Table 1.

Types of lightning strike and ways they affect the human body.

Type	Mechanism
Direct strike	Most of the current flows through the body; highest mortality
Contact voltage	Occurs when lightning strikes an object such as a car or metal pole that the victim is touching
Side flash	Splashing of current from a nearby object or person onto the victim
Ground current	Ground current passes from the strike point through the ground into the victim
Upward streamer	Passage of lightning from the victim upwards
Blast injury	Sudden expansive explosion of the air around the lightning channel causing blunt trauma