EMS Trains Texas Residents on Lightning Safety

Sept. 15--LAKEWAY -- Less than three weeks after a lightning strike left one Lakeway fourth-grader in critical condition, EMS officials came out to the community Sunday night to educate the public on lightning safety.

Paramedics from Austin-Travis County EMS gave the presentation at the Lakeway Activity Center after being invited by the Lake Travis Youth Association. The association is a defendant in a $10 million lawsuit filed this month in district court by the parents of Alex Hermann, the 9-year-old most severely injured in the Aug. 26 lightning strike.

Alex is said to have suffered permanent damage from the incident at the youth association's soccer fields near Hamilton Pool Road and Texas 71, according to the lawsuit.

Youth association vice president Jerry Mohn said he asked paramedics to give a presentation to help Lakeway residents understand what happened at the association's Field of Dreams facility and to inform them of the dangers of lightning.

"We want to protect our children as much as possible, so we are doing all we can to prevent what happened to Alex," Mohn said.

About 30 people attended the event. Among them was Lakeway resident Kristen Roedner, whose 9-year-old daughter is in the same class as Alex. Roedner said she came to the presentation to be more aware of what to do if caught in a lightning storm. One of the most surprising things she learned is that concrete is a conductor for lightning.

"I've pretty much learned that no place is safe," she said.

The strike that injured Alex was a few miles outside of a storm cell that was moving in the area, according to the National Weather Service.

EMS also gave some basic CPR training at the event, making note of the importance of bystander assistance if they should come across an unresponsive person who may be experiencing cardiac arrest. Austin-Travis County EMS Commander Mike Benavides said some people are hesitant to initiate mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to strangers.

"That's OK," Benavides said. "What we're saying is compress, compress, compress."

Several practiced on small blow up dolls, learning from EMS Capt. Randy Chhabra the basic procedure of performing CPR, including how to check for vitals and the speed that chest compressions should be applied to jump start blood circulation.

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