What is the greatest concern with a lightning strike injury?

What is the greatest concern with a lightning strike injury?

The heat produced when lightning moves over the skin can produce burns, but the current moving through the body is of greatest concern. While the ability to survive any lightning strike is related to immediate medical attention, the amount of current moving through the body is also a factor.

What is the number one sport that people are injured by lightning?

Fishing is the most common outdoor activity for lightning deaths with 33 recorded fatalities between 2006 and 2016. Nearly all of the fishing-related fatalities were men, Jensenius added, which is a pattern that is common among all of lightning related deaths.

Why do you provide spinal motion restriction to a patient who has been struck by lightning?

Always provide C-spine immobilization as many of these victims sustained trauma from being thrown. This is a high priority transport. Call for ALS if available as lightning strike patients can sustain unsuspected heart damage that could result in arrhythmias.

What are signs of a lightning strike injury?

What are the signs and symptoms of lightning injuries?

• Hearing or vision loss.
• Fast or irregular heartbeat, or chest pain.
• Headache, trouble staying awake, confusion, or dizziness.
• Shortness of breath.
• Muscle pain, weakness, stiffness, or temporary paralysis.
• Skin burns.
• Passing out, weak pulse, or no pulse.

What kind of damage is caused by a lightning strike?

Common injuries caused by lightning include: muscle pains, broken bones, cardiac arrest, confusion, hearing loss, seizures, burns, behavioral changes, and ocular cataracts. Loss of consciousness is very common immediately after a strike.

How are lightning injuries treated?

Initial treatment should begin with assessment and stabilization of the airway, breathing, and circulation. Persons who have been struck by lightning should be treated as trauma patients, with close attention to spinal immobilization.

Who is most likely victim of a lightning strike?

Males are five times more likely than females to be struck by lightning; around 85% of lightning fatalities are men. People aged 15–34 years account for almost half of all lightning strike victims (41%). The majority (89%) of lightning deaths occur among whites.

Has anyone ever died from lightning in an outdoor pool?

The short answer is ‘yes’, but there are other considerations. The biggest fear is a direct strike by lightning. Statistics from the US show that between 2006 and 2015, there were 71 water related deaths from lightning strikes of which 20% were of people in boats and 8% were swimming.

Can lightning cause spinal injury?

Alternatively, lightning strike and electrical shock may lead to spinal cord damage due to the secondary consequences of injury such as spinal fractures sustained after a fall.

What kind of injuries can lightning cause?

What happens if lightning strikes you?

Dr. Griggs says if a person is struck by lightning, it can cause cardiac arrest, which stops a person’s body from circulating blood and cause direct injury to the brain and nervous system, preventing the brain from being able to send the appropriate signals to tell the body to continue breathing.

Does every lightning strike cause damage?

Most lightning strikes cause damage through the large current flowing in the return stroke or through the heat that is generated by this and the continuing current. The precise mechanisms whereby lightning currents cause damage are not completely understood, however.

What are the treatment options for lightning-related injuries?

Consider complete spinal immobilization since a lightning strike also has a blunt traumatic mechanism. If the clothing is on fire or smoldering, douse the area with water. Remove hot or smoldering jewelry or any other objects that may retain heat and continue to burn the patient. Assess, establish and maintain an airway.

What happens to your body when you get struck by lightning?

There are no source (entry) and ground (exit) wounds associated with a lightning strike. Superficial burns are normally present in lightning strike injuries. Severe burns are usually associated with a thermal source from the ignition of clothing or metal objects retaining heat. Linear burns may occur and appear as lines on the body.

What is the pathophysiology of lightning-caused injuries?

This can potentially cause blunt trauma to the head, spine, chest, abdomen, pelvis, and extremities; soft-tissue trauma; internal organ damage; and barotrauma to air containing structures. Due to this mechanism, maintain a high index of suspicion of traumatic injury and consider spinal immobilization of lightning strike victims.

What is the cardiac rhythm of a lightning strike victim?

Contrary to the normal thinking in initial rhythms in cardiac arrest, the lightning strike victim may be more viable in the initial asystolic cardiac rhythm. The ventricular fibrillation rhythm may reflect a severely acidic and hypoxic state associated with a secondary cardiac arrest that may be more difficult to resuscitate.