Contact injury: Lightning strikes an object, like a car or metal pole, that someone is touching. How likely is lightning to strike a person? While lightning strikes occur more frequently outside, 32% of lightning strike injuries happen indoors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). When this happens, a lightning strike occurs. If the person survives resuscitation it may also happen that brain damage is caused by oxygen deficiency.When the damage starts in the spinal cord this may cause softening of the spinal cord by which, for example, paralysis may develop.When the damage begins in the brains, the gray matter may be affected. It may also be that the consequences do not occur until after some time. ● Contact: occurs if person is touching something struck by lightning like a flag pole. http://dangthatscool.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/kaboom-lightning-is-spectacular/ You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io, Sharon Osbourne’s Granddaughter Has COVID-19. People can also suffer from burns, shock, and blunt trauma, the CDC says. Atrial Fibrillation (AFib)Heart Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment, Breast Cancer Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment. How does lightning cause injuries? Try This Quick Arm Workout in Your Backyard, This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. When the damage begins in the brains, the gray matter may be affected. Lightning strikes may cause injury either by a direct strike or indirectly when the current goes through another object or the ground before reaching a person. Check for a pulse in the carotid artery, which is found on the neck directly below the jaw. Lightning is one of the top weather-related killers. According to calculations, if a person is standing within 30feet of lightning strike point, … “Whether [the injury] hurts is highly variable based on the type of strike and what gets injured,” explains Nicholas Kman, M.D., an emergency medicine physician at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Most people killed or injured by lightning are outside doing recreational activities or sports, or are working outside such as construction or farming jobs. Her skin everywhere had turned bright red as if she had an intense sunburn. ; Side splash: Lightning jumps from the primary strike object on its way to the ground. Brachioradial Pruritus: Intensely Itchy Arms, 14 Random Life-Changing Beauty Finds Under $30. Cardiac arrest is the most common cause of death. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 19th Ed. Fact: 32% of lightning strike injuries happen indoors. Support from readers like you helps us do our best work. The most common indoor lightning injuries involve a person talking on a corded phone or resting on/looking out of a metal-framed window. Heart attack or irregular heartbeat; See Additional Information. It can occur because someone is directly struck by lightning, although in almost all cases this leads to death. Overall, the effects of a lightning strike may range from a slight inconvenience to a debilitating, lifelong struggle. Burns and electric shock injuries can occur when someone is in direct contact with one of lightning's chosen paths to ground. Lightning Science: Five Ways Lightning Strikes People. (http://dangthatscool.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/lightning-flowers.jpg). She was taken to the ER by her mom, who witnessed everything. REFERENCE:Kasper, D.L., et al., eds. When people do die from a lightning strike, it is usually due to an electrical discharge-induced heart attack. Updrafts and downdrafts of air cause cooling. Do not stand underneath trees and if in an exposed area, crouch down on the ground with your arms and legs close together and cover your ears. Why trust us? Brain injury rehabilitation will be picked up later and will be tailored to the symptoms. The lightning current can branch off to a person from a tree, fence, pole, or other tall object. Stay inside a building or a car during the storm. Here’s why: A lightning strike is a massive electrical discharge between the atmosphere and an earth-bound object. ✔️ Check for a pulse: Lightning often causes a heart attack. Thermal burns can also occur especially if one’s clothes ignite or metal zippers melt into the skin. The duration of these issues usually depends on how severe the initial injury was, Dr. Billet says: “Someone with complete loss of strength might never fully recover, while someone with mild tingling or numbness can probably expect a full recovery in weeks to months.”. Streamers. They also showed a picture of a spidery pattern that appeared on her back, similar to one shown from this other website. 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