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Lightning at Sea: Dangerous and Unpredictable



Details

  • Personal Author:
    Backus A
  • Description:
    A sudden and intense lightening and thunderstorm moved over the waters around Stonington, ME on the morning of Aug. 21, 2004. Kyle Jones, a young lobsterman fishing alone from his 30' boat, waited out what seemed to be the worst of the storm then started to haul traps again. He was struck with an electrical charge through the pot warp as it ran through his davit and pot hauler when lightening apparently hit the water near his boat. The force of the thunder that followed the lightning strike knocked him down. Luckily, a lobsterman nearby realized there was trouble and called Jones' father, who was also out fishing. Another fisherman radioed for an ambulance to meet Jones and his dad at the wharf. Once ashore, the victim's temperature was 92 degrees F, signaling serious shock and hypothermia. Medics warmed him with wraps on the way to the hospital, where he spent the day. A lack of pulse in arms and legs indicated his peripheral circulation had shut down, which is the body's way of sustaining the blood supply to vital internal organs such as the heart, lungs, brain, and liver. Thankfully, Jones suffered no lasting harm or injuries from the incident. The fisherman who had been nearby to the accident reported damage to some of his electronics. [Description provided by NIOSH]
  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • ISSN:
    0273-6713
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Funding:
    Grant
  • Genre:
    Journal Article
  • Place as Subject:
  • CIO:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • Topic:
    Workplace Safety & Health
  • Location:
    North America
  • NIOSHTIC Number:
    nn:20061942
  • Citation:
    Commercial Fish News 2004 Nov; :7B
  • Contact Point Address:
    Ann Backus, MS, Director of Outreach, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston MA
  • Email:
    abackus@hohp.harvard.edu
  • Federal Fiscal Year:
    2005
  • Performing Organization:
    Harvard School of Public Health
  • Peer Reviewed:
    False
  • Start Date:
    20030701
  • Source Full Name:
    Commercial Fisheries News
  • End Date:
    20050630
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:92298c1a5ae7651c91851143f2d995c7f361d5ceedb0a8f626a78659f25269aa2a2129c77c84ea44337dc6c39ca5c309eae5db56c2339dba6dc387c03f5feb21
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 125.52 KB ]
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