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23/06/2006
Warning against using mobile phones during storms
Doctors have warned against using mobile phones outdoors during stormy weather.
An article written by three doctors in the British Medical Journal, described the case of a 15-year-old girl who was struck by lighting while using her mobile phone in a large park in London during stormy weather.
The girl was successfully resuscitated, however she is wheelchair-bound and suffering from ear damage and hearing loss, as well as complex cognitive and emotional problems, a year after the incident.
Doctors said that if someone is struck by lightning, the high resistance of human skin results in lightning being conducted over the skin without entering the body - a process which is known as flashover and has a low death rate. However, conducive materials such as liquids or metallic objects disrupt the flashover, resulting in internal injury, which has a higher risk of death.
The doctors from Northwick Park Hospital, London, found three other similar cases in China, Korea and Malaysia, which had all resulted in death.
The authors of the report said: "This rare phenomenon is a public health issue and education is necessary to highlight the risk of using mobile phones outdoors during stormy weather to prevent future fatal consequences from lightning strike injuries related to mobile phones.
"The Australian Lightning Protection Standard recommends that metallic objects, including cordless or mobile phones, should not be used (or carried) outdoors during a thunderstorm."
(KMcA/SP)
An article written by three doctors in the British Medical Journal, described the case of a 15-year-old girl who was struck by lighting while using her mobile phone in a large park in London during stormy weather.
The girl was successfully resuscitated, however she is wheelchair-bound and suffering from ear damage and hearing loss, as well as complex cognitive and emotional problems, a year after the incident.
Doctors said that if someone is struck by lightning, the high resistance of human skin results in lightning being conducted over the skin without entering the body - a process which is known as flashover and has a low death rate. However, conducive materials such as liquids or metallic objects disrupt the flashover, resulting in internal injury, which has a higher risk of death.
The doctors from Northwick Park Hospital, London, found three other similar cases in China, Korea and Malaysia, which had all resulted in death.
The authors of the report said: "This rare phenomenon is a public health issue and education is necessary to highlight the risk of using mobile phones outdoors during stormy weather to prevent future fatal consequences from lightning strike injuries related to mobile phones.
"The Australian Lightning Protection Standard recommends that metallic objects, including cordless or mobile phones, should not be used (or carried) outdoors during a thunderstorm."
(KMcA/SP)
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:It will be cloudy again throughout the day. Mainly dry in the morning, but patchy drizzle in places, becoming more widespread and persistent in the afternoon. Freshening southwesterly winds. Maximum temperature 12 °C.Tonight:Cloudy with a spell of heavy rain pushing south through late evening and the early hours, followed by some clear spells. Minimum temperature 6 °C.
