I work around high voltage almost daily. Will a shock from 110 volt ac affect the pacemaker. This is probably an old tired out question but I am new to this.

Jerry

 

 

I think the answer to your question is no and possibly yes. I don't think 110 V. is not going to hurt your pacemaker because the internals are well shielded.

Now, if you happen to make contact with that part of your body directly over the PM implant or even very close to it, it could be a different story. You have 1 to 3 wires or leads, (depending on what type PM you have) going from that PM directly into your heart. So I would say avoid the possibility of getting 110 V. to close to the PM. Of course those leads are insulated but they are connected to the PM at the top and I don't know if the 110 V. could be conducted through body tissue to one of them and then into the heart.

Maybe Frank can tell us what you need to know about this.

 

I've worked around HV most of my life. At one point I was working with 10KV@1A.

For the most part the risks are the same with or without a pacemaker. The real issues are what route the shock takes through your body, how good the contact is, and whether you can let go.

Probably the worst is getting across a circuit from arm to arm with contact in the palms of the hands. The initial current causes extreme muscle contractions in the hands and you can't let go. The jolt and fear cause profuse sweating which rapidly increases the contact and the current. Finally the current path passes through the chest contracting the muscles used to breath and through the heart. The only hope is that you are either thrown clear or someone turns off the circuit. If you get loose the pacemaker may actually be a life saver if it restores a heart beat.

Now lets go to the more benign scenario. Contacting a circuit with the back of the hand keeps the current local. It is also a drier and less conductive part of the skin. The result is usually just a tingle or at most the muscle contraction moves your hand away from the circuit. This shouldn't have any effect on the pacer.

Back in the 1960's when I worked in a block house at White Sands Missile Range we had an old time electrician who would check the presence of power in a breaker box by hitting the circuit with the back of his hand. I've seen him check 440V that way. NOT ME.

If I got carried away and didn't answer your question let me know.
best,

frank

 

Thanks JB and Frank..
I feel better now about working around the 110 volt that I limit myself to. Once in a great while I'll get involved with 220v but it is very rare. I work in school maintenance and my electrical is mostly limited to light switches, recepticals, florescent lighting and heating and AC work.

Jerry

 

My main worry with power equipment these days is getting burned rather than shocked. An accidental short circuit and you can have molten copper (or worse aluminum) flying at you.

I always check a circuit with a volt meter before I mess with it.

Happy new year,
frank

 

New to this, so when you are talking flourescent lighting, you don't mean there could be a problem changing the bulbs do you? I have 2 that just blew in my house and I was goingn to go to the hardware store to get bulbs and try to replace them. I'm okay to do that, right???????
CC