Brain Injury from an Electrical Accident

The following information on a brain injury from an electrical accident is provided by Pritzker Olsen, a national law firm. Our lawyers have been quoted by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Lawyers USA and others. Attorney Fred Pritzker is a national speaker on traumatic brain injury (TBI) litigation. He is listed in the current edition of The Best Lawyers in America. To contact a TBI lawyer at Pritzker Olsen for a free case evaluation, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900, email Attorney Fred Pritzker or submit the firm's online consultation form.

Brain Injury (Damage) from Electrical Accidents

Brain injuries can result from electrical accidents as follows:

Direct electric shock (electrocution) of the brain and/or spinal cord can occur when the body comes in contact with a live electrical circuit. In this case the body completes an electrical circuit or acts as a conduit from a circuit to ground.
Brain injury can occur secondary to a fall associated with an electric shock.
When the electrical contact (often prolonged) arrests the respiratory muscles or circulation the blood and oxygen supply to the brain can be interrupted resulting in ischemic brain injury.

Arc-Blast Electrical Accident Brain Injury

Electricity-related brain injury can result from an arc-blast explosion, which almost always results in death. An arc flash [or arc-blast] is a short circuit that flashes from one exposed live conductor to another, or to ground. The explosion takes less than one second and produces a brilliant flash, intense heat, and a pressure blast equivalent to several sticks of dynamite. The intense pressure wave can exert a force on the human body that is capable of causing severe bodily harm. With arc-blasts a brain injury from the blast isn’t due to the electrical or thermal energy associated with the arc-blast but is due to the pressure wave that causes a concussive blow to the head.

Electric Shock Spinal Cord Injury

High-voltage electrocution can also cause damage to the spinal cord. The electricity can directly injury the spinal cord or the cord can be traumatically injured secondary to a vertebral fracture or displacement of ligaments, which can result from violent muscle contractions. There are both acute (occurring immediately) and delayed (occurring up to weeks after the electrocution) types of injury.

References:

(1999) Annals NY Academy of Sciences 888:19-32.
(2000) South Med J 93(12):1165-1168.

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