MEETING the ODDS

I can give you a little information about lightning that I found as I was trying to figure out what in the world hit me. There’s just no way to figure it out really, it was just lightning. But, lightning comes without warning. It is so unpredictable, we never know where or what it will strike. Historically, lightning kills more people than any other natural event only outranked by floods. The National Weather Service has changed it’s slogan to “When thunder roars, go indoors”. Don’t stand outside counting to 30 to see where the bolt is, go indoors and count to 30! Keraunomedicine is the medical study of lightning casualties. Keraunopathy is the study of the effects of a lightning strike rather than treatment. Lightning travels as fast as 100,000 miles a second. Channels have been observed longer than ten miles in length. Lightning strikes with ten million to 100 million volts with currents up to 50,000 plus amps. The experts on the subject say this is four to five times hotter than the sun. This happens in a split second also referred to as a millisecond. Hot lightning (high-current lightning) lasts more than a second. The high energy results in melting and/or carbonizing large objects. The heat of a lightning bolt can burn tissue, cause lung damage, and the chest can be damaged as a result of the forces of expanding hot air. Electricity generally causes cardiac arrest. It may also flash over the body leaving burns or Lichtengerg figures that can last for hour or days. Ruptured eardrums are most common and ocular cataracts can develop more than a year afterwards. Blunt trauma injuries occur from the shock waves when the surrounding air expands and implodes. For more information regarding lightning and safety go to the websites of the National Weather Service and Lightning Strike Survivors. Another good read is a paper titled “Lightning Injuries” by Eric L. Johnson, MD. Odds of Becoming a Lightning Strike Victim U.S. 2000 Census Population 280,000,000 Odds of being struck by lightning in a given year (reported deaths + injuries) 1/700,000 Odds of being struck by lightning in your lifetime (Est. 80 years) 1/3000 Odds that you will be affected by someone being struck (10 people per victim) 1/300 Just because you have been struck once does not take you out of the pool of possibility. There are people that have been struck multiple times so far in their lifetime. And since every person who survives a lightning strike has a set of unique injuries and after effects, treatment is difficult to find. Don’t give up. Get in the support group. Talk to other survivors. There are some things medicine can help. There is help for lightning strike survivors and their families needing medical and legal assistance at Lightning Strike Survivors.com.