5 Levels of Lightning Safety

If you are planning to be outside, watch the weather forecast and know your local weather patterns. Schedule your outdoor activities to avoid the lightning hazard. You can get the weather forecast from your local National Weather Service office. Click this link to go to the National Weather Service office in Corpus Christi. While National Weather Service doesn't issue weather warnings specifically for lightning, anytime the word 'thunderstorm' is used in their forecasts, there is a lightning threat. More and more National Weather Service offices are incorporating lightning specific information in their forecast discussions.

If you have to be outside, stay near a safer location and use the '30-30 Rule' to know when to seek proper shelter. Adults must be responsible for the safety of children in their care. This includes lightning safety. Coaches and referees of children's outdoor sports must be especially aware of lightning safety. Fight the urge to finish the game or get in just one more play. When the lightning safety rules tell you to go to a safer place, do so immediately. Hesitation could lead to your children being killed or crippled for life.

If you have to be outside, at least avoid the most lightning dangerous locations and activities. Avoid higher elevations. Avoid wide-open areas, including sports fields. Avoid tall isolated objects like trees, poles, and light posts. Avoid water-related activities: boating, swimming (includes indoor pools), and fishing. Avoid golfing. Avoid open vehicles with open cockpits like some farm tractors, open construction vehicles, riding lawnmowers, golf carts (even with roofs), etc. Avoid unprotected open buildings like picnic pavilions, rain shelters, and bus stops. Avoid metal fences and metal bleachers.

Lightning Crouch: USE THIS AS A DESPERATE LAST RESORT ONLY! If you've made several bad decisions and are outside far away from a safer location and lightning threatens, proceed to the safest location possible. Get away from elevated places, open areas, tall isolated objects, water, and unprotected open building. While on your way to the safest spot you can find, look for the signs that lightning is imminent. Sometimes lightning will give a very few seconds of warning. Sometimes your hair will stand-up on end, or your skin will tingle, or light metal objects will vibrate, or you'll hear a crackling or 'kee-kee' sound. If this happens and you're in a group, spread out so there are several body lengths between each person. If one person is struck, the others may not be hit and can then give first aid. Once you've spread out, use the lightning crouch; put your feet together, squat down, tuck your head, and cover your ears. When the immediate threat of lightning has passed, continue heading to the safest spot possible. Remember, this is a desperate last resort; you are much safer having followed the previous steps and not gotten into this high-risk situation!

All deaths from lightning are cardiac arrest and by the stopped breathing that follows. The recommended first aid is to have someone call 9-1-1 to get professional help and immediately apply CPR or mouth-to-mouth-resuscitation, respectively. Only about 10% of lightning victims are killed. Proper first aid, quickly applied, has a 90% chance of saving a life. More Medical Information