The Do-Don’t Guide to Electrical Emergencies

Electrical emergencies can be far more chaotic if people have no idea what they are doing. Equally as unfortunate is when people do what they weren’t supposed to during an electrical emergency. Although there is help available, technical as well as medical, it pays to know how to handle the situation until said help arrives.

Emergency services as well as electricians are available for the people of raleigh. Keeping the circumstances from getting bad to worse is the duty of every citizen of Durham as a responsible individual.

Here’s what to do in an Electrical Emergency:

  1. Contact the emergency services and a reliable electrician from your cell phone. Do not use the landline as there might be a risk you getting electrocuted.
  2. Shut off the mains power if there is even a slight risk of electric shock or fault in the home’s wiring. This will keep further damage from happening which can escalate the situation from bad to worse.
  3. Specifically instruct all family members to steer clear of any electrical sockets or appliances.
  4. If there is a risk of fire, get everyone out of the house. Children and elders first: they stand the highest risk of getting left behind.
  5. If there is a power outage, switch off all appliances and unplug them from sockets immediately. Close off all switches but an energy saving light bulb in a central room to indicate when the power comes back on.
  6. If there is an incident of electrical shock, check for a pulse and heart beat on the individual. Perform resuscitation if, and only if, you are properly trained, otherwise wait for emergency services, as they don’t take long to arrive.
  7. If the person is in contact with the current source, it is probably best to stay away because you may get electrically shocked as well. Dress burns and blisters with non-sticking dressings if you spot them.

Here’s what not to do:

  1. Don’t ever think of applying oils or any kind of ointment onto the electrical burns in order to heal them. These balms, oils or ointments will only serve to burn them further.
  2. Leave candles out of the equation. If there is an outage, the use of candles may further worsen the situation. Candles can tip over and fall, causing a fire. Emergency lights are there for a reason, have them on standby for these situations.
  3. If your only option is using candles, do not leave them unattended, use ones with broader bases and safely light them. Broader based candles have a lesser chance of tipping and falling over.
  4. Don’t ever touch a person who is already in contact with a power source or exposed live wire. While they are shocked their muscles are contracted and cause them to hang on to the initial contact surface.
  5. If you touch a person still in contact with a power source, even by accident, you will get shocked yourself as the current will find a way to flow through them to you.
  6. An accident that causes power lines to break and fall in a red zone. Don’t go near the area and don’t even think about touching the power lines. There may be fencing that might have gotten charged. Keep away.
  7. Put out electrical fires using water. The risk of electrical shock is real and shouldn’t be ruled out. It’s a fire caused by electricity so water is out of the question.

It is always best to call in the help of experts to make the best out of a bad circumstance.

C

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