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"Each year, thousands of students throughout Illinois participate in
school sports, and their safety must always be a top priority," said
Andrew Velasquez, Illinois Emergency Management Agency director.
"Following a very simple rule -- if you can hear thunder, you need
to get indoors -- can keep people safe from dangerous lightning
strikes. I'm very pleased that the IHSA and IESA embrace this
concept and are working to keep our young athletes safe when bad
weather approaches." Lightning Safety Awareness Week is part of
Blagojevich's Keep Cool Illinois campaign, a statewide effort to
help Illinoisans stay cool, healthy and safe during the summer
months. Keep Cool Illinois seeks to inform Illinois residents on how
to prevent heat-related problems, reduce their utility bills and
participate in summer activities safely.
The Illinois High School Association board of directors recently
adopted a new severe weather policy, which will be effective at the
start of the 2007-08 school year. The policy was developed as part
of talks between IHSA staff and the National Weather Service and
will provide schools and state series managers with easier-to-follow
guidelines for making a determination to suspend play when
conditions warrant. The new policy calls for play in state series
competitions to be suspended whenever cloud-to-ground lightning
strikes are observed or thunder is heard. Play can then be resumed
30 minutes after the last observation of either thunder or
lightning.
"Since the safety of our student-athletes, coaches, contest
officials and fans has been and always will be a high priority for
our office, it's imperative that we continue to provide clear
guidelines our member schools and officials will follow during our
state tournament series events," said Kurt Gibson, assistant
executive director of the IHSA. "As we know, severe weather can
develop without notice, and individuals must be prepared and have
appropriate plans in place to protect themselves and others when
conditions warrant."
To increase awareness of lightning safety, the IHSA and IESA will
send "When thunder roars, go indoors" posters, provided by Illinois
Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service, to all
of their member schools. Throughout the year the IHSA also will
distribute additional severe weather information in their
sport-specific manuals for their membership.
The IHSA has more than 750 public and private member high schools
and regulates interscholastic competition in 13 sports for boys and
13 sports for girls, as well as seven nonathletic activities. Each
year, more than 250,000 students participate in IHSA sporting
events, including outdoor sports such as baseball, softball,
football, soccer, track, cross country, tennis and golf. The IESA
has 720 member elementary and middle schools throughout Illinois
participating in eight sports and four activities.
According to the National Weather Service, an average of 61
people are killed by lightning each year in the United States. That
is more than those killed by tornadoes and second only to deaths
from flash flooding. In 2006, 47 people were killed by lightning
nationwide, including one fatality in Illinois. It is estimated that
more than 1,000 people are injured by lightning strikes in the
nation each year. About 67 percent of lightning fatalities and
injuries occur outdoors at recreational events, such as baseball and
soccer games, on lakes or at golf courses, and under or near trees.
"Lightning is a dangerous and inevitable part of summertime
thunderstorms, and while we cannot predict where lightning will
strike, we can help reduce the risks by increased awareness," said
Heather Stanley, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in
Lincoln. "IHSA should be commended for their willingness to update
the guidelines to keep participants and spectators safe at outdoor
venues. They are leading the way for other youth activity
organizations to create and maintain a severe weather action plan
that will save lives in the future."
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Again this summer, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will
have the informational card entitled, "Do you hear thunder?"
available at visitor centers at all of the state parks. The card,
which was first made available to state park visitors last year,
emphasizes the safety rule that if you hear thunder, you are close
enough to be struck by lightning even if it's not raining. It
includes tips on how people enjoying outdoor activities on land or
on water can stay safe when a thunderstorm approaches. General
outdoor lightning safety tips:
-
Get away from
water. Stop activities in or near water, such as swimming,
boating, fishing and camping, and seek a substantial shelter. A
safe shelter is fully enclosed with a roof and four walls.
Tents, picnic shelters or pavilions will not keep you safe.
-
If no substantial
shelter is available, seek refuge in a hard-topped vehicle with
the windows up.
-
Do not seek shelter
under tall, isolated trees. This will increase your risk of
being struck. If you're caught in the open, lightning often hits
the tallest object, which could be you in an open field.
-
If caught in the
open, get low to the ground, on the balls of your feet in a
crouching position. The goal is to get as low as possible, while
minimizing your contact with the ground.
While you are much safer inside a building, the following tips
can keep you even safer:
-
Avoid contact with
corded phones. Phone use is the leading cause of indoor
lightning injuries.
-
Stay away from
windows and exterior doors. Windows and doors can provide a path
for a direct strike to enter your home.
-
Stay off porches
and decks. Even if a porch is covered, it does not offer any
protection from lightning strikes.
-
Avoid contact with
electrical equipment or cords. Direct strikes and power surges
due to lightning cause significant damage to personal property
each year. If you plan to unplug any electrical equipment, do so
well before the storm arrives.
-
Stay away from
plumbing and plumbing appliances. Do not take a shower or bath
during a thunderstorm. Avoid appliances such as dishwashers,
washing machines and electric hot water heaters, since they use
both water and electricity.
According to the National Weather Service, only about 10 percent
of people who are struck by lighting are killed, leaving 90 percent
with various degrees of disability. Only a few lightning-strike
victims actually suffer burns, and these are usually minor. However,
many lightning-strike survivors are left with debilitating lifelong
effects, including memory loss, personality changes, fatigue,
irreparable nerve damage, chronic pain or headaches, difficulty
sleeping, and dizziness.
People shouldn't hesitate to help someone who has been struck by
lightning, since victims do not carry an electrical charge. The
surge of electricity through a lightning victim's body causes
cardiac arrest in most fatalities, so immediate medical attention is
critical. If the victim doesn't have a pulse and isn't breathing,
CPR should be administered immediately.
For a copy of the state park
information card and a more comprehensive
guide to lightning safety, visit
www.state.il.us or call
217-785-9888.
[To download Adobe Acrobat Reader for the PDF
files, click here.]
Additional information about the Keep Cool Illinois campaign is
available at
www.keepcool.illinois.gov.
[Text from Illinois
Emergency Management Agency news release received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information] |
