Electrical Injuries
Michael S. Maloney in Death Scene Investigation, 2017
Electrocution is death or injury resulting from contact with an electrical source that transmits a flow of electricity through the body. Deaths and injuries caused by electricity are rare and usually accidental. Low-voltage cases usually involve household appliances or electrical cords. For an investigator an examination of the suspect device is essential for a thorough investigation. The presence of electrical burns depends on the voltage, amount of current flow, area of contact, and duration of contact. If the victim is wearing a metal chain, watch, bracelet, or piercing, they may heat to the level of causing contact burns. The path of travel of the current travels from the foot or ground contact point and an opposing ground contact point. Anyone in contact with metal objects, including wiring that is in contact with an object struck by lightning, may receive fatal current through the contact point.
Electrocution
Dale S. Borowiak, Arnold F. Shapiro in Handbook of Forensic Pathology, 2006
Deaths due to electrocution are infrequent. While most electrocution deaths are accidental, occasional suicidal electrocutions occur. Homicidal electrocutions are rare. For an electrocution to occur, the victim must become part of an electrical circuit.
Death Investigation
Gabriele Suboch in Real-World CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION, 2016
The investigation of any death is a team effort between the law enforcement investigator, crime scene investigator, and the medical examiner’s personnel. An autopsy is an after death examination of a body to determine the cause, manner, and mechanism of death. The main reasons for an autopsy are to determine the cause and manner of death. Entomology, the study of bugs, can assist in the determination of the time of death. The medical examiner then determines the cause and manner of death. Death investigations include suicide, accidental, natural, and homicide investigations. The death scene of a possible overdose of drugs should be investigated with the same thoroughness of a homicide. Death by electrocution has different causes and manners of death ranging from accidental death to suicide. Sudden infant death syndrome is the sudden death of an otherwise healthy infant.
Electrical deaths in the US construction: an analysis of fatality investigations
Published in International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 2014
Dong Zhao, Walid Thabet, Andrew McCoy, Brian Kleiner
Electrocution is among the ‘fatal four’ in US construction according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Learning from failures is believed to be an effective path to success, with deaths being the most serious system failures. This paper examined the failures in electrical safety by analysing all electrical fatality investigations (N = 132) occurring between 1989 and 2010 from the Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation programme that is completed by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Results reveal the features of the electrical fatalities in construction and disclose the most common electrical safety challenges on construction sites. This research also suggests the sociotechnical system breakdowns and the less effectiveness of current safety training programmes may significantly contribute to worker's unsafe behaviours and electrical fatality occurrences.
Short case report: ‘Speaking in tongues’—foreign accent syndrome
Published in Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 2013
Dulani Mendis, Karen Haselden, Declan Costello
Foreign accent syndrome is a rare dysprosody in which pronunciation of a patient's speech is perceived by same-language listeners as sounding foreign. Sixty cases have been described between 1941 and 2009. It is commonly associated with an acquired brain injury (vascular insult/head injury), but also with psychogenic illness and has been described in two cases as a developmental problem. Here we describe a case secondary to a minor electrocution associated with no evidence of structural brain injury on imaging.
Rehabilitation of a quadruple amputee subsequent to electrical burns sustained whilst hang gliding
Published in Disability and Rehabilitation, 2001
J. Davidson, S. Champion, R. Cousins, L. Jones
Purpose: The purpose of this article is to describe the management, difficulties encountered and level of independence achieved during the initial stage of a quadruple amputee's rehabilitation. Method: This is a case study of the rehabilitation of the first known person losing all four limbs due to electrocution whilst hang gliding. Results: The patient became a successful upper limb prosthetic user and returned to work six hours a day. Full independence in activities of daily living was not achieved nor considered practical. Independent walking was accomplished in physiotherapy, however an electric wheelchair remains the only functional means of mobility. Conclusion: The rehabilitation is described in detail to assist those managing such a rare and complex case.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Burn
- Defibrillator
- Electric Shock
- Fibrillation
- Ungrateful Dead