NFPA Journal - Summer 2021 - 26

ELECTRICAL SAFETY

SHOCKING
EFFECTS

MAY IS ELECTRICAL SAFETY MONTH.
HERE'S EVERYTHING YOU DIDN'T KNOW
ABOUT ELECTRIC SHOCK INJURIES.
By Angelo Verzoni
ost electricians know the tingling sensation

of a small amount of electrical current passing
through the body. When a crew member is " just
a little bit off, " others will often joke they've
been shocked one too many times, said Derek
Vigstol, senior electrical specialist at NFPA, on an NFPA Podcast episode that aired in February.
But there's more truth to the joke than most people realize.
" A subset of [electrical injury patients] are a little off, " said
Dr. Neil Pliskin, a neuropsychologist at the Chicago Electrical
Trauma Rehabilitation Institute (CETRI). " And what's off is
their thinking speed is slower-it's harder for them to recall
information on their own. Some individuals complain of
significant anxiety and depression while never having had
symptoms like that before. "
Vigstol interviewed Pliskin and Drs. Raphael Lee and
David Weiss for the episode, which aired during National
Burn Awareness Week. The three renowned specialists discussed the devastating physical impact electrical shock can
have on the human body, from burns and musculoskeletal
pain to cardiac arrest, as well as some of the lesser-known
effects it can have on the brain. NFPA Journal is revisiting
this podcast to mark National Electrical Safety Month, which
is observed each year in May.

Nerves 'gone haywire'
Pliskin said about 75 percent of patients who've come to
CETRI present with " complaints of failing memories, complaints of concentration difficulties, and significant changes
in mood and emotions-to the point that a psychiatrist or
psychologist diagnoses conditions like anxiety, depression, and
post-traumatic stress. "

It can be especially troubling to see individuals who don't
seem to have major physical injuries exhibit these symptoms,
Pliskin added. " Some people who have seemingly minor
physical consequences as a result of their injuries have maximal changes in
mood, emotion, and
thinking abilities, "
he said. " I'm talking
about firefighters,
about emergency
medical responders,
about people who
have been trained
to be resistant to
stress who now,
after they've had
an electrical shock,
don't want to leave
the house, they're
crying all the time,
they're upset,
they're irritable. "
The physical toll electrical injuries take on the body,
including pain and lack of sleep, can exacerbate these behavioral health symptoms, the doctors said.
" They can have pain throughout their whole bodies, and
that just adds to what Dr. Pliskin was stating, " said Weiss, a
physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist. " If you have
pain, everything is worse. "
Electrical injuries are still not fully understood in
medicine, and Lee said CETRI continues to research the
phenomenon. " We have made some progress in trying to
understand these problems and to develop therapeutic
approaches, but we don't have all the answers, " said Lee,
a surgeon and trauma medicine physician. " I think we're
asking the right questions, such as 'What happens in an electrical shock patient that triggers all these processes?' "
Lee said doctors believe many of the effects are due to
nerves not healing correctly. " The nervous system and the
muscles are injured, " he said. " And just like when you get
a cut on your skin and it heals, it's not the same as it was
before. "
In terms of treatment, the doctors said it can be difficult to
find a one-size-fits-all approach-people have different pain
thresholds and biological abilities to heal. In general, Weiss
said treatment is aimed at regaining control of a nervous
system that's " gone haywire. "
" Normally, when you touch a body part it's interpreted as
touch, but in these patients, touch can cause muscle spasms, "
Weiss said. " How do you reverse that process? If you let your
body control you, that's a bad thing, so you have to start
controlling your body. When that idea is grasped by patients,
they go all in, and there's a lot of hope and ability to reverse
this process. "
Listen to the full episode and more episodes of The NFPA
Podcast at nfpa.org/podcasts.

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NFPA Journal - Summer 2021

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