[pct-l] FW: lightning

[Gary Wright]

I'd like to add a few thoughts about lightning based on my Wilderness First Responder course.

If you are in a group, spread out during a lightning storm (50 feet or more).  If you stay together, a single strike can affect the entire group leaving no one able to respond to injuries.

The standard recommendation is to squat/sit down on an insulator (sleeping pad, backpack) with your arms across your knees, feet together. This allows the ground current from a nearby strike to pass through your legs and arms and not through your chest and heart. According to "Wilderness First Responder" by Buck Tilton, no one has ever been seriously injured by lightning in this "lightning position".

CPR can be effective on lightning strike victims and should be attempted immediately. This also implies that members of your party who are injured but have a pulse and are breathing on their own should be treated *after* you've attempted CPR on lifeless members. This is somewhat non-intuitive and goes against a normal triage procedure for mass casualties but is based on the fact that CPR can be effective in lightning strike situations.

The electric charge of a lightning strike can disrupt the heart or breathing or both.  Rescue breathing for a lightning strike victim may be needed even if the victim has a pulse.

Finally, survivors of lightning strikes even if no loss of consciousness occurred, should be evacuated. Neurological problems can show up days later.

Radar