School Followed Weather Protocols Prior to Lightning Incident, Superintendent Says
One student remains in the ICU following a Monday lightning strike at a Glacier High School soccer tryout. Per Kalispell Superintendent Matt Jensen, the team was abiding by proper guidelines ahead of the incident.
By Denali Sagner
A Glacier High School student remains in intensive care following a lightning incident that struck three individuals at a soccer tryout on Monday evening.
In an interview with the Beacon on Thursday morning, Kalispell Public Schools Superintendent Matt Jensen dispelled circulating concerns that the soccer team did not follow required safety protocols ahead of the incident.
Per guidelines established by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the body that writes the rules of competition for most high school sports, teams should suspend play for at least 30 minutes and vacate the outdoor activity when thunder is heard or lightning is seen. Players should return to play 30 minutes after the last lightning or thunder is observed.
Jensen said Glacier’s coaches exceeded these guidelines, requiring the soccer players to wait in their cars for 45 minutes after lighting was observed. Coaches were also monitoring weather apps, which Jensen said the district advises its coaches to do when navigating dangerous weather.
Forty-five minutes after the last lightning strike, the team returned to the field. Shortly after, the coach and two players were struck.
Following the lightning strike, coaches responded immediately, performing CPR on one of the impacted players until emergency responders arrived on scene. Quickly deploying an AED device and CPR “proved very critical” in the immediate response to the incident, Jensen said.
The Kalispell superintendent praised the quick response of staff, coaches and emergency responders.
“The Glacier staff has done a great job of preparing for critical incident responses, and we’re super thankful that they’ve been in a habit of regular training,” Jensen said. “It really paid off.”
The superintendent added, “As far as a process and a procedure, they did it right.”
The coach and one of the impacted players have been released from Logan Health, and the coach returned to practice yesterday.
The other student remains in the ICU. A GoFundMe has been created to raise funds for the student’s medical bills and other associated costs.
Jensen said that it is “probably going to be a long process, and our thoughts and prayers are with him for as long as this takes.”
The district will conduct a formal review of the incident, which Jensen said is standard protocol when a student is injured during a school activity.
“The community cares, and our focus is right now just praying for the family and seeing what we can do,” Jensen said.
The student who remains in the ICU was “stable at this time and able to squeeze our hands” as of Thursday morning, according to an update posted to the GoFundMe by the family.
This is a developing story.