Fatal Electrocution by a Support Metal Wire

Abstract: Electrocution is not an uncommon cause of death. A case of fatal electrocution by a metal wire that was used as a support for the insulated television cable wire is reported. Electric current flowed through the metal wire when it touched the residential power line. Electrical injury caused because of contact with the live metal wire is described with histopathological findings. This case reports the circumstances that led to accidental fatal electrocution in an outdoor setting during the rainy season. Significance of death scene investigation to confirm the cause and manner of death in cases of fatal electrocution is highlighted. Public awareness programs to lay emphasis on electrical safety in domestic environment need to be introduced to prevent fatalities resulting from ignorance and/or negligence.     

Electrocution by arcing: a nonfatal case study

Accidental electrocution during working activities account for a considerable amount of morbidity and mortality. Workers often misjudge the danger of electric wires or high-tension power cables, thereby exposing themselves to electrocution hazard. This article describes a nonfatal case of injuries by arcing from high-tension power-line cables involving a young farmer who was thrashing an olive tree by means of aluminum ladder. The circumstances surrounding the manner of electrocution and the features of electric injuries are presented and discussed.     

Electrocution: a review of 155 cases with emphasis on human factors.

A review of 155 cases of electrocution were investigated to determine the role of human factors, such as carelessness and intoxication, as contributions. The cases were retrieved by computer coding from the repository of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, covering the period 1955-1988. The cases are predominantly of military origin. Cases were divided into low-voltage electrocution (N = 47), high-voltage electrocution (N = 79), lightning strikes (N = 16), and unclassified (N = 13). For each group, data is presented on the circumstances of the incident and the pathologic findings. Blatant carelessness, misuse or improper maintenance of equipment, and intoxication are analyzed as contributory factors.     

Homicide of a supervisor simulating an occupational accident]

An unusual case of homicide is reported. A driver of an excavator killed his foreman by using the scoops of his machine and tried to feign an industrial accident. The man was convicted by the autopsy findings because his testimony could not explain the severe injuries.     

Fatal accident with a special automobile

The authors report on a traffic accident in which the passenger of a Light Four-wheeled Vehicle (Microcar) approved for use by a disabled person was killed after a rear collision with a compact car. The severity of the accident trauma was critically determined by the vehicle's light construction. Consideration is also given to the legal situation regarding registration and driver's license issues.     

车祸致外伤性颈内动脉海绵窦瘘法医学鉴定(附2例报告)

案例资料例 1　张某 ,男 ,2 0岁 ,交警。 1997年 7月 15日张某乘坐的摩托车与一迎面驶来的面面包车相撞。张某头部着地 ,当即昏迷 ,约 30分钟后清醒 ,当即感头痛、头晕、恶心 ,呕吐数次 ,为胃内容物。入医院查体 :神情 ,口鼻出血。下颌有两处均为 2 .0ｃｍ长的皮肤裂伤。右膝关节处皮肤擦伤。神经系统检查 :颈抵抗 ,克氏征 (+) ,瞳孔正常 ,颅神经检查无异常 ,四肢肌力、肌张力正常 ,生理反射存在 ,病理反射未引出。Ｘ线片示 :下颌骨粉碎性骨折。脑电图示 :广泛中度异常。 5天后伤者诉左眼视物不清。眼科会诊为 :左眼球固定凸出 ,上睑下垂 ,…     

Virtopsy--fatal motor vehicle accident with head injury

A man wearing no protective helmet was struck by a motor vehicle while riding a bicycle. He was loaded on his left side, and the impact point of his head was his occiput on the car roof girder. He was immediately transported to the general hospital, where he passed away. Postmortem examination using multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) revealed an extensively comminuted fracture of the posterior part and the base of the skull. Observed were deep direct and contrecoup brain bruises, with the independent fractures of the roof of the both orbits. Massive subdural and subarachnoidal hemorrhage with cerebral edema and shifting of the mid-line towards left side were also detected. MSCT and autopsy results were compared and the body injuries were correlated to vehicle damages. In conclusion, postmortem imaging is a good forensic visualization tool with great potential for documentation and examination of body injuries and pathology.     

车祸致外伤性颈内动脉海绵窦瘘法医学鉴定（附2例报告）

案例资料例1 张某,男,20岁,交警.1997年7月15日张某乘坐的摩托车与一迎面驶来的面面包车相撞.张某头部着地,当即昏迷,约30分钟后清醒,当即感头痛、头晕、恶心,呕吐数次,为胃内容物.入医院查体:神情,口鼻出血.下颌有两处均为2.0 cm长的皮肤裂伤.右膝关节处皮肤擦伤.神经系统检查:颈抵抗,克氏征(+),瞳孔正常,颅神经检查无异常,四肢肌力、肌张力正常,生理反射存在,病理反射未引出.X线片示:下颌骨粉碎性骨折.脑电图示:广泛中度异常.     

Pedestrian accident analysis with a silicone dummy block

When a car is parked in an inclined plane in a parking lot, the car can roll down the slope and cause a pedestrian accident, even when the angle of inclination is small. A rolling car on a gentle slope seems to be easily halted by human power to prevent damage to the car or a possible accident. However, even if the car rolls down very slowly, it can cause severe injuries to a pedestrian, especially when the pedestrian cannot avoid the rolling car. In an accident case that happened in our province, a pedestrian was injured by a rolling car, which had been parked on a slope the night before. The accident occurred in the parking lot of an apartment complex. The parking lot seemed almost flat with the naked eye. We conducted a rolling test with the accident vehicle at the site. The car was made to roll down the slope by purely gravitational pull and was made to collide with the silicone block leaning against the retaining wall. Silicone has characteristics similar to those of a human body, especially with respect to stiffness. In the experiment, we measured the shock power quantitatively. The results showed that a rolling car could severely damage the chest of a pedestrian, even if it moved very slowly.     

Screening accident victims

This paper considers victim heterogeneity in harm levels in a bilateral-care model, where harm is private information. In practice, resources are expended on the verification of damages suffered. We establish a sufficient condition for the possibility to accurately deduce the harm level from the observable care choice without spending on verification. For cases in which this condition does not hold, this paper sets out a simple screening mechanism that induces victims to reveal their type truthfully and induces optimal care in equilibrium without verification costs.     

Electrocution and the Tar Heel state: The advent and demise of a southern sanction

During the latter decade of the nineteenth century and early decades of the twentieth century, adoption of the electric chair spread rapidly from the North, down the eastern seaboard, and throughout the Deep South States. The method of execution was hailed as technologically advanced, and proved to be the most prevalent means of execution in the twentieth century. In 1909, North Carolina became the sixth state in the nation to adopt the new method, which would later stand as a cultural icon of southern punishment. In 1935, the state oddly abandoned the method, and shifted to lethal gas, a method that until that time had only been employed in a few western states. While North Carolina’s violent crime rates and yearly executions rivaled those of the Deep South during the 1920s and 1930s, the state’s political and social climate would directly lead to the demise of a cultural artifact that became synonymous with the institution of southern justice.     

Computerized Image Analysis in Differentiation of Skin Lesions Caused by Electrocution, Flame Burns, and Abrasion

Abstract:  In the practice of forensic science, sometimes, it is not easy to understand whether skin lesion is due to electrocution and to differentiate the thermal burns and abrasion-type lesions, especially when electricity source cannot be revealed by death science investigation. Based on the causes of the lesions, cases were classified into three groups. Group 1 included 30 deaths from electrocution. Group 2 included 30 deaths with flame burns. Group 3 included 30 deaths from traffic accident cases, which had abrasions. In this study, epidermal nuclear area, perimeter, nuclear form factor, nuclear minimum axes, nuclear maximum axes, and minimum axes/maximum axes ratio were measured. As a result, we think that computerized image analysis beside light microscopic examination can be useful in the differentiation of the electrocution, flame burn, and abrasion type lesions.     

Childhood accident prevention strategies

Accidental injuries remain the most common cause of death in young people after 1 year of age, with no changes in overall statistics noted in the past two decades. Automobile accidents are the most frequent cause of serious injury in children and young adults, especially infants under the age of one and people from 15 to 24 years. Various approaches to preventing accidental injuries are now being assessed. The most successful approaches identified to date have been legislative, with slight impact usually found for education endeavors.     

An explosive decompression accident

Four divers in a compression chamber system were suddenly decompressed from 9 atm to 1 atm. One of the divers was about to close the door between the chamber system and the trunk when the accident happened. He was shot out through the door and severely mutilated. The three others died on the spot. The autopsy results are described. The most conspicuous finding was large amounts of fat in the large arteries and veins and in the cardiac chambers, as well as intravascular fat in the organs, especially the liver. This fat can hardly have been embolic, but must have "dropped out" of the blood in situ. It is suggested that the boiling of the blood denatured the lipoprotein complexes, rendering the lipids insoluble.     

The tissue survival problem in using current methods of morphological study]

Time course of ultrastructural changes and RNA production in human brain and myocardial cells during the period between clinical and biological death is studied. Changes in the cytoplasm of brain neurons develop 4 hours after death, and 8 h post mortem the destructive changes in the cytoplasm and nuclei progress. During the period of 4-13 h post mortem the endotheliocyte nuclei are capable of producing RNA. Active production of RNA is on-going in the myocyte nuclei 4 h after death; the synthetic activity decreases by 8 h and by 13 h the synthetic activity in autopsy material is over.     

Self-mutilation and private accident insurance

During the past few years in the Federal Republic of Germany, there has been a continuous increase in deliberate self-inflicted damage with the aim of defrauding insurance companies. This paper concerns itself with amputations of the finger(s) caused by axes, electric saws, and blunt force. The difficulty of proving an intentional injury is shown, and suggestions for a procedure for making a report are given.     

Fatal accident by home-made shotgun

Case report illustrating the dangerousness of a home-made pistol, which was not safe in use. On reloading the weapon a shot had fired killing a person nearby by a shot through the thorax injuring the pericardium, the pulmonary trunk and both lungs.