In the wake of the recent lightning-related injuries sustained on the Pinewood Christian Academy football field, Bryan County schools are revisiting their safety policies.

"I’ve contacted each person at each school and reinforced our safety procedures," said Billy McGrath with the Bryan County Board of Education. "We’re currently checking all our equipment, making sure the batteries are charged in the lightning detectors and taking a strong look at our athletic safety emergency plans."

McGrath said all the county coaches have been certified in CPR and first aid, "and we have volunteers on campus in case of emergency, such as school nurses."

"This is a wake up call," said RHHS Vice Principal Wade Wright, who has coached high school sports for 20-plus years. "It goes to show that no matter how much we prepare, lightning can occur even in blue skies. All we can do is do the best we can to have detectors in place and watch the weather reports."

Wright said his first coaching job was at Pinewood, and the school practices proper safety standards. Wright said he has been involved in countless game delays and cancellations due to lightning, but he has never been involved in a case where a player was struck.

"The incident in Pinewood was unfortunate and tragic, but very rare," Wright said.

Wright said GHSA (Georgia High School Association) has very stringent guidelines for the allowance of games to continue in stormy weather.

"One of the easiest ways for coaches to be fired is to jeopardize the safety of the athletes," Wright said. "I’ve seen coaches fired after trying to get one more play in."

GHSA Executive Director Dr. Ralph Swearngin recalls an incident last September in Houston County where a player and an official suffered injuries due to a lightning strike.

"The kids had already been taken off the field when it occurred," Swearngin said. "We have policies and detectors in place, but it’s really a false sense of security to think we can totally prevent this kind of problem."

Jonathan Lamb with NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) said being struck by lightning is very rare.

The only recorded incident where someone was injured from being struck by lightning was on Sept. 4, 2000 when then-Pembroke Police Department Chief Jeff Simmons was struck while unplugging computers during a thunderstorm.

The recent incident at Pinewood Christian Academy is the first ever lightning strike injury in Evans County, according to Lamb.

Lamb said the national average for fatality rate per year is 90 and 52 percent of the victims were engaged in outdoor recreational activities. He said the demographics show victims were predominantly young males.

NOAA statistics show that in Georgia, from 1950 to current, 92 events with at least one injury caused by lightning occurred. Of those events, 9 fatalities and 229 injuries resulted.

"Many of these injuries or fatalities occurred before rain even began," Lamb said. "It’s something we often refer to as ‘bolts from the blue.’ The rule of thumb is if you hear thunder, you could be hit, which some people have a hard time believing."