A report on the current state and understanding of human response to electrical contacts

Until the late 1980´s it was believed that the mechanisms of electrical injury had been identified and thoroughly explored. In rare instances where people presented with symptomatology that was inconsistent with known mechanisms, the symptoms were thought to be of psychological (non-organic) origin. In the last two decades a broader set of symptoms has been found to be linked to contact with energized components. Many of the symptoms are inconsistent with the traditionally known mechanisms of injury but occur with enough consistency to suggest an organic origin (physical). The author has been conducting research into the broad spectrum of symptomatology associated with electric shock. His case database has now reached a critical mass, allowing for effects of electrical contact to be studied based on very narrow shock parameterization while still yielding results that are statistically valid. (Most studies to date have limited populations requiring a wide cross-sectional grouping of electrical contact parameters.) The objective of this paper is to share the author´s research and the broader current state of generally accepted science in this domain.