MORE ABOUT LIGHTNING

The two items headed "Lightning may strike twice" and "How to avoid, and deal with lightning strike emergencies" published by the Association towards the end of 2010 elicited comment from readers.

One comment in particular should be highlighted and concerns the statement made about aeroplanes, vehicles, buildings and trees being frequently struck by lightning but considered safe places to be during severe thunder storms. A concerned reader found the reference to trees ambiguous.  To put the matter beyond doubt, it is again confirmed that trees are frequently struck by lightning but cannot, under any circumstances, be considered to be a safe place for shelter during a severe thunderstorm.

With storms and heavy rains continuing across the eastern parts of the country in areas such as KwaZulu-Natal and Pondoland in particular, the number of deaths and injuries caused by lightning strikes, increased dramatically. Immediately prior to the end of December 2010, the residents of Lake Jasmine at Augusta Country Estate, Gillitts witnessed and experienced a lightning strike of some intensity leaving many of them momentarily stunned. A person who was close to the strike said that it felt like a gust of concentrated air that hurled her body backward.

This experience pales into insignificance when compared with the trauma experienced by rural villages living at Mpumazi, close to Eshowe in KZN. A devastating lightning strike on New Year's Eve left seven people dead, including several young children.

According to the South African Weather Service (SAWS), there were a total of 165 000 lightning strikes across the country on 2 January 2011. Of these, 5000 were in the Eastern Cape. The province with the highest number of strikes was KwaZulu-Natal with 74 000, followed by Mpumalanga with 30 000. The least number of strikes were in the Western Cape with 170 and Gauteng with 602.

The MEC for Co-operative Government and Traditional Affairs in KZN has called on the national Department of Science and Technology to investigate why there has been an increase in the number of people killed by lightning.

In view of the large number of infants being victims of lightning strikes, information about how to administer Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) to infants was sourced from Lifesaving SA.

HOW TO ADMINISTER CPR TO AN INFANT

Call for help - if breathing cannot be detected in the victim - ask someone to call an ambulance

• Place your mouth over the infant's mouth and nose, creating a seal
• Using a head-tilt-chin-lift, make sure the airway is kept open
• Give two slow breaths - about 1.5 seconds each
• Be sure the chest rises with each breath
• If there is no response, re-open the airway and try again
• If breathing is detected, place the infant in the recovery position.

The child should be in a prone position, with the right knee and right elbow slightly bent, left arm at the child's side, face turned  to the right  to prevent inhalation of vomit

• Check for signs of air circulation (normal breathing, coughing or response to the two rescue breaths)
• If breathing is not present, give one rescue breath every three seconds
• If there are no signs of air circulation, perform chest compressions. Press down on the sternum, at a rate of at least 100 compressions a minute
• To locate the correct position for compression, place two fingers of one hand over the lower half of the sternum approximately one finger's width below the "nipple line" (an imaginary line between the nipples)
• Using two fingers, press down on the sternum at a rate of at least 100 a minute
• The other hand should hold the infant's head in position for rescue breaths
• After five compressions open the airway with a head-tilt-chin-lift and give one effective breath

• If there are still no signs of circulation, continue the process until medical rescue services arrive. 

Pieter Rautenbach