Reports detail what happened when Salina girl was shocked
By Erin Mathews, The Salina Journal, Kan. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
According to an emergency responder report, when city employees removed the lid from the box there was evidence of an electrical short.
"There were signs that the wires along the east side of the box had been arcing against the inside of the box and possibly the lid," according to the report. The Journal was unable to determine through sources what might have caused a short.
An incident report prepared by city electrician
A letter accompanying that information from
Wrongful death suit
Nordstrom wrote that the city is expecting to be sued, and
Jayden, who would have been a sixth-grader at
In-ground junction box
Jayden was shocked when she came into contact with the metal cover over one of two in-ground electrical junction boxes at the front of
Nordstrom said that because of the pending litigation, documents determining liability are protected from public disclosure. Also, Nordstrom said police investigative materials would not be produced.
However, Nordstrom provided copies of the photographs, as well as an incident form filled out by a witness to the shocking of paramedic
Checking the boxes
In his one-page report, Adams wrote that he responded to
Adams wrote that when he arrived,
"When the lid was removed, the first item I noticed was that a wire was melted, along with the wire nut," the report read. "Additionally, I noticed burn marks on the underneath side of the lid."
The source of the wire
Adams wrote that he was asked to determine the source of the wire to ensure that it would not be turned back on accidentally and to determine its voltage potential.
"I moved the wire that was burnt out from where it had been touching, so that it would not spark as I was checking to see which location this feed was from," the report read.
He wrote that, first, Westar's power was restored, and that did not return voltage to the wire.
Then a breaker labeled "downtown lanterns" was turned on, and Adams again checked the voltage.
"The potential to ground was around 208 volts," the report read. "Once we verified the source and where it was fed from, we turned the breaker off and locked the panel out so that there was no voltage there while the circuit was being evaluated."
A 30-year-old system
City officials have said the wires in the junction box were part of a 30-year-old city-owned and city-maintained downtown lighting system. City Manager
Emergency responders
The emergency responder incident report indicated that an ambulance arrived at
"Paramedic
Hoskins approached Jayden and bent to pick her up. The report said he intended to immediately carry her to the ambulance and sent his partner to clear off the cot.
An immediate shock
"He knelt down with his right knee to get a better lifting angle," the report read. "His knee touched a 10-inch square metal plate which was slightly under the patient's right side."
Hoskins felt an immediate shock and fell backward, rolling away from Jayden. The report indicated that 2 to 3 inches of rainwater was flowing toward the street through the area where Jayden was lying.
Hoskins immediately jumped up and warned his co-workers that the girl was energized by electric current.
After firefighters hooked a Fiberglas-handled pike pole through one of Jayden's belt loops, they were able to pull her away from the junction box and transfer her to an ambulance, where life-support measures were begun. She was transported from the scene at
Others were shocked
A second ambulance was called to respond to
Jayden was transported to a
-- Reporter
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