A west Edmonton resident struck by lightning during a Thursday afternoon storm was saved by quick intervention from Emergency Medical Services (EMS) paramedics who happened to be nearby. Read More
’When you hear thunder, you are in striking distance of lightning.”
‘When you hear thunder, you are in striking distance of lightning.”
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A west Edmonton resident struck by lightning during a Thursday afternoon storm was saved by quick intervention from Emergency Medical Services (EMS) paramedics who happened to be nearby.
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“At approximately 4:15 p.m. on July 24, Alberta Health Services EMS received a call for an incident near Callingwood Estates,” said a Friday statement emailed to Postmedia by community engagement and communications for AHS.
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The individual, transported to hospital in critical condition, had to be resuscitated at the scene, friends of the victim shared on social media.
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The call came in close to an EMS station, and the response was lightning fast, with first responders arriving in one minute.
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“I helped call them in, they were indeed there that quick,” posted one friend of the victim.
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A poster named Brodi said Edmonton is lucky to have some of the most amazing paramedics around.
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“The fact that they do the job in all kinds of weather conditions — some quite dangerous, like thunderstorms, extreme heat, blizzard conditions — just shows some serious determination and dedication to their jobs and to helping others,” Brodi said.
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Lightning has been in the news recently after Olympic ski cross medalist Audun Groenvold, 49, died after being struck by lightning.
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Groenvold, who won bronze at the 2010 Vancouver Games, was a coach and sports commentator. He had been on a cabin trip at the time of his death.
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The Norwegian Ski Federation said Groenvold was “quickly taken to hospital and received treatment for the injuries he sustained in the lightning strike” and then died from his injuries.
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Assessing risk of lightning strikes
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Canadian statistics suggest somewhere around one in six individuals struck by lightning dies from their injuries.
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Between 2002 and 2017, there were 180 lighting-related injuries in Canada.
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On average, two to three individuals die each year from lightning strikes.
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There used to be a rule about the time between lightning and thunder to determine distance, but that rule has been outmoded by research.
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“When you hear thunder, you are in striking distance of lightning,” said Christy Climenhaga of Environment and Climate Change Canada.
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