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When someone gets an electric shock

For anyone watching someone get a shock right now, anyone who got one and feels fine, and anyone looking at a downed wire, a flooded basement or a storm coming in. How to help without becoming the next person hurt. Why to be seen afterwards. Children, cords and outlets. Downed power lines, and cars. Water and electricity. Someone struck by lightning. Staying safe in a thunderstorm. Outlets, cords and work. Where the sources differ. And the words to say when you call. No quiz and no score. One thing at a time.

Right now

They are still touching it? Don’t touch them. Call 911, or have someone call.
Turn off the power: pull the plug, or turn it off at the main switch or the breaker box.
Can’t turn it off? Never use your bare hands. Move the wire or cord away with something dry that is not metal: wood, cardboard or plastic.
A power line? Stay away from it and call 911. Never touch a fallen power line. In a car with a line on it, stay inside.
Free of the current and not breathing? Start CPR. Move them as little as possible.
Struck by lightning? They are safe to touch. Call 911 and help them.
They seem fine? MedlinePlus says to see a doctor anyway: there may be damage inside that you can’t feel.
Thinking about ending your life, or about hurting yourself? Call or text 988, at any hour.

Where to start

Look first, don’t touch: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the person may still be in contact with the electrical source, and touching the person may pass the current through you.
Call 911, or have someone else call.
Turn off the power: the American College of Emergency Physicians says to find another way to shut off the power, such as at the circuit or breaker box. The American Academy of Pediatrics says to pull the plug or turn off the main switch.
If you can’t: the CDC says to move the source away using a non-conducting object made of cardboard, plastic or wood. The Pediatrics page says never to touch a live wire with your bare hands.
Once they are free of it: check breathing, and begin CPR if it has stopped. Move them as little as possible. Don’t touch burns.
Be seen: MedlinePlus says that if you get an electrical injury, you should see a doctor, because you may have internal damage and not realize it.
A power line down: the CDC says never to touch a fallen power line, and to stay inside your vehicle if a line falls across it.
Lightning: the CDC says it is safe to touch people who have been struck. The National Weather Service says to go to safe shelter when you hear thunder and stay at least 30 minutes after the last sound of thunder.
To talk to someone now: call or text 988, at any hour.

With JavaScript on, this page has more on each of these, and it builds the words to say when you call.

More help

Not sure which emergency this is? First aid: what do you see?
A burn? When someone is burned. Collapsed and not responding? When it might be a heart attack.
Something is burning or sparking? When there’s a fire at home.
A flood or a storm hit your home? After a disaster.
Can’t pay for the visit? When you need a doctor and can’t pay.
All our free tools and Get help now.

General information from people who care, not medical advice, not first aid training, and not electrical advice. We are not doctors, nurses, paramedics or electricians. We can’t tell you whether a shock did harm inside the body; the pages we read say to be seen. If someone is still in contact with electricity, or a power line is down, call 911.

This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). The facts come from pages read on October 3, 2026: the American College of Emergency Physicians (Electrical Shock, from its Know When to Go pages); MedlinePlus, from the U.S. National Library of Medicine (the summary of Electrical Injuries); the American Academy of Pediatrics on HealthyChildren.org (Electric Shock Injuries in Children; 5 Bathroom Safety Tips for Infants & Young Children); the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (What to Do to Protect Yourself From Electrical Hazards; Safety Guidelines: Lightning; Frequently Asked Questions About Lightning; Lightning and Worker Safety Recommendations; Lightning and Your Safety); the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Electrical Safety in the Workplace); the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (two fact sheets: Working Safely Around Downed Electrical Wires, and Working Safely with Electricity); the National Weather Service (Lightning Tips; Lightning Indoors; its outdoor lightning safety page; Medical Aspects of Lightning; Lightning Myths; Five Ways Lightning Strikes People; After a Flood; After a High Wind Event); Ready.gov (Floods; Power Outages; Thunderstorms & Lightning); and the National Fire Protection Association (Electrical Home Fire Safety). Each is linked where it is used. Some pages could not be read: the American Red Cross and Mayo Clinic sites refused our request, as did the sites of two electrical safety organizations, and the addresses we tried at Nemours KidsHealth, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the U.S. Fire Administration were not found, so none of them is used. We did not read any first aid course material, any power company’s page, or any page for the public on a shock in a pool or at a dock, on shocks in pregnancy or with an implanted device, or on how far to stay from a line on the ground; where the page touches one of these, it says so. We did not call any number. Where two sources say different things, the page reports each: what to move a live wire with, whether to lay the person down, and who to call about a downed line. The page has no questionnaire and gives no score, on purpose. It names no person, and it gives no figures for how many people are hurt or killed by electricity or lightning; the sources have them, with their context. The distances and times on the page are the sources’ own. Lines marked “Ours” are our own suggestions. This page saves nothing: no account, no cookies, nothing you tick is stored or sent, and no analytics (privacy). Scarlet Beast is not a clinic, a utility or an emergency service, and takes no money from anyone named here. Found a mistake? Email [email protected].

When someone gets an electric shock

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