QIn my story, a sixteen-year-old boy contacts an electric fence that surrounds a cabin on a ranch near Hamilton, Montana. The fence was constructed to contain the people in the cabin. Later a forty-year-old doctor also contacts the same fence. How would they physically fare after this contact, and what steps are reasonable for a doctor to help the victims? Do they pass out? Is CPR necessary?
Sue A. Lehman
AWhat happens when someone contacts an electric current depends upon many variables and luck. In general, the smaller the person, the higher the voltage, the longer the contact, and the damper the ground, the more dangerous it is.
The possible outcomes are numerous. Either of your characters could be knocked backwards, breaking the contact, and except for being dazed and confused for a minute or two would otherwise be okay. Or he could suffer a period of unconsciousness that lasted for several minutes and awaken disoriented. Or the current could cause seizure activity for a minute or so. In any of these situations he would likely be normal once his head cleared.
If the electric shock was more powerful, it could affect the heart, causing a deadly change in the cardiac rhythm, which could result in instantaneous death. If immediately applied, CPR could be life saving. This would of course mean that someone qualified to do CPR was readily available and that it worked. CPR in an out of the hospital situation such as this is successful only 10% or less of the time.
The electric shock could cause the brain to shut down, leading to a cessation of breathing, and the victim could die from asphyxia in a few minutes.
But if none of these life-threatening events occurred and your character survived, there are other injuries that could result from the shock. Electric current travels through the body from the point of contact to the point of grounding. Let’s say the victim grabbed the fence with his left hand, and the electricity flowed through the body and out the right foot. Charring of the tissues could occur at both the entry and exit points or one and not the other. It would be most likely to occur at the entry point, but it could be isolated to the exit point. The current could be powerful enough to weld metal buttons or jewelry or a watchband to the victim’s skin.
Such an electrical current can also damage other body tissues with the liver and the bone marrow being most susceptible. This could lead to temporary or permanent damage to these tissues and organs, and it might require long-term medical therapy.
So electrical shocks come in many flavors and with many possible outcomes. They give you a broad range of events from which to construct your plot. Almost anything—from a minor shock to a sudden death—is possible.