A stripped wire behind the fridge. An extension cord run out to the tent at camp. An old cable near the campfire, damp with dew. An electric shock almost never gives warning. It happens in a second, in the middle of an ordinary task, to someone you know.
And here is the part many people don't know: the biggest mistake is the instinct to run over and grab the person. If they are still in contact with the current, the electricity passes through them and reaches you. Instead of one injured person, there are two. That is why the first rule is not about the victim. It is about the power.
This guide is for Pathfinders, Counselors, and parents to understand, calmly and ahead of time, the sequence that keeps everyone alive. It is not a course. It is awareness. But awareness, at the right moment, changes everything.
The golden rule: don't touch before you cut the power
Picture the scene. Your friend grabs a tool plugged into the outlet and freezes, body rigid, unable to let go. Your first impulse is to pull them by the arm. Don't do it. While the current is running through their body, their body becomes a wire. If you touch them, the electricity finds a new path: through you.
That is why first-aid manuals repeat the same phrase: do not touch a person who is still in contact with the electrical source. It feels cold to stop and think when someone is suffering right in front of you. But those three seconds of pause are what keep the rescuer from becoming the second victim.
The right order inverts your instinct. First you cut the power. Only then do you get close. The person will not get worse because you took ten seconds to flip the breaker. But it can become a double tragedy if you grab them first.
Step 1: cut the power at the source
The fastest and safest way to stop the shock is to switch off the electricity. At home, run to the electrical panel and turn off the main switch, the breaker. If you know exactly which outlet it is, you can pull the plug from the wall — but hold it by the plastic part of the plug, never by the wire.
At camp the logic is the same, only the setting changes. That extension cord powering the Unit's lighting or the water pump usually has a connection point. Switch it off there, or unplug it at the source outlet. If there is a generator, turn the generator off. The goal is only one: make the current stop passing through the victim's body.
Until you are sure the power is cut, treat everything as if it is still live. Water on the floor, ground wet with dew, soaked sneakers — all of that conducts electricity and increases the danger. Take extra care in any damp environment.
Step 2: if you can't switch it off, move the source away
You won't always find the breaker in time, or you may not even know where it is. In that case, plan B is to move the electrical source away from the person using an object that does not conduct current — and that is dry.
Dry wood is the classic: a wooden broom handle, a piece of board, a wooden chair. You use it to push the wire away from the victim, or to push the victim away from the wire, without ever touching them directly. Stand on something dry, like a rubber mat or a board, if you can. No metal. Nothing wet, nothing damp — water conducts and ruins the plan.
Important: this applies to low voltage, the kind from household outlets and camp setups. Faced with high voltage — downed street wires, a utility pole, a transmission line — do not go near. High-voltage electricity can jump through the air and reach you from meters away. In that case, keep everyone back and call emergency services immediately.
Read alsoBurns: first aid every Pathfinder should knowStep 3: call your local emergency number and assess the person
As soon as the victim is away from the current, call your local emergency number (in Brazil, SAMU 192), or have someone call while you take care of the person. Say what happened: electric shock, whether the person is awake, whether they are breathing. Clear information helps responders arrive prepared.
Now assess. Call the person by name, touch their shoulder, see if they respond. Watch the chest: does it rise and fall? Are they breathing normally? A shock can leave a person confused, with a racing heart, or seemingly fine on the outside — and even so they need to be seen by a doctor, because the greater damage is sometimes on the inside.
Don't let the victim get up and walk away as if nothing happened, even if they insist they are perfectly fine. Keep them lying down, calm, and warm until help arrives. Stay close, talk to them, watch for any change in their breathing or awareness.
If the heart stops: CPR
Here is why you should never underestimate a shock: the electric current can disrupt the heart's rhythm and make it stop. That is the reason a shock kills. If the person does not respond and is not breathing normally, the heart may have stopped — and every minute counts.
In that scenario, after calling your local emergency number (in Brazil, SAMU 192), you begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR: firm, fast compressions in the center of the chest, without stopping, until help arrives or the person reacts. It is the maneuver that keeps blood circulating while the heart does not restart on its own. Knowing how to do CPR properly is a life-saving skill, and it's worth learning before you need it — see the guide on CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
Don't invent movements you saw in a movie, and don't waste time trying to give water or medicine. In a cardiac arrest, the only thing that helps is compressing the chest and calling those who know. If there is a defibrillator (AED) nearby and someone trained, even better.
Burns: the current's entry and exit points
Electricity enters the body at one point and leaves at another, usually through the feet or the hands. At those points there are often burns — sometimes small on the outside, but deeper than they look. They are important clues for the doctor to understand the path the current took.
Immediate care is simple: cover the burn with a clean, dry cloth, without pressing. Don't pop blisters, and don't apply toothpaste, butter, coffee grounds, or any home remedy — that only makes it worse and complicates treatment later. If you can cool it lightly with running water at room temperature, that's fine, but the focus remains getting the person to care.
Every electrical burn deserves medical evaluation, even the small ones. The detail of the entry and exit points helps the health team gauge the real size of the problem. To better understand caring for burned skin, see the guide on burns: first aid.
Prevention: the best rescue is the one that never has to happen
Most shocks that happen at home and at camp come from avoidable things. A stripped wire, an overloaded extension cord, an outlet near the sink, an appliance switched on with a wet hand, a cable running over the campfire or stepped on the damp dirt ground. An attentive Pathfinder sees these dangers before they become an accident.
At the next campout, look at the installations with the eyes of someone who cares. Are the extension cords in good shape, without splices held together by improvised tape? Are the wires away from water and fire? Do the younger children in the Unit know that you don't touch a fallen wire? The Bible sums up this attitude of prudence well: “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty” (Proverbs 27:12, NIV).
Prevention is not fear, it is care for those you love. A Counselor who teaches the Unit to respect electricity is doing the same work as someone who knows CPR: protecting lives. Except here, no one ever gets hurt. And that is always the best possible outcome.