In 2007 Olympic swimmer Brooke Hanson and her sister Jade suffered an electric shock while promoting a swimming pool and spa exhibition.

Hanson was swimming in a swim spa, a small pool that creates a strong current to swim against. She collapsed after leaving the pool, and showed the immediate effects of a major electric shock, lapsing into semi-consciousness and injuring her head and shoulders as a result of her collapse.

After investigation, Energy Safe Victoria (ESV) determined that the most likely cause was that one of the temporary electrical leads did not have proper earth connection – which allowed approximately 15 volts of AC electricity to enter the water.

In Victoria alone, analysis of hospital statistics for electricity related injuries provided by Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit (VISU) show that for the 5 year period January 2003 –December 2007, there were 59 hospital admissions (an average of 12 per year) and 186 emergency department presentations (an average of 37 per year).

• 78% admitted were male
  
• 39% were aged 0-4,
  
• 35% were aged 5-9.
  
• Where children were admitted, approximately half of injuries were burns (48%); the other half were ‘other or unspecified’ including systemic electrocution (50%).
  
• Where children were treated in the emergency area, electrocution was the most common type of injury (82%), followed by burns (13%) and superficial injuries such as bruising or abrasions (6%)

Unlike the Hanson case, most of the causes were due to such things as light fittings and lamps (40%); power cords or wire (20%) and power points or sockets (a further 20%). Other domestic appliances such as toasters, TVs, washing machines, refrigerators were the source of electricity in 10% of identified presentations with one case of lightning strike.

The most common descriptions relating to children included:

• inserting metallic objects (such as keys, pins and coins) into electrical sockets
  
• touching plugged-in lamps where the bulb was broken or missing
  
• getting a shock while unplugging or plugging in an appliance with a frayed or damaged cord, and otherwise unspecified shocks from domestic appliances.

And just as now is a good time for spring cleaning the house, and changing the smoke detector batteries, make time to conduct a safety audit of your electric household appliances, electrical wiring, extension leads, electrical plugs and switches.

The best prevention is to get down on hands and knees and crawl around to take a bird’s eye view of your home.

In particular, check the following:

• Appliances should not be piggy backed into one power point as these are only designed to safely deliver 10 amps. Appliances such as electric kettles, fan heaters and clothes dryers each draw 10 amps so should never be all plugged into a single power point.
  
• Any power board used should have an overload cut-out switch – appliances which heat, such as kettles and toasters draw more power so don’t run too many from one point.
  
• Remove permanently plugged-in appliances (such as electric heaters or blenders) out of reach of fingers, forks or bits of toys which can be poked into them.
  
• Use lamps with wide bases so that they are not easy to knock over. Any lamps or light fittings with broken or blown bulbs should be switched off and unplugged immediately. Replace bulbs by a competent adult straight away or store out of reach of children until they can be replaced safely.
  
• Curious crawlers may be tempted to reach up and pull down, or grab and chew on dangling electric cords (lamps or irons).
  
• Hairdryers should not be left dangling, plugged in or placed anywhere near a bathtub, or toilet as little hands can easily drop them.
  
• Remove or store safely any appliances that are close to sinks or bathtubs in kitchen, bathroom and laundry
  
• Throw out any appliances with frayed cords, even if they still work. It’s a false and dangerous economy to keep them in use.
  
• Place safety covers over unused outlets; test them to make sure that they can’t be dislodged.
  
• Where possible, place furniture in front of power points so that children cannot see them – out of sight, out of mind.
  
• Reduce cord clutter – there are a range of devices designed to tidy electrical wiring tangles – some have Australian Electrical Authority approval. (This is even more of a safety issue if you have pets as there is nothing some pets like more than chewing on electrical wiring).
  
• Check there are no cords running under rugs – they can fray, or heat build up can occur.

Encourage the good habit of switching off appliances at the wall and unplugging them – not only will you prevent a dangerous build-up of heat, but the family budget will benefit from a lower electricity bill!

Safety switches, circuit breakers, surge protectors
Safety switches: automatically shut off the electricity supply when current is detected leaking from faulty switches, wiring or electrical appliances. This stops the chance of current flowing to earth, through a person, electrocuting them.

Surge protectors: safeguard appliances and wiring from voltage surges such as those resulting from a lightning strike.

Circuit breakers: cut the power off when electrical wiring in a building has too much current flowing through it (too much current flowing through a circuit heats wiring to unsafe levels, possibly resulting in an electrical fire. Fuses work in the same way as circuit breakers.

Surge protectors and circuit breakers protect electrical appliances and house wiring.
Safety switches protect people.

1. If a safety switch turns off your power that indicates danger in either an appliance or electrical wiring.
   
2. Reset the safety switch. If it trips again, unplug the last appliance used. If everything works okay, take that appliance to a licensed electrical contractor to be checked.
   
3. If the safety switch keeps tripping, disconnect all appliances and plug them in, one at a time, until you locate the faulty one.

Avoid touching appliances while carrying out this process.

It’s a good idea to invest in a portable safety switch for use with portable electrical equipment such as power tools. These are plugged into a power point ahead of the electrical equipment to be protected (including any extension leads).

First aid
In the event of electric shock, depending on the voltage of the current and the length of contact, injuries can be relatively minor or very serious.

1. Always turn off the power first – pull the plug, switch off appliance or pull the fuse out.
   
2. Check breathing, pulse, skin colour and ability to respond.
   
3. If breathing has stopped, commence CPR and get someone to call for an ambulance. Recommended rates for children are 2 initial breaths, followed by 30 chest compressions, alternating with 2 breaths. (http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/pip_cpr_kids.html)
   
4. If breathing and responding, roll into the recovery position and check for burns, especially at the point of contact (often the mouth in young toddlers).
   
5. Apply cool wet bandages to skin that is blistered or reddened.
   
6. Monitor for symptoms of shock (nausea, vomiting, clammy skin), elevate the feet and cover with a blanket.

Even if the electric shock appears minor, always have your child immediately examined by a doctor in case internal burns have occurred.

Sources
Data supplied by Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit
http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/electricalsafety/livingaroundelectricity/index.htm http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/electricalsafety/livingaroundelectricity/living-safely-with-electricity/index.html