On a July day in 2011, Curtis Lotti and his 8-year-old daughter were watching a football game at a Northampton County sports field when a thunderstorm moved through. They took cover under a tree, where Lotti held an umbrella over his little girl's head.

Suddenly, Lotti told news reporters, he was on the ground, with burns on his legs and a tingling sensation. His daughter's eye hurt and was red.The two had been struck by lightning.According to published reports, Lotti later told reporters that standing under a tree was the wrong thing to do, but he never thought he and his daughter would be hit by lightning.Although lightning strikes of people are rare, they can be deadly.The Lottis were among four people struck by lightning who were seen at St. Luke's in the past five years, said spokeswoman Andrea Hahn.Lehigh Valley Health Network saw four people who had been struck by lightning in 2012 and one in 2011, said spokeswoman Tracey Sechler.Pocono Medical Center spokesman Geoffrey M. Roche said that since May 2009, five people have come to the emergency department after being struck.Dr. Leroy Nickles, medical director of the emergency department at PMC, said lightning can cause skin burns, internal burns and organ damage. Direct hits can have a blast effect, he said. In 2009, one patient suffered a direct strike that flung his body up in the air a couple of feet.Lightning strikes can cause heart arrhythmias and disrupt pacemakers, Nickles said.In August 2012 a man was killed by a lightning strike at Pocono Raceway. Nine others were injured.According to the National Weather Service, as of last week, seven people have been killed by lightning so far this year.Four were in Florida, and there was one each in Michigan, New Mexico and Texas.The danger is important to keep in mind as summer gets underway, with baseball and softball games in full swing on open fields.Sports officialsstay alertNorthern Lehigh School District athletic director Bryan Geist keeps an eye on the weather when his teams are on the field. He also uses a hand-held lightning detector that tells him when lightning strikes within a wide radius, and he has used smartphone apps.Geist said he and his staff follow the PIAA rule of stopping play and getting students off the field for 30 minutes after hearing thunder.But the apps and detector give an added edge."Anything inside eight to 12 miles we consider local. With all the trees and mountains in our area, don't always see (lightning strikes). We use the phone apps, computers and the detector," he said.The detector sends a signal into the sky and indicates how far away lightning is and how long it would take to approach, Geist said."We try to put everything together to get the most information," he said.The students' safety is the priority, Geist said."If we have an event in a stadium, we clear it because of the aluminum bleachers. If there is no other option, we get the kids into vehicles. Most teams, their bus stays, so we get them on their bus. That's a good way to account for them as well," he said.Dan Rossino, who is head of the Blue Mountain Umpires Association and a PIAA umpire, follows the 30-minute rule, too.He's a firm believer in educating people about lightning safety."When we see lightning, we use our common sense. Most often, we get the kids out of there, even though parents, coaches want to see the kids play," he said.The frustration of stopping a game is understandable, he said."You're driving around to all these places, and then you're pulling them off the field. But if we err, we are going to err on the side of safety," Rossino said. "It may not be a popular decision."He cites as an example a recent Babe Ruth game in Franklin Township."We got off the field because of lightning, but a T-ball team was still playing. One of the Franklin Township officers told them they need to get off the field," he said."A lot of these people aren't educated (about lightning safety). They don't know the ramifications, not only if you see lightning, but also if you hear thunder. They don't realize (lightning) can travel through the ground and come up."Rossino urges coaches and parents to put safety first."Don't be selfish and think about playing the game," he said. "You need to do the right thing."