Following the death of two young soccer players due to a lightning strike in the Northern Cape, the South African Football Association (Safa) has issued guidelines to its affiliates to secure its players in the advent of a lightning storm.
The guidelines were issued by Safa’s chief medical officer, Dr Thulani Ngwenya, who encouraged the affiliates to rush their players and staff on the technical bench to a safe location in the event of a lightning storm.
What is a safe location?
The safest place commonly available during a lightning storm is a large, fully enclosed, substantially constructed building, for example, a dressing room, house, school building, library or other public building.
Substantial construction also implies that the building has wiring and plumbing, which can conduct lightning current to the ground. However, any metal conductor exposed to the outside must not be touched as it could become a lightning conduit.
Once inside, stay away from corded telephones, electric appliances, lighting fixtures, ham radio microphones, electrical sockets and plumbing. Don’t watch lightning from open windows or doorways. Inner rooms are generally preferable from a safety viewpoint.
If you cannot reach a substantial building, an enclosed vehicle with a solid metal roof and metal sides is a reasonable second choice. As with a building, avoid contact with conducting paths going outside.
Close the windows, put your hands in your lap and don’t touch the steering wheel, ignition, gear shifter or radio. Convertibles, cars with fiberglass or plastic shells, and open-framed vehicles are not suitable lightning shelters.
If no safe structure or location is within a reasonable distance, find a thick grove of small trees surrounded by taller trees or a dirty ditch. Assume a crouched position on the ground with only the balls of the feet touching the ground, wrap your arms around your knees and lower your head. Minimise contact with the ground because lightning current often enters a victim through the ground rather than by a direct overhead strike.
Minimise your body’s surface area on the ground. Do not lie flat. If unable to reach safe shelter, stay away from the tallest trees or objects such as light poles or flag poles, metal objects such as fences or bleachers, individual trees, pools of water and open fields. Avoid being the highest object on the field.
Avoid using the telephone, except in emergency situations. A cellular phone or portable remote phone is a safe alternative to landline phones only if the person and the antenna are located within a structure and if all other precautions are followed.
People who have been struck by lightning do not carry an electrical charge. Therefore, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is safe for the responder.
If possible, an injured person should be moved to a safer location before starting CPR. Victims who show signs of cardiac or respiratory arrest need emergency help quickly. Prompt, aggressive CPR has been highly effective for the survival of victims of lightning strikes.
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