Struck by lightning

Taoseños who lived to tell the tale, and WellTaos tips for surviving the same.

BY VIRGINIA L. CLARK

F OUR TAOSEÑOS on record have been struck by lightning and survived. In 2019, the National Weather Service estimated lightning kills roughly 20 people each year in the U.S. and injures a few hundred more, including of course, New Mexicans.

“Unfortunately, New Mexico has observed several lightning fatalities and injuries,” according to weather.gov, which states dry thunderstorms tend to be the most dangerous, since people less likely seek shelter when a storm doesn’t bring rain.

Dr. Gelain Ismail and husband Alan Mahrenholz were victims of a random dry lightning strike Aug. 2, 2022, walking their dog in El Prado. Ismail was unconscious for a few seconds and had an injured arm, but began one-armed CPR on her unconscious, lightning-burned husband, restarting his heart by the time medics arrived on scene. He was rushed to Holy Cross Medical Center in stable but serious condition.

Winter 2011, Taos artist Dirk Herrman was struck by lightning, skiing in Telluride, Colo. (see Dirk’s wife, Taos News food columnist Lucy Herrman’s just-published ‘Take Another Piece of My Heart: A Memoir’/Nighthawk Press; 2022).

“Something is happening to me,” Dirk told Lucy over the phone. He said it felt like “lightning went from my throat down through me to my lower back. The pain bent me over onto my poles. I couldn’t stand up straight.” Telluride ER confirmed an aortic dissection in Herrman, an athlete in his fifties in otherwise good health. “Left untreated,” Lucy quotes, “50 percent die in 48 hours.”

June 2007, Taos Land Trust auction volunteer Guillermo Rosette was struck by lightning and survived, according to Taos News intern Harrison Blackman’s research. “The lightning had shattered Rosette’s glasses and, more critically — Rosette had no pulse. Fortunately, a doctor and nurse were present at the auction and immediately attended to the man before he was picked up by ambulance and brought to Holy Cross Hospital.” Blackman said Rosette was released from the hospital within two hours.

Shelter and learn CPR

Lightning is the second-leading cause of weather-related deaths, after flash floods, according to National Weather Service. Our lightning-survivor accounts are proof positive we should shelter from thunder and learn Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.

"Taking an hour-long CPR class is fast and free and can save a life," said Emergency Response Expert and former firefighter, David Elliot. Elliot has been teaching the Whole Community CPR Lifesaver Course for several years. He is the hospital emergency response coordinator for Holy Cross Medical Center and used to be deputy emergency manager for Taos County. He was Taos News 2021 Citizen of the Year for helping organize the county's emergency response during the pandemic.

Friday morning (Sept. 23, 2022), 15 members of the Taos News staff gathered to learn CPR, in case they might need to save someone's life. Elliot led the class and recommended all organizations teach staff how to do CPR, as well as what to do if someone is choking. Significantly, he explained there is a separate approach for performing CPR on small children and infants.

Performing CPR — the right way

CPR is a process by which a person's heart is forced to continue pumping blood throughout their body when it can no longer do so on its own. Taos News Editor John Miller noted former Holy Cross cardiologist Dr. Gelain Ismail saying CPR is one of those skills we all see performed in movies and on TV shows, but the reality is, most people who say they think they know how it's done probably don't. “There's a lot more to it than most people think, and this training really drove that home for our staff," Miller said.

Dr. Ismail said in a letter to the editor, “We will be forever grateful for the prompt response and fantastic emergency care we received, stabilizing us both and transporting us to Holy Cross Medical Center. Our final thought is please, please, learn CPR if you do not know how to perform it!”

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