I’ve added an avalanche (http://www.edu4hazards.org/avalanche.html ) and a lightning strike (http://www.edu4hazards.org/lightning.html ) category to the edu4hazards.org website. While carrying ut the research for the lightning strike pages I came across advice about the lightning crouch (http://www.edu4hazards.org/lightning_crouch.html ) which I didn’t know about initially but have since researched in more depth. I decided to ask many teachers and Emergency Planning Officers in the UK about what they would do and many thought that lying down was the safest thing to do if caught out in the open....apparently not the advice given to the US Army, or by NOAA! What you should do is follow the instruction given on the lightning crouch pages that I have put up! It seems that this is a real gap in knowledge and there seems to be a lot of ‘assumed knowledge’ about the safety if cars - people think its the rubber tyres and not the metal cage that will save lives and are consistently giving bad advice about what to do. I found this both interesting and shocking and am now carrying out further research among PE and geography teachers in the UK as well as outdoor education specialists to poll their knowledge and correct any misconceptions! Watch this space for more updates soon...
