Electricity-related deaths on lakes--Oklahoma, 1989-1993

Drowning accounts for approximately 4200 deaths each year in the United States. Although electricity is documented infrequently as a cause of such fatalities, contact with electricity can result in death through temporary paralysis and drowning of persons who are swimming or wading, or through electrocution. From June 1989 through September 1993, five persons died on lakes in Oklahoma following contact or suspected contact with electrical currents. Four deaths occurred at two adjoining lakes in northeastern Oklahoma (lake A), and one at a lake in the southern part of the state (lake B). The five deaths occurred among males aged 13-50 years who were either swimming, working on or near docks, or working with electricity when they sustained fatal injuries. This report summarizes the investigation of these deaths by medical examiners (MEs) and the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH).