The medical advice “Don’t stand in an open field during a lightning storm” may be too old-fashioned. A letter in the June 24, 2006 issue of BMJ brings it up to date:
Injury from lightning strike while using mobile phone
Editor?We report the case of a 15 year old girl who was witnessed being struck by lightning while using her mobile phone in a large park in London during stormy weather…. To our knowledge, no similar cases have been reported in the medical literature….
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 letter was signed by Swinda Esprit, Prasad Kothari and Ram Dhillon (seen in the phto here) of the Northwick Park Hospital in Middlesex, U.K.
Dr. Kothari, of course, is also co-author of the classic “Application of cocaine to the nasal mucosa: a novel method” [Journal of Laryngology and Otology, 2001 Aug;115(8):650-1.]
(Thanks to investigator David Holzman for bringing this to our attention.)