Death from electricity

[nvd]

I have heard of real stories of people dying from electrocution and then becoming alive again (within 48 hours). How does it happen? How can a stopped heart start again. Is there any way in which we can determine whether a person will become alive again or not?

 

[eltonjohn]

20 years ago i was replacing a Varian ceramic tube on a FM transmitter and before you apply power to the plate 4KV to 5KV as i recall you have to tune the input grids currents .one need as much as 900 volts .. And I by mistake i touch it and I can tell you that it was a half an hour later that i recover myself i got burned of course .But is the shock that paralizes your nerve system .
After that i never been the same ! (just kidding )

 

[SkyHigh]

nvd,

Resistance varies with H20 density in your skin, sometimes known as fluid or moisture density. In some Electrical Engineers Handbook, just 1A of current is enough to electrocute a person with a touch of a finger or even in contact via your hair. The electrocution carrier or medium is the body fluid and the electrocution is when the current passes through your body via the shortest path to the ground or lowest potential point of your body. Never touches any unsafe electrical device with a finger if you are not wearing thick rubber or safety boots. Never touches any unsafe electrical devices with two fingers as the current will come in from one and out from another finger.

The electrical potential to kill can vary from 6kV and above.

Since our body muscles are controlled by nervous system that uses electrical signals, the strong electrical current disrupts the body electrical signals that coordinate the body movement, and routinal functionality of your organs such as heart and lungs. Electrocution is a effect of this disruption. If severe, it causes death, else you survive.

 

[usernam]

I remember there was a similar thread on electric shocks sometime ago. Here it is.


I suppose a paralysed or stopped heart can be jump started again using electricity through defibrillation.

 

[IanP]

NVD, be realistic and don't believe in such bullshit - 48 hours .. blah, blah blah ..
You have roughly 5 minutes after your heart stops to start CPR to try and deliver oxygen to your brain; after ≈15 minutes without CPR your brain will start to die ..

Therefore I would like to ecourage you, and anyone who has read this post, to undertake a CPR course.
It may save someone's life, or, if you are in trouble, someone can save yours.

Regards,
IanP

 

[SkyHigh]

Agreed. Besides CPR helps the victim to breath, the actions performed also helped to massage the victim's body, thus relaxes the tensed muscles brought about by the electrocution.

The problem is CPR training. It is a general training and not specific to victim suffering electrocution.

One caution is don't touch the victim directly. Cover the victim with a blanket or a cottom coat (not polyester or nylon ones) to avoid slight electrocution from stray charges trapped in the victim due to the victim's fluid. This is not taught in CPR training. Only Electrical Engineers certified by the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE United Kingdom) for Electrical Safety Examinations know this. I think USA, Japan and Australia had similar training too.

 

[nvd]

NVD, be realistic and don't believe in such bullshit - 48 hours .. blah, blah blah ..
You have roughly 5 minutes after your heart stops to start CPR to try and deliver oxygen to your brain; after ≈15 minutes without CPR your brain will start to die ..

Therefore I would like to ecourage you, and anyone who has read this post, to undertake a CPR course.
It may save someone's life, or, if you are in trouble, someone can save yours.

Regards,
IanP

But what about a few people becoming alive in their graves after their death. Is this false. People even put heat sensing equipment with their deads so that they alarm when a dead person becomes alive (although very rare). I think thats more than 5 minutes. Once a girl got her life back in her grave. She was electrocuted. A passerby heard he shouts but it was too late when they dug the grave. She had really got her life back. In her attempts she had hurt herself but was dead (less oxygen in the grave). Please excuse me as I don't intend to spread false rumours here. But thats what I have heard from a reliable source.

 

[jallem]

reliable sources?..............
......................................
the same Bush reliable sources?

 

[aman]

u can die inatantly from electrocution because of its rms value
however what u r saying r just rumors
if u say that these stories r true then pls provide proof of there truth
if whatu say is true at all these r just coincidences (but hard to believe)
and they do not have any scientific explanations related with them

 

[echo47]

Here's a nice picture story for us morbidly curious folks. It says the guy survived.
https://members.tripod.com/~StormTrooper_2/index2.htm

 

[nvd]

Ok it seems I was wrong. I have to further investigate. You people out there really helped me.

 

[ckck20]

Just a question: above which value voltage can be dangerous?

 

[nvd]

Above 36 volts.

 

[praveenkanagaraj]

i am a medical doctor(internal medicine) interested in electronics.when a ac or dc current of sufficient current/voltage-this depends on body surface coditions -low in wet surface-as low as 40v/5A can cause death.our heart works with about90mV electricity.external current 'temporaraly wipes out' heart activity-(heart stops totally-its called asystole or 'fibrillates'-almost equal to asystole ).doctors use this propety in treating life threatening heart beat irregularity.brain canot tolerate lack of oxygen or glucose for more than 4 minutes.ther is no chance of patients recovering from death after 24hrs.:!::|

 

[klystron]

Energy of more than 15 Joules will be fatal

 

[nvd]

there is no chance of patients recovering from death after 24hrs.:!::|

Can you please explain this a bit more. Regards.

 

[praveenkanagaraj]

Re: Death from electricity- patients cannot're-born'

To all our body cells oxygen and glucse are vital and they need 'minute by minute'supplyof these through continuous blood supply.Of these the brain which controls all our body organs(including heart) is most vulnarable to 'ischemia'(severe compromise in blood supply)-it cannot tolerarate 'hypoxia'(decrease in oxygen cocentration) even for 4 minutes-brain cells die.Dead cells dont come alive again.The respiratory and heart control 'centres'(brain cells that control breathing and heart) also die.Heart also stops and subsequently dies . Once brain dies other organs also die of 'lack of oxygen and glucose-due to absent blood circulation(stopped heart)This is true for all kinds of deaths.There is one condition'HYPOTHERMIA',where an apparently dead(NOT REAL-with intact heart beat and respiration-though feebly)person can be saved to life.ONCE BRAIN DEAD AND HEART DEAD -NO ONE WILL RECOVER WHETHER 1HR OR 24HRS.

 

[nvd]

How feeble is the heart beat? Cam it be detected without the use of any medical instrument? Can the pulse be checked manually?

 

[praveenkanagaraj]

In hypothermia(body core temperature<35deg.celcius)patients will have low BP,feeble respiration.In extreme hypothermia(<28'C)heart activity may be very feeble-clinically NO BP, NO PULSE (can be traced by ECG).In more severe cases heart altogether stop beating-ASYTOLE-even in ECG onlya flat line.respiration is feeble but if present it can be recoginised by careful examination.body and limbs are usally rigid and often mistaken for postmortem rigidity .

 

[jallem]

I read something, long time ago, that a current as low
as 10 mA would stop the heart. However, there has been
people which touch a high voltage and still alive. The
reason is the current did not go trough the heart directly
but trough other organs. And it may happens that was
for a short period of time. The same reason that the
chock pads used in hospitals (you see them in movies)
is used almost diametral opossed across the body.