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Author Topic: Water Park - Electric Shock Drowning  (Read 5432 times)

Mike Sokol

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Re: Water Park - Electric Shock Drowning
« Reply #10 on: June 25, 2017, 08:48:08 AM »

As a guy with grand children that I like, how do I know when a risk is present?  I suspect it has something to do with overall condition of the park, and a NCVD

One of my RV readers had unknowingly created a deadly shock situation when he pulled his camper in the back yard and had it powered up with a faulty extension cord. Then he let his grandchildren in their swimsuits wash the RV with a water hose. He had just read one of my articles about NCVT testing for hot-chassis voltages on RVs, so he grabbed a VoltAlert already on his workbench and went outside to measure the RV. Sure enough the NCVT alerted from 2 feet away since there was a 120-volt potential on the chassis with his grandchildren spraying it with a hose. He's now one of my most vocal supporters in the RV industry since he could have killed his own grandchildren. And now he knows to never be washing an RV while it's plugged into shore power. That's just asking for trouble. You can also get voltage gradients in water puddles that will reach out dozens of feet from the fault source.
« Last Edit: June 25, 2017, 08:52:22 AM by Mike Sokol »
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Stephen Swaffer

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Re: Water Park - Electric Shock Drowning
« Reply #11 on: June 25, 2017, 01:50:14 PM »

I think that any dock or water feature with power should have this sort of fiberglass insulated rescue pole available in plain site on the dock, along with a well marked AED in the area (the boathouse?) And the lifeguards (or whoever) should be giving weekly classes during the season on how to perform compression-only CPR and perform non-swimming water rescues around powered docks. That would save lives...

Something else that should become a required or at least best practice would be something similar to the E_Stops you often so in prominent locations at gas stations.  An E-stop in conjunction with a shunt trip breaker for the main service to anything in the pool/marina/park area designed to de-energize any potential sources could be a life saver.
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Steve Swaffer

Frank DeWitt

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Re: Water Park - Electric Shock Drowning
« Reply #12 on: June 25, 2017, 02:27:58 PM »

Sure enough the NCVT alerted from 2 feet away since there was a 120-volt potential on the chassis with his grandchildren spraying it with a hose. He's now one of my most vocal supporters in the RV industry since he could have killed his own grandchildren. And now he knows to never be washing an RV while it's plugged into shore power. That's just asking for trouble. You can also get voltage gradients in water puddles that will reach out dozens of feet from the fault source.

So at a water park, carry and use a NCVT and check the place out for any signs of a lack of maintenance, or shortcuts.

Years ago I worked as a field service tech.  My field didn't involve amusement parks but it made me aware of how little customers understand or care about maintenance.  I would look the rides over very carefully looking for missing bolts, or even pealing paint.    I attend a lot of antique tractor shows. I enjoy seeing the steam traction engines.  The first think I look on each one is the water level.  Once I know that is correct, I can enjoy looking over the machine.   
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Mike Sokol

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Re: Water Park - Electric Shock Drowning
« Reply #13 on: June 25, 2017, 02:37:22 PM »

So at a water park, carry and use a NCVT and check the place out for any signs of a lack of maintenance, or shortcuts.

One of my colleagues works for the regional POCO and sometimes has to go out in the field after a big storm when it's all hands on deck to get the power back up in the town. He carries a NCVT in his shirt pocket that's turned on and say it will trigger many feet away from a downed/energized 11,000 volt power line laying in a yard under tree debris. According to him it's alerted his crew a few times when they could have stepped right on a downed power line.
« Last Edit: June 25, 2017, 06:00:13 PM by Mike Sokol »
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David Buckley

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Re: Water Park - Electric Shock Drowning
« Reply #14 on: June 25, 2017, 04:47:13 PM »

Five died in a Turkish water park from Electric Shock Drowning (ESD). Water and electricity don't mix...

My missus asked me if I'd heard about this last night; whatever news item she was reading suggested that there was no RCD (GFCI) on the supplying circuit and had there been one then these folks would be alive today.
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Re: Water Park - Electric Shock Drowning
« Reply #14 on: June 25, 2017, 04:47:13 PM »


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