What happens when a person becomes electrified?
Electrical energy flows a little like water flows.
You can see a garden hose become pressurized when you open a tap.
A power cord gets pressurized with electricity by plugging it in.
But electricity is invisible to us.
[sound of water dripping]
The flow of electricity is measured in amps.
It can power a device, or harm us if we don't use it safely.
At one thousandth of one amp, we can feel electricity enter our body.
We feel pain at two thousandth of one amp.
If five to eight thousandths of one amp flows, a GFCI will trip - if you're protected by one.
[sound of a lawnmower running]
If 200ths of one amp were to flow through you, your muscles would contract involuntarily,
and your hands would squeeze incredibly hard.
If 800ths of one amp flows for just a moment, your heart can stop beating normally as it is overwhelmed.
You will need a defibrillator
to save you.
At two-tenths of one amp, your heart and breathing would stop, leaving only four minutes until brain damage occurs.
At every typical outlet or light, you have 15 amps available to you.
This is what it takes to kill you.
A GFCI or unplugging a cord can keep you safe from the dangers of a damaged cord or human error.
Know what to do.
