Lake and Boating Safety

Whether at home or on vacation, boating, fishing and swimming can be fun ways to enjoy the great outdoors. And safety precautions like life jackets are a given for millions of families who take to the water. But there is an unseen danger that lake-goers everywhere should be aware of. It’s called electric shock drowning, or ESD. Electric Shock Drowning occurs when a person drowns after being electrocuted while swimming in water that is charged with an electrical current.

Learn how to avoid this scary situation by listening to our podcast. Hear from Byron Dudley, Manager of Communication & Member Service and Terry Rosenthal, Manager of Engineering at Laclede Electric Cooperative as they detail what boat and dock owners must do to keep the water safe; and what swimmers need to know to stay safe.

Resources:
Members First - How to Prevent Dock Shock

American Boat & Yacht Council - ESD What you need to know

Safe Electricity - Enjoy Water Recreation Safely

Transcript

Robin: 0:04

Hello, my name is Robins and I'm a co-op member. I love that my co-op is always willing to provide information on how to stay safe and how to be more energy efficient.

Harrison Waters: 0:42

Welcome to The Power For Your Life podcast, where we focus on energy efficiency, the value of electric, cooperative membership, and safety around electricity. I'm your host, Harrison Waters, and today we'll be discussing lake and boating safety. You know, when summer rolls around, boating, fishing and swimming can be fun ways to enjoy the great outdoors and safety precautions like life jackets are a given for millions of families who take to the water, but there's an unseen danger that lake goers everywhere should be aware of. It's called Electric Shock Drowning, or E S d Electric Shock Drowning occurs when a person drowns after being electrocuted while swimming in water that's charged with an electrical current with me by phone today to talk about how to stay safe in the water when boating and swimming is Byron Dudley and Terry Rosenthal with Lale Electric Cooperative. Guys, thank you so much for joining me today.

Byron Dudley: 1:36

Thank you. You bet. Thanks.

Harrison Waters: 1:38

You know, for those who don't know anything about this topic, maybe explain to us a little bit what is electric shock drowning and, and what causes it?

Byron Dudley: 1:47

Yeah, sure. Um, so Electric Shock drowning is ultimately the result of passage of low level AC current through the body. And most of the time that has occurred by faulty electrical wiring on the dock that has leaked into the water.

Harrison Waters: 2:07

So a follow up to that would be, does it take a lot of electricity for it to be dangerous, or how much electricity has to be in the water for this to be a concern?

Byron Dudley: 2:18

You know, Harrison, that's a great question and, and one that we get all the time, and a lot of people are surprised by the answers . So one of the things that for electrocution, the , the amount of voltage, it really depends upon the current, through the body and how long that current exists, however, you know, as little as 10 milliamps. So to put that in perspective, that's one 50th of the current that's used by a 60 white lot bulb can cause paralysis, which then can result in drowning. So at 60 milliamps, the body actually will go into heart failure,

Harrison Waters: 2:58

And now this is certainly gonna be something more severe for young ones when kids are in the water. I'm , uh, assuming

Byron Dudley: 3:04

Unfortunately what most of the National Statistics show is the ones that are most impacted by electric shock drowning happen to be children, primarily because they are the ones that's most often in the water. So I don't know if we can correlate that its age has anything to do with it, but I think it has more to do with those are the ones that are actually in the water most frequently.

Harrison Waters: 3:34

So what is the most important thing listeners need to know about this topic and what can people do to reduce or prevent electric shock drowning?

Byron Dudley: 3:43

Well, I think the , the most important thing is that it is something that unfortunately Harrison happens more than we would , uh, like to admit. And with some preparations , uh, then those can certainly be eliminated, if not definitely reduced from the number of of frequency that we see that occur.

Terry Rosenthal: 4:05

I think one of the most important things is to make sure that your dock and or your boats that might be parked in, in your , uh, dock are installed and, and inspected on a regular basis by, by certified electricians, and that they follow the local authorities requirements for wiring standards. Um, which typically most of them follow the National Electric Code for, for standard requirements on how to wire a dock , but they also need to check locally to make sure that, you know, the sta the code is a minimum and a lot of jurisdictions have additional requirements that go above and beyond the code. So making sure that you follow those local requirements is, is of , of greatest importance.

Harrison Waters: 4:45

And is this something that we need to be looking at annually? You know, as the, the summer months , uh, come to us and people are ramping back up to get on the water, is this something that needs to be done every year?

Terry Rosenthal: 4:57

Yeah, I think that , uh, our recommendations have always been that these outdoor docks and, and boats are subject to change over time and they're exposed to the weather, especially in the winter. And, you know, this past February we had a lot of lakes that froze over and, and shifted a lot of docks and possibly caused a lot of dock damage. So it's always of, of importance, especially we recommend, you know, in the spring before people start using their docks again, is have it inspected and make sure nothing's changed and make sure it's still safe. Test those GFIs, make sure that they're still functioning and test that emergency disconnect that's that's out at the , uh, the boat ramp out to the dock and make sure it's still working as well. So those are great things that happen at least annually.

Harrison Waters: 5:39

Now, is there anything that when you're, when you're approaching this for the first time on the year and you're walking down to your dock, is there anything that listeners need to keep in mind so that they don't potentially step into a dangerous situation?

Terry Rosenthal: 5:52

We always recommend that , uh, when you walk out your boat ramp every single time, it's good to look at the wiring, see if you see any broken joints, look at , uh, the junction locations, the receptacles, make sure that they look in good working order. And, and if you see anything, certainly have , uh, somebody look at it , a professional look at it before you start using the doc .

Harrison Waters: 6:14

Byron , any , uh, additional thoughts here?

Byron Dudley: 6:17

No, I think that's, you know, excellent. Um, a as you do that and, and Terry hit on it, it's, it's one of those things that just because your dock is maybe even inspected by a professional today, if tonight a strong storm comes over or it's heavy boat traffic and those type of things, all of those national elements that that dock is under can cause a problem to happen that , uh, wasn't existing yesterday. So every time you step on that dock to take a look around and make sure that, that it's the way that you left it and the way that it needs to be, is definitely , uh, an important step.

Harrison Waters: 6:55

Yeah, those are great points. And you know, I want listeners to understand that this is not saying that you are having faulty electrical due to a professional coming in and doing it incorrectly. What you're stating is natural elements are causing this to occur, you know, and it's not a faulty human practice. So that's why we always need to be diligent on checking , uh, when, when dealing with electrical near water .

Terry Rosenthal: 7:21

Yes, certainly for, for floating docks, they have motion , um, all the time as they are subject to waves and, and wind and storms . So in addition to, you know, I already mentioned, in addition to looking for your, you know , junctions and your conduits that, that are on the docks, that they're in good working order, but the grounding bonding jumpers as well are subject to motion. So those grounds that as they go from the shoreline with the ground rod that's driven at the shoreline, and then if you have a pier , you have motions on the ramp there as well as where it attaches to the dock. So there should be bonding jumpers there, and it's good to make sure that those are securely attached and, and haven't worked their, their way free or have a bad connection.

Harrison Waters: 7:59

Yeah, that's great to know. Now, is this all coming from looking at it from land to going to the dock? What if you're visiting another dock , then visiting friends from one dock to another, and you're, you're coming up to shore is are there things you should be looking out at others just to , to make it safe? And, and at what point could you tell that, that you might be in a , uh, a situation , uh, where you might not want a dock?

Terry Rosenthal: 8:23

We're familiar with wiring and, and , and what it should look like. And so it's difficult to say, you know, what somebody should be looking for. But I think that just taking, if you're at somebody else's dock, making sure that there is an emergency set off at the shore and knowing where it's at before you go out onto that dock, as well as just a general overview of what the, what the wiring on the dock looks like, so you're not subjecting yourself to any potential hazards. If they have a ladder on the dock, is it adequately grounded and bonded to the frame of the dock? You know, those are easy things to see if there's a bonding jumper on the ladder or not. And if there's not, may , maybe you don't wanna have any recreational activities at that dock.

Harrison Waters: 8:59

That's great. Yeah. What other things are gonna be important for listeners to understand in regards to this?

Byron Dudley: 9:07

Well, I think one of the things , uh, Harrison, that that really is, you know, something that, that concerns us and and should concern the , the listeners is, you know, that electric shock drowning, it , it's referred to as the silent killer. So in a lot of ways, other than those that, that Terry has already mentioned, outside of that, there's no visible warning or , or a way to see that there's electricity that is energized in the water, or that if you jump in that , that now that's energized. And so it's very important to know those surroundings, have those things checked earlier because it is difficult to, to see those warning signs or know if water is energized where you're getting into.

Harrison Waters: 9:54

And is there any way of knowing once you are in the water, say you were swimming and something did occur to where that water was energized and you were far enough away, is there, is there any way of feeling it? Or maybe explain this a little bit more to someone who's not familiar with this at all, if you heard it for the first time, electric shock drowning, explain like why it's a silent killer and what's taking place.

Byron Dudley: 10:17

Yeah, sure. So really what that is when you're in the water, a lot of the reports that have come back from people that did get shocked, fortunately they were the ones that they're near misses, so they didn't get , uh, electrocuted and killed by that. But a lot of times what they'll do is they will report that they're feeling a tingling sensation while they're, they're in the water. So if , certainly if you are in the water and you feel that tingling sensation, that shock sensation, then certainly shout to others and , and , and let 'em know , uh, what's going on. And the , the other key is, is to try to make yourself as small as possible. And so they actually say the best way to do is, is to try to stay upright, because when you get in those situations, panic since in, and, and your goal is to get out as quick as possible. And , and we understand that, but that actually can create a more significant inf uh , injury and or death. So stay calm, do that, stay upright, tuck your legs, make yourself as small as possible. And then the, the most important thing is swim away from where you're feeling that tingling sensation. So if you're at the boat dock or, or something, swim away from that and don't go to a neighbor's dock and, and grab the ladder and get in. The best place to actually exit, if at all possible, is the shoreline where there's nothing metal, there's no conductors , uh, and those type of things.

Harrison Waters: 11:52

That's great information. And is there any way of judging how far away is a safe distance or, or anything when it comes to water? I mean, is there any kind of measurement that lets you know, okay, you know, is it once the tingling sensation has gone away? Or what can we look for in terms of a distance?

Byron Dudley: 12:09

Unfortunately, Harrison, that that is an unknown because it depends upon a lot of different things. It depends upon what's the conductive nature of the water, what's the mineral, you know, how much , uh, is that , uh, electricity rating app , the voltage, all of those things play such an important role in that. It's very hard to say, well, at this distance you're safe or at that distance, you're safe. Uh, the key is to get as far away as possible before you do exit. And certainly don't touch the water and anything conductive metal, the , the dock, those type of things. So best to be safe and get as far away as possible.

Terry Rosenthal: 12:51

I'd like to add a little bit to that, that the thing that we wanna make sure people understand is that instinct might be for somebody on the, on the dock to, to jump in and help somebody. And the first thing that needs to happen is somebody needs to shut that emergency disconnect off at the shoreline. And , uh, and it may even be the neighbor's dock , so it may be something that, that you need to shut all of, you know, the neighbor's emergency disconnect off as well before anybody tries to enter and help somebody if they can't swim away on their own.

Harrison Waters: 13:21

Great. That's good information. Well, you know, let's go ahead and take a short break and when we come back we'll discuss more dock safety.

Speaker 5: 13:42

Here's an important swimming safety tip. Make sure you know what to do if you are in the water and feel electricity like tingling on the skin, a sense of being bitten, pulsating or vibrating water safe electricity urges. If you feel a shock, swim away from the dock. Shout to let others know. Tuck your legs up to make yourself smaller and swim away from anything that could be energized. Go to shore if you can. Learn more@safeelectricity.org. New sources of power that help heat your homes and keep businesses thriving up to the minute knowledge that brings about new ways of being efficient that saves you and your family money because of you. Touchstone energy cooperatives are constantly seeking new solutions, great things lie ahead and what's here today has never been better.

Speaker 6: 14:37

Visit members first dot co-op to learn more energy efficiency. Tip number 70, turn off ceiling fans when leaving the room. Fan school people, not rooms.

Harrison Waters: 15:15

We're back with the Power for Your Life . Podcast Visiting Day with Byron Dudley and Terry Rosenthal from Lale Electric Cooperative. We've been discussing lake and boating safety and the topic of electric shock drowning. We've talked about what dock owners should do to ensure the area around their dock is safe and what you should do to stay safe as a swimmer. Guys, can you tell me a little now about what role does Lale Electric or any other electric cooperative play in dock safety?

Byron Dudley: 15:43

Well , I think Harrison, it is the key of the local electric cooperative to educate the owners and even the folks that may be coming onto those docks of the dangers and encourage them to make sure that dock is wired accordingly. And it has been regularly inspected by a professional electrical contractor. Those are really the keys to hopefully reducing , uh, any instance that this might occur.

Terry Rosenthal: 16:13

We, we have responded before to a report of electric shock on a dock . We tend to try to make sure that the member or homeowner knows that it passed our point of demarcation and responsibility. But, but yes, we have responded occasionally, but we don't have any authority to make them fix something that we see.

Byron Dudley: 16:34

I think our biggest role as any electric co-op is just to educate the owners of the dangers and, and encourage them time and time again to make sure that their dock is wired properly and is regularly inspected by that professional. I think really that's where our role starts and ends because as Terry said here anyway, most of those dock , the wiring from the dock usually comes from the house. So it's past our quote unquote responsibility and or legal ability to do anything about.

Harrison Waters: 17:14

Are there any other things that you come across at the lake that are common concerns aside from docks?

Terry Rosenthal: 17:22

Most of it's docks. I'm not aware of very many incidents in a marina where the charger has leaked through the boat itself nationally, I've heard of that happening a few times. Most of it is always been docks around in our area anyway.

Byron Dudley: 17:35

I mean, really what we find more than anything else is that one of two things have happened. First of all, they weren't wired properly and set up properly , uh, or two, they have been, and then over time something changes that, but they don't do regular inspections. So that's primarily the two that unfortunately most often happen at Lake the Ozarks. Something else that we probably need to say is, and this did unfortunately happen, so you own the house, I rent the house from you, I've come down from another state. Unfortunately, you didn't take care of your dock. And so my children were electrocuted. We actually have had a couple of instances , uh, where that has occurred.

Terry Rosenthal: 18:30

Yeah, well, we covered that a little bit. I think earlier when we talked about visiting somebody's dock , it'd be a similar situation that you're on somebody else's dock that's not yours, and making sure you know where that emergency cutoff is located and that you've done some kind of, you know, visual inspection before you decide to start using that dock .

Harrison Waters: 18:50

Well, so let me ask you this. If you're less familiar with a dock you're on or you're visiting others while on docks and your child notifies you that they have a tingly sensation and you're , you're concerned or worried that there could be that issue, does turning off the emergency power supply , does that get rid of this chance or does that immediately mean you can get your kid outta the water?

Terry Rosenthal: 19:13

Well, we would hope so. I mean, it's better, but I mean, it could be the neighbor's dock that it's leaking from. So that's why I mentioned you may even need to shut the neighbors shut off, off before you can get 'em out. And again, like Byron said , if they can swim away, you know, if they haven't gotten enough current leakage current to prevent them from swimming where they've gone under or something, then then I would say swim to the other shoreline and get out and walk around rather than take a chance. If it was me and it was my child and they had gotten enough leakage current that they gun under, as soon as I knew that emergency disconnect was shut off, I'd go in after 'em, but I wouldn't go in until that shutoff was off. And we've seen that with some of the ESDs, like the Ozarks where somebody got in trouble, a kid or somebody got in trouble and the parent immediately wants to jump in after 'em . And I just, you know, that, that all that can do a lot of times is make, you know, two victims instead of one.

Harrison Waters: 20:05

I've heard about devices that you can buy that detect electrical current in the water. Um, what can you guys tell me about these devices about using them? They

Terry Rosenthal: 20:16

Only sense in the area where the probes installed and I've seen 'em installed and then they get algae on 'em and, you know, they don't get the probe cleaned off. My personal opinion, I would much rather see a dock that's regularly inspected has good grounds to it, the ground rod at the, at the shorelines installed, and those GFIs are tested on a regular basis rather than put some appliance up. That makes me feel like I'm being protected, but that's just my opinion. I don't particularly recommend them to my friends that have docks at the lake, I recommend that they get a regular inspection and a regular test of their GFIs way ahead of buying an appliance that's looking for voltage only in that general area where the probe's installed

Byron Dudley: 21:00

It , it can give a false sense of security because if the other stuff isn't done and that's not working properly, then you have put yourself unfortunately in a situation that that device isn't gonna help you out.

Terry Rosenthal: 21:17

I guess if we wanted to say anything about it , Byron, my thoughts would be, you know, if you're doing all of these other things, if you're doing the annual inspections and you've got the shutoff at the shoreline, you've got a good ground rod driven , all your bonds are in in order. If you want to add an extra layer of detection ability, then by all means go above and beyond and maybe look into one of those devices. But if you're looking to not have to do the annual inspections and pay an electrician to come out, if you're looking to not have to have somebody test your GFIs, then I say, this device will not work if you're not doing the other things underlying that are required.

Harrison Waters: 21:53

Now to recap, should families be concerned with anyone swimming around a marina? Is that a concern that they should have?

Terry Rosenthal: 22:01

I think , uh, certainly swimming around a marina that has a lot of boats parked at it, two aspects there. One, there's likely to be a lot of boat traffic, people coming and going and they may not see you in the water. So that's of concern. And the second is there's usually a lot of electrical devices and circuits on those larger docks, and so therefore a lot of these marinas don't even allow swimming around it. So certainly as a minimum precaution, I would verify whether that marina allows swimming and is it in a designated area or is it not allowed at all before you enter water around a a dense boat docking facility like that.

Harrison Waters: 22:41

Is there anything else that either of you would like to add or tell us about today to maybe educate listeners before they head out to the water this summer? You

Byron Dudley: 22:49

Know, Harrison , we've been talking about docks specifically, but I think it's a great time to add in their swimming pools, hot tubs, those type of things because we're seeing more and more of those on our system. And so one of the things that we wanna make sure that folks recognize is all of those electrical things that we've talked about with the docks are certainly adequate. It needs to be installed by a professional, it needs to be safe and all of that. The other real big thing that we're, we're seeing more and more is the location of those pools and hot tubs, make sure that they're not placed by electrical power lines. We're seeing more and more folks that unfortunately are locating those two close to the power lines and, and you have to think that you can be using long cleaning tools, long metal rods that you're cleaning the bottom of your pool and, and , uh, if you're too close , uh, certainly you can come into contact for power lines . So , uh, folks need to, to also, you know, be cautious about hot tubs and swimming pool placement as well.

Harrison Waters: 24:00

Great. That's great information. And if there's a member that's looking for any other additional information, what's the best , uh, resource for them?

Byron Dudley: 24:08

Yeah, we would always encourage them. Any questions or or concerns reach out to your local electric cooperative . Uh , they're gonna have folks there that will be able to answer those questions and, and help with those type of things to, to make sure that everything's done to, you know, mitigate these type of , uh, risk.

Harrison Waters: 24:26

Well, I think that you both did a fantastic job in helping us educate members on dock safety or water electrical safety and really to make sure that you, before you get out and enjoy that summer vacation at the water, to have a professional come and check and inspect your docs and knowing the proper precautions in order to get into that water and have a good time. So I thank you both for joining me today. Thank

Byron Dudley: 24:50

You. Thanks a lot.

Speaker 6: 24:52

Thanks for listening to The Power for Your Life Podcast. To learn more about this topic and other safety efficiency and energy technology information, contact your local electric cooperative or visit us on the web at members first dot co-op. You can also follow us on social media at facebook.com/members first cooperatives pinterest.com/members first or instagram.com/members. First , if you have a question or topic you'd like us to consider for a future episode, email us@membersfirstaeci.org.