LIGHTNING INJURIES - Medicine for Mountaineering and Other Wilderness Activities - page 442

◆ From Colorado data: 66 percent of incidents had only one casualty; the maximum
number of casualties in a single incident was twelve.
◆ In Colorado: More people became casualties during recreation (52 percent) than dur-
ing employment (25 percent).
◆ In Florida: More people became casualties during employment (38 percent) than dur-
ing recreation (32 percent).
◆ In Colorado: More people were injured by lightning near or at the summit of a moun-
tain ridge (18 percent) and in the vicinity of trees (16 percent).
◆ InFlorida: Alocation close to water was the most common site (25percent), followed
by proximity to trees (22 percent), and during transportation (10 percent).
◆ Analyses for Colorado and Florida found a high number of injured individuals on golf
courses. However, the golf-related frequency was equaled or exceeded by several oth-
er activities and locations.
◆ Military data from 1998 to 2001 found that 142 lightning strikes caused 350 injuries
and one death of service members.
In October 1997, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) pub-
lished thirty-five years of U.S. lightning statistics. The locations at which individuals were
injured or killed were as follows:
40 percent: site not reported
27 percent: open fields and recreation areas
14 percent: under trees
8 percent: water related
5 percent: golfing or golfers under trees
3 percent: heavy equipment and machinery related
2.4 percent: corded telephone related
MECHANISMS OF LIGHTNING INJURY
Lightning can strike a human body in several ways:
Direct strike: Initial contact is with a human body. This type of strike produces the most
severe injuries and is associated with a high level of mortality and morbidity because
voltages and current are high and flow through the person. Carrying an ice ax, golf
club, or umbrella increases the risk of a strike.
Side or splash strike: Initial contact is with a tree or some other object and is discharged
throughtheairtotheperson.Thistypeofstrikeismostcommonandcanbeassociated
with multiple fatalities.
Contact strike: Apersonisincontactwithanobjectthatisstruckbylightning.Iftheobject
is a metal rail or fence and a number of people are in contact with it, the number of
injured or killed can be high.