# Lightning survival question.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-survival-question/407334
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 9, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-survival-question/407334 "2007-06-09T00:58:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-survival-question/407334/1 "2007-06-09T00:58:57Z")
OK.
Getting hit by lightning is _rare_.
And our various discussions on energy weapons make it clear: kinetic energy (impact) is _far more efficient_ as a means of killing people than projected energy.
So–
is the risk/likelyhood/frequency of being _injured/maimed/crippled_ by lightning greater than the risk/likelyhood/frequency of being _killed_ by it?
Are the odds of being blasted off the map greater than being injured?
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### Author:  [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2007, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-survival-question/407334/2 "2007-06-09T01:22:11Z")
It looks like injuries outstrip death by a fair amount.
Looking [here](http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/papers/techmemos/NWS-SR-193/techmemo-sr193-3.html) table #4 is the total number of deaths and injuries for the top states.
Table #6 is deaths only.
Both tables are for 1959-1994
Florida 1543 total deaths and injuries, 345 deaths. doing the math that leaves 1198 injuries.
Michigan 732 total deaths and injuries, 89 deaths. 643 injuries.
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### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2007, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-survival-question/407334/3 "2007-06-09T01:38:31Z")
[QUOTE=Rick]
Florida 1543 total deaths and injuries, 345 deaths. doing the math that leaves 1198 injuries.
Michigan 732 total deaths and injuries, 89 deaths. 643 injuries.
[/QUOTE]
So, if you’re hit by Florida lightning, your chances of dying are 1 in 4.5.
Wimpy Michigan lightning has only a 1 in 8.2 chance of killing you.
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### Author:  [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2007, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-survival-question/407334/4 "2007-06-09T05:16:01Z")
Well, there was that guy who got hit by lightning about 7 times. That one case alone suggests that lightning injury is more prevalent than death.
[Cite](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/061201.html)
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### Author:  [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2007, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-survival-question/407334/5 "2007-06-09T05:46:05Z")
[QUOTE=Squink]
So, if you’re hit by Florida lightning, your chances of dying are 1 in 4.5.
Wimpy Michigan lightning has only a 1 in 8.2 chance of killing you.
[/QUOTE]
More old people with pacemakers / bad hearts caught out on golf courses?
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2007, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-survival-question/407334/6 "2007-06-09T10:38:09Z")
So, I guess I _should_ worry about going out to the mailbox in a thunderstorm. Shazam.
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### Author:  [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2007, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-survival-question/407334/7 "2007-06-09T11:30:09Z")
Considering that most people stay indoors during a thunderstorm, I’d say your chances of being hit by lightning when walking outside during a thunderstorm are bigger than suggested by statistics.
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2007, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-survival-question/407334/8 "2007-06-09T11:53:57Z")
Thursday a woman in Sydney was struck by lightning (well her umbrella was) while raching into the car to grab her child. Three workers on the tarmac at the airport were hit as well. All were uninjured.
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2007, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-survival-question/407334/9 "2007-06-09T12:00:37Z")
… but their underpants will never be the same.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2007, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-survival-question/407334/10 "2007-06-09T13:18:36Z")
Of course, lightning is especially dangerous to punished teenagers.
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### Author:  [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2007, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-survival-question/407334/11 "2007-06-09T14:00:32Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor]
OK.
Getting hit by lightning is _rare_.
And our various discussions on energy weapons make it clear: kinetic energy (impact) is _far more efficient_ as a means of killing people than projected energy.
So–
is the risk/likelyhood/frequency of being _injured/maimed/crippled_ by lightning greater than the risk/likelyhood/frequency of being _killed_ by it?
Are the odds of being blasted off the map greater than being injured?
[/QUOTE]
I have treated a fair amount of lightning injuries along with a death or two over the years. There is only an inconsistent reporting mechanism, so statistics are not accurate.
If you beaned by a lightning bolt while you are standing out in the open and you are in the direct path between the ground and the sky, you are gonna die. However there are lots of variant possibilities related to the lightning bolt itself that do not kill you. It’s pretty common to get a little sideplash current or some variant of static discharge short of a big old lightning bolt. These can burn you or cause some internal damage, or even just cause a cardiac standstill which is lethal all by itself if it lasts long enough. 😉 I have treated patients who got knocked to the ground and even lost consciousness but who were otherwise fine without even an elevation in their muscle enzymes.
Many injuries are secondary ones also, such as getting knocked to the ground and beaning your head or breaking a bone.
People who survived lightning survived a lesser event than the main bolt. This includes that Park Service guy who survived so many lightning events you have to figure that he is a poor conductor…I suspect his brain cells don’t conduct that well either, considering how slow a learner he must be.