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Just a few minute ago I shocked myself on an outlet then googled electric shock and found your question. It hurt ALOT and really freaked me out. Now, unless I'm a zombie, your answer is no.

The original answer is right some of the time. It takes a tiny amount of current - 5 miliamps - to stop a human heart. Typical household plugs easily deliver 15 to 20 amps, and more for brief periods. Why didn't the OP's heart stop when shocked? Because the current didn't travel through his heart. Electricity travels from areas of high potential (or voltage) to areas of lower potential. We often think of this as being from hot to neutral, or hot to ground. It takes the path of least resistance, which isn't usually though the heart. Usually, the heart isn't in the path if you lay a finger across the prongs of an electrical plug, for example. The greatest danger is when, for example, you grab a live wire with your hand and the current goes to ground through the opposite foot, or through the opposite hand. That takes the electricity across your heart. Even then, it often follows the skin because the skin is sweaty and conducts electricity fairly well. That's why most electrical shocks don't kill. But they surely can. It happens every day somewhere in the world.

And it's not like on TV - when the heart stops, you're dead. Defribrillators, the shocking devices used on shows like ER, only work in cases when the heart is beating, but erractially. They will restore a poorly beating heart's rythym. If there's no beat, you're done.

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Q: Will elecrtic shock from a electrical outlet stop the heart?
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Electrical shock to the body affects the?

Heart


The delivery of an electrical shock from an AED to the heart is known as?

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The phrase "electrical shock hazard" means that there is a risk of electrical shock.


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