According to the principal, the school followed weather protocols before the lightning strike

A Glacier High School student remains in intensive care after three people were struck by lightning during a football practice Monday night.

In an interview with the Beacon Thursday morning, Kalispell Public Schools Superintendent Matt Jensen dispelled concerns circulating ahead of the incident that the football team had not followed required safety protocols.

According to guidelines from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the organization that sets the rules of competition for most high school sports, teams should stop play for at least 30 minutes and leave the outdoor activity if thunder is heard or lightning is seen. Players should return to play 30 minutes after the last flash of lightning or thunder.

Jensen said Glacier coaches exceeded those guidelines and football players had to wait in their cars for 45 minutes after noticing lightning. Coaches also monitored weather apps, which Jensen said the district recommends its coaches do when they are out in dangerous weather.

The team returned to the field 45 minutes after the last lightning strike. Shortly afterwards, the coach and two players were hit.

After the lightning strike, coaches responded immediately and performed CPR on one of the affected players until emergency responders arrived on the scene. The rapid deployment of an AED device and CPR “proved to be extremely important” in the immediate response to the incident, Jensen said.

The Kalispell superintendent praised the quick response of staff, trainers and emergency responders.

“Glacier employees have done a great job of preparing for critical incidents and we are very grateful that they attend regular training,” said Jensen. “It has really paid off.”

The superintendent added: “As far as the process and procedure goes, they did it right.”

The coach and one of the affected players were released from Logan Health and the coach returned to training yesterday.

The other student remains in intensive care. A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to raise money for the student's medical bills and other related expenses.

Jensen said it will “probably be a long process and our thoughts and prayers are with him while it lasts.”

The district will formally investigate the incident, which Jensen said is standard protocol when a student is injured during a school activity.

“The community is concerned and our focus right now is just praying for the family and seeing what we can do,” Jensen said.

The student, who remains in intensive care, was “stable and able to squeeze our hands” Thursday morning, according to an update the family posted on GoFundMe.

This is an evolving story.

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