Electrical Burns

Electric Shock Injuries / Electrocution

Electrical burn injuries are caused by exposure to high voltage electricity. For those working in the electrical field, these job dangers are ever present. The burn injuries result from electric current flowing through the body and causing a severe exit wound. It is possible that high voltage will cause the heart to stop beating and result in electrocution (death by electric shock).
Terms and concepts to know and understand when confronting the effects of burn injury include the following:
-Direct current (DC), from batteries, which flows in a constant direction
-Alternating current (AC), from electrical outlets, which regularly reverses direction
-Volts, contained in household wiring
-Amperes, a unit of electrical current
-Ohms, a unit of electrical resistance
-Watts, a unit of electrical power
According to eMedicine , about 1000 fatalities and about 3000 admissions to burn centers each year are due to electrical injuries. The most common age groups to suffer electrical burns are toddlers and adolescents.

Electric shock injuries range from minor, unpleasant sensations to massive tissue injury, sometimes fatal. Electrical burns may be internal or external to the body. Other common physical reactions of electric shock include cardiac arrhythmia, cataracts, renal failure, and ruptured eardrums. In some cases, electric shock leads to secondary injuries, such as trauma from falls or violent muscle contractions caused by the electrical shock and / or burns.
Burn Injury Online is provided as a source of knowledge and hope for New York electrical burn victims and their families. The sponsors of this Web site have cultivated working relationships with top internationally renowned experts who care and treat burn injury victims and with expert forensic engineers who identify the “root-cause” of the burn producing events, such as workplace explosion, flammable clothing, automobile accidents and residence fires. These experts and physicians have trained at the most prestigious academic institutions and are held in high esteem by their peers in the scientific community. Lawyers, medical researchers, and healthcare providers collaborate to pursue medical and legal remedies for electrical burn injury victims.