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Lightning Strike and Rehabilitation
Author: | Sunday April 24, 2005
In Clearwater Florida there is a strong movement to educate professionals about the effects of lighting strikes. Above, Mike Smith, has been involved in that education for many years.
Bolt from the Blue
Support Group Helps
Survivors of Lightning
Strike; Electric Shock
The lightning bolt struck from what seemed to be a clear sky. It’s ultimate target was a 20-year-old sod farm worker named Arbey Perez.
It didn’t miss.
Coworkers saw Arbey slumped over his tractor and though his heart was not beating, he was rushed by a medical helicopter to a hospital where his life was saved. Arbey’s story has a happy ending. Through the efforts of professionals at Communicare, Inc., a brain injury facility in Clearwater, and his own determination, Arbey was successful in his rehabilitation and has returned to school where he is studying to be a teacher.
Mike Smith, a case manager at Communicare who worked with Arbey, knows that the young man is among the lucky ones. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lightning strike and electric shock survivors sustain lifelong disabilities that often go undiagnosed. Smith has studied lightning strike cases for over a decade and has served on the Board of Lightning Strike and Electric Shock Survivors International, Inc.
The organization is dedicated to alerting people to the dangers of lightning and electricity and providing resources and support to survivors and their families. Florida’s only lightning strike support group is based at Communicare and there are monthly meetings.
“There are times when individuals who have been struck by lightning or sustained an electric shock are sent to the emergency room. If there are no obvious wounds or burns, the patient may be sent home after treatment,” Smith said. There can be other issues that go undetected such as memory and other cognitive problems as well as physical challenges such as a lack of stamina.
Smith is among a dedicated group of professionals who are focused on this topic and are working together to increase awareness. Among them is Mary Ann Cooper, MD, FACEP. Dr. Cooper is Associate Professor of the Lightning and Electrical Injury Evaluation Program at the Department of Emergency Medicine UIC at Chicago. “We have been doing a lot of media presentations on national programs,” she told the Voice. She said that efforts to make pediatricians and other medical specialists aware of the ramifications of lightning strike and electric shock is ongoing.
Dr. Cooper is also a board member of the Lightning Strike and Electric Shock Survivors International and believes strongly in getting the word out on prevention programs. “This type of injury can affect not only the individual but their entire family,” she explained.
Maureen Aslett understands the long term implications very well. As a case manager in Florida, the lightning strike capital of the world, she is working in familiar territory. Before joining the Communicare, Inc. team she was Arbey’s case manager and worked closely with him to help Arbey achieve his goals. Not everyone is as fortunate as the young farm worker.
“Sometimes an individual who has sustained a lightning strike or electric shock can be tagged as a malingerer when they have real problems,” she noted.
“Our emphasis,” she said, “is to educate the medical and legal community about the long term results that can take place after a person is struck by lightning or sustains electric shock.” And she and Smith have found there is a lot of interest. “We just did an inservice at an area hospital. We were there for a one hour presentation and it lasted well over three hours because of all of the questions. There has been a lot of positive feedback,” Aslett concluded.
In addition to providing support for survivors, families and educating professionals, the organization is seeking ways to evaluate and build a data base of information to help treat survivors in the future.
Neuro Psychologist Gordon Horn has been working as a consultant to Communicare, Inc. and the support group. “We are working on establishing a way to systematically evaluate lightning strikes and what happens to an individual over the course of time,” Dr. Horn told the Voice. “In electric shock cases there are also issues of cardiac problems that could occur years after the incident,” he added.
Dr. Horn, who is on the medical staff at Florida Hospital in Orlando, like others involved in the support group, has seen the results of lightning strike and electric shocks on individuals. “We are working to establish a protocol and also seeking funding (perhaps from the Florida legislature) so we can follow survivors over time to determine the total impact on their health and also the impact on the healthcare system,” Dr. Horn said. He pointed out there is a Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Registry where individual cases can be followed.
Mike Smith has been an advocate in this arena for 14 years since his days as director of the outpatient rehabilitation program at Tampa General Hospital where he saw many lightning strike and electric shock cases. He knew there was something more that could be done. “We want to educate professionals and we also want to let individuals and their families know that they are not alone when something like this happens to them,” Smith said
He has little trouble getting the attention of the groups when he tells them the topic: “Bolt from the Blue.”
Ed. Note: The Lightning Strike and Electric Shock Survivors group meets at 6 p.m. the first Monday of each month at Communicare, Inc. in Clearwater, FL. Inservices are also held. Communicare, Inc. serves individuals with acquired brain injury and neurological impairment and offers specialized assisted living facilities. To learn more about the support group contact Mike Smith at Communicare by calling 866-802-9191 or 727-539-6723, extension 255. The national organization has a web site at www.lightning-strike.org.
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