22 Canadian occupational safety www.cos-mag.com
By Stefan Dubowski
P
aul Hebert is a survivor.
Working for an electrical com-
pany in Fahler, Alta., in 1989, the
experienced lineman received a massive
shock while repairing a downed power
line. e incident, which sent 14,000
volts of power through his body and
threw him 20 feet, seriously burned his
limbs. Doctors had to amputate his legs,
right arm and several le fi ngers.
Hebert had to learn to use prosthet-
ics. In retrospect, he says, that was
relatively easy.
" e emotional and mental parts
were diffi cult to deal with."
Hebert experienced physical and
psychological echoes of the incident for
years. Many of those challenges proved
hard for him to handle — especially
eff ects related to anxiety, depression
and memory loss.
"When I look back, I don't even know
how I made it," he says.
Hebert isn't alone. According to
experts, people injured in electrical
incidents o en face the same struggles
he did. Eff ective treatment demands
not only rehabilitation of the body, but
also support that enables victims to
learn to handle the less obvious psy-
chological impacts.
Electrical incidents
There are three kinds of electri-
cal incident: burns, shocks and fatal
electrocutions.
Burns vary from fi rst- to third-degree,
requiring weeks of recovery and, in the
worst cases, skin gra s and amputations.
"It's about the damage to the tissue,"
says Joel Moody, strategic safety ana-
lyst at the Electrical Safety Authority
(ESA). "When there's enough energy,
the tissue that is normally healthy dies.
And because it's now dead, infection
such as gangrene can set in, therefore
it has to be removed."
electrical injuries can cause life-altering
outcomes in an instant; one survivor
is choosing to fi ght for his life and
for others
shoCK
of his
LIfe
