LOL!

 

[GeorgeG]

Just so you understand his wet hands were not the cause of the shock. He had to be grounded in some way. Electricity will only travel to the ground so while the water may have given it a path to your son it had to go back out somewhere. If it did not have a path to ground it would not have shocked him at all. I can touch a live wire all day wearing tennis shoes if I avoid touching anything metal that leads to ground.
The reason why this is important is so you can identify shocks that are more dangerous than others. For instance if your son had the elbow of the hand plugging in the charger touching a sink or something metal the electricity would have come in through his hand and out of his elbow. Shocks that have a chance to travel across the heart are also usually not fatal but obviously much more dangerous and potentially worth a trip to the ER regardless.

He would have known if he felt it in his other arm or in his feet because it hurts all the way. If he only felt it in his arm it probably exited before reaching his main body cavity.

When in doubt call a doctor though.

Be very careful how much you trust tennis shoes to provide proper insulation. Any voltage above standard 120 volt house voltage may burn right through even the best footwear. I've seen high voltage burn the tires right off trucks. Tennis shoes may not even be much help if they are worn, damp (think sweat), or your knee is against anything that could go to ground.

A friend I used to work with related an incident to me where just a week ago a man thought he was safe standing on some rubber floor mats from his car and wearing plastic bags on his hands while attempting to cut a wire that came down in his yard during a storm. 4800 volts killed him.

Working with electricity most of my life I have been "poked" more times than I care to remember. It was always from 120 volts because we tend to be a lot more careful when working on higher voltages (up to 13,200 volts). We inspected our rubber gloves before every use and they were tested every month. Still, just as many people are killed with house voltage as with high voltage due to lack of proper caution and familiarity.

 

[KSchwagg86]

oh yea, this has happened to me and almost everyone ive known!

 

[phamton]

Be very careful how much you trust tennis shoes to provide proper insulation. Any voltage above standard 120 volt house voltage may burn right through even the best footwear. I've seen high voltage burn the tires right off trucks.

This also blows away the myth that a the tires are what protect you from electric shocks in a car. That's what I was always told. I watched a demonstration of live electric power lines on a car during a rain storm. Even though the tires all blew, the car was still safe.

 

[Claire L]

I don't recall being shocked by electrics but here in the UK with 240 volts not a pleasant experience by all accounts.

Claire

 

[GeorgeG]

This also blows away the myth that a the tires are what protect you from electric shocks in a car. That's what I was always told. I watched a demonstration of live electric power lines on a car during a rain storm. Even though the tires all blew, the car was still safe.

Consider that most of us are riding on steel-belted radials these days and it follows that what looks like good insulation isn't always the case, especially with higher voltages. Generally speaking, you should remain in your car until help arrives, providing help is within reach. If you decide you must bail out, it is critical that you jump well clear so there is no chance you will come even close to touching the car and the ground at the same time. That's not always as easy as it may sound and more than one person has jumped right onto the live wire or lost their balance and fell back.

Rubber, pure rubber, is an excellent form of insulation when thick enough to be adequate for the voltage involved. Run-of-the-mill rubber products tend to contain impurities and may not be as effective. For the car in question during the rain storm, the rain water added to the ability of the electricity to travel to ground. Again, pure H2O does not conduct electricity, but rain and most water we come in contact with is usually full of minerals and other conductive contaminates that will.

 

[Gabes_mommy]

My parents have a little cottage on their property and when I was a kid it was set up as our rec room. One summer we were having a terrible problem with palmetto bugs (big flying roaches) inside the cottage, so I wanted to turn the lights on before I went inside to scare off any insect intruders. I reached inside the house, while standing outside, to flip on the lightswitch. The problem was that I was standing barefoot in a puddle. I got a horrible shock.

 

[tazdev3225]

I had a TV in my room as a teenager. This was before grounded plugs, so if I put the plug in wrong and touched the TV and my radiator I would get one heck of a shock that left my arm tingly for quite awhile. I became the ground. My dad was an electrician so he just put a new plug on the TV for me eventually.

 

[tracyncj]

I grew up in an old farmhouse with lousy aluminum wiring. We had no shower, just a bathtub. One night I was in the tub with my foot up on the waterspout so I could shave my leg.

Well, the pipes to the tub were in the wall, of course. As was the wiring to the washing machine on the other side of the wall. I got quite a zap; it's amazing I wasn't hurt.

I got out the tub pretty quick, wrapped myself in a towel and ran to tell my dad what happened. I was hysterical. My dad, not what you would call a "self-starter," had the wall ripped out, new wiring AND a real shower installed within a few weeks!

 

[Val]

I went to an all girls catholic high school and managed the stage/lighting- with 5 brothers and an engineer dad I was pretty good at electricity/tool things. We had an old rheostat that control our lights from back stage (no light/sound board- we were old fashioned). One night during the play (12 angry women if I remember correctly) the rheostat decided to catch on fire.....right next to the stage curtains. I reached out and unplugged it and called for my assistant stage manager to grab the fire extinguisher. By this time it was obvious we had a small "incident", even from the audience. My assistant put the fire out- and I stood up after being knocked across the floor about 12 feet- put a good 240 volts up my arm. My arm from fingers to elbow had a nice numb area for a number of years, and I still have a bit of trouble.

The show continued, and sister berated us after the show for "ruining" the curtains.....but at least we got some applause!

The next year I fell off the ladder changing the upper lights when the search light shorted and I "jumped" to avoid the sparks! Wasn't really hurt and I remember the nuns yelled at us about liability. It was a dangerous auditorium and my dad always claimed it was going to burn down.

30+ years later the auditorium has been renovated and it is now state of the art...no more electrocuting girls in plaid skirts! Those were the days....guess electricity and nuns don't mix.

I still do a lot of electrical work in my lab- work on my interface and a lot of 28v DC equipment....make my college students leave the lab when I work on the equipment so they can't hear my "bad" words- most of which I learned from the nuns, BTW!

 

[tabby1881]

As a matter of fact, I am being electrocuted as I write (so forgive any mispellings).

For reasons unknown there is a puddle of water under my desk (probably from the rain we had last month). I am in my bare feet (my wife hid all my shoes last night, for some playful reason). Before I sat down I noticed that my keyboard was plugged directly into an electrical outlet, which I thought odd. However, my wife told me that it will speed up my typing. So, I sat down, immersing my feet in the water. I then began to receive a series of electric jolts as I typed.

I do look somewhat humorous with my hair standing straight up on my head. Nevertheless, my wife looked a little disappointed when I stated that the electrical shocks I was receiving was not speeding up my typing at all, but actually somewhat hindered it.

Ah, my wife said that my bath is drawn and ready for me, and that I will be able to enjoy fresh toast straight out of the toaster while bathing. How thoughtful of her! I shall check back in later.

Good luck with your toast

 

[manning]

As a matter of fact, I am being electrocuted as I write (so forgive any mispellings).


Ah, my wife said that my bath is drawn and ready for me, and that I will be able to enjoy fresh toast straight out of the toaster while bathing. How thoughtful of her! I shall check back in later.

Hey that would be scary!! I can attest to that. What I didn't notice was the hair dryer sitting on the sink plugged in next to the bath tub. I was injoying my bath when when it fell in. I felt the shock on my legs and was able to roll out of that tub. Of course I was half way out before it hit as I saw it start to fall.

The next day I heard my wife on the phone with someone asking about the possibility of installing 220 volt in the bathroom.