Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers are eye level to electrical outlets and like to poke objects in them. Most parents have the outlets covered, but what do you do if your child's gets curious at a home where they are not covered and pokes a screw driver into the outlet? Or perhaps they are playing with a wire that is old and coming apart, they stick it into their mouth and are getting shocked.

A severe electric shock may knock a child unconscious, burn them, cause internal damage and may stop breathing. A mild shock may simply hurt and scare them. This article is what to do in severe shock cases.

If your child is getting an electrical shock your first instinct is to grab them away from the current, but don’t! You will be joined into the electrical current and not be able to help your child. Your first step is to switch the current off, if you can. If this is not possible, you need to get a nonconductive item like a wooden stick, or a broom handle and push away or lift off the source of the current. Push it far enough away so that it won’t re-conduct, then quickly run back to the victim.

Now that the current is disconnected from your child, check to see if they are breathing. To do this put your finger under the jaw to feel a pulse and your ear by their nose, watch for the rise and fall of their chest. If they are not breathing start Cardio Pulmonary Resucitation and call for emergency medical help.

If they are breathing you should take them into the emergency room for an examination. There can be internal injuries that you can not see, even if the external burn looks minor. You can treat the burn, if it looks minor, like a normal burn. But, going to the emergency room should preclude this if it was a severe shock.