Electrocution microwave effect

[Norcon]

Had a CEF site safety awarness 1 day course on Friday.
Was daydreaming a bit when the assessor mentioned something about when a person is electrocuted and is admitted to hospital , a microwave effect (I think) can keep on going inside the person and kill them.
He said the medical people , knowing at this stage that this is happening will inform close relatives that the person is going to die.
Is this true?

 

[Space cat]

There is no microwave effect but there is an electrochemical effect and a heating effect. The human body does not conduct electricity in the same way that metal does. There are in fact no conductors inside you at all. What actually happens is that atoms are ionised. Positive ions drift towards the negative terminal while electrons drift towards positive. Think back to your schoolday chemistry lessons. Did you ever study electrolysis?

Even if the initial shock didn't stop your heart or fry your central nervous system, the heating and electrolysis have left a trail of chemical changes in their path which might still kill you. Note that the electrochemical effect is much worse with DC. Even a low voltage battery will cause skin damage if you leave it connected long enough.

PS: I know someone who had the misfortune to bump into a 5kV capacitor. Not only did the shock throw him on his back. Over the next few days, a large wart-like growth appeared on his hand at the point of contact.

 

[bernardgreen]

There are ongoing dangers after electrocution.

There is no onging microwave effect.

One major cause of death after a survived electrocution in kidney failure when the kidneys are overwhelmed by the toxins in the blood stream from decaying flesh, muscles and other body tissue that have been destroyed by the passage of the electric shock current through the body.


That is why anyone who has had a serious electric shock must be taken to hospital for check up even if they have picked them self up and walked away from the incident.

If the medical team made a comment like that they should be severly reprimanded for un-proffessional behaviour.

The reference to "micro-wave" may have been in connection with electrocution by high frequency electricity such as radio transmitter outputs and radar systems. The effect of these can be severe burning of the moist tissues below the skin with little if any immediate visible signs on the skin.

 

[wingcoax]

One of my old workmates survived a 6.6kv direct shock and lived for many years without problems, so not all that bad.

 

[resq]

Had a CEF site safety awarness 1 day course on Friday.
Was daydreaming a bit when the assessor mentioned something about when a person is electrocuted and is admitted to hospital , a microwave effect (I think) can keep on going inside the person and kill them.
He said the medical people , knowing at this stage that this is happening will inform close relatives that the person is going to die.
Is this true?

No its absolute BS.

An electric shock can disrupt the electrical conduction system of the heart. This arrythmia can go unnoticed by the victim for a number of hours until the arrythmia becomes lethal and the victim collaspes

 

[EddieM]

There are absolutely no on going problems after electrocution. By definition, you are dead.

 

[Space cat]

There are absolutely no on going problems after electrocution. By definition, you are dead.

Even by that definition of electrocution, there are still ongoing problems: funeral arrangements, wills to be read, possible inheritance tax, etc, etc. Moreover, if the current blows your balls off, you'll die intestate.

PS: I strongly suspect that the term "microwave effect" is a non-technical person's attempt to describe the heating effect of the current.

 

[JonoPashley]

Had a CEF site safety awarness 1 day course on Friday.
Was daydreaming a bit when the assessor mentioned something about when a person is electrocuted and is admitted to hospital , a microwave effect (I think) can keep on going inside the person and kill them.
He said the medical people , knowing at this stage that this is happening will inform close relatives that the person is going to die.
Is this true?

Theres the problem, CEF are known to talk alot of **** while not having a clue.

 

[ericmark]

I know of an accident on the Falklands where a ships electrician looked down a wave guide while the Radar was switched on and he lost his eye. This was due I suppose to Micro-wave effect. But I would not have called it an electric shock! Also as already stated RF burns do seem to take a lot longer to heal than normal burns and cuts and one does have to be careful around transmitters but this does not seem the sort of electrical accident that CEF would refer to. RS components may include it in their lecture but seems strange for CEF.

 

[Space cat]

I know of an accident on the Falklands where a ships electrician looked down a wave guide while the Radar was switched on and he lost his eye.

That was indeed the microwave effect. He cooked his eyeball just as surely as if he'd put it in a microwave oven. He was lucky not to cook a chunk of brain at the same time! When I was a technician in a teaching lab, one of the first things we told students about microwaves was to NEVER, EVER look into the open end of a waveguide.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

A bit like the laser safety sign I heard about:

"Never look into a laser beam with your one remaining good eye."

Or

"WARNING: CO2 laser beams are invisible. Do not place any part of your body in the path of the invisible laser beam. If you do, the pain and the smell of burning flesh will alert you."