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- [00:00]
Podcast Host
This is an iHeart podcast guaranteed human
- [00:06]
Mazda CX5 Advertiser
introducing the all new Mazda CX5 featuring more connection hey Google, where's the nearest Pilates class Safety that has your back. More discovery on the scenic routes, more passion in the details and more control in changing weather. The all new Mazda CX5 more to move every side of you. See it in five films at mazdausa.com fivesides Google is a trademark of Google LLC. Sequences shortened and simulated this July 4th
- [00:38]
America 250 Event Promoter
come celebrate at America's Block Party hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a can't miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music, performances from major artists, patriotic tributes and the kickoff to giving 4th, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark celebration@america250.org
- [01:06]
Mazda CX5 Advertiser
based on the best selling novel from Carly Fortune, the new Prime Original series Every Year after follows Sam and Percy across six summers as they take a second chance at a love that never really let go. It's the kind of story that brings you back to a summer crush you never fully got over, or a friendship that almost turned into something more with slow burn tension, lakeside nostalgia, and that lingering what if it's the the kind of show people say they couldn't stop watching and were a little emotionally destroyed by. In the Best Way. Watch every year after streaming June 10th
- [01:41]
Podcast Host
only on Prime Service opens doors and at American Military University, it can open doors for the whole family. If you have a loved one who served in the military, you may qualify for reduced tuition. AMU offers flexible online programs designed to fit your schedule so you can keep moving forward wherever life takes you. Learn more@amu.apus.edu Military open doors to the future for you and your family with the help of American Military University, Today's
- [02:24]
Dr. Kendall Crowns
episode includes information about the death of individuals. If this sort of thing upsets you, this is not the episode for you. May I suggest you watch a movie? Maybe something like the Natural welcome to Mayhem in the Morning with your host, Dr. Kendall. Crowns. When I did my medical school rotation at the Sedgwick County Medical Examiner's Office in Wichita, Kansas, I was put in the death investigator's office the entire time I was there. I had my own cubicle amongst them, so whenever there was a death scene, I was ready to go. On slow days, they would talk about their interesting cases and show me pictures from scenes and autopsies. At that point in my career, everything was interesting Some of these cases I can still see if I think about them. One of the cases that they showed me that I can still remember was a double fatality. It was very unique and the pictures that I saw were the only time in my entire career that I had seen something like this. The two individuals were killed by a lightning strike. Growing up in Kansas, thunderstorms were just part of spring and summer, as well as tornadoes. Part of my grade school education was what not to do in these extremes of weather. We were taught what to do with lightning when you were out in a field and how to shelter from a tornado. In Kansas, severe weather is always taken seriously because one second it's calm and sunny and the next it's the end of the world. The tornado sirens were tested every day at noon and became background noise. Except on the days when there was severe weather. When the sky was black and the sirens were howling, you knew it was time to head to the basement. There was one time during a tornado. My grade school music teacher thought the tornado sirens were a fire alarm. She was new and was from out of state. We told her it was a tornado siren and she said no children, it's a fire. Now head outdoors. We lined up and marched outside holding hands. The wind was extreme, whipping girls. Hair and dirt was blowing around. The sky was ominous with large black clouds. When all of us were out of the annex, we headed to the area where we were supposed to go when there was a fire. When the music teacher caught up with us, her face showed fear. A level of fear I had not seen on an adult before. She screamed to head into the main school and to run, run, run. Our line broke as panic set in. It was a free for all with all of us running and screaming and shoving trying to get to the door to get back into the school. It was chaos. None of us died, but we were all terrified. The next day when I went to the annex for music class, there was a substitute teacher. I found out much later. The out of state brand new music teacher was fired on the spot for her error. We tried to warn her. When they told me these two individuals had died from a lightning strike, it really piqued my curiosity. I have always found lightning fascinating and this came from the fact that my parents house was struck by lightning. When I was a child, our neighbor had parked a large RV in his driveway that was a mere feet from the side of one side of my parents house. During a thunderstorm, a bolt of lightning hit the RV and then reflected into my parents house. My mother Saw electricity shoot out of the wall sockets that she was standing by. And my brother saw nails shoot out of the walls that flew across him as he was laying in bed. Several of the light bulbs exploded as well. I don't remember any of it because I was far too young. But the damage had to be fixed and was always talked about. And because these cases were associated with lightning, I wanted to find out as much as I could. And I couldn't wait to see them. The investigators got out the Kodachromes or the old picture slides, and we went to the conference room to look at them more closely. When the first picture popped up on the screen, it showed the whole scene, and it threw me off instantly because it was a park that I was very familiar with. I had been to that park and recreational center multiple times throughout my childhood. It was eerie to see the two bodies laying in the parking lot where my dad would wait for me to finish basketball practice during my ill fated year playing basketball. I could see in the pictures off in the distance, the payphone that my friends and I would often use to make phone calls when we were out and about on Friday night. Seeing the dead mixed with childhood locations was a little jarring, but once I got past this, I focused on the bodies. They were two high school students. The forensic death investigators had some information that they were potentially in a romantic relationship, and neither of their parents approved. They had snuck out on this dark, stormy night to hang out in the park with friends. As the evening progressed, a thunderstorm came rolling in. They decided to head back to their homes, but before they left each other for the night, they had one last hug. And at that moment, a bolt of lightning struck the boy, and the electricity transferred through him into the girl, killing them both instantly. Their friends that were there with them at the park called paramedics from the payphone, and by the time the paramedics arrived, they were declared dead at the scene. The male had much more severe injuries from the lightning strike. His clothes had been burnt and partially melted. He had burns on his body, on his chest and shoulders and abdomen, with one burn matching the zipper of his pants. And his left leg was severely burned with deep burns of the muscle to the bone, making it look like the leg had exploded below the knee. The female also exhibited burns on her chest and arms and singeing of her clothing. But none of her injuries were as severe as the male. The death investigators told me that they had never seen anything like this. And I would say in 26 years of doing autopsies, I have never seen a lightning strike quite as bad as these two cases, and that's what I'm going to be discussing on today's episode is death from lightning. I've only had a single case that I was directly associated with, and I've seen a couple of other cases at the offices that I've worked at over the years. Lightning deaths are quite rare. So let's go a little more in depth about how lightning forms. When spring brings in warm temperatures and pushes out the cold air of winter, and the warm, moist air rises rapidly into the cooler air of the upper atmosphere, it creates an instability that results in the formation of chiomylomembulous clouds, or storm clouds, which is a large anvil shaped cloud that is often 5 to 10 miles high. Within this cloud, there are extreme temperature gradients and a great deal of air turbulence. The lightning forms on these clouds from the collision of the warm moist air and cold air, which contains ice particles and hail. When these interact, it creates an electrical charge by separation of electrons, which results in positive charges at the top of the cloud and negative charges at the bottom of the cloud. The Earth typically maintains a negative charge, but as the storm cloud's negative charge increases, the ground underneath it develops a charge that is polar opposite, becoming increasingly positive. The positive charges on the ground tend to concentrate on tall objects like trees, poles, buildings. And if you're standing in a flat, open field, you. The area between the ground and the storm cloud acts as an insulator. And as these positive and negative charges get higher and higher, it eventually overwhelms the insulation effect of the air, and negative charges begin heading to the ground. This is called the step ladder, with steps that are yards in length and can branch, giving lightning its characteristic shape. Positive charges on the ground begin streaming upwards, involving the taller objects as well. And when the stepladder from the sky and the streamer from the ground connect, there's a rapid electrical discharge that moves at 60,000 miles per second. And once this occurs, it is what we know as lightning. The entire process occurs so quickly that the lightning appears to travel from the cloud to the ground when it is actually traveling from the ground to the cloud. A typical lightning bolt has 300 million volts, or about 30,000amps, but can get as high as 1 billion volts, or 1.2 gigawatts of power. That's enough energy to power 12 million light bulbs or 850,000 homes for an entire day. It's also enough energy to power a flux capacitor, sending a delorean Back to the Future the heat surrounding the air at the lightning bolt is about 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hotter than the sun's surface. The rapid heating causes the air to expand explosively in a few millionths of a second, producing thunder, which can be heard up to 25 miles away. Lightning strikes are rare, and your odds of being struck by lightning in any given year are 1 in 1,735,000. Statistics from the center for Disease Control spanning the years from 2006 to 2021 showed there were 444 lightning strike deaths in the United States. Other data from the national oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed that there are 55% more deaths from lightning than tornadoes and 41% more deaths from lightning than hurricanes and tornadoes combined. The average age of a person struck by Lightning is 37 years. Males are once again more likely to be struck, and of course sometimes it's because of women, methamphetamine or alcohol. But none of this has been compiled in statistics yet. Most lightning strikes occur between the months of May and August, with a peak occurring in July. Lightning occurs most commonly in the southeastern states, and the most deaths have occurred in Florida, with Texas being second. Florida is known as the lightning capital of the United States, and within Florida there is a corridor known as Lightning Alley, which is notorious for the high frequency of lightning strikes, averaging about 56 strikes per square mile annually, and this corridor stretches from Tampa Bay to Titusville and down to Lake Okeechobee. Statistics from the National Weather Service show that one lightning casualty occurs for every 86,000 flashes in the United States, with one death occurring for every 345,000 flashes. Overall, there is a rate of 7.7 casualties per million people per 100 million flashes of lightning found in the entire United States. The odds of being struck vary from person to person and is determined by a number of different factors. Among the most significant are geographical location, climatology and personal lifestyles or activities. The National Lightning Safety Council lists the Deadly dozen, which are 12 activities that contribute most to lightning fatalities in the United States. The most fatal activity is fishing, followed by being on a beach, then boating, farming or ranching, camping, roofing, riding a bicycle, motorcycle or atv, large social gatherings, construction work, playing golf, and finally yard work. If you think about these activities like fishing, farming and camping, there are often large flat areas in which the person is the tallest object. Some people question whether it's due to the metal that the person may be holding that is causing the lightning strike. Metals pose very low electrical resistance, making them excellent conductors for electricity. The metal provides a highly efficient path for electrical current to continue through, but it doesn't necessarily attract the lightning. The fact is, is when you're holding a metal object, it can actually make you taller. And because tall metal objects like golf clubs, fishing rods, or even umbrellas create height, the person effectively becomes the tallest, most isolated point. And this increases the likelihood that a positive ground streamer will launch from this location. And it has nothing to do with it being.
- [14:26]
America 250 Event Promoter
This July 4th come celebrate at America's Block Party Hosted by America 250, America's Block Party is a can't miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music performances from major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to giving 4th, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark celebration@america250.org there's
- [14:55]
Podcast Host
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- [16:11]
Mazda CX5 Advertiser
Introducing the all new Mazda CX5 featuring more connection hey Google, where's the nearest Pilates class safety that has your back? More discovery on the scenic routes, more passion in the details and more control in changing weather. The all new Mazda CX5 more to move evidence side of you see it in five films@mazdausa.com FiveSides Google is a trademark of Google LLC.
- [16:39]
Podcast Host
Sequences shortened and simulated service opens doors and at American Military University it can open doors for the whole family. If you have a loved one who served in the military, you may qualify for reduced tuition. AMU offers flexible online programs designed to to fit your schedule so you can keep moving forward wherever life takes you. Learn more@amu.apus.edu Military open doors to the future for you and your family with the help of American Military University and
- [17:22]
Dr. Kendall Crowns
that brings us to the only lightning death that I've ever performed an autopsy on the case was that of a 47 year old youth baseball coach. It was August and his team was playing a game at a local park. It was early evening when the storm rolled in. The game was stopped and everyone went to their cars to wait out the storm. After a while, the storm appeared to clear up and the sky had begun to brighten. The decedent and the opposing team's coach got out of their cars and and went out to the baseball diamond to determine if the game should continue. The decedent was reportedly talking on a cell phone when a flash of lightning hit, knocking both men to the ground. The bolt hit the decedent directly in the head, causing him to instantly go into cardiac arrest. The other coach was struck by a side splash. He was able to get up and walk away. 911 was called, paramedics arrived and both coaches were transported to the hospital. The coach that got up was discharged later that evening. The decedent survived until the afternoon of the next day and died from irreversible brain damage at autopsy. He was a well developed, well nourished male. He had a deep burn on his face near his ear, cerebral edema or swelling of the brain, pulmonary congestion and edema or fluid on the lungs. And there were no other findings. His toxicology was negative, so his cause of death was made lightning strike Manner of Death Accident before we go into the autopsy findings, I want to discuss first the use of a cell phone in lightning storms, as well as a little more in depth, the different ways lightning can cause injury or death. First off, does holding a cell phone increase your risk of being hit by lightning? No, it does not. Using a cell phone outdoors during a storm is risky because you're still standing outdoors, but the phone will not actually attract the lightning. There has been reports of people using landlines that when the telephone lines were struck that it actually went through the telephone lines and then electrocuted them. But of course almost nobody uses a landline anymore. Now let's talk a little bit more about how lightning can cause injury or death. The first way is what occurred in this case and with the male in the park, and that is a direct strike. This is when the bolt shoots down and hits the person straight on. Direct strikes are actually fairly uncommon and comprise only about 3 to 5% of the fatalities. Next is what happened to the other coach and the female in the park, which is called a side flash or splash. In this type of strike, lightning hits another object like a tree, or as in both of these cases, another person travels downward and then jumps to the other person standing next to them. This type of strike is much more frequent and occurs in about 30% of deaths. Next is contact entry, and this occurs when someone touches a conductive surface that has been struck by lightning. It could be a fence or a vehicle. And when you're indoors, it can even be the faucet of the sink. Because when lightning strikes water pipes, it can travel into the house and make the faucets electrified. Contact strikes account for only about 3 to 5% of lightning strikes. Next is earth potential rise, which occurs when lightning strikes the earth near someone and initiates a ground current that then enters their body upward through their feet. This is seen usually at sporting events when a strike hits the playing field and injures the players. The next type of lightning strike is caused from upward streamers, and it's caused when the upper edge of the electrical current causes serious injury or death. When the person becomes the unwitting conduit. It is believed that when someone's hair begins standing on end is the moment that an upward streamer is passing through their body. And finally, the last way lightning can injure a person is barotrauma, or shock waves that can cause blunt trauma from the concussive shock or shrapnel injuries from an object being struck by lightning, such as a tree and exploding. Out of all these different ways that lightning can cause injury, their effects are all pretty much the same. When lightning strikes a person, it causes injuries through the electricity and heat, but also through light and barotrauma. There is of course, burns of the skin, which I will discuss further in the autopsy findings. But the primary injury is to the nervous system. In survivors, there are milder symptoms which may include muscle soreness, headache, nausea, confusion, memory issues and balance problems. Long term implications include chronic pain, sleep problems, ringing in the ears, depression and personality changes. A single lightning bolt can produce over 98,000 lumens, which is like looking straight into 120 incandescent light bulbs, which can cause injuries of the eyes, including uveitis, macular holes, optic neuropathy, retinal Detachment and even cataracts. The majority of deaths from lightning injuries are due to the immediate cardiac or pulmonary arrests followed by unsuccessful resuscitation. The lightning strike can cause an arrhythmia or an irregular heartbeat or a complete stoppage of the heart, not unlike how a defibrillator works. Respiratory arrest may occur due to the chest muscles being paralyzed and also suppresses the respiratory center of the brain because of the neurological disruption. One other finding in lightning injury is a massive catecholamine release which results in hypertension, tachycardia or increased heartbeat and myocardial infarctions or heart attacks. In most cases seen at autopsy, the current has both entered and exited the body through burns on the skin and flowed over the surface of the body. Burns may or may not be seen, but when they are, these are linear and punctate burns, feathering lesions and thermal injuries. Linear burns are the most common and they are found in areas of great sweat concentration under the breasts or the axilla or armpits, and down the middle of the chest or back, and are caused by the vaporization of the sweat. The punctape burns are small, circular, closely spaced burns and they can be superficial or full thickness. Feathering lesions are also known as Lichtenberg figures and are fern like fractal or branching red pink lesions along the skin surface. When we see these lesions, it's specific for a lightning strike. So when someone is found dead in a field with no other information and you see these Lichtenberg figures, you can be certain that they were hit by lightning. How they're formed is actually unknown, but there are several theories. My favorite one is that the electricity lightning causes the capillaries to contract, causing red blood cells to be pushed through the vessel walls into the subcutaneous tissue, matching the pattern of the electricity on the skin surface. The last skin injury is thermal injuries caused by zippers or other metal objects heated by the lightning. Beyond the external burns of the skin internally, there are no specific findings other than there may be cerebral edema or swelling of the brain and pulmonary congestion, edema or fluid on the lungs. Microscopically, there can be a wave like necrosis due to the cardiac effects of the lightning. Also from the barotrauma, there can be blood draining from the ears due to rupture of the eardrums as well as rupture of the lungs and gastrointestinal tracts resulting in air in these cavities. These findings are pretty much all that can be found at autopsy and beyond the Lichtenberg figures. They are all pretty non specific, so it is always very helpful to have a good investigation because Lichtenberg figures may not always be there and in the few other lightning deaths I've seen, the findings are pretty much all the same. There is a simple rule of thumb that is outlined in multiple different websites and that is when thunder roars go indoors. It's catchy and it's easy to remember. And if you take the lightning threat seriously and always get inside before lightning becomes a threat, your personal odds of being struck are near zero. That brings us to the end of the episode. I hope you learned something and I hope you were entertained until the next time.
- [25:51]
America 250 Event Promoter
This July 4th come celebrate at America's Block Party hosted by America250America's Block Party is a can't miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music, performances from major artists, patriotic tributes and the kickoff to giving 4th, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark celebration at america250.org
- [26:20]
Podcast Host
service opens doors and at American Military University it can open doors for the whole family. If you have a loved one who served in the military, you may qualify for reduced tuition. AMU offers flexible online programs designed to fit your schedule so you can keep moving forward wherever life takes you. Learn more@amu.apus.edu Military open doors to the future for you and your family with the help of American Military University
- [27:02]
Mazda CX5 Advertiser
Introducing the all new Mazda CX5 featuring more connection hey Google, where's the nearest Pilates class safety that has your back? More discovery on the scenic routes, more passion in the details and more control in changing weather. The all new Mazda CX5 more to make move every side of you. See it in five films@mazdausa.com FiveSides Google is a trademark of Google LLC. Sequences shortened and simulated.
- [27:31]
Veracity Sponsor
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- [28:36]
Podcast Host
This is an iheart podcast. Guaranteed Human.