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Show I ACCIDENTS IN CARELESS USE OF ELECTRICITY. The Standard, as a public d'lty, and as the possible means of ravine human life, reproduces from 'he Literary nicest ni-cest the following warning againfli careless use of electric current in the "Recently a well Known business man, aged 44, was electrocuted while having a bath in his ow; home. He suffered from rheumatism, and was In the act of applying an electric vibrator to the upper part of his body wten the accident happened. This vibrator as attached to an ordinary lighting socket. A cry for assistance was heard, and when the door was burst open he was I found sitting in the bath grasping the vibrator and unconscious; artificial j respiration was tried without success. At the inquest it appeared that one of . the wires of the vibrator had corroded, I with a result that the whole machine became 'alive.' This is not the first ' lime that such an accident has hap- ! ih l-ened in a bathroom, but usually death has been due tb a f.'aw in the electrical electri-cal fittings; the victim has attempted to Bwitch an electric light off or on while he is immersed in the wa.er, the switch is defecthe, and he is killed instantaneously. in-stantaneously. Dr. A. G. B Duncan Hit' 1 reports this week a fatality due to de fect in a portable electric limp connecting con-necting with a lighting circuit. "The lay public are so used to seeing electricity used In their houses for many domestic purposes that thero is "I'll! a tentency t0 over-look its dangers Further, the uses of electricity, and of all kinds of electrical apparatus, in the treatment of soldiers lisabled by-wounds by-wounds and slckneas, have become so familiar to large numbers of people of all classes, and so many unqualified as sistants, male and female, have con- I I ; ducted the routine applications, that: probably a cencral feeling has sprung up that all this apparatus is quite sr.fe, ' and that nnyone can handle 'hese ma-' 'chines, and administer treatment v.-.ih them, without the least danger to j themselves or to others. No doubt Ihere is often little or no risk, but fa- i miiiarit tends to breed contempt, and then an accident suh as that narrated 'is the result. Certain it is hat no' 'treatment should eer be carried out, by means of any apparatus which utilizes uti-lizes the main electrical house curr?nt, unless under the direct control of an i expert. "No one with the most elementary' j I know ledge of the danger of an electric j current would Immerse himself in the! ordinary housenold oath ind then pro-1 ceed to administer treatment from any j piece of apparatus connected with the ordinary lighting circuit nor, indeed.1 would he allow anyone else to administer adminis-ter such treatment- It is practically useless to attempt to insulate an ordinary ordi-nary biti h fitted with metal water pipes and a waste pipe, and B person immersed in a bath becomes an excel- lent conductor for electricity In a properly fitted bathroom the switches, ! lights, and wires should be so ar-1 'ranged that it is impossible for anyone Iwhile in the bath to touch any r.ne of them with any part of his body. Fur- j ther, all these fittings should be at a distance from ihe pipes, and care should be taken that no defect is possible pos-sible and that the insulation is perfect "When an accident occurs the first thing to be done is to switch off the j current, and the victim should never be handled with the bare banc's before this is done. Rubber gloves are. of j course, safe, but these are seldom likely like-ly to be at hand, a practical thing to do is to wrap up the hands in several folds of dry cloth before attempting to touch the person. Death result? from inhibition of 'he heart's action, but an attempt should be made to save life by means of artificial resp'ration " |
