Prévenir les électrocutions et les DES
L’embauche d’un électricien agréé aurait pu sauver la vie de Sarah Grace Tellifero, décédée d’une électrocution à l’âge de 13 ans, selon les conclusions du rapport des autorités compétentes. C’était un dimanche après-midi, quelques semaines à peine après les derniers jours de vacances de l’été, Sarah se baignait avec trois amies près de la remise à bateaux dans un lac situé à proximité de son domicile. Au moment où Sarah a mis la main sur l’échelle menant au ponton pour sortir de l’eau, elle a été électrocutée. Une amie âgée de 17 ans a également subi une décharge électrique, mais a survécu. Il semble que la cause de cette tragédie ait été l’ascenseur à bateaux à découvert qui a électrifié l’échelle pour monter sur le ponton.
Hiring a licensed electrician could have saved 13-year-old Sarah Grace Tellifero from electric shock drowning, initial reports suggest. It was a Sunday afternoon just a couple of weeks ago when Sarah was enjoying the last days of summer with three friends, swimming near a boathouse on a local lake. But when Sarah grabbed a boarding ladder on a pontoon boat to climb out of the water, she was electrocuted. A 17-year old was also shocked but survived. Local sheriff Ricky Jones told reporters that the accident may have been caused by a boat lift that had shorted out and electrified the pontoon boat’s ladder. Other swimmers in the same area had previously reported feeling a tingling sensation when jumping into the water.
“If these news reports turn out to be accurate,” said Boat Owner’s Association of The United States (BoatUS) Technical Director Beth Leonard, “that tingling was an early warning sign that electricity was getting into the water and a lethal situation was developing. It is tragic that another young life has been lost to faulty electrical systems mixing with fresh water. To prevent these situations from developing, dock owners should hire licensed electricians experienced in dock wiring to install, inspect, and maintain electrical systems on docks and lifts, and ground fault protection should be installed on all docks to shut down the electricity when a problem develops.”
Swimming deaths due to electricity fall into two categories – electrocution and electric shock drowning (ESD). ESD occurs when alternating current (AC) gets into fresh water from faulty wiring and passes through a swimmer, causing paralysis or even sudden death. With ESD, the swimmer does not need to be touching the bottom, a boat or dock structure, and even minute amounts of electricity can be incapacitating. “In this case, it sounds as if the ladder on the pontoon boat was electrified when Tellifero went to climb out on it, resulting in electrocution. But the swimmers experiencing tingling in the water were most likely feeling stray electrical current passing through their bodies, which is one of the early warning signs for ESD.”
The risk of ESD is greatest in fresh or brackish waters, so some areas such as estuaries or rivers may only be in the danger zone after heavy rains. In saltwater, electrical current takes the path of least resistance, bypassing swimmers.
“Dock owners, boaters and marina staff need to understand how ESD happens, how to stop it from happening, and what to do if they ever have to help a victim,” added Leonard.
Online Electric Shock Drowning Resource Center: BoatUS.com/seaworthy/ESD
Watch for more on how to prevent ESD in the next issue of EIN.
