"Tony" wrote in message
...
Metspitzer wrote:
(04-19) 13:09 PDT DALY CITY -- A 19-year-old gas-station worker in
Daly City was electrocuted as he was changing a fluorescent light, an
autopsy found Monday.
Mustafa Algazawy of San Francisco was changing a 16-foot-long,
120-volt bulb at the 76 gas station on South Mayfair Avenue when he
was electrocuted about 1:20 p.m. Sunday, said San Mateo County Coroner
Robert Foucrault.
The gas station's manager suffered a heart attack when he saw Algazawy
fall to the ground, said Krisann Chasarik, spokeswoman for Cal/OSHA,
which is investigating the fatality. The manager's name and condition
were not released.
Algazawy "was a great worker, and our hearts and condolences go out to
the family," said Cina Flores, a district manager for the gas station.
She said the circumstances of Algazawy's death are under
investigation.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...10M5.DTL&tsp=1
Read mo
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz0lfEcei5j
I wonder what voltage is needed to light a 16 footer? Then to make things
worse, if it's a solid state ballast it's at a high frequency too. Then a
fall to the ground also. Ouch. Poor kid.
What happens usually happens after the zap. Many witnesses do not know CPR,
and therefore it is not administered until the heart can take over. AC
shocks interrupt the electrical rhythm of the heart, and until that gets
back into synch, the person does not get proper blood flow. There are only
a couple of minutes to initiate CPR, and brain damage begins.
The witness, in this case, also had a medical emergency, so I would assume
that he did very little to assist the victim. Also not stated was whether
there was other trauma from the fall. Whacking your head on the floor from
that height is enough to kill you, too, or in combination. Then, if there
are any other cardiac irregularities, either known or undiagnosed, the high
frequency AC shock could have triggered a cardioelectric event such as
fibrillation or arrhythmia.
He could not have been in contact with the electricity for that long, as he
would have fallen and lost contact.
Just a sad story.
Steve
Visit my blog at
www.cabgbypasssurgery.com