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Electrical Burns can be a significant injury. Patients with electrical burns present infrequently to the ED. It is important to know how to approach these patients. There are different groups and approaches. There is a bimodal distribution of electrical injuries and some of the literature discusses a trimodal distribution.

The first peak is childhood electrical burns. These are usually burns of the mouth due to children chewing through an electrical cord. The next group is those that occur to those working with electricity and then those other who display risky behaviour.

The severe burn presents a challenge in terms of fluid resuscitation as the regular application of the Parkland formula will grossly underestimate the fluid requirements.

The other group that presents a challenge is the group that may not be a clear admission. The other question that is frequently asked is who do we monitor and for how long. Here is a brief lecture on this.

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