1. Who is at greatest risk for lightning strikes?

Males are five times more likely than females to be struck by lightning. Most lightning strike victims are children and young adults aged 15–34 years who work outside or regularly participate in outdoor recreation. Construction and farming are the two most common occupations for victims of lightning strikes. Regional, seasonal, and temporal differences affect the risk of lightning injury. For instance, most lightning strikes occur in the summer months, especially July, during the afternoon and evening. Also, southeastern states are particularly at risk, with Texas and Florida having the largest number of lightning-related deaths.

2. How does lightning cause injuries?

Lightning can cause injuries in several ways:

Direct strike: Victims may sustain a direct strike, which is often fatal.

Victims may sustain a direct strike, which is often fatal. Contact injury: This occurs when lightning strikes an object, such as a car or metal pole, that the victim is touching.

This occurs when lightning strikes an object, such as a car or metal pole, that the victim is touching. Side flash: This occurs when lightning splashes or bounces off an object, such as a tree or person, onto the victim.

This occurs when lightning splashes or bounces off an object, such as a tree or person, onto the victim. Ground current: This occurs when lightning strikes the ground near a victim and the ground current passes from the strike point through the ground and into the victim.

This occurs when lightning strikes the ground near a victim and the ground current passes from the strike point through the ground and into the victim. Streamer: When the air is charged with electricity during a lightning storm, bursts of energy, or streamers, can come upward from objects near the ground. Sometimes these streamers travel upwards through people, causing harm to the victims.

When the air is charged with electricity during a lightning storm, bursts of energy, or streamers, can come upward from objects near the ground. Sometimes these streamers travel upwards through people, causing harm to the victims. Blast injury: The lightning’s blast effect, thunder, may cause either primary injury, such as ruptured eardrums, or tertiary injury, such as blunt trauma when the victim falls or is thrown.

3. What happens to the body as a result of a lightning strike?

About 10% of people struck by lightning die, most commonly due to heart attack. Other lightning injuries include blunt trauma, neurological syndromes that are usually temporary, muscle injuries, eye injuries (“lightning-induced cataract”), skin lesions, and burns.