Dehn Africa has joined forces with the African Centres for Lightning and Electromagnetics (ACLE) to help to protect schools and students in Africa from lightning strikes and the resulting injuries.
Founded by Richard Tushemereirwe and Dr Mary Ann Cooper, professor emerita of emergency medicine at the University of Illinois in Chicago, the ACLE is a pan-African network of centres dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries and property damage from lightning.
“For the last few years, we at the ACLE have observed that the number of lightning deaths and injuries across Africa is overwhelmingly high compared to the USA, Europe and other developed countries,” says Cooper. “While phrases such as ‘When thunder roars, go indoors’ may be effective in developed countries where there are substantial and generally safe buildings, this is not the case in much of Africa. In fact, our research shows that the majority of multiple death reports in Africa involve people seeking shelter in the permanent structures available in their communities.”
While the ACLE recognises that it does not have all the answers to lightning injury prevention in Africa, it believes it can make a difference in one particular area – protecting schools. To this end, the ACLE has launched the campaign: ‘”Lightning kills! Save a life in Africa”.
“On hearing of the campaign, Dehn Africa was keen to get involved,” says marketing director, Kirk Risch. “Global lightning occurrence maps, based on satellite data, show that many parts of the African continent have the highest lightning densities in the world. However, until recent decades, the international community hardly received information on the severity of lightning accidents on the continent. Together with UltraTec World in Uganda, we are thrilled to be involved with the ACLE’s project. UltraTec World has already committed to performing the site surveys to gather the required information about selected schools in Uganda. Once we have that, our technical department in South Africa will design the lightning protection system.”
“This was wonderful news for the ACLE. We want to thank Dehn Africa for this commitment that will allow us to begin to reduce lightning related deaths and injuries among schoolchildren on this vulnerable continent,” concludes Cooper.
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