Citation

Cooper MA. Acad. Emerg. Med. 2002; 9(2): 172-174.

Affiliation

Departments of Bioengineering Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612-7354, USA. macooper@uic.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11825846

Abstract

The four classic electrical mechanisms of lightning injury cannot account for all injuries. A fifth mechanism, injury by a weak upward streamer that does not become part of a completed lightning channel, has long been postulated in the engineering literature by lightning researchers. This paper reports a case of death where injury from a weak upward streamer is strongly suspected following forensic investigation. Neither high voltage nor any of the previously accepted mechanisms of lightning injury can explain this incident.

Language: en