Legal Commentary

A timely reminder

By Tom Kirkendall

As the heat of the summer months rises and thunderstorms become more frequent, this Bill Pennington/NY Times article passes along a helpful reminder to golfers regarding two commonly often overlooked hazards -- overexposure of skin to the sun and lightning strikes:

Dermatologists say golfers are notoriously poor at protecting themselves from sun damage and frequently need treatment for harmful lesions on ears, hands and noses. And in a typical year, lightning kills more people than tornadoes or hurricanes.  [.  .  .]

“Men also completely forget about their ears, and they miss the patch of skin on the side of their neck just below the ear,” [Dermatologist Dr. Wendy] Roberts said. “I remove a lot of cancers from that spot.” [. . .]

Lightning often strikes 10 miles from any rainfall and can strike ahead of storms or seemingly after they have passed.

“On a golf course, you usually have a good view of a coming storm, and if you hear any thunder, you should head inside a building or a hard-topped car as soon as you can get there,” [National Weather Service lightning safety expert John] Jensenius said. “I study the case histories of all lightning fatalities. Often, if people had gotten inside 5 or 10 minutes earlier, they would be alive. All the cases are very sad; these are good people who make a mistake.”

Jensenius said golf clubs and other metal objects do not attract lightning and that getting in the cart would not protect you. The rubber tires do not help, he said. Lightning victims, for example, are struck and injured riding lawn mowers. Cars are safe, he said, because they have metal roofs and sides.

Full post as published by Houston's Clear Thinkers on June 04, 2009 (boomark / email).