Presentation
There may be blood pooled around the heart and numerous blood clots or thrombi are present. Scorched skin or burns are not usually present unless the fish comes into direct contact with the electrical device (such as a shocking probe). [aps.uoguelph.ca]
Thunderstorms present three separate but related hazards to campers. The first is obvious: The danger of being struck by lightning. Electrocution by lightning strike, though uncommon, does happen, and deaths do occur. [scoutingmagazine.org]
Electrical currents will travel through the ground where water is present, and can electrocute anyone in contact with these surfaces. [wikihow.com]
Clinical Features and Presentation Overview of Care. After a lightning strike, patients typically do not present with traditional high-voltage electrical injuries. [ahcmedia.com]
Case presentation A 70-year-old South-Asian woman with no prior history of cardiovascular disease presented following an accidental low voltage electrocution with loss of consciousness. [bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com]
Entire Body System
- Movement Disorder
These injuries include motor neuron and movement disorders. 45 Progressive myelopathy has been seen in patients who have weakness or sensory loss after the initial injury. 65 Case reports have described cervical and thoracic cord damage that led to neurologic [ahcmedia.com]
Cardiovascular
- Tachycardia
In addition, use the automated external defibrillator (AED) to identify and treat ventricular tachycardia or VF. [circ.ahajournals.org]
Many patients present with hypertension, tachycardia, nonspecific electrocardiographic changes, and myocardial necrosis. 50 Myocardial infarction is not common. 51 Pre-hospital Care/Triage. [ahcmedia.com]
VF is the usual cause of immediate death from electrocution; this occurs immediately. [ 9 ] Other arrhythmias have been reported: right bundle branch block and nonspecific ST and T-wave changes occur most commonly. [ 6 ] There may be supraventricular tachycardia [patient.info]
Clin Evid. 2011, 15: Google Scholar Nallasivan M, Appel RA, Welch WJ, Bauernfeind RA: Ventricular tachycardia due to bundle branch reentry: induction by spontaneous atrial premature beats. [bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com]
Neurologic
- Amnesia
Nervous : When the central nervous system is affected, a number of side effects can occur such as dementia, amnesia, temporary paralysis, impaired reflexes, memory gaps and anxiety or depression. [science.howstuffworks.com]
Unconsciousness and amnesia are common, and there may be transient paralysis of limbs or paresthesia. Cerebral infarction may occur from arrhythmia and embolization. [braininjury.com]
Nearly 70% of cases will involve the upper extremities, while the remaining 30% will involve the legs. 2,10 Lightning victims may experience anterograde amnesia and confusion that can last for several days. Retrograde amnesia is less common. [emsworld.com]
You could suffer brain damage (because in the cellular structure of your brain literally cooks from the current) resulting in short-term memory loss or amnesia. [gizmodo.com]
Loss of consciousness is very common immediately after a strike. [10] Amnesia and confusion of varying duration often result as well. [10] Experiments on sheep show that a lightning strike to the head of a victim enters through the eyes, ears, nose and [en.wikipedia.org]
- Seizure
Longer term neurological maladies include personality changes, learning disabilities, sleep disorders, seizures, Parkansonism (not actual Parkinson's Disease but a similar constant twitch). [gizmodo.com]
Consider differential diagnoses, including cerebrovascular event, spinal cord injury, seizure, closed head injury, Stokes-Adams attack, myocardial infarction, overdose. Outcome This is generally excellent for those who survive the initial strike. [patient.info]
Can produce tetanic muscle contractions, ventricular fibrillation, respiratory failure, seizures. [emsworld.com]
A seizure may occur after electrical injury as either an isolated event or part of a new-onset seizure disorder. (4) Hypoxia and injury should be ruled out as causes of the seizure. [lightninginjury.lab.uic.edu]
Electrical damage to the brain may result in a permanent seizure disorder, depression, anxiety, or other personality changes. What Does Electric Shock Look Like (Pictures)? Electric shock, contact injury to the hand. Photograph by Timothy G. [emedicinehealth.com]
- Altered Mental Status
Patients with altered mental status should have a head CT scan. Victims of lightning strikes can have altered mentation or confusion, which makes obtaining a correct history or physical difficult. [ahcmedia.com]
Workup
The initial laboratory workup should include a complete blood count, basic metabolic panel, hepatic function panel, CK-MB, creatine kinase, and urinalysis (even though lightning strikes usually do not produce severe abnormalities in any of these tests [ahcmedia.com]
Treatment
For victims in cardiac arrest, treatment should be early, aggressive, and persistent. [circ.ahajournals.org]
What Is the Medical Treatment for Electric Shock? Treatment of electric shock depends on the severity of the burns or the nature of other injuries found. Burns are treated according to severity. [emedicinehealth.com]
TREATMENT The onset of these syndromes can only be treated symptomatically because no specific treatment exists. However, the acute attention is directed to the cardiac disorder. Brain injury rehabilitation can help in the long term. [braininjury.com]
[…] on-line email support group url: http://www.egroups.com/group/lightningstrike email: [email protected] Lightning Strike Survivor's Resource Page -- url: http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/lightningsurvivor/ Mensana Clinic -- Specialize in the treatment [headinjury.com]
Treatment [ edit ] Reported mortality rates range from 10–30 percent, depending on the source of data. [en.wikipedia.org]
Prognosis
What Is the Prognosis for Electric Shock? Recovery from electric shock depends on the nature and severity of the injuries. The percentage of the body surface area burned is the most important factor affecting prognosis. [emedicinehealth.com]
Prognosis [ 1 ] Mortality : if the initial shock is survived, the chances of survival are excellent. [patient.info]
This may make it difficult to assess the injury and offer a prognosis based on history and physical examination alone. [lightninginjury.lab.uic.edu]
This is probably related to the decreased chances of exposure of this age group during outdoor recreation or employment. [10, 47] Prognosis Many individuals struck by lightning have permanent disabilities that affect their families and their ability to [emedicine.medscape.com]
Etiology
Far more injuries and deaths occur in tropical and subtropical developing countries (see Epidemiology and Etiology ), and newspaper reports frequently list multiple injuries and deaths in each event. [emedicine.medscape.com]
Epidemiology
Brain Injury Lawyer - Free Consultation Birth Trauma Nurse - Free Consultation EPIDEMIOLOGY In the past, electrocution was the result of accidents in the home or at work. [braininjury.com]
An epidemiological description of lightning-related deaths in the United States. Int J Epidemiol. 1990 ; 19 : 673 –679. ↵ Epperly TD, Stewart JR. The physical effects of lightning injury. [circ.ahajournals.org]
While most would conclude that a direct strike would be more likely to end in death than other mechanisms, there is no research or epidemiologic data to support this to date. [emedicine.medscape.com]
Epidemiology From 2000 to 2015, the United States documented an average of 36 lightning-induced fatalities per year. 24 Ten percent of people who are struck are killed and 90% are left with some degree of disability. [ahcmedia.com]
Epidemiology [ 1 ] Electrical burn injuries account for about 5% of burns unit admissions. [patient.info]
Pathophysiology
Pathophysiology of electrical injury [ 1 ] Electrical current causes damage through: [ 4 ] Direct process of physiological changes (altering cell resting membrane potential). [patient.info]
Injury by electrical forces: Pathophysiology and emergency management. Current Problems in Surgery 34, p. 684. St. Louis: Mosby, 2007. 2. Cooper M, Andrews C, Holle R, López R. Lightning Injuries. Wilderness Medicine, 4th Ed. St. [emsworld.com]
This article discusses the physics of lightning and the pathophysiology and treatment of lightning injuries. [14] Because persons struck by lightning have a better chance of survival than persons who experience cardiopulmonary arrest from other causes [emedicine.medscape.com]
Patients with larger burns have a higher mortality rate, have a longer length of stay in the hospital, and are more likely to require intensive care, need intubation, and have renal failure requiring dialysis. 3 Pathophysiology Electricity is the flow [ahcmedia.com]
Although the exact pathophysiology of electrical in- flow of current and is specific for a given tissue, depending on the injury is not well understood, there is at least an appreciation on its moisture content, temperature, and other physical Table 1 [lightninginjury.lab.uic.edu]
Prevention
Most people believe the rubber tires on a car prevent lightning strikes. [weatherimagery.com]
Prevention [ 16 ] Provision of information (via leaflets, health visitors, talks, etc) is the key to prevention. Never mix water and electricity. Always use licensed electricians. [patient.info]
Posted on July 20, 2016 by Jeffrey Feldman These storm safety tips can help prevent serious electrical injury or death from lighting We’ve all seen the movies. Lightning strikes a tree in a sudden, terrible flash of light. [electrocuted.com]
Use wireless or battery-operated appliances during lightning storms to prevent yourself from becoming electrocuted. [wikihow.com]
Prevention of electrocution is the only sensible course of action for any prudent fish farmer. [aps.uoguelph.ca]