NSW Ambulance Inspector Carolyn Parish said the circumstances were “extraordinary.”
Four weeks ago, a surfer in his late-20s leaving the water at northern suburban suburb Dee Why was hit by lightening. Ten minutes later an elderly woman, standing under a tree in her yard was also struck. Both were transferred to nearby hospitals in serious and critical condition.
Yesterday, the surfer, Josh Bush, who survived after his brother performed CPR he’d learned on the television show Bondi Rescue, was released from hospital.
According to news.com.au:
NSW Ambulance Inspector Carolyn Parish said the circumstances were “extraordinary” and credited the first responders. “This is the first time I have ever come across two lightning strikes within 10 minutes – it’s terrifying,” she said in a statement.
“How you react to being hit by lightning depends on the circumstances and where you have been hit. “Most people, however, will go into cardiac arrest so those first moments of CPR are vital.”
And lightening… ugh.
I have been out in the water before, surfing alongside Derek Rielly in fact, when bolts shot from the sky and hit Cardiff by the Sea’s Pacific horizon then moved closer to where we were putting on a very wonderful show. I had assumed, I suppose, that getting hit in the water was a rare thing and didn’t hurry to get out of the water but have never lived in a place where electrical storms are regular occurrences.
What is protocol?
What is the right thing to do and wrong thing to do other than standing ramrod straight in a field?
Damned lightening.