Overview
- Experts flag three dangerous errors outdoors during a thunderstorm: using an umbrella or other metal, touching other people, and seeking shelter under trees.
- If no safe building or car is reachable, crouch in a ground depression with feet together—ideally only the balls of the feet touching—and avoid being the highest point or lying flat.
- First aid follows the Prüfen–Rufen–Drücken sequence with chest compressions 5–6 cm deep at 100–120 per minute, and help should be summoned via 112 without delaying compressions.
- It is generally safe to touch a lightning victim because no current remains in the body, though a second strike at the same spot is possible, so move the person only if it does not meaningfully delay resuscitation.
- Germany lacks comprehensive official injury statistics; VDE’s media-based estimates suggest about four deaths and roughly 110 injuries from lightning each year, underscoring that strikes are rare but potentially severe.