Blew a hole thru his Heart (thru an Electrical Shock) !!

K

Katmandu

Guest
Since several folks here expressed concern over "Newbies" experimenting
with electronics, I feel compelled to share this story with you all.

The grim results of blowing a hole through one's heart (through Electrical
Shock) are this....

A now former Co-worker of mine died after blowing a hole right thru the
middle of his heart. He was working on a Microwave oven and apparently
didn't discharge the Caps.

I was real sad cause he was a maintenance man in the Hospital I worked
as Medical Technologist there.

The EMS had coincidently brought him to our hospital after his accident. He
somehow happened to survive a (2) days afterwards.

It was especially sad for me (in the case of my friend), that I was the
Medical Technologist on duty that Night and was the one who had to run his
initial blood workup. I saw the results before the Dr. did. I was the one to
verify his Blood work results into the Computer system.

BTW.... Cardiac Enzymes (such as CK) measure damage to heart muscle.

Consider that a person's "Normal" serum CK (Creatine Kinase - Heart muscle
enzyme) are around 35 - 75 mg/dl.

A person who has suffered a recent Heart Attack may have CK levels reaching
1,000 - 2,000 mg/dl.

My co-worker friend had a CK level in the 18,000 mg/dl range! This
indicated MASSIVE Heart Tissue damage!

Maybe this story can be added to the FAQs......



ERIC
 
I doubt a charged HV microwave oven cap would do that. Perhaps the oven
was turned on.....

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Site Info: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: The email address in this message header may no longer work. To
contact me, please use the Feedback Form at repairfaq.org. Thanks.


"Katmandu" <NoSpam@woh.rr.com> writes:

Since several folks here expressed concern over "Newbies" experimenting
with electronics, I feel compelled to share this story with you all.

The grim results of blowing a hole through one's heart (through Electrical
Shock) are this....

A now former Co-worker of mine died after blowing a hole right thru the
middle of his heart. He was working on a Microwave oven and apparently
didn't discharge the Caps.

I was real sad cause he was a maintenance man in the Hospital I worked
as Medical Technologist there.

The EMS had coincidently brought him to our hospital after his accident. He
somehow happened to survive a (2) days afterwards.

It was especially sad for me (in the case of my friend), that I was the
Medical Technologist on duty that Night and was the one who had to run his
initial blood workup. I saw the results before the Dr. did. I was the one to
verify his Blood work results into the Computer system.

BTW.... Cardiac Enzymes (such as CK) measure damage to heart muscle.

Consider that a person's "Normal" serum CK (Creatine Kinase - Heart muscle
enzyme) are around 35 - 75 mg/dl.

A person who has suffered a recent Heart Attack may have CK levels reaching
1,000 - 2,000 mg/dl.

My co-worker friend had a CK level in the 18,000 mg/dl range! This
indicated MASSIVE Heart Tissue damage!

Maybe this story can be added to the FAQs......



ERIC
Click to expand...
 
Dunno........ maybe it was.



ERIC


"Sam Goldwasser" <sam@saul.cis.upenn.edu> wrote in message
news:6w1xujuf1x.fsf@saul.cis.upenn.edu...
I doubt a charged HV microwave oven cap would do that. Perhaps the oven
was turned on.....

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Site Info: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: The email address in this message header may no longer work.
To
contact me, please use the Feedback Form at repairfaq.org. Thanks.


"Katmandu" <NoSpam@woh.rr.com> writes:

Since several folks here expressed concern over "Newbies" experimenting
with electronics, I feel compelled to share this story with you all.

The grim results of blowing a hole through one's heart (through
Electrical
Shock) are this....

A now former Co-worker of mine died after blowing a hole right thru the
middle of his heart. He was working on a Microwave oven and apparently
didn't discharge the Caps.

I was real sad cause he was a maintenance man in the Hospital I worked
as Medical Technologist there.

The EMS had coincidently brought him to our hospital after his
accident. He
somehow happened to survive a (2) days afterwards.

It was especially sad for me (in the case of my friend), that I was the
Medical Technologist on duty that Night and was the one who had to run
his
initial blood workup. I saw the results before the Dr. did. I was the
one to
verify his Blood work results into the Computer system.

BTW.... Cardiac Enzymes (such as CK) measure damage to heart muscle.

Consider that a person's "Normal" serum CK (Creatine Kinase - Heart
muscle
enzyme) are around 35 - 75 mg/dl.

A person who has suffered a recent Heart Attack may have CK levels
reaching
1,000 - 2,000 mg/dl.

My co-worker friend had a CK level in the 18,000 mg/dl range! This
indicated MASSIVE Heart Tissue damage!

Maybe this story can be added to the FAQs......



ERIC
Click to expand...
 
A Fully charged microwave oven capacitor given the right insertion points on
the body and skin resistance can easily stop the heart. If it happens at
just the wrong time of the heartbeat, boom big heart problems.

To put the capacitance and voltage values into perspective, a heart
defibrillator used in hospitals set to the lowest settings is discharging
less energy than a fully charged microwave oven capacitor has the potential
to send out.

Yes, it could damage the heart by stopping it at the wrong part of the
heartbeat.
Not likely (but possible) unless other conditions were also met, like good
contact resistance between the two proper parts of the body to send enough
current through the heart muscle.

David

Sam Goldwasser <sam@saul.cis.upenn.edu> wrote in message
news:6w1xujuf1x.fsf@saul.cis.upenn.edu...
I doubt a charged HV microwave oven cap would do that. Perhaps the oven
was turned on.....

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Site Info: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: The email address in this message header may no longer work.
To
contact me, please use the Feedback Form at repairfaq.org. Thanks.


"Katmandu" <NoSpam@woh.rr.com> writes:

Since several folks here expressed concern over "Newbies" experimenting
with electronics, I feel compelled to share this story with you all.

The grim results of blowing a hole through one's heart (through
Electrical
Shock) are this....

A now former Co-worker of mine died after blowing a hole right thru the
middle of his heart. He was working on a Microwave oven and apparently
didn't discharge the Caps.

I was real sad cause he was a maintenance man in the Hospital I worked
as Medical Technologist there.

The EMS had coincidently brought him to our hospital after his
accident. He
somehow happened to survive a (2) days afterwards.

It was especially sad for me (in the case of my friend), that I was the
Medical Technologist on duty that Night and was the one who had to run
his
initial blood workup. I saw the results before the Dr. did. I was the
one to
verify his Blood work results into the Computer system.

BTW.... Cardiac Enzymes (such as CK) measure damage to heart muscle.

Consider that a person's "Normal" serum CK (Creatine Kinase - Heart
muscle
enzyme) are around 35 - 75 mg/dl.

A person who has suffered a recent Heart Attack may have CK levels
reaching
1,000 - 2,000 mg/dl.

My co-worker friend had a CK level in the 18,000 mg/dl range! This
indicated MASSIVE Heart Tissue damage!

Maybe this story can be added to the FAQs......



ERIC
Click to expand...
 
The voltages and capacitance used in the charging circuit of a defibrilator
are very similat to a typical microwave oven.

Mark Z.


"David" <dkuhajda@locl.net.spam> wrote in message
news:3f65458e@news.greennet.net...
A Fully charged microwave oven capacitor given the right insertion points
on
the body and skin resistance can easily stop the heart. If it happens at
just the wrong time of the heartbeat, boom big heart problems.

To put the capacitance and voltage values into perspective, a heart
defibrillator used in hospitals set to the lowest settings is discharging
less energy than a fully charged microwave oven capacitor has the
potential
to send out.

Yes, it could damage the heart by stopping it at the wrong part of the
heartbeat.
Not likely (but possible) unless other conditions were also met, like good
contact resistance between the two proper parts of the body to send enough
current through the heart muscle.

David

Sam Goldwasser <sam@saul.cis.upenn.edu> wrote in message
news:6w1xujuf1x.fsf@saul.cis.upenn.edu...
I doubt a charged HV microwave oven cap would do that. Perhaps the oven
was turned on.....

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page:
http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Site Info:
http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: The email address in this message header may no longer work.
To
contact me, please use the Feedback Form at repairfaq.org. Thanks.


"Katmandu" <NoSpam@woh.rr.com> writes:

Since several folks here expressed concern over "Newbies"
experimenting
with electronics, I feel compelled to share this story with you all.

The grim results of blowing a hole through one's heart (through
Electrical
Shock) are this....

A now former Co-worker of mine died after blowing a hole right thru
the
middle of his heart. He was working on a Microwave oven and apparently
didn't discharge the Caps.

I was real sad cause he was a maintenance man in the Hospital I
worked
as Medical Technologist there.

The EMS had coincidently brought him to our hospital after his
accident. He
somehow happened to survive a (2) days afterwards.

It was especially sad for me (in the case of my friend), that I was
the
Medical Technologist on duty that Night and was the one who had to run
his
initial blood workup. I saw the results before the Dr. did. I was the
one to
verify his Blood work results into the Computer system.

BTW.... Cardiac Enzymes (such as CK) measure damage to heart muscle.

Consider that a person's "Normal" serum CK (Creatine Kinase - Heart
muscle
enzyme) are around 35 - 75 mg/dl.

A person who has suffered a recent Heart Attack may have CK levels
reaching
1,000 - 2,000 mg/dl.

My co-worker friend had a CK level in the 18,000 mg/dl range! This
indicated MASSIVE Heart Tissue damage!

Maybe this story can be added to the FAQs......



ERIC
Click to expand...
 
"David" <dkuhajda@locl.net.spam> writes:

A Fully charged microwave oven capacitor given the right insertion points on
the body and skin resistance can easily stop the heart. If it happens at
just the wrong time of the heartbeat, boom big heart problems.

To put the capacitance and voltage values into perspective, a heart
defibrillator used in hospitals set to the lowest settings is discharging
less energy than a fully charged microwave oven capacitor has the potential
to send out.

Yes, it could damage the heart by stopping it at the wrong part of the
heartbeat.
Not likely (but possible) unless other conditions were also met, like good
contact resistance between the two proper parts of the body to send enough
current through the heart muscle.
Click to expand...
Yes, but that's not what I was questioning. Rather the catastrophic
damage described below. The energy in a microwave oven cap charged
to it's absolute maximum possible (before magnetron filament heats
up and starts to conduct) is about 4-5 kV. The energy stored will
be similar to that of the electronic flash in a pocket camera (8-12 J).
The higher voltage does make it more dangerous though.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Site Info: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: The email address in this message header may no longer work. To
contact me, please use the Feedback Form at repairfaq.org. Thanks.


David

Sam Goldwasser <sam@saul.cis.upenn.edu> wrote in message
news:6w1xujuf1x.fsf@saul.cis.upenn.edu...
I doubt a charged HV microwave oven cap would do that. Perhaps the oven
was turned on.....

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Site Info: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: The email address in this message header may no longer work.
To
contact me, please use the Feedback Form at repairfaq.org. Thanks.


"Katmandu" <NoSpam@woh.rr.com> writes:

Since several folks here expressed concern over "Newbies" experimenting
with electronics, I feel compelled to share this story with you all.

The grim results of blowing a hole through one's heart (through
Electrical
Shock) are this....

A now former Co-worker of mine died after blowing a hole right thru the
middle of his heart. He was working on a Microwave oven and apparently
didn't discharge the Caps.

I was real sad cause he was a maintenance man in the Hospital I worked
as Medical Technologist there.

The EMS had coincidently brought him to our hospital after his
accident. He
somehow happened to survive a (2) days afterwards.

It was especially sad for me (in the case of my friend), that I was the
Medical Technologist on duty that Night and was the one who had to run
his
initial blood workup. I saw the results before the Dr. did. I was the
one to
verify his Blood work results into the Computer system.

BTW.... Cardiac Enzymes (such as CK) measure damage to heart muscle.

Consider that a person's "Normal" serum CK (Creatine Kinase - Heart
muscle
enzyme) are around 35 - 75 mg/dl.

A person who has suffered a recent Heart Attack may have CK levels
reaching
1,000 - 2,000 mg/dl.

My co-worker friend had a CK level in the 18,000 mg/dl range! This
indicated MASSIVE Heart Tissue damage!

Maybe this story can be added to the FAQs......



ERIC
Click to expand...
 
"Mark D. Zacharias" <mzacharias@nospam.earthlink.net> writes:

The voltages and capacitance used in the charging circuit of a defibrilator
are very similat to a typical microwave oven.
Click to expand...
Yes, they both have a transformer, diode, and capacitor. :)

Seriously, the energy in a defibrillator at full power is order of
400 Joules. The energy in a microwave oven capacitor worst case is
8 to 10 Joules, typical would be 3 or 4 J. This is the similar to
what's stored in the capacitor of a pocket camera electronic flash.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Site Info: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: The email address in this message header may no longer work. To
contact me, please use the Feedback Form at repairfaq.org. Thanks.
 
I get to work on Defib's at work all the time now.
My post I think was very clear.
The lowest Defib setting is typically 5 Joules energy, but at a lower
voltage than a microwave capacitor. Given the correct body insertion
points the microwave capacitor could easily stop the heart, if it
happens at the wrong time, well that is where you can run into heart
damage.

As to blowing a hole in the heart, unlikely. Stopping the heart,
maybe.
David


Sam Goldwasser <sam@saul.cis.upenn.edu> wrote in message news:<6wllsq6y2m.fsf@saul.cis.upenn.edu>...
"Mark D. Zacharias" <mzacharias@nospam.earthlink.net> writes:

The voltages and capacitance used in the charging circuit of a defibrilator
are very similat to a typical microwave oven.

Yes, they both have a transformer, diode, and capacitor. :)

Seriously, the energy in a defibrillator at full power is order of
400 Joules. The energy in a microwave oven capacitor worst case is
8 to 10 Joules, typical would be 3 or 4 J. This is the similar to
what's stored in the capacitor of a pocket camera electronic flash.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Site Info: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: The email address in this message header may no longer work. To
contact me, please use the Feedback Form at repairfaq.org. Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
Maybe there wasn't an actually "Hole" in his heart, but there was much more
damage than simply stopping it.




"David" <dkuhajda@locl.net> wrote in message
news:68f82f5b.0309151347.1d9ce4f3@posting.google.com...
I get to work on Defib's at work all the time now.
My post I think was very clear.
The lowest Defib setting is typically 5 Joules energy, but at a lower
voltage than a microwave capacitor. Given the correct body insertion
points the microwave capacitor could easily stop the heart, if it
happens at the wrong time, well that is where you can run into heart
damage.

As to blowing a hole in the heart, unlikely. Stopping the heart,
maybe.
David


Sam Goldwasser <sam@saul.cis.upenn.edu> wrote in message
news:<6wllsq6y2m.fsf@saul.cis.upenn.edu>...
"Mark D. Zacharias" <mzacharias@nospam.earthlink.net> writes:

The voltages and capacitance used in the charging circuit of a
defibrilator
are very similat to a typical microwave oven.

Yes, they both have a transformer, diode, and capacitor. :)

Seriously, the energy in a defibrillator at full power is order of
400 Joules. The energy in a microwave oven capacitor worst case is
8 to 10 Joules, typical would be 3 or 4 J. This is the similar to
what's stored in the capacitor of a pocket camera electronic flash.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page:
http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Site Info:
http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: The email address in this message header may no longer work.
To
contact me, please use the Feedback Form at repairfaq.org. Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
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