Electrical appliances are staples of modern convenience. Where would we be without electric ovens to prepare our food, washers and dryers to handle our clothes and lights to illuminate our way in the dark? Electricity is an absolute must in the modern world, but with it comes numerous risks and potential hazards. Anything from a frayed cord to an overloaded circuit can cause a short or a spark, resulting in an electrical emergency. Our highly qualified electrician Brisbane 24 hours provide complete and totally dependable electrical services Australia-wide.

Though you’re better protected from electrical emergencies when you regularly maintain your home’s electrical systems and appliances, electrical emergencies can happen. Everything from an electrical fire to electric shock may put you or your family at risk, so it’s important to have a plan in place and understand what to do in the event of an electrical emergency. To that end, we’ve provided some basic electrical emergency procedures to help you and your family understand and create an electrical emergency response plan in the event of an electrical fire, shock or fallen power line.

Electrical Fire

Sometimes a short in a circuit causes it, other times it’s a frayed cord placed near some curtains. No matter how they end up happening, electrical fires can be dangerous to deal with. Establishing emergency response procedures for electrical fires in your home is essential to maintaining the health and safety of your entire family.

Emergency response procedures for an electrical fire include:

Cut the Power: The first thing you should do in any electrical fire is cut the power to the electrical system causing the problem. You can do this by flipping the switch on your home’s breaker box. Simply unplugging the appliance or flipping the switch still poses a risk, especially if the cause is a frayed wire or overheated appliance. If the fire has not yet fully started, this should be enough to stop the fire before it starts. This step is also important because it reduces the risk for electric shock for anyone handling the fire and allows you to use more resources while trying to stop the flame.
Use a Fire Extinguisher: If you have one in your home, everyone should know how to put out an electrical fire with a fire extinguisher. If you were unable to cut the power to the source of the fire, you should only use a Class C-rated fire extinguisher. These use carbon dioxide or dry chemical extinguishers. If the power was cut, you should use a Class A extinguisher, which is water-based. Pull the pin depressing the handle and point the horn at the base of the fire before holding down the handle. Continue dispersing the chemical until the fire is fully extinguished. If you are not sure of your fire-extinguisher’s class, have it checked — Class A and Class C extinguishers are not interchangeable and should only be used in the described circumstances.
Smother the Fire: If you do not have a fire extinguisher on hand, you should know how to put out an electrical fire without a fire extinguisher. If the power to the area is off, you can use either a fire blanket or water to extinguish the fire. However, if you cannot turn off the power or if you are not sure whether the power is off, do not use water and do not approach the fire, or else you risk electric shock.
Practice Fire Safety: If you cannot control the fire, exit the building as quickly and calmly as possible before calling authorities. Remember to keep close to the ground to avoid smoke inhalation and stop, drop and roll if your clothing catches on fire.
Call 911 and Exit: Always call 911 in the event of a fire, even if the fire is out. Smoldering objects are still able to reignite, especially if you were unable to cut power to the source of the fire.

One thing many homeowners are unaware of is that up to 90% of breaker panels are labeled incorrectly. Test your panels to make sure they are labeled correctly, and that you are able to shut off power effectively in an emergency.

Though it’s a good idea to know what to do in the event of an electrical fire, taking steps to prevent such fires is even more important. Avoid electrical fires by keeping flammable materials away from outlets, especially outlets currently in use. If you are using a power strip, be sure not to overload the strip or connect a string of strips together. You may also consider using surge protectors to help protect your electronics from overheating due to a power surge.

Electrical Shock

Contact with electricity sometimes happens, especially when electrical outlets and cords go without maintenance or if electrical appliances are placed near water. These cases can be particularly frightening, but it’s crucial to have electric shock emergency procedures in place in your home in the event of an accident. Here are a few things to keep in mind for your emergency response plan for an electrical shock:

Do Not Touch: If someone comes in contact with electricity, do not, under any circumstances, touch them directly. If you contact that person while they are still connected to the electrical current, you will also get shocked or electrocuted. Stay calm and stay away.
Keep Your Distance: If the cause of electrocution is a high voltage wire, stay at least 20 feet away from the wire. If the wire is jumping and sparking, stand even further away if possible.
Turn off Power: As soon as you are aware of the contact with electricity, if you are close to the circuit breaker, turn off power to that part of the house. Do this as quickly as you can.
Remove the Person: If it will take too long to get to the breaker, try to cut contact between the person and the electrical source using an insulated object. A wooden rod, PVC pipe or other material would work well in this case. Never, under any circumstances, use a wet or damp object. Use your best judgement to determine whether to remove the person from the shock or get to the breaker — the longer the person is in contact with the shock, the more likely the shock will be fatal. Once the person is removed from immediate danger, do not attempt to move them any further.
Call for Help: Once you have turned off the power or have otherwise removed the person from the source of the shock, immediately call 911 for help. If you have first aid or CPR training, administer it to the victim. If you do not have training, the 911 operator can give you directions until a responder arrives. Do this even if the victim says they feel fine — electric shock can have strange effects on a person’s health that may not be immediately visible or noticeable, even to the victim.

Preventing electric shocks is the most important part of your electric shock emergency plan. If you have small children, cover all outlets with protectors and educate them on electrical safety as soon as they are old enough to understand. When doing electrical repairs around the house, consult or hire an electrician for any duties where you are unsure of what to do. Additionally, you may want to consider installing a safety switch in your home. It will monitor the flow of electricity through a circuit and immediately shut off the circuit if it detects a problem, turning off the power within 0.03 seconds. This can help prevent electrocution, as well as electrical fires.

Power Outage

Probably the most common emergency on this list, power failures and blackouts can occur for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s due to a storm, downed power line, energy shortage or a problem in your home’s power lines, blackouts can be a headache and can be dangerous for your home appliances. In the event of a power failure, take the following steps to protect your home and family:

Check the Source: Sometimes, the cause of a blackout in your home is simply a short-circuit or tripped breaker. Check and reset your circuit breakers to ensure this isn’t the cause of your blackout.
Be Prepared: Whether your area is prone to power outages or you’re simply expecting a bad storm, being prepared for a power outage brings you extra peace of mind. Keep a power outage emergency kit in an easily accessible location, equipped with alternative lighting options, like candles, alternative cooking and heating options, a battery-powered radio and fresh water supplies. You may also want to keep a battery-powered mobile phone charging station so you can keep your lines of communication open.
Turn off Power toAppliances: As soon as a power outage occurs, turn off power to all heating and cooling appliances, such as cooking appliances, irons, heaters and air conditioners, and any electronics, via the circuit breaker. Turn off the branch circuits first, then the main breaker. Alternatively, ensure all of your electronics are plugged in to surge protectors so they are protected when the energy turns back on. You will also want to keep your food freezers and refrigerators closed to keep the food inside preserved as long as possible.
Contact Your Distributor: Using your mobile phone, contact your distributor as soon as possible to notify them of your outage. They can give you an idea of what happened, what they are doing to fix the problem and how long the outage will last. This is a particularly important step if you have any special needs due to specialized medical devices and are signed up for an uninterrupted supply of power.
Reset Safely: When power returns to your building, wait a few minutes before turning on your lights and appliances. The energy returning to the grid could be inconsistent, resulting in damage to your electronics if you turn them back on too quickly. Make sure to turn the main breaker back on first, then turn on the branch circuits.

If you require an uninterrupted supply of power, or you want to ensure a blackout doesn’t affect you, there are options, especially if you use solar panels or other alternative energy sources in your home. Battery banks, backup generators and other power storage devices can all help you keep the lights on a little longer after the grid goes out. If you have special needs, such as life supporting medical equipment on-premises, you can also talk to your distributor about setting up an uninterrupted supply of power. In both cases, ensuring your electrical hookups are in proper working order is extremely important.

Fallen Power Lines

Downed power lines pose a threat to you outside the house and should be treated with extreme caution. When near a fallen power line, keep the following in mind:

Always Be Cautious: We tend to think of live lines as always sparking and letting off lights and sounds, but live power lines don’t always seem active. Even if you think the line is inactive, always treat it as an electricity hazard and stay a minimum of 40 feet away from the line. Be sure to check for any dangling power lines, fallen or dangling limbs, puddles, vehicles, metal fences and other conductive materials that could pose an electricity hazard.
Avoid Trees: Trees in contact with power lines pose a serious threat to people, as living wood contains water and can be conductive. Even if you are not sure whether a line is in contact with a tree, avoid touching the tree or coming in contact with any material touching or surrounding the tree.
Keep Others Away: When possible, ward people away from the downed power line until help arrives. If you are in a vehicle, turn on your hazard lights and park a good distance away from the area and remain in your vehicle until help arrives. If you are a pedestrian, stand away from the area in a safe spot off the road. If people stop and ask you what is going on, advise them that the line is down and help is on the way, but they should avoid the area and take a different route if possible.
Immediately Contact Authorities: When you notice a downed power line, you should immediately notify the local distribution company in charge of the line.

These are steps to take if you avoid coming in contact with the power line. However, if your car comes in contact with the line, follow these safety rules:

Stay Inside Your Car: Do not risk leaving your car. Even if you aren’t sure whether the line is live or not, do not risk coming into contact with the outside of your car. Only get out of your car when authorities tell you it is safe.
Warn Others: Roll your window down and tell people to stay away from the area. Anyone in contact with the equipment or ground could be seriously injured.
Call for Help: Call 911 as soon as possible. If you don’t have a phone, roll down your windows and sound the horn to call for help and explain the situation to passers-by.
In Case of Fire, Exit Safely: If your car or the surrounding area catches fire and poses an immediate threat to your life, exit the vehicle safely. Remove any loose items of clothing, such as baggy jackets or scarves, keep your hands at your sides and off the metal of your car and get away from your vehicle. Keep your feet close together, with both feet touching the ground at the same time, and shuffle away from the vehicle without picking up your feet until you are a good distance away from the vehicle

If the downed power line is on your property, you’ll likely need to hire an electrician to fix the problem. A properly certified emergency electrician is the best choice in this case.

Learn More About Electrical Safety

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If you have questions about electrical safety or are looking for someone to assess your systems and provide residential electrical repairs in Westchester, NY, contact us today.

Circuit breakers are switches made to protect your electric circuits from being damaged by electrical overloads or short circuiting. Our electrician Melbourne CBD are expert electrical contractors, fully licensed to perform electrical service and data cabling installations for both commercial and residential premises.

Basically, electric current flows into your home into the breaker box (usually built in the garage or in the basement in the home) where it’s split into a number of circuits and sent throughout the house.

For rooms that only need electrical power for small things like lighting fixtures and televisions, you usually only need 15-amp circuits. For rooms with bigger appliances, such as the kitchen or bathroom, you’ll usually have 20-amp circuits. Certain appliances, like the oven or dryer, are so power consuming they need 30 – 50-amp circuits all to themselves! When it is said that a circuit breaker “trips,” it means that circuit has detected what’s known as a fault condition and has shut itself off to prevent the wiring from overheating and potentially igniting itself.

Resetting a tripped circuit breaker is generally pretty easy – you just need to go back to the electrical panel, find the circuit that’s not facing the same direction as the rest and flip it back to it’s original setting. If the breaker trips again right after you do this, that’s a problem – you’ll have to figure out the cause of the problem before you can fix it.

If your circuit breaker trips right after being reset, you could be facing one of three issues:

an overloaded circuit
a short circuit
a ground fault

Overloaded Circuit

An overloaded circuit is the most likely problem that would make your breakers trip. In simple terms, it means there is more current flowing through the circuit than it is made to carry, so it shuts off to stop any damage.

Remember earlier when we spoke about the different levels of current certain rooms in your home receives? When you are searching for an overloaded circuit, try finding any appliances on the overloaded circuit that would be using more electricity than the circuit would allow. Pay extra attention to objects such as space heaters, toasters, hair dryers straighteners, etc. – these things tend to consume the most power.

The solution for overloaded currents is pretty simple – just unplug things you’re not using! If this doesn’t solve the issue, call an electrician – you may have loose connections somewhere in the house, though this is pretty rare.
Short Circuit

If the problem is not being caused by an overloaded circuit, most likely a short circuit is be the issue. Short circuits are a slightly more serious problem than overloaded circuits, which happens when the hot (black) wire touches another hot wire or a neutral wire. The surest way to tell if you are having a short circuit is to first check your power cables for damage or a melted covering (make sure the appliance is unplugged first) and to check the power outlets or plugs for discoloration or a burning smell. If you can’t locate the problem, hire an electrician to take a look at it.
Ground Fault

If you’ve looked at the two other possibilities and checked for problems but you don’t think you have an overloaded or short circuit, you should check to see if a ground fault is causing your troubles. A ground fault exists when the hot (black) wire touches the ground (bare) wire or the walls of a metal outlet box. If you have a ground fault, it’s best to have an Vancouver electrician take care of the problem.

Today, I’d like to teach you a bit about the history and main principles behind the Pilates method of training. Just so you know, I’m far from being an expert on this subject, nonetheless I thought this could a great way for you and I to learn more about this increasingly popular fitness system. Sign up for our reformer Pilates teacher training Sydney & learn models of exercises to become a great reformer pilates instructor.

Pilates is a form of exercise that was invented by Joseph Pilates, a German circus performer and boxer who lived from 1883 to 1967. At the outbreak of World War I, he was put in an internment camp where he started to develop his own exercises using just a floor. His exercises were further developed and became the Pilates mat exercises that he later called “Contrology”.

Using the simple items available to him, he also developed series of exercises based on yoga, dance, and gymnastics. His methods of training were put to use during the time he spent in the camps as he helped rehabilitate soldiers and patients.

His main invention, and the tool most associated with Pilates is a table called the Reformer.

The Reformer is a table that uses a complex set of springs for exercises where resistance can be easily adjusted and controlled. Reformer exercises often need to be done with the assistance of somebody else to help with some of the movements.

There are literally hundreds of exercises that one can do with a Reformer table. Most exercises usually come with a few different variations to make it adaptable to a person’s fitness level.

Pilates exercises are low-impact, and put very little pressure on the ligaments and tendons so as to always minimize the risk of injury.

Other pieces of equipment used in Pilates training are elastics, springs, and medicine balls. Exercises done with these objects aim to provoke imbalances, which in turn activate a specific series of muscle stabilizers in your body.

Pilates’ exercises focus primarily on the abs, glutes, and core muscles. Core strength and torso stability are emphasized, and other, more superficial muscles usually get activated in the process.

This is a reason the Pilates’ method has been shown to help people with back pain. When the trunk becomes more stabilized, pressure on the back is relieved, and the body begins to move more efficiently.

This type of training focuses on exercises that are physically hard, but always smooth and controlled. The key here is quality, not quantity.

Pilates workouts, unlike many other fitness methods, include very few repetitions. Instead, the goal is often to slowly do one movement with precision while controlling breathing

For these reasons, Pilates can be practiced by practically any types of persons. Dancers, athletes, acrobats, as well as people of all age can greatly benefit from the

One cannot mention Pilates without mentioning the 8 fundamentals of the method. These principles, according to Joseph Pilates, help achieve balance, grace and fluidity to the body.

Here they are:

The 8 principles of Pilates
-Concentration: In the Pilates method, mind-body connection is extremely important. It is thought that to optimize an exercise, one must be entirely focused on each movement.

-Centering: Pilates called the center of the torso, the “powerhouse”. This is the place where you should bring your focus when doing your exercises. All your strength and energy emanates from this area, and focusing on this particular area will bring calm to your body and mind.

-Control: The way you move during an exercise should always be done using the proper form. This means having complete control over your muscles, and leaving no part of your body unattended.

-Precision: As mentioned earlier, Pilates’ movements should be done slowly, and meticulously. One perfect movement is always preferable to a higher set of repetitions.

-Breathing: Joseph Pilates used to say that breathing was the most important part of any training regimen. In fact, breathing activated blood circulation and awakens blood cells and muscles. As you train, you should focus on your breathing, making sure you keep inhale fully before exhaling.

-Alignment: Pilates promotes good posture. Whether you are standing up or lying on the ground, you should make a conscious effort to be aware of the position of your pelvis, neck, head, and spine.

-Flow: Every Pilates movements should be executed with grace and fluidity. Even as you move from one pose to another, every transition and movement should be done gracefully so that strength and stamina are always forced to develop.

-Integration: This principle underlines the importance of combining every fundamentals into each movement. This is done so that your muscles work in tandem as you execute movements.

This might seem very abstract and esoteric, but they are the 8 principles taught in Pilates classes. From what I’ve gathered about Pilates, its workout seems to be an interesting combination of Yoga and body-weight exercises.

I hope I’ve managed to get you interested in Pilates, I, for one, plan to go out and try a class somewhere in the near future. Every training method has something to teach you, find out what’s the best for you, and you’ll quickly be on your way to a better, healthier lifestyle.

To read more about fitness and different cardio workouts, head over to [http://www.trainyourcardio.com].

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