Six officer cadets struck by lightning
By Angela Lim – July 14th, 2010

Six full-time national servicemen (NSF) were hurt when a bolt of lightning hit the hill they were training on in Marsiling last week. The men were participating in a training excercise under a shelter during the time.

The NSFs, who were undergoing training to become officers, took shelter under a tree from rain at the time when the exercise was temporarily suspended, according to a Straits Times report.

Mostly in their late teens, the cadets were taking part in a platoon field-defence mission which required them to capture the top of the hill and set up chest-deep bunkers there to protect themselves against the “enemy”. Defence Ministry spokesman Darius Lim said the excercise was “temporarily suspended due to inclement weather”.

Colonel Lim said the injured cadets were immediately tended to by medics on site and a military doctor at the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Medical Centre. One officer cadet was released at the medical centre while the other five were sent to hospital for “further medical checks”, he said.

According to Col Lim, all six cadets were granted medical leave. Five have resumed training this week while a sixth will join the rest next week. One of the cadets now has hearing difficulties.

“The SAF has investigated the incident and has found that the unit had adhered to the stipulated training safety requirements,” Col Lim added.

This incident comes as no surprise as Singapore has one of the highest rates of lightning activity in the world. The hot and humid weather is ideal for the formation of lightning-producing storm clouds.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) revealed that 0.35 deaths were recorded for every one million people here between 2000 and 2003. Also between 1982 and last year, the NEA detected lightning on an average of 186 days a year.

According to lightning expert Liew Ah Choy of National University of Singapore’s (NUS) electrical and computer engineering department, when lightning hits the ground, its voltage spreads.

“When someone has two feet on the ground, the difference in voltages will push the current through the legs into the body and electrocute the person,” he said. A person standing up to 100m away from where the lightning current enters the ground may also be electrocuted.

Direct lightning hits are fatal. Nearly 200,000 amps of electricity, enough to power half a million 100W lightbulbs, will course through the person’s body. This can burst blood vessels, stop the heart and even leave burn marks.

Mr Soh Lye Huat, 57, experienced a direct hit at Tanah Merah Country Club last October. He died two weeks later from multiple organ failure.

While we obviously can’t stop lightning, we can take precautions to avoid being hit:

1) Don’t stay out in any open areas like fields, golf courses, or parking lots.
2) Stay away from all forms of metal
3) Stop swimming and get away from water
4) Don’t stand under tall objects like trees or towers

http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/07/14/si...k-by-lightning/

Didn't they say that never to hide under the tree in a lightning storm?

First thought that entered my mind when I read that.

Good thing no one was killed.

marsiling still got hills to train on?

Think its that area bounded by the Mandai Rd to the south, SLE to the north and BKE to the west. Approx 1 deg 25' N 103 deg 46' E on Google Earth.

Was last there in '98. There are some areas of (relatively) high ground

orh Mandai Track 16.

Its not the first time I'm stating this

Cat 5 risk is always high on safety risk. A lot of things done in army needs to be reinforced with the safety message.

Wartime kena shocked by lightning is one thing. Peacetime kena lightning shock not worth the risk. Ops should not be impeded by weather but safety message needs to be reinforced again and again.

I feel like kicking the idiot who choose the tree for shelter during a thunderstorm.

A lot of job for the medic.

In their defence from what I remember of that place there might be little choice. The forest there is pretty dense (by my city-slicker standards anyway) and there's the occasional dirt track and clearing as open ground. Not an ideal choice for sheltering or lightning avoidance during a thunderstorm too.

There are some training sheds but they might have been a fair way from one when it started pouring.

Yeah, I've trained there a few times.

We'll make haste to lower ground many times when it starts to pour.

Cheers.

in the old days, lightning or no lightning the fighting must continue. my most scary experience was when we did a platoon mounted assault (charge up hill with M113 and then once cross the reverse slope, M113 ramp down and we dismount to mop back and pick off any left over enemies).

and just as we started assaulting up the hill, lightning started directly over head (it was already pouring like cats dogs and ayam penyet). imagine your dismount completely drenched, holding a rifle and a steel helmet on your head (not even kevlar loh!) and standing on the hill top with M113s around with with their long long antenna waving about macam trying to invite the lightning to strike them leh :blink:

one word: kia ka lao sai :lol:

when rain, first thing I did is take out the whip antenna on the BX, then keep the MG. after that we bring the BMS system in, button up and start playing Solitaire ;)

btw rain may sound all nice and cool compared to the hot sun, but the sheer heat from the BX engine will cause whatever little moisture seeping in to vaporise. soon the interior will become insanely humid, and you'd kill just to get out :ph43r:

Tell it to the infantry guy in the foxhole jacuzzi. =D

We were lucky this time that the six OCS cadets had only minor injuries.

I shudder at the thought that all six OCS cadets met their creator on that faithful day and have to tell their parents that it was an act of god.