Delayed electric shock symptoms should not be ignored because they may be signs that a person has suffered a serious electric shock injury. If you experience these symptoms after contact with an electrical source, you should see a doctor. Symptoms include burns, loss of consciousness and trouble breathing.
These symptoms pose a serious challenge for victims involved in an accident with electricity because they prevent victims from obtaining the prompt medical treatment and care they need. Such delays can have harmful, long-term effects on victims’ health.
Delayed detection, diagnosis and treatment may also prevent victims from timely seeking justice in the courts.
Tell your doctor
The best way to handle delayed electric shock symptoms is to tell your doctor as soon as you become aware of them. You want your doctor to detect, document and treat them as soon as possible.
This goes for all symptoms – no matter how minor they may seem. This is not the time to be stoic.
It’s the time to get the medical care and treatment you need.
Importantly, delays in diagnosis and treatment can also affect the value of your personal injury lawsuit as the people or entities responsible for your injuries argue that the “gap of time” between the accident and your reporting of the symptoms undermines the causal relationship between the accident and your injuries.
What are delayed electric shock symptoms?
Delayed electric shock symptoms of an electric shock injury are symptoms that are not initially diagnosed or treated in an emergency room. Days and even weeks can pass before they are diagnosed and documented in medical records.
Additionally, electric shock victims may be experiencing these symptoms, but not realize the connection between the symptoms and an electric shock injury they have suffered.
In order to get the medical care and treatment they need, it’s crucial that electric shock victims report any symptoms – including any conditions they do not normally experience – to a doctor right away.
Delayed electric shock symptoms to be aware of
- Severe burns (external and internal)
- Cardiac arrest
- Arrhythmia
- Fibrillation of the heart
- Shortness of breath
- Difficulty breathing
- Respiratory failure
- Chest pain
- Paralysis
- Heart damage
- Brain injuries
- Speech problems
- Nerve damage
- Memory loss
- Hearing loss can be a delayed electric shock symptom
- Vision problems
- Seizures
- Spine injury (injuries to the neck and back that occur when the electrical charge physically and forcefully throws a victim)
- Deformity at point of contact
- Cataracts
- Loss of kidney function
- Secondary injuries caused by post-shock falls
- Numbness or tingling
- Headaches
- Confusion
- Loss of consciousness
- Muscle pain
- Swelling of limbs due to muscle damage (this is called compartment syndrome and can be caused by electric shocks)
- Broken/fractured bones
Causes of delayed symptoms
There are two main causes of delayed symptoms:
- Masking – This occurs when a person who has been injured experiences medical conditions that “mask” their symptoms, causing the injured person to believe the condition is unrelated to and not actually a symptom of an injury from electricity. Masking describes how the intense pain from one medical condition can “mask” other symptoms of other serious injuries, which unfortunately results in the injury going undetected and untreated for weeks or even months.
- Missed or late diagnosis – Too often, doctors focus only on the obvious physical injuries and do not ask important follow-up questions as delayed symptoms occur. Additionally, thousands of victims are also stuck in unresponsive managed care health insurance plans, where primary doctors can delay treatment for months before writing referrals for (more expensive) visits for diagnostic testing or to medical specialists.
Need help from an experienced electrocution lawyer?
If you or someone you love is has been involved in an electrical accident and has suffered from any of these delayed electric shock symptoms, you can call toll free at (947) 282-4269 for a free consultation and speak with Jeff Feldman, arguably the nation’s most experienced electric shock accident and electrocution attorney. Jeff has litigated electrocution cases and electric shock injury cases in multiple states for families whose loved ones were injured after electrical accidents that were caused by faulty consumer products, negligence in the building and construction industry, downed or low-hanging overhead power cables, and defective or poorly maintained pool equipment. Jeff also consults with injury lawyers throughout the country on electrical accident injury and wrongful death cases involving electricity.
