Hello! In the previous lesson, you learned when to stop using faulty equipment and when to leave electrical work to a qualified electrician. An electrical-shock emergency changes the priority: someone may need help immediately, but touching them before the power is safely isolated could make you a second casualty.
This lesson covers a safe order of action for a suspected household electrical shock in Turkey: keep clear of the electrical hazard, isolate the supply only if you can do so safely, call 112, and help the person once it is safe to approach. Allow about 25–35 minutes to study the guidance and work through the situations described below. You do not need to handle any electrical equipment.
The first person to protect is the rescuer
A person still in contact with an energized wire or appliance may be unable to let go. Their clothing and the floor around them may also be unsafe to touch, particularly if water is present. Do not touch the person, the equipment, or nearby water while the electrical source may still be live. Do not test whether it is live with your hand. If you cannot establish that the danger has ended, treat it as still present.
The Turkish first-aid poster below organizes the response around safety, assessing the injured person, and obtaining medical help. Its instruction to move someone away from danger needs an essential qualification: never try to move a person by touching them while they may still be in electrical contact. If you cannot make the scene safe, stay clear and summon help.
St John Ambulance sets out the emergency procedure in its guidance. Read its steps with one question in mind: when is it safe to make physical contact? Its page gives ways of separating a person from a source with objects. At home, you should not assume a broom, rope, glove, or dry-looking surface will protect you, especially around water or where the source is uncertain. The safer decision when you cannot reliably isolate the supply is to keep clear and call 112.
Electric Shock First Aid | St John Ambulance
Read St John Ambulance's first-aid procedure for the distinction between keeping clear of an electrical source and helping a person after contact has been broken.
In the "What to do" section, read the numbered guidance from the six steps. Focus on the warning not to touch someone who is still in contact with the source and on the condition that contact must be broken before assessing injuries. The page uses UK emergency-number wording; 112 is the number to call in Turkey.
Isolate power only from a safe position
If a clearly identified switch or breaker is dry, intact, and safely accessible away from the hazard, use it to turn off the supply. In some situations, an intact plug can be removed from a dry, safely accessible socket without touching a damaged cable or approaching the person. If any of those conditions is missing, do not attempt it. Do not reach across a person, step into water, touch a damaged distribution board, or open electrical equipment to find a way to turn it off.
A tripped breaker or RCD is not, by itself, proof that every nearby conductor is safe. Someone might have reset it, or another supply might be involved. Leave the power off after an incident; do not reset a protective device to see whether the problem has gone away.
If you cannot safely isolate the source, move back, warn others to stay clear, and call 112 immediately from a safe place. Tell the dispatcher that electricity may still be live and describe the hazard. Do not delay the call while trying increasingly risky ways to reach a switch. If another person is present, they can call while you attend to a safely accessible supply control.
Household-appliance incidents are the focus here. If a fallen outdoor power line or other possible high-voltage source is involved, stay well away and do not attempt a rescue or isolation yourself. Call 112 and follow the dispatcher’s instructions.
Once the scene is safe, help the person and get medical advice
Only after you are confident that electrical contact has ended should you approach and check whether the person responds and is breathing normally. Call 112 for an electrical-shock emergency; if someone else is available, ask them to call while you check the person. Tell the dispatcher what happened, whether the supply has been isolated, and whether the person is responsive and breathing. Follow their instructions.
The short SIKANA video shows why disconnecting the supply comes before physical contact, then distinguishes between a responsive person, an unresponsive person who is breathing, and one who is not breathing. Its discussion of burn care applies only after the electrical hazard is gone; never bring water to a potentially live scene.
Learn first aid gestures: Electrocution
Watch "Learn first aid gestures: Electrocution" from SIKANA English for a brief visual walkthrough of the response after an electrical shock.
Watch the response, from disconnecting the supply through the different conditions in which the person may be found. Focus on the safety condition before contact and on seeking emergency help when the person is unresponsive or not breathing.
If the person is unresponsive and not breathing normally, tell 112 and begin CPR as instructed by the dispatcher; use an AED if one is available and the dispatcher or its prompts direct you to do so. Do not wait to find a pulse before seeking help or starting dispatcher-guided CPR. If the person is unresponsive but breathing normally, monitor their breathing and follow the dispatcher’s advice about positioning them. If they are awake, encourage them to remain still and tell the dispatcher about symptoms, burns, or a fall. Move the person only when needed to avoid an immediate danger or to give necessary lifesaving care.
A person who looks well may still need assessment after an electrical shock; visible burns do not reveal every possible injury. Cleveland Clinic’s guidance distinguishes urgent situations from those needing timely medical evaluation. It is about electrical injury, not an ordinary static-electricity snap.
Electrical Shock (Electrical Injury) First Aid
Read Cleveland Clinic's guidance to understand why a person should not simply dismiss a shock because they feel better or cannot see a burn.
Under "When should I see my healthcare provider?", read from the care guidance through the end of that subsection. Notice the distinctions between high-voltage injury, burns, and lower-voltage shock without visible burns. The page uses a US emergency number; use 112 in Turkey.
Apply the order to two household situations
Imagine someone gripping a faulty appliance beside a wet sink. The floor and plug are wet; the only switch you can see would require you to cross that area. Do not touch the person, the plug, or the water. Keep others back and call 112 from a safe place, explaining that the supply may still be live. Reaching the switch is not a safe isolation plan.
Now imagine a person has fallen after touching a damaged appliance, but a clearly identified, dry supply switch is safely reachable away from both the appliance and the person. Turn that supply off, leave it off, and call 112. Once you are confident the electrical contact has ended, check responsiveness and normal breathing and follow the dispatcher’s instructions. Do not put the appliance back into use.
The distinction is not whether you want to help quickly; it is whether you can help without entering the electrical hazard.
Key takeaways
In an electrical-shock emergency, do not touch someone who may still be energized. Isolate the power only when the control is safely accessible; otherwise keep clear, protect bystanders, and call 112. Once contact with electricity has ended, check the person and provide first aid with the dispatcher’s guidance. Even when the person seems well afterward, a suspected electrical injury warrants medical advice.
This completes the household-safety part of the course. The next module moves to battery- and USB-powered low-voltage circuits, where you can study electrical behavior without working on household mains.