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Electric Shock Drowning
06Rinker270
Member Posts: 1,277 ✭✭✭
Thought I would share this article by Boat US on ESD. I know this has been discussed a few times. I grew up swimming off privately owned docks and never had a clue.
http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/magazine/2013/july/electric-shock-drowning-explained.asp?utm_source=membership&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=eline_062016
http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/magazine/2013/july/electric-shock-drowning-explained.asp?utm_source=membership&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=eline_062016
Patrick
06 Rinker 270
06 Rinker 270
Comments
PC BYC, Holland, MI
.....and remember in salt water the conductivity can be 1000 times greater. This means the electricity can travel farther but usually with less intensity and tends to go around the human body a bit. That said it can be lethal if that body is grounded.
In fresh water the current travels less distance but is more concentrated and tends to see the human body as an obstacle that it tries to go through so it can be more lethal than salt water.
Bottom line no one except experienced (and grounded) scuba divers should be in the water in marinas and crowded anchorages with generators running - particularly children who are killed at much lower doses than adults.
The situation is particularly dangerous in older marinas and around older boats that may not have galvanic isolators.
Googling the subject is edifying.
For those of us with children and grand children a must read!
@06Rinker270..... GOOD CALL!