Outdoor Activity Planning
- If thunderstorms are forecast, avoid being outdoors at that time and/or make an alternate plan.
- Monitor the weather forecasts and warnings, as well as the Canadian Lightning Danger Maps (if accessible).
- Develop a process to cancel or delay the activity based on weather forecasts and warnings.
- Inform the organizers, volunteers, and students of the emergency plan. For example, communicate the procedures for assisting students with additional needs.
- Identify safe locations and determine the time required to reach them. Safe locations are:
- Any building normally occupied or frequently used by people with plumbing and/or electrical wiring that acts to electrically ground the structure. Sheds (wood/vinyl, metal), tents, open shelters on athletic fields/parks are designed to protect from rain and sun but NOT lightning.
- Any vehicle with a hard metal roof (not a convertible or golf cart) and rolled-up windows can provide a measure of safety. The hard metal roof and body of the vehicle dissipates the lightning strike around the vehicle. While sheltering do not touch the sides of the vehicle.
