Designing Your Character & Other Handy Things

Being Struck by Lightening

What happens when someone gets struck by lightening?

Ten Shocking things that can happen if you are struck by Lightening

1. Deep entry and exit wounds can occur where the lightning strikes the body and then exits the body. The wounds are sometimes accompanied by severe burns. Also, can occur over large areas of the body, often in bizarre fractal patterns, as a result of bursting blood vessels.

2. The heat associated with the lightning strike can cause clothing to catch on fire. In addition, clothes can be shredded by the explosive force of air being superheated by the lightning bolt.

3. The force of lightning exiting a person's foot can easily blow off shoes.

4. The electric discharge of a lightning strike can instantly stop the heart and cause cardiac arrest. This happened to a concert-goer at RFK during the 1998 Tibetan Freedom Concert.

5. Brain damage and comas can occur if the electric current enters the skull. The associated heat from the electric current literally cooks brain cells.

6. Nerves can be damaged or destroyed by the lightning's electric discharge which can then lead to permanent paralysis or numbness in limbs.

7. Ruptured ear drums are very common with lightning strike victims.

8. Large pieces of jewelry, chains, and under wire bras may channel the electric current from a lightning strike. If the metallic items described above encounter lightning, the metal can superheat which will often burn and sear the skin.

9. Some victims are left with constant muscle twitches and Parkinson's Disease type symptoms.

10. And, of course, death can occur. The majority of lightning strike victims do survive, but many will experience one or more of the issues described above.

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What to do after someone has been struck: []

Call 911.
(Obviously they're going to need medical attention, stat.).

Help the person when it is safe - if you are at risk from ongoing lightning, wait until danger has passed or move to a safer place if possible.

(While I see the common sense side of this, I'd imagine that in the heat of the moment, the last thing you're going to want to do is just leave your friend/loved one just laid out, possibly going into cardiac arrest. But this is what they say to do.)

Begin CPR

(Wait! The body can retain an electrical charge. Make sure it is safe to touch them first. | & DO NOT REMOVE BURNED CLOTHING UNLESS NECESSARY)

Treat for Shock, if necessary.

(Put that blanket and cup of hot coco away. What needs to be done is you need to lay the victim down with their head slightly lower than the torso and legs.)

Let the professionals do their job.

(The emergency medical team will assess the person's condition and, at the hospital, the person will be examined for internal or neurological injuries and burns)

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"A complete physical examination by paramedics or physicians may reveal ruptured eardrums. Ocular cataracts may later develop, sometimes more than a year after an otherwise uneventful recovery. Long-term injuries are usually neurological in nature, including memory deficit, sleep disturbance, chronic pain, and chronic dizziness."

Found on http://anomalously-written.tumblr.com/