Man survives shock of 11,000 volts

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32966, 12 July 1972, Page 1

Man survives shock of 11,000 volts

An Ashburton man suffered a shock of 11,000 volts on Monday afternoon—a voltage that would have killed some men, according to Mr D. J. Binns, general manager of the Ashburton Electric-power and Gas Board.

The man, Mr R. A. H. Armstrong, aged 31, married, an employee of the board, received the shock when his head accidentally touched the live conductors above him on a pole when he was directing into position a transformer which was to be mounted on the pole and was being hoisted by a crane.

He was knocked unconscious into his safety belt, and the voltage passed through him to another of the gang, Mr D. E. Begg, aged 25, married, who was thrown clear of the installations truck where he was working the winch on the crane at the time, and made briefly unconscious.

Both men were admitted to the Ashburton Hospital, where their condition yesterday afternoon was reported as satisfactory. Both men received electrical bums. Mr Binns said that Mr Begg came round rapidly and together with the third man

in the party climbed the ladder, brought Mr Armstrong down, and applied mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He said that Mr Armstrong received bums to his head, feet and fingers, and that Mr Begg was burned on his fingers. The men were working on the farm property of Mr A. R. Harris. Safety rules Mr Binns said that Mr Armstrong could have been killed if he had received the same voltage while he was directly earthed. It was extremely fortunate that he had not fallen into the live conductors. If this had happened he would have been killed. Mr Armstrong was not unconscious for very long, said Mr Binns. “We have a very tight system of safety rules, and hold resuscitation courses twice a year. Since these safety regulations became mandatory our accident rate has dropped considerably. We have relatively few accidents these days.” Similar shock Another lineman who was still employed by the board suffered a similar voltage shock in almost identical circumstances three or four years ago, said Mr Binns. Two linemen employed by the board had been killed by shock in the last 20 years—one in 1951 and the other in 1960, said Mr Binns. Mr Armstrong said from his bed in Ashburton Hospital last night that he “didn’t feel a thing” when his head touched the hightension line. Better view Mr Armstrong said that all he could remember was gripping the transformer with his hands and moving his head to one side for a better view while positioning it. Then he “went out like a light,” he said, flicking his fingers to emphasise the experience. The next thing he remembered was waking in the cab of a truck which was taking him to hospital “and wondering: What the hell am I doing in this truck?” Mr Begg, recovering in the same ward of the hospital as Mr Armstrong, said that the current which passed through Mr Armstrong and the trans-

former and crane truck "felt like a whole lot of needles going up my arm” as it went through him to earth. Chest squeezed “My chest felt like it was being squeezed in, and I landed on the ground,” Mr Begg said. He said he must have “gone out” briefly from the shock. He managed to get on to his hands and knees at first, and then helped another member of the gang to rescue Mr Armstrong, who was unconscious up the pole, held by his safety harness. Mr Armstrong said that even since regaining consciousness he had not felt any pain from the effects of the shock. The only feeling he had was where stitches had been inserted to draw together the deep burn wound on his scalp. He said he would go back to his job as a lineman when discharged from hospital. "I’m not one to chicken out.” Mr Begg also said he wou’d return to his job. He said that apart from the sensation in his arm and chest during and immediately after the shock he had felt no pain. A hospital test had shown his heart reacting from the shock but this had been remedied with an injection.