Which path is most lethal for lightning to travel through the body?

Which path is most lethal for lightning to travel through the body?

• A. Right arm to left leg
• B. Left arm to right leg over heart
• C. Head to toe
• D. Through the spine

Answer: (B)

Current traveling through the chest, especially across the heart, is the most dangerous because it can disrupt the heart’s electrical rhythm and trigger immediate cardiac arrest. A path from the left arm to the right leg that goes over the heart drives the lightning energy directly through the thorax and the heart itself, making ventricular fibrillation or sudden cardiac failure highly likely. Other routes may injure tissues or bones or burn along the skin, but they’re less likely to interrupt the heart’s rhythm because they avoid delivering the current through the central cardiac region. So, the route that crosses the chest and passes over the heart is the one most likely to be lethal.

Current traveling through the chest, especially across the heart, is the most dangerous because it can disrupt the heart’s electrical rhythm and trigger immediate cardiac arrest. A path from the left arm to the right leg that goes over the heart drives the lightning energy directly through the thorax and the heart itself, making ventricular fibrillation or sudden cardiac failure highly likely. Other routes may injure tissues or bones or burn along the skin, but they’re less likely to interrupt the heart’s rhythm because they avoid delivering the current through the central cardiac region. So, the route that crosses the chest and passes over the heart is the one most likely to be lethal.