Lightning Strikes Harm 13

Many in serious, critical condition in hospital
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 19, 2013 8:24 AM CDT
Lightning Strikes Harm 13
Lightning strikes above the Geysers area of northern Sonoma County, early Thursday, July 4, 2013 near Geyserville Calif.   (AP Photo/Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Kent Porter)

Nine people were injured—two critically, four seriously—by a lightning strike as they worked at a Colorado farm yesterday. Authorities say the workers weren't responding appropriately to questions, had weak muscles, and tingling or loss of feeling after the strike. And they weren't the week's only lightning-strike victims: A 65-year-old woman was struck by lightning near a trailhead in the state's Rocky Mountain National Park yesterday, and in Montana, two adults and a child were injured Wednesday after lightning struck near them as they hiked on a trail in Glacier National Park.

The three initially were unconscious and not breathing after the lightning strike. "Some bystanders performed CPR, which was a life-saving measure," a park rep said. They remain in serious condition. A nursing supervisor said the lightning didn't directly hit the hikers, so they weren't burned, but they did suffer effects from the noise and electrical field. (More lightning strike stories.)

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