Uspa Medication Report (Form 2: Fill & Download for Free

Question: What is the probability or risk of death or injury in a tandem skydive?Tandem is the safest way to make a first-time skydive. The “probability” of a death or injury on a tandem skydive, generally speaking, is extremely low. According to the USPA, over the decade 2008–2017, there was one student fatality per 500,000 tandem jumps.The reason I quote “probability” is because I think there is limited usefulness in a broad-stroke statistics like this. Few things we do in life are truly a static exercise in probability. There are situational nuances in skydiving, driving a car, and many other activities which can significantly affect the chance of death for better or worse.I will list a few of these factors below. My hope is that you will consider them proactively in deciding where and when to skydive but that you won’t dwell on them too much. Skydiving is supposed to be fun, after all!Look for a skydiving center that is a member of the USPA and has good reviews. Don’t cheap-out on a Groupon deal. Like Lasik, condoms, tattoos, and airplane maintenance, this is not an area where you want to be cheap.I would group risk factors into the categories of training, environmental, health, experience, and “not your day.”Training:Was your tandem instructor properly trained?There was a scandal a few years ago where a couple of individuals with Tandem Instructor Examiner (T-IE) credentials based out of Lodi, California were not training Tandem Instructor (TI) candidates to the standards of the USPA or gear manufacturers. The USPA worked swiftly to revoke the ratings of and retrain nearly 140 TIs who were certified by these two T-IEs. Unfortunately, there has been at least one double fatality because improperly/incompletely trained instructors did not follow the gear manufacturer’s procedures. If I recall correctly, the June 2018 issue of Parachutist magazine reported 2 more double fatalities connected to these rogue Lodi T-IEs.Are you properly trained?You want to go to a dropzone that will take the time to train you well. You want to get all of your questions answered and concerns addressed. If your mind is at ease, the skydive will go much better. If you are stressed and uncertain, you will be stiffer in free-fall, and your instructor will have a more challenging job of keeping the two of you nice and stable.High-volume, low-cost dropzones are under pressure to keep the airplane in the air. For years, the skydiving industry has been embroiled in an internal holy war about the role of Groupon and other 3rd party booking agencies. The industry standard price for a tandem is $220+, but in some regions of the US, Groupon and others like it push prices down into the $130–160 range to the point that dropzones make as little as $5 profit on a tandem.To make up for lost revenue, some dropzones have turned to serving a very high volume of customers. Often, this means you will be trained in a large group and get little individual attention. As a tandem student, you don’t have to worry about much on your skydive, but if you are thoroughly trained above and beyond the FAA required minimum, it will make things go much smoother. Go to a skydiving center that has time to focus on you.Environmental:Is there a risk of dust devils?In hot weather, dust devils can form. If your ram-air parachute flies into one, chances are it will collapse temporarily but very likely re-inflate and continue to fly. If your parachute collapses near the ground, then there may not be enough time for it to recover, and you might be injured or killed. In Arizona and other desert climates, dust devils are visible because they kick up lots of dust. In grassy regions, dust devils may be nearly invisible. The Wikipedia article on dust devils lists the risk factors for their formation. I would advise against jumping around 1pm during Summer in the Arizona desert. Arizona Winter? Much safer.What are the winds doing?Modern skydiving uses ram-air parachutes. A ram-air parachute glides much like an airplane wing and relies on forward speed to produce lift. Often, wind speeds can vary near the ground. If the wind gust spread is particularly wide, unfortunate timing can cause a loss of lift near the ground (i.e. canopy collapse) and a hard landing.Health:Are you healthy enough to skydive?In most cases, skydiving is a low impact sport. (Bad pun, sorry.) Some health matters to consider include whether you have heart issues that may be triggered by heightened adrenaline or back or shoulder problems which may affect your ability to assume the ideal freefall body position.For landing, you must be able to lift your legs out in front of you or you risk a leg injury.Is your instructor healthy?Did they eat, are they overworked, staying hydrated? In the United States, tandem instructors are required to pass an FAA 3rd Class Medical Examination every few years with the interval depending on their age.Experience:How much experience does your instructor have?Properly trained, newer tandem instructors (like myself) can be perfectly safe, but you might find comfort in jumping with an instructor who has a few thousand tandem jumps under their belt.How current is your instructor?There is a big difference between making 700 jumps in 3 years, as I have done, vs 700 jumps in 15 years. The more active your instructor is in the sport, the more practiced their skills will be.“Not Your Day”:Sometimes, rarely, shit happens. Few incidents in skydiving happen out of pure chance, but I won’t rule out the possibility. We try to manage the risk as much as we can, but some things are simply out of our control. The airplane could crash after takeoff or you could have an exceedingly rare double parachute malfunction. Anything is possible.The vast majority of tandem skydiving fatalities were preventable. Ensuring your instructor is properly trained, takes the time to thoroughly train you, is not overworked, and uses good judgement with respect to wind and weather hazards will go a long way towards ensuring a safe, fun, and otherwise uneventful skydive.