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Electrical injury

An electrical current is very damaging to the human body since the body is a very good conductor of electricity. An electrical current can cause damage to the body in several ways:

• Cardiac arrest due to the electrical effect on the heart
• Massive muscle destruction from a current passing through the body
• Thermal burns from contact with the electrical source

Revision

Last reviewed 1/5/2011 by Jacob L. Heller, MD, MHA, Emergency Medicine, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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