Not without reason a severe thunderstorm, a storm in many cause inexplicable subconscious fear. If bad weather has caught you on the street, in nature - you are in great danger. The worst thing here is the possibility of a lightning strike. What is this comparable to? An electric shock, only of enormous strength and power. It is important for the victim here not only in a timely manner, but also to provide assistance correctly. His life will depend on this. All the important things about first aid during a lightning strike will be described below.
What is this danger?
A lightning strike is on the list of conditions dangerous to human life. This is the result of a discharge falling both directly into its body and into nearby objects.
Lightning is a powerful electric discharge in the atmosphere, which in most cases is observed during a thunderstorm. In rare cases, such a natural phenomenon is characteristic of tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, and dust storms. Most often, lightning discharges in the atmosphere, inside the cloud. But cases are not excluded when this happens between the cloud mass and another object - a building, a car, a living creature.
The phenomenon is immediately affected by several factors:
- Electric discharge.
- Flash Light.
- Powerful sound wave.
Greatest danger
You expose yourself to the greatest danger in a thunderstorm in the following cases:
- Being in open space - in a meadow, in a field.
- Sailing on the surface of the reservoir.
- Standing on a hill - both in the mountains and on the roof of the building.
- Being under a lonely standing tree.
Why is the correct assistance in lightning striking so important? In 30% of cases, the incident leads to the death of the victim. Even if a person is still alive, injuries can make him disabled.
Symptoms of defeat
To provide first aid for a lightning strike, you first need to determine what happened to the victim just such an incident, and not another misfortune. There are several distinguishing features:
- At the places of entry and exit into the body of an electric discharge, you will see burns.
- One of the concomitant heavy factors - a lightning strike can cause the clothes of a victim of a natural phenomenon to ignite, or even a fire around her. This leads to deep large-scale burns on the body.
- Red, bluish stripes appeared on the skin of the victim, somewhat reminiscent of the pattern of blood vessels.
- Mechanical injuries - a lightning strike can contribute to the fall of a person, damage to him by foreign bodies (shifted by the force of the phenomenon or its consequences), shock of a sound wave. Often diagnosed with fractures, bleeding, separation of limbs.
- Delusions, hallucinations.
- Hearing loss, vision, disorientation.
- Stop breathing and blood circulation. This is a consequence of damage to the respiratory and vasomotor centers of the victim’s brain by an electric discharge.
- Violation or complete loss of consciousness by a person.
Is the victim dangerous for rescuers?
If you know that a person has been struck by lightning, do not be afraid to touch him, thinking that you will be shocked!
Unlike all other electrical injuries, the victim’s body is not energized. Feel free to proceed with first aid in case of lightning strike in a person. Wear protective rubber gloves, try to "de-energize" it is not necessary.
To bury a person who has been shocked into the ground is a big mistake, which can cost him his life! Previously, they did so, hoping that the electric charge from the body goes into the ground, and the victim "comes to life". In fact, the current passes through his body in a split second, leaving no voltage behind.
First aid for a lightning strike: a person unconscious
The victim needs immediate professional assistance to save his life! Therefore, first of all, call an ambulance - in this case, a team of resuscitators will come.
But you should not just stand and wait for doctors - a layman can save the life of the victim. First aid for a lightning strike - determine whether a person is conscious or not. In the second case, we do this:
- Pull yourself together, do not panic - only being calm can you really help.
- Check for heartbeat and breathing. The easiest way to do this is by placing a finger on the carotid artery on the victim’s neck.
- If breathing and heart rhythms are absent, then immediately you need to go to indirect heart massage and artificial respiration.
- Lay the victim back on a hard surface.
- If you are acting alone, then a simple instruction: do two mouth-to-mouth blowing airs. Then fifteen presses with palms clasped in the lock on his chest.
- If you provide assistance with a friend, then the ratio of "breath-massage" is done in a ratio of 1: 5. It is better to act in this case one by one.
- Continue the action until the ambulance arrives or until the victim breathes on his own, his pupils do not narrow, his skin turns pink.
Try to make at least 12 air blows into his lungs and at least 72 hand presses on the chest of the victim of a lightning strike in a minute.
Assisting if a person is conscious
And what will be the first medical aid for a lightning strike if the victim is conscious? A case of lesser danger, but requires assistance:
- First call an ambulance.
- Take the victim to shelter.
- Change his clothes, put them on.
- Cover with a warm blanket.
- Drink sweet tea with warm tea. If there is a first-aid kit on hand, 30 drops of tincture of valerian or corvalol will help.
- Do not leave the victim until the ambulance arrives. All this time, monitor whether he is conscious, what his breathing and heartbeat are.
If there is bleeding
First aid for a lightning strike is also a stop of bleeding (if there is one).
Arterial. The rescuer can do the following:
- If the damaged artery is clearly visible, then it is realistic to pinch it with a finger or fist just above the lesion site - to the bone of the victim.
- In other cases, a tourniquet is also placed above the lesion site - a strong elastic tape. It can be a belt, sling, rope and so on. Under the tourniquet put a note with the time of its imposition. Every 30-40 minutes in the winter and 60-90 minutes in the summer, it weakens, after which it is again delayed. So you will save the victim from tissue necrosis due to prolonged compression.
Venous Here they do this:
- A sterile pressure dressing is applied to the wound.
- In case of inefficiency, a tourniquet is placed below the wound.
If there are burns
First aid for electric trauma and lightning strike includes the treatment of burns:
- Take a person out of the location of exposure to high temperature, put out clothes on him.
- If possible, remove smoldering remnants of things from it. It is better to do this by cutting clothes around the places where it is burnt to the skin. These damaged locations are covered with a sterile dressing.
- A bubble, a container of cool, cold water, ice or snow is applied to the burnt surface through a clean gauze dressing for 15-20 minutes. But with extensive defeats this can not be done!
- Give the victim a cold drink - best of all plain water.
- If there is, offer him pain medication.
- Remove the person’s jewelry, watch - then it will not allow swelling.
- Dressings should be bandage, sterile, not pressing. You cannot use cotton wool!
- Fix the burnt part - a person should not lie on it.
- If the burn is extensive, the victim must be wrapped in a clean sheet.
You know how to help a person who has been struck by lightning. The first step in any case should be to call an ambulance!