245 Mary Ann Cooper: Saving Lives through Lightning Injury Prevention & Safety

When lightning strikes, where do you go to avoid injury? If you live in the United States, you likely have easy access to a safe building or car. In fact, fewer than 20 people die annually from being struck by lightning. But for people who live in the developing world, the risks of injury or death are magnified because they do not have access to safe locations.  Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, age 74, an early pioneer in emergency medicine, is dedicated to saving lives through public education and building engineering.   She is Founder and Managing Director of African Centres for Lightning and Electromagnetics Network, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries, and property damage from lightning across Africa, and is active internationally with many other lightning safety programs around the world.  Dr. Cooper emphasizes:  It is impossible to prevent lightning; WHERE you go is much less important than WHAT YOU DO, which is take action.Lightning is the most common climate threat to life across the globe. Connect with Dr. Cooper:Email: macooper@uic.edu   website: https://ACLENet.org