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Medical Author:

Timothy Price, MD

Medical Editor:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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A person who has suffered an electric shock may have very little external evidence of injury or may have obvious severe burns. The person could even be in cardiac arrest.

• Burns are usually most severe at the points of contact with the electrical source and the ground. The hands, heels, and head are common points of contact.
• In addition to burns, other injuries are possible if the person has been thrown clear of the electrical source by forceful muscular contraction. Consideration should be given to the possibility of a spine injury. The person may have internal injuries especially if he or she is experiencing any shortness of breath, chest pain, or abdominal pain.
• Pain in a hand or foot or a deformity of a part of the body may indicate a possible broken bone resulting from the electric shock causing violent muscle contraction.
• In children, the typical electrical mouth burn from biting an electric cord appears as a burn on the lip. The area has a red or dark, charred appearance.

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