How Electricity Can Hurt You Electrical Safety-SMART! Home

The Truth About Shock

You can never tell when contact with electricity will be fatal, but you can be sure it will always hurt. Electric shock can cause muscle spasms, weakness, shallow breathing, rapid pulse, severe burns, unconsciousness, or death.

In a shock incident, the path that the electric current takes through the body gets very hot. Burns occur all along that path, including the places on the skin where the current enters and leaves the body. It's not only giant power lines that can kill or injure you if you contact them. You can also be killed by a shock from an appliance or power cord in your home.