# Help i got an electric shock? will i be ok? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 11, 2014, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-got-an-electric-shock-will-i-be-ok/681048 "2014-02-11T11:19:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-got-an-electric-shock-will-i-be-ok/681048/21 "2014-02-11T17:40:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Don’t some cars have 24 volt systems? A lot of trucks, buses, and RVs are 24 volts. A lot of military vehicles are 24 volts too. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 24 volt car though. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-got-an-electric-shock-will-i-be-ok/681048/22 "2014-02-11T17:57:09Z")
Prius, 200 some odd volts. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-got-an-electric-shock-will-i-be-ok/681048/23 "2014-02-11T20:12:49Z")
No, you’re not OK, you died 12 hours ago. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-got-an-electric-shock-will-i-be-ok/681048/24 "2014-02-11T20:26:04Z")
I’m not familiar with car wiring, but could there be some kind of system that needs a capacitor that stores up enough charge to give you a zap? ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-got-an-electric-shock-will-i-be-ok/681048/25 "2014-02-11T20:30:17Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I’m not familiar with car wiring, but could there be some kind of system that needs a capacitor that stores up enough charge to give you a zap? I think a horn may be able to act as a capacitor but it certainly would not last for more than a small fraction of a second. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-got-an-electric-shock-will-i-be-ok/681048/26 "2014-02-11T20:58:09Z")
Apparently you damaged your Shift key finger. If you exercise it, it might get better. Seriously, I’ve zapped myself with 5000 volts with my hot wire fencing. Hurt for a minute, but no permanent harm done. The horses respect it. StG ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-got-an-electric-shock-will-i-be-ok/681048/27 "2014-02-12T04:10:15Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Getting burned to death by electricity is a lot less hit and miss, but it also requires a lot more current. This is how the electric chair kills people. Getting burned half to death is another possibility, and I wonder if getting burned to death might be preferable. There was a nasty case some years ago in Avila Beach. Some festival along the waterfront. News trailer there with four newsmen inside. They raised up that tall antenna on the top of the trailer, and it hit a power line. It turns out (and I didn’t see it mentioned above, although I haven’t read the whole thread) that electrical burns of this sort can be entirely internal, inside you body, and not be visible. These guys basically got some parts of their insides instantly cooked. IIRC they all survived, but in such a condition that I, if it had happened to me, would not have wished to survive. One of them had to have three internally incinerated limbs amputated, and I think one or two of the others had some amputations too. (I don’t recall much detail.) But the guys definitely weren’t happy campers. ---
**Author:** ![Dman53](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Dman53](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dman53)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-got-an-electric-shock-will-i-be-ok/681048/28 "2014-02-12T07:34:28Z")
thanks for all the replies. it’s been over 24 hours and i feel fine. i think i will be ok ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-got-an-electric-shock-will-i-be-ok/681048/29 "2014-02-12T07:46:51Z")
Whats more likely … You know how there’s the funny bone ? the nerves on the humerous are exposed and they tingle when pressure is applied ? Well there’s a few more spots down the arm where you can do that. Eg on the inside of the forearm, near where is the narrowest. eg between joints (where the thumb connects on, for example.) The funny thing is, it may be all in the brain - your brain may make the feeling that is the happening even when it isn’t ! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-got-an-electric-shock-will-i-be-ok/681048/30 "2014-02-13T03:41:44Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > You know how there’s the funny bone ? the nerves on the **humerous** are exposed and they tingle when pressure is applied ? That’s why it’s called the funny bone, of course. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-got-an-electric-shock-will-i-be-ok/681048/31 "2014-02-13T04:27:51Z")
I’m glad you are OK, **Dman53**. I’m in the camp of “if it didn’t kill you, yet…you are probably OK.” Back in the day, a friend was trying to wire something to house current. There was beer involved. We were young and dumb and didn’t think to pull the fuses, so when he hit the bare power line with a plastic handled screwdriver, he did the funky chicken for a couple of seconds before the breakers blew. It was actually pretty awesome…sparks flew, lights flashed, my friend’s hair stood on end and he rose up from his kneeling position to dance around with his hand firmly gripped on the screwdriver. After it all stopped, my friend just fell on the floor for a couple of minutes then got up, proclaimed that it had been a real trip and demanded that I bring him another beer. The tip of the screwdriver was melted half off. Friend was OK. The wiring was trashed and that was the one and only apartment I’ve ever been evicted from. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-got-an-electric-shock-will-i-be-ok/681048.md?page=1)