The book presents relevant medical aspects of accidents caused by lightning strikes in a practical manner and is supported by case examples: from the fundamentals of energy transfer to emergency medical first aid, the treatment of sequelae, and the medical examination of the deceased. It is aimed at physicians of all specialties who are involved in the acute care or follow-up of individuals after lightning strike accidents, such as those from emergency medicine, legal medicine, intensive care, and general medicine.

Content Overview

• Meteorological and electrical fundamentals of thunderstorms, lightning, and lightning detection systems
• Types of energy transfers
• First aid and emergency medical care, including personal safety, triage, severity of injuries, basic measures, advanced measures, transportation
• Diagnosis and therapy of early and late injuries, including to the skin, cardiovascular system, central and peripheral nervous system, eyes, ears, and the respiratory tract
• Death by lightning strike: medical examination of the deceased, pathophysiology of the cause of death, time of death after temporal latency, autopsy findings, epidemiology, lethality
• Prevention of accidents caused by lightning strikes

The Author

Professor Dr. med. Fred Zack has been a forensic medicine specialist at the University of Rostock for 38 years and has published numerous scientific papers on accidents caused by lightning strikes in various journals.

The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content.