Those visiting Utah's great outdoors may be treated to the beauty and wonder of a thunderstorm. These storms, as they roll across the mountains, rumble with thunder and display spectacular lightning flashes. Such exhibitions make for great memories.
On the other hand, about 900 people in the United States are struck by lightning each year. Recent reports indicate about one-fourth of those victims will die. Of those surviving, three-fourths will suffer some type of long-term or permanent injury, and the remaining victims will completely recover with no permanent physical effects. Deaths from a lightning strike are usually a result of respiratory or cardiac arrest immediately after being struck.About lightning
Lightning is created when warm updrafts from the earth meet cooler air present in storm clouds, thereby creating a large static electrical charge. A charge difference results in a lightning bolt that may be discharged toward the earth.
Each lightning bolt carries between 10 million to 100 million volts of electricity and has a current as high as 200,000 amperes. Standard house current is 110 volts and 15 to 20 amperes. The contact lightning bolt temperature ranges from 15,000 to 60,000 degrees F.
Forms of lightning
- STREAK lightning is a single or multiple line from the clouds to the earth.
- SHEET lightning is a shapeless flash that covers a broad area and is commonly seen in cloud-to-cloud discharges.
- HEAT lightning, which is prevalent during hot weather, is a reflection of distant lightning beyond the horizon.
- SINGLE or MULTIPLE-LINE lightning, also known as ribbon lightning, is a conductive channel moved by high winds to make the strokes appear to parallel one another.
- BEADED lightning is an interrupted stroke.
- BALL lightning appears as a luminous globe or doughnut shape that hisses as it falls to earth, maneuvers at high speeds, rolls along structures or suspends itself in mid-air.
Thunder is created by the explosive expansion of air that is heated by a lightning stroke.
How lightning strikes
Lightning can strike a person by:
1. Direct stroke, when the victim is struck at the highest part of the body (usually the head) with the current passing through the victim's body and into the ground if the victim is grounded. This type is the most dangerous because it causes the highest degree of injury and the greatest chance of death.
2. Side flash occurs as the lightning bolt strikes a tree or other tall object and is diverted through the air to anyone in the immediate area.
3. Step voltage happens when lightning strikes the ground on which the victim is standing and causes a current to flow through the lower extremities and trunk.
First aid
Be cautious after a victim has been struck - lightning does and can strike twice in the same place.
Conduct a primary survey and treat immediately life-threatening conditions. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) must be started immediately if the victim is pulseless. Determine pulselessness by feeling the carotid artery (in the groove next to the Adam's apple). Immediate and continued CPR of lightning-strike victims who appear to be dead has significantly reduced the death rate related to lightning strikes.
The victim may have a spinal neck injury. Try to use the jaw-thrust maneuver to open the victim's airway.
Identify and treat all other non-threatening injuries. Apply dressings to burns and splint any possible fractures.
Seek medical attention.
- Alton Thygerson is a professor of health sciences at Brigham Young University.