Electric Shock First Aid (Current Lagna): Switch Off First

Electric shock first aid starts with one rule: never touch someone who is still in contact with the current. Switch off the power at the main switch or breaker first, then check their breathing and call 1122 in Pakistan, or 112 or 108 in India. A person who gets “current lag gaya” (bijli ka jhatka) can have burns and heart rhythm problems that don’t show on the skin, which is why anyone who blacked out, even for a moment, goes to hospital.

Never touch the person until the power is off

Electricity doesn’t care who’s trying to help. If you grab someone who is still touching a live wire, a leaking water motor or a wet switchboard, the current can flow into you too, and then there are two casualties and nobody to call for help.

A person stuck on a live source may not be able to let go, because current makes muscles clench. Their hand may be locked around the wire. That’s exactly the moment people rush in with bare hands. Don’t.

Electric shock first aid chart: step by step

1. Look before you move. Is the person still touching the source? Is there water on the floor? Are there wires down outside?
2. Switch off. Turn off the main switch or trip the breaker at the distribution board, or pull the plug if the plug and your hands are dry and it’s within safe reach. Turning off only the appliance switch is not enough.
3. If you truly can’t switch off (household current only), stand on something dry that doesn’t carry electricity, such as a dry wooden board, a thick pile of dry newspaper or a rubber mat, and push the person or the wire away with a dry wooden broom handle, stick or a plastic chair.
4. Call for help. Shout for someone to phone 1122 in Pakistan, or 112 or 108 in India, while you go on.
5. Check response and breathing. Tap their shoulders and speak loudly. Look for normal breathing for up to 10 seconds.
6. Not breathing normally: start chest compressions straight away, hard and fast in the centre of the chest, as shown in hands-only CPR basics. Keep going until help arrives or they start breathing.
7. Breathing but not responding: roll them onto their side in the recovery position and keep checking breathing.
8. Awake: keep them lying or sitting still and warm. Give nothing to eat or drink. Watch for confusion, chest pain or a racing, irregular heartbeat.
9. Burns: once safe, cool any burn under cool running water for about 20 minutes, remove rings and watches, and cover loosely with cling film or a clean non-fluffy cloth.

Burns under the skin: why a small mark can hide big damage

An electric burn often looks tiny, just a grey or black spot where the current went in and another where it came out, often a hand and a foot.

Between those two points, the current travelled through muscle, nerves and sometimes the heart, heating tissue from the inside, which is why a person can have a coin-sized mark on the skin and still have deep muscle damage, dark urine from broken-down muscle, or a heart rhythm problem that shows up hours later. So the size of the burn tells you very little. For ordinary kitchen burns, our minor burn guide covers the cool-water rule and the toothpaste myth; electric burns always need a doctor.

Did you know?

Household current (220 to 240 volts in Pakistan and India) is enough to stop a heart. And a lightning strike victim carries no charge afterwards, so you can touch them immediately, unlike someone still on a live wire.

Why every shock with a blackout goes to hospital

Go to hospital after any electric shock if the person:

• blacked out, even for a few seconds
• has any burn, however small
• was hit by high voltage or lightning
• has chest pain, palpitations, breathlessness or a racing or skipping heartbeat
• is confused, drowsy, or has muscle pain, weakness, tingling or numbness
• is pregnant (the baby needs checking even if the mother feels fine)
• is a child, especially one who bit a wire or pushed something into a socket

Doctors usually do an ECG (a heart tracing) and may watch the person for some hours. A brief tingle from a small household appliance, with no blackout, no burn and no symptoms afterwards, is lower risk, but if anything feels off in the next hours, go in.

Monsoon wiring, water motors and other shock risks at home

Most home shocks in South Asia cluster in the monsoon, when water gets into switchboards, meter boxes and old wiring. This is the season to be fussy.

• Water motor: switch it off at the mains before touching it, never handle it barefoot or with wet hands, and have a leaking or tingling motor checked by an electrician.
• Wet floors and switchboards: dry your hands before touching switches; don’t touch a wall socket that’s damp or sparking.
• Earth leakage breaker: ask an electrician to fit an ELCB or RCD (a safety breaker that cuts power when current leaks) and to check the earthing wire. It’s the single best upgrade.
• Clothes irons, geysers and pedestal fans: worn cords and loose plugs are common culprits; replace, don’t tape over.
• Flooded streets: don’t wade near poles, transformers or fallen cables, and keep children away from them.
• Kunda and loose connections: exposed wires on roofs and in streets are a year-round danger.
• Children: socket covers, cords out of reach, and no charging phones in the bathroom or bed.

For the wider rainy-season list of foot and water hygiene, see the monsoon hygiene routine. More household first aid sits in Desi Remedies.

Myth: rubber slippers make it safe to grab someone

Dry rubber soles do reduce the risk, and standing on something dry is a sensible extra step. They aren’t a guarantee: slippers can be wet, thin or worn through, and your other hand might touch a wall or tap. The only safe way is to cut the power first.

Electric shock first aid: questions people ask