Locations and Activities of Lightning Casualties

Abstract

In developed regions of the globe, lightning protection is provided by the ready availability of lightning-safe structures and fully enclosed metal-topped vehicles during most daily activities of most people. In developing economies, in contrast, the lack of such lightning-safe structures and vehicles makes lightning safety very difficult to achieve. At night, people are inside dwellings that provide little or no lightning protection due to their inadequate construction. During the day, workers in agricultural fields and many other workplaces, as well as students at schools, rarely have a safe place to avoid the lightning threat. The primary solution is to install lightning protection on buildings in the fields and on dwellings and school buildings. Field workers and students then need to be instructed to go inside the safe locations when lightning occurs.