Witnessing your FIRST incident

[pkrfce 0]

Prior to getting into this sport, I had to accept the risks associated with falling from the sky with a bunch of fabric on your back.

Just the other day I witnessed my first incident (non-fatal, but broken up) and was a little shook up. My questions is, How do you guys/gals deal with incidents when they happen and how did you deal with the FIRST incident you witnessed?

What is proper DZ etiquette regarding incidents immediately after the happen? (i.e when they happen is it hush hush as to not scare the potential customers?) Any info would be great! Thanks

[millertime24 8]

Get on the next load. Thats how I chose to deal with watching my first one.

Muff #5048

[happythoughts 0]

When you drive by a car accident, do you consider selling your car and stopping driving?

While skydiving is not essential, it is a choice.

In skydiving, there is no way to remove the possibility of death.
However, learning from the mistakes of others, we can
hopefully avoid their mistakes.
That is the point of the Incidents forum.

We should talk among ourselves and learn.
Talking to non-skydivers is merely bravado, but pointless because they consider us near-death anyway.

Media representatives should be pointed to the DZ media spokesman, preferably the DZO.
The media will probably twist any words you give them
for their own effect.

[dgskydive 0]

The first time I saw someone bounce was in Jump School at Ft. Benning. Jumped the next day.

Second one was a S/L student, that broke herself really bad, by not following radio commands. She said she heard them, but didnt follow them. I jumped 10 minutes later.

Get back on the horse or quit. You will see more of that the longer you are in the sport. You don't get immune to it, but you learn to look at what happened and try to learn from it and not make the same mistake.

Dom

[airathanas 0]

I was at a boogie when a double fatality happened. I did not see it happen but it shut down operations until the next day. The winds were sucking that day anyhow so I was not jumping.

As far as an injury incident, I would keep jumping. If someone is so shaken up that they do not jump, that is their decision.

http://3ringnecklace.com/

[swoopfly 5]

When i did my first tandem i knew it is something i wanted to do. Well then i started coming on here, to which a month after my first jump, i read on the incidents about the instructor i jumped with died. This happened a month into this sport. We all know the risk before that first jump, this is a big boy sport and if you cant handle it get out!

[tfelber 0]

The first one was a skyboarding accident. First jump with the board, opened low, entanglement, and he died. It was very easy for me to rationalize this one away. I won't do that...I'd pull higher...whatever.\

The second, however, was an instructor that I respected a great deal. He lost contact with his student on a military night training jump and ended up colliding with him in freefall. If I remember right both jumpers died. For some reason that one was not as easy to rationalize away. It was in my head for quite some time. I kept jumping, but kept thinking about it. Eventually it stopped being on my mind.

Now, it's just part of the puzzle. I consider the situation, I try to imagine how I would react (more for future reference than anything else), and then I try not to make that mistake myself.

One thing to keep in mind is most people don't intend on getting hurt or killed while jumping. Somethings (plural usually) happened and they either didn't react properly or quick enough or the situation just evolved into something unmanageable. Don't take things for granted, constantly try to evaluate the what-ifs and how you would deal with them, and know when to say when.

[riggerrob 558]

I have seen plenty of people hurt skydiving, and most of the time, I just got on the next load.

Back in the late 1970s, I saw plenty of broken ankles (landing military-surplus round canopies) and soon tired of carrying stretchers off the DZ. Then I got on the next load.

During the 1980s, I saw a few more broken ankles, drove a few people (myself included) to the hospital and got back in the air as soon as I could.

Same for the 1990s, except that I watched a guy swoop another guy into the hospital. The guilty bastard got grounded until his buddy was able to jump again.

Oh! And I watched one guy (not a skydiver) bleed to death in the Perris Valley parking lot. I jumped the next day.

In this century, I continued to extract students from trees and blackberry bushes and observed a few "less than perfect swoops." ... watched one student take his last breath - in huge pool of blood. Funny how "Victim Services" offered me psychological counselling, which I brushed off.

Ironically, when I was wounded in a King Air crash, no-one offered me any psychological counselling. But co-workers did play a series of twisted, perverted head-games that delayed my physical recovery and repeatedly reminded me of my wounds. I have not skydived in almost two months and wonder if I will ever jump again at that DZ. I certainly am not going to PAY to fun-jump with bullies!

[absane 0]

Knock on wood, I haven't seen anything yet. About all I've seen is 3 cutaways and a 70 year old skydiver land in the trees and come out with a bloody mouth.

Don't forget to pull!

[ILikePizza 0]

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Oh! And I watched one guy (not a skydiver) bleed to death in the Perris Valley parking lot. I jumped the next day.

um.....

...And I'm not gonna not get Randy Jackson's autograph...
Did we just become best friends?

D.S. #1000000

[grimmie 173]

It never gets easier to witness. Take each thing you see or hear about and try to learn from it.

Some jumpers forget that there is no such thing as a routine take off, routine jump or a routine landing. Keep vigilant and current.

Take a basic first aid or EMT course. We never have enough "qualified" helpers at the DZ when stuff goes wrong.

And it's OK to talk with your skydiving pals about what you witnessed or feel about it. We have all been there.

[dninness 4]

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Get on the next load. Thats how I chose to deal with watching my first one.

thats pretty much my tack. We were waiting to load the plane when I watched one of our camera guys biff in pretty badly many years ago. We got on the plane and the load organizer went thru and made sure everybody was OK to jump and reminded us that there might be emergency equipment on the field when we land, so we should be prepared to land further out.

On landing, the ambulance was slowly leaving the landing area, no lights. We didn't know if that was a great sign or a really, really bad sign.

When the guy showed up to the bonfire that evening, we figured it out.

NIN
D-19617, AFF-I '19

[Granimal 0]

It is always tough to witness a fatality in the sport, especially when it is someone close to you. Unfortunately, if you spend enough time in the sport, sooner or later you will be forced to deal with it.

One of the toughest things for me to deal with in the sport is that a skydiver can do everything right and be one of the most safety conscious people in the sport and still be killed by the actions of another individual.

Whether the risks outweigh the rewards one gets from jumping out of airplanes is a decision that we must all make individually. Witnessing a major accident or losing someone close forces you to evaluate this risk/reward decision. It seems like every time I have witnessed a fatality or lost someone close at least one person decided to leave the sport in the wake of the incident.

[normiss 622]

In skydiving LIFE, there is no way to remove the possibility of death.

I choose to continue living.

[Amazon 7]

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Prior to getting into this sport, I had to accept the risks associated with falling from the sky with a bunch of fabric on your back.

Just the other day I witnessed my first incident (non-fatal, but broken up) and was a little shook up. My questions is, How do you guys/gals deal with incidents when they happen and how did you deal with the FIRST incident you witnessed?

What is proper DZ etiquette regarding incidents immediately after the happen? (i.e when they happen is it hush hush as to not scare the potential customers?) Any info would be great! Thanks

First off, if it looks like something is going south, I turn around and walk the other way.

I have watched 6 people DIE in front of me over the years as they bounced. I have seen far too many injury incidents.

Some may say.. oh that is terrible that you would not wish to help, well no.. I know there are people there who WILL be willing and able to try to help. Once upon a time I was one of those that was the first to the victim trying to help. I specifically do not join that group of people now because of those experiences.

Sorry folks.. but I have enough images of death in my night mares, I do not need any new ones.... so I turn around.... and walk away, remembering my friends living, not their dieing

[azureriders 0]

I witnessed a few, from minor injuries to a couple of fatalites. Some I barely knew, others were dear friends. I have always pressed on and got back on the plane, all while trying to respect the victims and learn from their mistakes.

The one that bothered me the most was a fatal acident of a fantastic lady who I had only met a few days prior. The difference with this one was that I was on the jump with her, looking across the formation at her.

I was still back in the air the next morning. The incident had been a 34-way sunset formation.

It is your responsibility to learn from other's mistakes, and your inevitability to deal with the fact that death is a real part of our sport.

[kmills0705 0]

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Prior to getting into this sport, I had to accept the risks associated with falling from the sky with a bunch of fabric on your back.

Just the other day I witnessed my first incident (non-fatal, but broken up) and was a little shook up. My questions is, How do you guys/gals deal with incidents when they happen and how did you deal with the FIRST incident you witnessed?

What is proper DZ etiquette regarding incidents immediately after the happen? (i.e when they happen is it hush hush as to not scare the potential customers?) Any info would be great! Thanks

I've seen more than I care to from minor injuries, to near death to fatalities.

There is no dz etiquette that I know of. The best you can do is learn from it.

(I also need to +1 Normiss)

Kim Mills
USPA D21696
Tandem I, AFF I and Static Line I

[normiss 622]

That's not all you need to do....

[pkrfce 0]

Really appreciate the info guys/gals. Keep it coming.

[NWFlyer 2]

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There is no dz etiquette that I know of.

True, there's definitely no standard practice, but I've found for the most part, people are back in the air jumping as soon as possible after the incident. In the case of an injury incident, sometimes operations will stop temporarily because of a need to bring in rescue crews (particularly if it's a life flight and the DZ wants to ensure clear airspace/landing space). In some cases I've heard about local authorities that may want to shut things down to conduct some sort of investigation, but that seems to be pretty rare. Generally what I've seen is they'll show up, interview the appropriate people, file their reports, and move on. Unless you're specifically asked by the DZO or S&TA to talk to the local LEOs, I'd recommend referring them directly to the DZ management for information.

On that note, another thing I would recommend is not talking to the media unless the DZO or S&TA specifically requests that you do so. Most DZs have a plan (or should have a plan) for dealing with media following an incident to try to ensure that the information is presented as clearly and accurately as possible, and the best you can do to help that out is say "no comment" or "I'd prefer not to talk about it."

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[tombuch 0]

Talk it out with your skydiving friends. No need to lay blame, but try to learn from the incident and really express your emotions. Keeping it bottled up inside works for a while, but over time it leaves you with too many fragments of unmanaged emotion. If you stay in the sport for a while you will see more, and the hurt may pile up. If your company has an employee wellness plan available with free counseling, give it a try if the incident is really bothering you. Emergency responders have critical incident stress debriefings available, and that process usually helps. If you know professional responders ask how they deal with the onslaught of emotions, and how they have handled the cumulative effect over time.

Tom Buchanan
Instructor Emeritus
Comm Pilot MSEL,G
Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

[ManagingPrime 0]

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That's not all you need to do....

?

[flashvortx 0]

Make sure that you find out exactly what happened and learn from that accident. You should never make the same mistake as someone else.

[jaffo 0]

I was a combat medic in Iraq the first time around. After that I was a trauma nurse at a level 1 trauma center. You never get used to being around people dying.

Dealing with it makes you confront your own mortality. We are all going to die. I personally believe when it's your time it will happen whether you are walking across a street or falling from the sky.

Dealing with that fact is one of the things that makes Skydiving unique. We know the risk and mitigate it where we can. Many other sports like racing for example, often just try not to think about it.

I have never seen anyone die at the DZ. Every person I have ever seen hurt was due to one reason, Low turn under canopy.

I don't swoop and try to avoid congested landing areas. It's not full proof, but I do what I can to be smart about the high risk sports that I do.

Other than that when you die isn't in your hands.

Ryder

Take chances, just do it with all the information to make good decisions!!

Muff Brother# 2706 Dudeist Skydiver# 121.5

[jim_32766 0]

As you can see from my jump number I am pretty new to the sport. Still, I have experienced a loss of someone I knew. The guy that filmed by tandem and later my AFF graduation jump died landing out. It does make you think a little about the reality of the risks associated with skydiving. But as many have said, you are going to go sometime and you can sit around and wait for that eventuality or get out there and live.

The meaning of life . . . is to make life have meaning.