NEWS RELEASE – August 2, 2007

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SIRC and Environment Canada Announce Wallet-Sized Lightning Safety Cards

Ottawa August 2, 2007 –SIRC (Sport Information Resource Centre) is pleased to announce, in conjunction with Environment Canada, the availability of wallet-sized lightning safety cards for the sporting community.

Did you know that greater than 94% of lightning related deaths and 74% of injuries in Canada occur during the June to August summer season? Furthermore, that the Thursday to Saturday period accounts almost 55% of all fatalities and over 70% of injuries? This is particularly relevant since many sport and fitness/recreation activities take place during the evenings and weekends.

Lightning deaths and injuries in sport and fitness/recreation

Lightning-related deaths and injuries by sport or outdoor activity as a percentage of all activities (indoor & outdoor) studied, 1986-2005

Note: activities not displayed in this graph include work, home, other and unknown.

• Outdoor recreation pursuits account for over 70% of victims killed and over 62% of injuries, with camping and hiking being the most common activity.
• Golfing, picnicking and boating are also prevalent.
• The number of incidents was small for soccer and baseball, but that is because they are often associated with multiple casualty incidents.

While the odds of being struck by lightning are more than one in a million, every year ten Canadians are killed by lightning and ninety to one hundred and sixty are seriously injured. In fact, lightning kills more Canadians than hail, wind, rain and tornadoes combined, making it a prime safety consideration. This is especially true for any outdoor activity like soccer, baseball, golf, tennis and football.

Thunderstorms frequently occur on a warm, humid summer afternoon, but may develop at any time of the day or night. They usually form quickly, travel rapidly and always produce lightning. The storm that struck Northwestern Ontario on May 30, 2007 is a classic example. All the necessary conditions for thunderstorms to develop were present that afternoon and by 6 PM some had formed in the Fort Frances area. According to the Fort Frances Times, a group of teens were playing soccer on an outdoor field at the time of the storm. Tragically, a thirteen year-old boy was struck and killed by lightning (Holmes, 2007).

Protection from lightning begins before the storm. Paying attention to weather conditions and forecasts allows time to plan for threatening weather and to react appropriately. Moreover, knowing how lightning behaves can help you determine the safest place to be during a storm. Higher ground, open areas and prominent objects are most vulnerable to lightning strikes.

Additionally, thunder can be a good indicator of lightning proximity - loud crackling means it is close, whereas rumbling means it is further away. Since light travels faster than sound, you will see lightning before you hear thunder. Each second between the flash and the thunderclap represents about 300 metres. As a rule of thumb, if you can count less than 30 seconds between the lightning strike and the thunder, the storm is less than 10 km away. There is an 80% chance that the next strike will happen within that 10 km, and if you can hear thunder, you are within striking distance. Go immediately to the nearest well-constructed building or a metal-topped vehicle…there is NO safe place to be outside in a thunderstorm.

Remember the 30-30 rule

To help you recall this important rule of thumb, Environment Canada and SIRC are providing sport themed wallet-sized business cards with the 30-30 rule on them along with some lightning safety tips. So, when Environment Canada issues a storm warning, or you can already hear that dramatic rumble, remember to take shelter from the storm and protect yourself from nature’s impressive but deadly dose of electrical voltage.

For further information, please refer to Environment Canada’s most recent study on lightning entitled “Striking Back: An Assessment of Lightning related Fatality and Injury Risk in Canada”. To read this study or for copies of the 30-30 rule wallet-sized lightning safety cards please visit SIRC’s online weather resources.

Reference List
Holmes, Justin. “Local Teen Killed by Lightning.” Fort Frances Times [updated 31 May 2007; cited 10 July 2007] Available from: http://www.fftimes.com/node/81037

About MSC:
The Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) is Canada's source for meteorological information. The Service monitors water quantities, provides information and conducts research on climate, atmospheric science, air quality, ice and other environmental issues, making it an important source of expertise in these areas. www.weatheroffice.gc.ca

About SIRC:
Founded in 1973, SIRC (Sport Information Resource Centre) is a private, not-for-profit corporation based in Ottawa, Canada with over 6.5 million pages of sport research in its collection. SIRC’s clients consist of international, national and provincial sporting organizations, sports medicine associations and educational institutions committed to the development of sport. These organizations have an on-going need to educate their membership and have access to the most current research. SIRC has and will continue to be their source for academic and medical sport information.

SIRC is known worldwide as the creator of the SPORTDiscus Database, SIRC Document Delivery and author of the SIRC Thesaurus. SIRC offers services in the areas of indexing, research, communication, education and knowledge management. In addition, SIRC manages several programs that inspire, acknowledge and celebrate academic and sport excellence.

Contact :	Debra Gassewitz President & CEO SIRC Tel : +1 (613) 231-7472, Ext 224 Toll Free: +1 (800) 665-6413 North America Fax: +1 (613) 231-3739
	Etienne Gregoire Environment Canada MSC 335 River Rd RM 3707 Ottawa Ontario K1A 0H3 Tel: 613-949-8282 Fax/Télécopieur: 613-949-8283 www.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca

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