LONDON (Reuters) - People should not use mobile phones outdoors during thunderstorms （暴風雨）because of the risk of being struck by lightning（閃電）, doctors said Friday.

    They reported the case of a 15-year-old girl who was using her phone in a park when she was hit during a storm. Although she was revived（蘇醒）, she suffered persistent（永久的）health problems and was using a wheelchair a year after the accident.

    "This rare phenomenon is a public health issue, and education is necessary to highlight the risk of using mobile phones outdoors during stormy weather to prevent future fatal consequences from lighting strike injuries," said Swinda Esprit, a doctor at Northwick Park Hospital in England.

    Esprit and other doctors at the hospital added in a letter to the British Medical Journal that usually when someone is struck by lightning, the high resistance（電阻）of the skin conducts（引導）the flash over the body in what is known as a flashover（閃燃）.

    But if a metal object, such as a phone, is in contact with the skin it disrupts the flashover and increases the odds（可能性） of internal injuries and death.

    The doctors added that three fatal cases of lightning striking people while using mobile phones have been reported in newspapers in China, South Korea and Malaysia.

    "The Australian Lightning Protection Standard recommends that metallic（金屬的）objects, including cordless（無線的） or mobile phones, should not be used (or carried) outdoors during a thunderstorm," Esprit added.

    (News Source: Reuters)

    Note:

    據研究報告，隨身攜帶金屬物品可能會增加雷雨天氣受雷擊致傷的危險。醫生建議，雷雨天氣時請盡量不要在室外使用或者攜帶移動電話。

    Flashover: 閃燃俗稱燃爆，是因溫度升高而引起的一種現象，即當可燃性物質得到足夠的熱量所產生的燃燒。