Citation

Ramalingam S, Narendar R. Int. J. Med. Toxicol. Legal Med. 2017; 20(3/4): 68-73.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, India Medico Legal Society)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

Electricity and all appliances related to it has become part of our living due to urbanization. Life has now become miserable and dark without electricity. But, even now contact with live electrical wires can be a life threatening event and are responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality in this modern era. This is not the fault of invention but the fault of the person handling that, due to their lack of education and awareness about the safety handling of the electricity and its related appliances in both residence and workplaces and neglecting the use of safety precautionary measures and equipments. These untoward events are usually preventable with simple safety measure which can be followed easily in our day to day work. In our prospective study of 39 electrocution related deaths during a three period (2014-16) at Madras Medical College and Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Chennai, we found that all cases are accidental in nature. Maximum age incidence was in age group of 31-40 years and all are of male sex. Out of 39 cases, 25 cases have occurred outside the home and among that, 16 cases occurred at work places. It signifies that both the people living at home and at work place did not have basic awareness about the risk of electrocution. It also serves to highlight the need for more active research and attention in this field to reduce this preventable morbidity and mortality due to these accidents.

Language: en