Electrical injury

Electrical Injury generally refers to material damage caused by electrical forces.

This term is commonly used in medicine in reference to harmful effects of electric field exposure. The nature of the injury depends on the freguency and amplitude of the electric field, the duration of exposure, and the nature of the tissue involved. In most cases of harmful electric field exposure, nerve and muscle are most vulnerable to injury.

Electrical shock may or may not produce electrical injury. Many static electrical shocks, such as that experienced when reaching for a door knob after walking across a carpet on a dry day, do not. Another example of electrical shocks not producing direct electrical injury is the application of electrical stun guns. These devices electrically stimulate nerve fibers producing severe pain and loss of neuromuscular control but the electrical current they deliver to the body does not usually cause direct electrical damage to tissues.

Almost everyone has once in his or her lifetime been shocked by electricity. The fear reflex generated by the bad experience of pain usually prevents us from further tampering with electricity. However, no matter how careful, accidents do and will happen, especially among electrical workers who have to handle commercial electrical power lines everyday.