Stay out of and away from water, because water is a very efficient conductor of electricity. Stay clear of beaches and get out of small boats and canoes. Don’t get caught a long way from the shore in a small boat in a thunderstorm. If you are, lower any sails for safety because of gusting winds, move to the middle of the boat and lay flat. Stay as far away from any metal fixtures and fittings as you can. Be wary of metal fittings on any safety lines, life belts, etc. you may be wearing.
Even people in the water, swimming and scuba-diving aren’t safe. Swimmers can suffer injury through lightning strike.
• Give first aid after a strike and call for medical assistance as soon as you can. If the victim has stopped breathing, begin mouth to mouth. If the heart has stopped beating, a trained person should give cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). If the struck person has a pulse and is breathing, address any other injuries.
• Beware of additional lightning strikes – lightning does strike twice in the same place!
• NOTE: After a strike, the human body drains the electricity, so you cannot get a shock by touching a victim and it is therefore safe to offer assistance (assuming there are no other risks around).
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The victim will have bums in two places. There is usually an entry wound/burn and an exit wound/burn. For example, a victim may have been holding a metal umbrella, and the lightning entered through their right hand, travelled down through their body and exited through their left foot into the earth. There will be a burn wound at the entry and exit points. Being struck by lightning can also cause nervous system damage, broken bones, and loss of hearing or eyesight.
Moving water and vehicles
Another danger that is unfamiliar to most UK residents is mixing vehicles with moving water, particularly streams and rivers that cross roads and floodwaters on roads.
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Moving water has immense power. It can destroy houses, rip down bridges and move huge boulders. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that it is safe to walk or drive through a few inches of moving water.
• Because floods are uncommon in the UK, we are unfamiliar with the dangers of moving water. A few inches of fast-flowing water can kill you.
• Off-road-driving instructors say that before driving into any water, in even the biggest and meanest four-wheel-drive vehicle, the driver should check for depth, flow and obstructions by prodding with a long stick. (They also need to see if there is somewhere to drive out of the water on the far bank.)
• Any water may be deeper than it appears.
• Water may be flowing faster than it appears.
• The power ot flowing water is immense. Less than two tect ot water can wash away almost any vehicle. If the circumstances are right, a small family car can be washed off the road by just six inches of moving water.
• If you or you and your car are washed into deeper water, you arc at the mercy of cold, fast currents and floating debris. DON’T RISK IT.
• If faced with flowing water and floods, get out and get to dry land and high ground as soon as you can. Don’t try to save the vehicle. Don’t risk your life for a metal box with a wheel on each corner.
• STAY OUT OF MOVING WATER.
