A Safety Note from Your Cooperative

Most people haven’t. Yet, in a land of 10,000 lakes, it is important we all learn about it. This story which happened in Alabama, tells why.

“Carmen Elizabeth Johnson, 15, a Priceville High cheerleader who lived in Hartselle, died April 17, 2016, after jumping off the boat dock into electrically charged water at her family’s lake house on Smith Lake, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. The official cause of death was drowning by electrocution, state police said. Jimmy Johnson, her father, has been working to raise awareness about electric shock drownings since. “It’s really important to (share Carmen’s story), even though it is hard to do because I never had heard of electric shock drowning and I’ve been around the water since I was 5 years old,” he said. “It never even crossed my mind that it was possible.”

That weekend in 2016 felt like any other at the Johnson family lake house on Smith Lake in Winston County, Alabama. Even though it was April, Carmen and her two friends were sunbathing on the dock. As Johnson worked on a pathway nearby, he heard a splash as his daughter dove from the top of the two-story dock into the lake. While the lake was only 68 degrees, Johnson wasn’t surprised Carmen was swimming. She was always a daredevil. Johnson realized the ladder wasn’t in the water so he lowered it. He had no idea that the metal ladder carried an electric charge from a faulty light switch. Then Carmen’s friend Reagan jumped in the water and began squealing about the cold water. But Reagan soon started screaming in panic. Johnson ran toward the girls and noticed Reagan looked terrified as Carmen was sinking under the water. He thought something was pulling Carmen down so he jumped in to save her. But he realized there was another problem. “I could feel the electrical current and it was so strong I couldn’t swim in it,” he said. As he blacked out, his son, Zach jumped in to help. Before losing consciousness, Johnson screamed, “Cut the power to the boat dock.” His wife Casey did, saving Johnson, Reagan and Zach. “If we didn’t have that switch and my wife didn’t know about it, three more lives would have been lost,” he said. His wife was able to turn off the power to the dock in time for Jimmy Johnson, his son and Carmen Johnson’s friend to survive the shock and exit the lake, he said. But the shock caused Carmen to go under. She was pulled from the water and pronounced dead an hour later, officials said.”

Don’t let this happen to your family. Take five minutes to read the attached handouts and then make sure to have your dock and boat inspected. Electricity is safe . . . when we know how to respect it! Reference: Today Show website, May 19, 2017 and Times Daily website, May 29, 2017 Resource: Prepared by Minnesota Rural Electric Association for our cooperative; Author, Lidia Dilley Jacobson

No. 06-2017

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For M

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ca

st.n

et

LOST

TO

ESD

…

1. W

hat i

s ES

D?

It’s

a d

row

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resu

lting

fro

m p

ara

lysis

ca

use

d b

y e

lec

tric

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urre

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in th

ew

ate

r. If

the

ele

ctr

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urre

nt is

hig

h e

noug

h, e

lec

tro

cut

ion

oc

cur

s.

2. W

hat c

aus

es

ESD

?El

ec

tric

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aki

ng in

to w

ate

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bo

ats

and

do

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lea

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om

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om

faul

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lec

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qui

pm

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and

wiri

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pro

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-in

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are

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ay

co

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m a

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ighb

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s d

oc

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muc

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inju

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milli

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the

cur

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use

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wa

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ca

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s in

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bo

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ea

rt fa

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ESD

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mo

n p

rob

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und

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s o

f inj

urie

s a

nd d

ea

ths

have

be

en

do

cum

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ed

(co

uld

be

ma

ny, m

any

mo

re).

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s o

nly

by

witn

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rep

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s o

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est

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tion

tha

t the

se e

vent

sc

an

be

att

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to E

SD.

5. W

hy is

fres

hwa

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ore

da

nger

ous?

In fr

eshw

ate

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hum

an

bod

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muc

h m

ore

cond

uc-

tive

tha

n th

e w

ate

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elf.

So

, mo

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nt fl

ow

s thr

oug

h th

e b

od

y in

fre

shw

ate

r tha

n in

saltw

ate

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6. W

hy a

re w

e sw

imm

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arou

nd d

ocks

and

boa

ts p

ower

ed w

ith e

lect

ricity

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s our

cultu

re.

We

have

alw

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use

d la

kes,

river

s, a

nd p

ond

s fo

r sw

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hen

we

ad

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ele

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doc

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boa

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pp

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ut sw

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per

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in lig

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f the

da

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ele

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rese

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yo

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ting

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- St

op

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rn a

roun

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o b

ac

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whe

re th

ere

wa

s no

ting

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Swim

aw

ay!

Wa

rn o

the

rs.

Ge

t out

and

turn

off

po

we

r any

wa

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u c

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you

witn

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an

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rn p

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row

a li

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mo

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aw

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all

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pre

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on’t

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usin

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onsi

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our

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to n

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rs o

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po

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ang

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am

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low

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cod

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tand

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ww

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use

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spe

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fter p

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prea

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abou

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our l

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com

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Dist

ribut

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tera

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like

this

bro

chu

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Visi

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Ele

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hoc

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row

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(ES

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Da

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lose

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hom

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an

you

thin

k…N

eve

r sw

im a

rou

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do

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d b

oa

ts

po

we

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with

ele

ctr

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!!

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ctr

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Is a

Sw

ift K

ille

rIn

visi

ble

- O

do

rless

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ilent

Co

nsid

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hese

sim

ple

que

stio

ns:

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ou

ld y

ou

plu

g in

an

d u

se a

ne

lec

tric

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pp

lian

ce

wh

ileta

kin

g a

ba

th?

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o y

ou

rea

lize

th

at

a b

oa

t w

itha

n e

lec

tric

al c

ord

is a

“plu

gg

ed

-in”

ap

plia

nc

e?

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dth

e w

ate

r aro

un

d t

he

bo

at

islik

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he

ba

thtu

b?

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an

yo

u s

ee

an

y in

he

ren

td

an

ge

rs in

run

nin

g e

lec

tric

ityto

do

cks

exp

ose

d t

o t

he

ha

rsh

ma

rine

en

viro

nm

en

t?

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ow

we

ll d

o w

ate

r an

de

lec

tric

ity m

ix?

No

t ve

ry w

ell,

as

we

all

kno

w.

ELEC

TRIC

SH

OC

K D

ROW

NIN

G (

ESD

) Q

& A

NO

SW

IMM

ING

AR

OU

ND

ELE

CTR

ICIT

Y!