The National Weather Service publication Storm Data recorded 3,239 deaths and 9,818 injuries from lightning strikes between 1959 and 1994. Only flash floods and river floods cause more weather-related deaths. Still, many doctors do not fully understand how to treat the injuries of the other 80 percent of lightning victims who survive a strike. But lightning injuries are not the same as electrical shocks. For one thing, the contact voltage of a typical industrial electrical shock is 20 to 63 kilovolts, while a lightning strike delivers about 300 kilovolts.
Lightning strikes have an even shorter duration, only lasting up to a few milliseconds.
Both industrial shocks and lightning strikes result in deep burns at point of contact - for industry the points of contact are usually on the upper limbs, hands and wrists, while for lightning they are mostly on the head, neck and shoulders. Industrial shock victims sometimes exhibit deep tissue destruction along the entire current path, while lightning victims' burns seem to center at the entry and exit points. Both industrial shock and lightning victims may be injured from falling down or being thrown, and the leading cause of immediate death for both is cardiac or cardiopulmonary arrest. If you survive a shock, you still have to deal with the consequences of the electrical burns. Industrial shock burns can lead to kidney failure, infection, muscle and tissue damage, or amputation.