Electrical Burns: Hundreds maimed every year
With a meagre income from his small grocery store in Bogura, Rafiqul Islam was the sole breadwinner of his family of five.
He struggled to pay for his three children’s education -- two in school and one in college -- and dreamt of better days.
But his world turned upside down on June 21, when he accidentally came into contact with a live wire.
Doctors had to amputate his right arm while the fingers of his left hand had almost deformed, rendering him unable to work.
“My family is just devastated,” said Rafiqul in a feeble voice, lying on a bed at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Rafiqul is among the several hundred people who become disabled every year after suffering electrical burns.
Although the incidents of electrical burns do not get much public attention, they are considered by physicians as one of the most devastating injuries as many of the victims get maimed for life.
A government survey says around 7,163 people were permanently disabled in 2016 due to electrocution.
The Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey 2016, which interviewed 330,000 people, estimates that about 9,210 people were killed and 2,70,622 others injured due to electric shocks that year.
“More than one third of the people admitted here are electrical burn patients,” said Tanveer Ahmed, associate professor of burn and plastic surgery at the DMCH.
The department at Dhaka Medical College Hospital treats around 30,000-35,000 burn patients every year, he said.
“We have to amputate several fingers or a whole limb of at least four people with electric burns every day,” he said, citing official records.
According to doctors and fire service officials, electrocution happens mainly because of people’s lack of awareness and poor management of live wires. The incidents become frequent in monsoon, when the wires often break during strong winds and fall on puddles.
Besides, living or working too close to high-voltage electric lines contribute to the number of accidents.
Working-class people and children are the main victims of electrical burns, physicians said.
“I have seen many people lose their arms and legs due to such incidents,” said Samanta Lal Sen, coordinator of Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
He added that creating awareness could drastically cut the number of casualties.
This correspondent talked to 10 electrical burn patients admitted at the unit who lost their limbs. Some blamed their own ignorance while others said home owners or authorities were negligent in managing live wires.
Seventeen-year-old Shakib Hossain lost both his arms below the elbow after he got electrocuted while repairing a high-voltage Palli Bidyut line in Natore on August 26.
“My boss told me that the line was disconnected and asked me to start working. After I touched it, I was unconscious for about two days,” he said.
“It is not my fault. Who will take the responsibility now?” asked the boy, lying on a bed on the fourth floor.
A few yards away, 11-year-old Hossain of Sirajganj was groaning in pain. His left hand has been amputated. The upper parts of his body and left ear were burnt severely on August 25 after he came into contact with a dangling live wire on the roof of a restaurant where he used to work.
“My son’s life is at peril due to the negligence of the restaurant owner. We don’t even have the money to bear his treatment costs,” said his mother Hosneara Begum, struggling to hide her tears.
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