Being electrocuted is a terrifying experience that often happens unexpectedly. When high voltage electricity passes through the body, it immediately affects the nervous system, causing intense muscle contractions and pain. During this traumatic event, some people understandably cry out or scream involuntarily. However, there is debate around whether it’s physically possible to scream while being electrocuted.
What happens when you get electrocuted?
Electrocution occurs when a person comes into contact with a live electrical current. The electricity enters the body at the point of contact and travels through the tissues, nerves, blood vessels, and muscles. This electric shock overwhelms the body’s natural electrical impulses and causes widespread damage.
Here’s a quick overview of what happens when someone is electrocuted:
- Contact with live wire – Electricity enters the body and flows through tissues.
- Muscle contractions – Current stimulates motor neurons causing sudden, forceful contractions.
- Inability to let go – Victim grasps wire tightly, unable to release due to sustained contractions.
- Cardiac arrest – Electricity can cause ventricular fibrillation, stopping the heart.
- Nervous system damage – Current damages nerves, especially in hands, feet and other points of contact.
- Internal burns – Electricity converts tissues and moisture into heat, causing severe internal burns.
- Physical trauma – Muscle contractions may lead to bone fractures, joint dislocations and tears.
This massive electrical and physiological disruption can cause unconsciousness, cardiac arrest, and death within seconds. But in the brief moment after initial contact, the victim will experience excruciating muscle contractions and pain.
Initial muscle contractions
When electricity enters the body, it immediately stimulates the motor neurons that control muscles. This causes instant, involuntary muscle contractions throughout the body.
The large, powerful muscles of the limbs, back, and chest contract forcefully enough to cause bone fractures or tears. Facial and vocal muscles also squeeze involuntarily.
Importantly, the diaphragm and intercostal muscles that control breathing can contract and spasm. This makes breathing labored or even impossible.
How muscle contractions affect screaming
A scream is a loud vocalization that requires:
- Forced exhalation from the lungs
- Vibration of the vocal cords in the larynx
- Shaping of sound by the throat, mouth and tongue
This complex physiological process relies on coordinated muscle movements that are disrupted during electrocution. Here are some of the ways muscle contractions affect screaming:
| Muscle group | Effect on screaming |
|---|---|
| Diaphragm and intercostals | Unable to exhale/breathe out |
| Throat and larynx | Unable to vibrate vocal cords properly |
| Face, tongue, mouth | Unable to form sounds into a scream |
| Limbs and body | Physical trauma may make screaming impossible |
As this table shows, the involuntary muscle contractions caused by electrocution directly interfere with the physical abilities needed to vocalize a scream. The spasms, paralysis and damage to the respiratory and vocal systems make screaming very difficult if not impossible during the shock itself.
Can you breathe or inhale while being electrocuted?
In order to scream, you first need to be able to breathe in and forcefully exhale air through the vocal cords. But electrocution often causes respiratory paralysis, making even breathing impossible.
The diaphragm is a large, sheet-like muscle that contracts to draw air into the lungs. When electrocuted, the diaphragm can spasm and contract uncontrollably. This temporarily paralyzes the diaphragm, making it unable to relax and allow inhalation.
Even if the diaphragm is able to contract, the intercostal muscles between the ribs may be locked in a contracted state. This prevents the rib cage from expanding to allow the lungs to inflate.
So between the paralysis of the diaphragm and contraction of intercostals, victims are often unable to inhale or catch their breath to scream. Even trying to breathe at all requires immense effort and conscious control that is disrupted by the shock.
Vocal cord vibration needed for screaming
If someone could force in a breath during electrocution, the next challenge is vibrating the vocal cords. This vibration turns the exhaled air into audible sounds.
The vocal cords are a pair of elastic, membrane-like bands housed in the larynx or voice box. To produce sound, the vocal cords are brought close together while air rushes past them, causing them to vibrate.
But electrocution often causes sustained contraction or spasms of the larynx muscles. This can clamp the vocal cords shut or impair their ability to vibrate correctly. Studies have found electricity applied to the larynx causes immediate paralysis and disrupted signaling between the nerves and vocal cord muscles.
The erratic, convulsive contractions of electrocution essentially “lock up” the larynx in a way that prevents controlled vibration of the vocal cords needed for screaming.
Shaping sounds with the mouth is difficult
Finally, even if someone could force a breath past paralyzed vocal cords, the facial muscles required to shape the sounds into a recognizable scream may not be able to function.
Once vibrations are produced by the vocal cords, the sounds must still be shaped by the throat, mouth, tongue and lips to become speech or screaming. This requires coordinated contractions of various facial and mouth muscles.
However, electrocution causes sustained contraction and spasm of muscles throughout the head and neck. It is unlikely the facial muscles could shape the sounds into an intelligible scream during the involuntary convulsions.
In summary, the brief moment between contact with electricity and loss of consciousness does not allow time for a real scream. The immediate, widespread muscle contractions caused by electrocution quickly incapacitate the respiratory, vocal and oral functions necessary to produce an audible, intelligible scream.
Are there exceptions where screaming is possible?
While screaming during electrocution is extremely difficult, there are some rare exceptions where a brief scream may be possible:
- Low voltage shock: If someone receives a very brief, low voltage shock that does not fully paralyze the muscles, a short scream may be possible.
- Improper grounding: If electricity enters but cannot properly exit the body, sustained contraction of some muscles may be avoided, enabling a scream.
- Just before losing consciousness: In some cases, a person might be able to quickly scream just before the shock causes unconsciousness.
However, these situations are unusual, and any scream made would likely be brief and distorted. The severe disruption to muscle control caused by electrocution remains the biggest barrier to screaming in most cases.
Speech and sounds after electrocution
While screaming during the shock itself is unlikely, some speech and sounds are possible afterwards, depending on the extent of injury:
- Moaning, crying or shouting may be possible as muscle control returns.
- Vocal cords may be swollen or damaged, distorting any sounds.
- Prolonged lack of oxygen can cause permanent brain damage affecting speech.
- Temporary paralysis of vocal cords or lung damage may slow recovery of speech.
So although intelligible screaming during the electrocution is difficult, victims may begin to make intentional sounds soon after, depending on their level of injury. However, their ability to speak normally may still be impaired for some time.
The importance of quick disconnection
While the intense muscle contractions caused by electricity make screaming unlikely, there are other audible signs of electrocution a bystander might hear:
- Shouts or screams before shock, as person realizes what’s happening
- Moaning or distorted sounds from throat
- Cries for help immediately after shock
- Heavy breathing or gasping for air
- Gurgling sounds from damaged lungs/throat
So although a true scream during the shock may not be possible, listeners should immediately disconnect the power if they hear distressed cries, gurgling or moaning. Quick disconnection and medical care are vital to save the person’s life and prevent permanent injuries.
Conclusion
Being shocked by electricity triggers a massive overload of the nervous system and painful, uncontrolled muscle contractions throughout the body. These involuntary spasms and paralysis make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to produce a controlled scream during the electrocution itself.
While limited exceptions are possible in rare circumstances, the overwhelming disruption to the respiratory, vocal and oral muscles prevents most victims from screaming while being shocked. Any sounds made are likely to be distorted or muted during the involuntary convulsions.
Nevertheless, bystanders who hear moaning, gurgling or odd vocalizations should immediately disconnect the power to limit the damage. Although a true scream is unlikely during the shock, giving quick medical assistance afterwards offers the best chance of saving the victim’s life following this traumatic event.