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A person struck by lightning retains an electric charge and should not be touched.
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Not true! You can (and should) administer first aid to a victim as soon as possible. He or she WILL NOT retain any electrical charge.
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However, make sure
the victim was struck by lightning and NOT by a downed
wire due to a storm. If a wire is touching the person then he
or she may still carry an electrical charge and should not be
touched or you, too, could become electrocuted. For information
on the proper first aid procedures for electric shock victims,
contact your local American
Red Cross office. You can find out more about what
research has discovered about lightning
injuries from the University of Chicago.
Do not become a victim yourself. If you can hear thunder, then lightning is near enough that you can be struck. Follow these lightning safety rules...
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Stop tractor work and heavy construction equipment, especially when pulling metal equipment, and dismount. Do not seek shelter under the equipment. Avoid hilltops, open spaces, wire fences, metal clothes lines, exposed sheds, and any electrically conductive elevated objects. Do not use metallic objects like golf clubs, fishing rods, tennis rackets and tools. SEEK SHELTER INDOORS IMMEDIATELY!
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Once indoors, do not use the telephone unless it is an emergency (or any electrical appliance for that matter). 36 deaths and over 300 injuries have occurred since 1959 while using the telephone when lightning struck nearby. Also, water in a bathtub can be just as lethal should lightning strike a pipe on or near your place of residence. One person was injured as she grabbed for her refrigerator door at the same time lightning struck her home.
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 If you are caught outside and you feel or see your hair stand up then lightning may be about to strike you.
IMMEDIATELY DO THIS!!! Squat down as low as you can on the balls of your feet. Remain in that position until one of two things happen; either lightning strikes nearby or the tingling sensation you feel from your hair dissipates.
Why not lay flat on the ground?
When lightning strikes the ground it does not instantly go below the surface but forks out in many different directions along the surface from the point of contact as much as twenty feet. This is usually how groups of people are struck by lightning. If you were laying flat on the ground, you risk a much greater chance of one of those forks reaching a part of your body. What you want to do is minimize the ground contact area while getting as low to the ground as possible. So,
DO NOT LIE FLAT ON THE GROUND!!!
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The National Weather Service reminds you to
BE WEATHERWISE...NOT OTHERWISE
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Webmaster
US Dept of Commerce
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Weather Service
San Joaquin Valley Weather Forecast Office
900 Foggy Bottom Road
Hanford, CA 93230-5236
Tel: (559) 584-3752
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