Recognition of lightning-induced trauma to the skeleton: A forensic taphonomic study

Author

Bacci, Nicholas ; Augustine, Tanya ; Randolph-Quinney, Patrick ; Hunt, Hugh ; Nixon, Ken

Author_Institution

Sch. of Anatomical Sci., Univ. of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

fYear

2014

fDate

11-18 Oct. 2014

Firstpage

1299

Lastpage

1302

Abstract

Lightning related deaths can be hard to recognize in most circumstances, unless explicitly looked for, and impossible when the remains are fully skeletonized. There is a crucial need for this for forensic authorities in South Africa, where there is a high incidence of lightning deaths and a high rate of recovery of unidentified bodies in the skeletonized state. The effects of a 15 kA, 8/20 μs impulse current applied to a series of pig femurs was investigated as well as a comparison with a skeletal element from a giraffe struck by lightning. A distinct pattern of traumatization was observed and is described in detail. Further analysis and comparison to human results should be carried out and a method for accurately identifying lightning related fatalities should be created.

Keywords

bioelectric phenomena; biological effects of fields; bone; forensic science; injuries; lightning; patient diagnosis; current 15 kA; forensic taphonomic study; fully skeletonized remain recovery rate; giraffe; human remain; impulse current effect; lightning death incidence; lightning related fatality identification; lightning-induced trauma recognition; pig femur; skeletal element comparison; skeleton trauma; traumatization pattern; unidentified body recovery rate; Character recognition; Educational institutions; Forensics; Irrigation; Laboratories; electrocution; forensics; lightning; skeleton; taphonomy;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Lightning Protection (ICLP), 2014 International Conference o

Conference_Location

Shanghai

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICLP.2014.6973330

Filename

6973330