Winona State University Athletic Training

Lightning Safety

Policies and Procedures Document

Revised 10/17/03

Introduction, Rationale, & Purpose:

“Lightning is the most consistent and significant weather hazard that may affect intercollegiate athletics. Within the United States , the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) estimates that 100 fatalities and 400-500 injuries requiring medical treatment occur from lightning strikes each year. While the probability of being struck by lightning is extremely low, the odds are significantly greater when a storm is in the area and the proper safety precautions are not followed.

•  Excerpt from NCAA Guide Line 1d Lightning Safety

Lightning strikes approximately 1,000 people annually in the United States , causing fatalities in about 1/3 of these cases. Most of these cases involve persons in outdoor, open areas during the period preceding, during, or after a lightning storm. Lightning storms move at speeds of 25 mph or more and lightning can strike as much as 30 miles ahead of or following the main rain cell of a lightning storm, striking from a clear blue sky. Because of this, visual means of lightning detection is inadequate. Further, persons must seek shelter in advance of the visual lightning or the main rain cell.

Chain of Command:

The responsibility for terminating an athletic activity in the event of lightning, severe weather, and/or storms lies with the WSU certified athletic trainer covering that site

•  A WSU certified athletic trainer will communicate with the WSU Games Management (if competition is in progress), the head coach and/or his/her designee, and game official(s) / umpire(s) of the potential for a lighting strike, severe weather, and/or storm, and will make the recommendation that all activities stop immediately.
•  This recommendation will be based upon information gathered from the National Weather Service and documented lightning strike information as gathered by the LD-250 Lightning Detector.
•  If the head coach is not present, an assistant coach will assume responsibility.
•  If a coach and/or game official(s) / umpire(s) make the decision to continue to practice and/or continue with a game or other activity despite a National Weather Service Severe Weather Warning, the cancellation of classes, and/or the verbal instruction by a WSU certified athletic trainer or WSU Games Management Personnel , they will be doing so against the recommendations of the WSU Athletics Department, and will be personally liable for any and all injuries.

Criteria For Evacuation of the Practice / Game Area:

The policy of the Winona State Athletic Training Program will be as follows:

•  A WSU certified athletic trainer will inform the visiting team’s athletic trainer and/or coach and game official(s) / umpire(s) of WSU’s policy with regards to lightning, severe weather, and/or storms during pre-game warm-ups.
•  A WSU certified athletic trainer or athletic training student will monitor the LD-250 lightning detector from the press box on Maxwell Field.
•  Athletic Training staff members will be assigned to monitor the LD-250 Lightning Detector for a specific amount of time as deemed appropriate by the certified athletic trainer in charge of that site.
•  At NO time should the Lightning Detector be left unsupervised during times of inclement weather.
•  A WSU certified athletic trainer will watch for lightning and listen for thunder, and will be responsible for keeping track of the flash / bang count.
•  A WSU certified athletic trainer will also monitor local weather radar and media outlets for severe thunderstorm, tornado, hurricane, and/or other severe weather watches / warnings.
•  When the flash/bang count reaches 40 seconds, the LD-250 Lightning Detector 10 mile lightning strike alarm has been reached, and/or a severe weather watch has been issued, a WSU certified athletic trainer will notify the following persons-
•  The game official / umpire (at a break in the action);
•  The WSU head coach and/or his/her designee;
•  The visiting team’s athletic trainer and/or coach (if applicable); and
•  WSU games management staff (if applicable).
• When the flash/bang count reaches 30 seconds or less , or lightning has been detected within an 8 mile lightning strike area by the LD-250 Lightning Detector, and/or a severe weather warning has been issued, a WSU certified athletic trainer will notify the following persons-
•  The game official(s) / umpire(s);
•  The WSU head coach and/or his/her designee;
•  The visiting team’s athletic trainer and/or coach (if applicable); and
•  WSU games management staff (if applicable).

At this point, all game / practice activities are to cease immediately , and ALL personnel are to evacuate to a safe structure or location.

•  A safe structure or location is defined as- any sturdy, fully enclosed, substantial, and frequently inhabited building that has plumbing and/or electrical wiring that acts to electrically ground the structure. Examples of locations that routinely DO NOT meet the criteria include-
•  Baseball / softball dugouts;
•  Baseball / softball “covered” batting cages;
•   Outside storage sheds; and/or
•  Canopy / awning / tent.
•  In the absence of a sturdy, fully enclosed, substantial, and frequently inhabited location as described above, a secondary structure such as a fully enclosed vehicle with a hard metal roof, rubber tires, and completely closed windows can provide a measure of safety. Persons should not touch the sides of the vehicle! Convertible and soft-top vehicles, and golf carts do no provide a high level of protection and cannot be considered safe from lightning.
•  Persons should avoid taking showers and using plumbing facilities (including indoor and outdoor pools, whirlpools, Jacuzzis, and hot tubs) and land-line telephones during a thunderstorm.
•  If no safe structure or location is within a reasonable distance, personnel should find a thick grove of small trees surrounded by taller trees or a dry ditch. Everyone should assume the lightning-safe position- a crouched position on the ground with the feet together, weight on the balls of the feet, head lowered, and ears covered. DO NOT LIE FLAT! Minimize the body’s surface area and minimize contact with the ground.
•  If unable to reach safe shelter, persons should stay away from the tallest trees or objects (i.e. light poles, flag poles, etc.), metal objects (i.e. fences, bleachers, etc.), individual trees, standing pools of water, and open fields. Persons should avoid being the highest object in an open field.
•  In situations where thunder and/or lightning may or may not be present, yet someone feels his/her hair stand on end and skin tingle, LIGHTNING IS IMMINENT! Therefore, all persons should assume the lightning-safe position as described above.
•  A cellular and/or portable remote phone is a safe alternative to land-line phones, if the person and the antenna are located within a safe structure or location, and if all other precautions are followed.
•  If the WSU administration has cancelled classes at the university due to severe weather, the WSU Athletics Department strongly recommends the cancellation of all games, practices, and other activities.

All individuals should have the right to leave a site or activity, without fear of repercussion or penalty, in order to seek a safe structure or location if they feel that they are in danger from impending lightning activity.

Criteria For Safe Return to the Practice/Game Area:

•  Personnel should not return to the practice/game area until thirty (30) minutes have passed since the flash/bang count is greater than 30, the last lightning flash or the last sound of thunder and/or the LD-250 Lightning Detector indicates that lightning is greater than 20 miles away.
•  Each time the flash/bang count goes below 30, lightning is observed and/or thunder is heard, the 30-minute clock is to be reset.
•  Blue skies in the local area and/or a lack of rainfall are not adequate reasons to breach the 30-minute return-to-play rule. Lightning can strike up to ten (10) miles away from the rainshaft of a storm.

Prehospital Care of Victims of a Lightning Strike:

•  Because lightning-strike victims do not remain connected to a power source, they do not carry an electric charge. Therefore, it is safe to touch the victim to move him/her to a safe location and to render medical treatment.
•  During an ongoing thunderstorm, lightning activity in the local area still poses a deadly hazard for personnel responding to the victim. Personnel should consider his/her own personal safety before venturing into a dangerous situation to render care.
•  The first priority of personnel is to move the lightning strike victim to a safe location.
•  Prompt, aggressive CPR has been highly effective for the survival of victims of lightning strikes. Therefore, it is critical that CPR and AED use is initiated as soon as safely possible.
•  The basic triage principle of treat the living first should be reversed in cases involving casualties from a lightning strike. It is imperative to treat those persons who are apparently dead first.
•  Lightning strike victims should be evaluated and treated for hypothermia, shock, fractures, and burns as well.

The Flash / Bang Method:

This is a simple method used to estimate how far away a lightning flash is.

•  Begin timing (in seconds) as soon as a lightning flash is seen;
• Stop timing as soon as a thunder sound is heard after the lightning flash. This number is the flash/bang count.
•  Divide the flash/bang count by five (5).

The resulting number is the distance, in miles, from the practice/game area to the lightning flash.

Equipment:

•  Boltek LD 250-Lightning Detector
• •Laptop Computer from a Co-Head Athletic Trainer
•  Power cord for Laptop Computer and LD-250
•  Adaptor to connect LD-250 and computer

Permanent Location of LD-250 :

•  The Boltek LD 250-Lightning Detection System should be located in the press box at Maxwell Field on the campus of Winona State University .
•  Professional and maintenance staff, including certified athletic trainers, coaches, and groundskeepers working at Maxwell Field will provide the best security and limited access to the lightning detection system.

Emergency Phone Numbers:

Available in the ATR - ME 140.

Manufacturer Information for the LD-250 Lightning Detector

The Boltek LD-250 Lightning Detector puts a live lightning map on your laptop or desktop computer. Within milliseconds of a lightning strike the detector beeps and your computer displays the strike location. The LD-250's direction-finding antenna measures lightning strike direction while the LD-250's receiver estimates distance from received signal strength. Advanced signal processing in software improves distance accuracy, reducing the effects of strike-to-strike variations in strike energy. 

The LD-250 can warn of both close and severe thunderstorms. If a storm is detected closer than a preset distance or the strike rate exceeds a preset limit, the LD-250 sounds its internal alarm and activates the computers alarm tone or WAV file notification. Both the Close Storm and Severe Storm alarm statuses are indicated on the LD-250's front panel. 

Strike rates, both Close Strikes / Minute and Total Strikes / Minute are shown for the previous hour on the Strike Rate Trend Graph letting you easily see if storms are increasing in severity or dying off. 

Three display ranges, 100, 200 and 300 miles (160, 320 and 480 km) allow you to zoom into the region of interest. Zoom out to the maximum range of 300 miles (600 miles across) or zoom in to 100 miles to see only the nearby storms. 

LD-250 lightning data is live! Your computer beeps and displays the strike within milliseconds of the strike happening! With the LD-250 Lightning Detector you are actually detecting the lightning strikes themselves. There are no on-line or recurring charges of any kind.

LD-250 Lightning Detector has two built-in alarms: a Close Storm Alarm and a Severe Storm Alarm . The Close Storm Alarm will activate if a thunderstorm is detected closer than a preset distance. The Severe Storm Alarm activates if the number of lightning strikes per minute exceeds a preset limit.

The LD-250 will sound an alarm tone when either alarm activates. Front panel pushbuttons allow both the Strike tone and Alarm tones to be disabled.

The computer can also be configured to sound an alarm tone and/or pop up a notification window when an alarm activates. Alarm status is indicated by the color of the Close Storm distance circle and Severe Storm status indicator in the top left corner of the map window.

For more information on the LD-250 Lightning Detector go to http://www.boltek.com

These Policies and Procedures have been read and approved by the WSU Medical Director. Any changes to this document must be approved by the WSU Medical Director prior to implementation.

NOTE: This document has been adapted to specifically address issues at Winona State University . The original document was produced by the staff of the University of Central Florida Sports Medicine Department .