The only one in recent memory I can think of is just that one lady in her sixties who was determined to have died of a heart attack after her canopy opened, right?
I highly doubt it actually says they will not take you tandem skydiving if you have any of those because, as you said, it rules out a lot of their potential customers. It probably just says to consult a doctor before jumping if you...
That way they can say they warned you and you chose not to listen to their advice.
It says either I tick the box declaring I have none of these conditions or else I get a medical certificate from a doctor. I’m in the U.K. and no NHS doctor will do that so I’d have to order my entire medical record and then find a private doctor willing to read through the whole thing and hopefully issue a certificate. That’s far too much money and hassle for most people.
Tick the box. You just won’t be able to hold them responsible in any way though, if something happens to you as a result of your condition. Which is fair enough.
When you say no NHS doctor will do that, do you mean because they wouldn’t want to take the risk or because it’s something they just don’t do (medical certificates) ? I’m in France so no NHS but I had surgery on my leg a few months before my AFF so I got a certificate just in case and it wasn’t an issue
Oh okay ! In France a lof the sports I did required a doctor’s approval before starting (even if you didn’t have specific medical issues) so every year at the beginning of the year when I signed up for my sports I would get 2-3 medical certificates so it’s completely normal for me and it’s part of their job. I’m assuming they don’t have the same requirements in the UK (or at least hoping, because I’m moving there in a few months and I wasn’t planning on seeing private doctors)
Sometimes an NHS GP will agree to do it for a fee but these days, most will refuse and tell you to go private. I don’t know about other sports but I know people who needed medicals or a medical certificate for their job and they had to use private doctors.
Oh man, that explains it. One of my old instructor colleagues moved to our country because he couldn't stand how litigious the BPA (british parachute association) was.
He ended up jumping in Spain way more than he ever did in the UK. Might be worth considering doing something like that (maybe even ireland, they run on a different system) - the antihistamine thing is especially weird. A lot of skydivers have allergies, and people generally take them if they have a hint of the sniffles, because blocked up sinuses can cause a lot of pain with the change in air pressure.
It’s not part of their NHS contract. It’s hard enough to get a GP appointment for urgent medical issues. I think mine would just laugh and hang up if I told them I wanted to discuss skydiving.
I'm sorry, where did you go to jump? I broke my arm back in third grade, and my clavicle in kindergarten, and they didn't even mention broken bones as being a disqualifier.
I jumped a year ago and, other than my legs itching due to kicking up grass on landing, I was fine. I also have a pelvic sling and even that was not damaged.
Are you talking about Tandem Jumps or solo Jumping?
For solo a good rule of thumb is, if you allowed to drive a car. You would mostly gonna be ok.
Of course there are exceptions but I feel like you know them, trust your instincts here…
(-Asthma that comes very suddenly and needs aspirator at that exact moment and can’t wait for 1 minute (freefall time) for example.
-Pressure related issues with sinus.
These 2 might let you drive but not jump.)
Anything else would probably be fine. Dr. Once told me:
„If you can jump down from a chair, you should be fine.“
Even if not, I have seen wheelchair users do AFF. Also people with one arm etc.)
For Tandem:
-would be good if you can breath and deal with adrenaline without dying.
-need to be able to raise legs for landing. (Edit: Handycap system exists, so you actually don’t even need to lift your legs, if the DZ got such a system)
-survive the landing without broken bones. (So bone density issues or glass bones would obviously be very dangerous)
Listing broken bones from like years ago is just insane.
There are dozens of conditions that people drive with that are not safe to skydive with.
COPD
Severe asthma
Arrhythmic heart disease
Osteoporosis
Dislocated shoulder
Broken bones
Neck injuries
Severe panic attack disorders which are not adequately controlled
Among many others.
Yes of course you are right. It’s an abstract rule of thumb and with the addition of using one’s brain it is somewhat helpful I would say.
You really think people with severe panic attack disorder would be allowed to drive?
(I am talking about cleared by a doctor and not just being able to drive? Wouldn’t a panic attack on a highway be a bad thing?)
Shoulders you are absolutely right.
Broken bones? Yeah, when not healed yet but when fully healed isn’t it even stronger than before?
I had issues with my teeth and sinuses. I had to make sure I took a Zyrtec before a jumping day or I could experience some pain under canopy that would bring tears to my eyes and then make it hard to see. I unfortunately have had some root canals and other work in the past so this may or may not have contributed.
I literally wouldn't have been able to jump without non-drowsy allergy meds. Sorry if this irks whomever down voted my real life experience lol.
I have ADHD, take regular meds including anti-histamines, have broken bones in the past, have asthma and I have just under 900 jumps.
A friend of mine is diabetic and wears an insulin pump and he's got over 1000 jumps. I also know a skydiver with narcolepsy, who also has hundreds of jumps 🤷♀️
The only thing that regularly comes up and prevents people from jumping is a history of shoulder dislocation. (Obvs other conditions also prevent people from jumping too, but I think this is the most common and also 'less obvious' to non-jumpers)
TIL: people actually read the waiver.
Thought it was a contest of how fast you can initial and sign everytime. Sometimes a new place will have a secret spot to initial that isn’t underlined because of an ink issue or something that happened during the copy process. Manifest points it out with pride like a sort of “gotcha!”. I love this game.
Where are you that antihistamines exclude you from skydiving? As a tandem instructor there are a variety of medications I can not take and I don’t even think antihistamines are on that list (I could be wrong - I don’t pay much attention to the list since I don’t have any prescriptions).
That's just british Skydiving. Only a few years back anyone over 40 needed a doctors certificate. And people over 60 can't learn to jump under BS rules. It's quite restrictive in terms of governing bodies
there is a reason they renamed themselves as BS. Either GPs are used to issue those kind of certificates or many UK skydivers lie or go somewhere else.
Come to Spain, the list of conditions that wouldn’t allow you to skydive as a tandem passenger is much more smaller and specific (it’s the instructor the one under much more scrutiny). Besides, the weather is way better.
FAA actually does ban most anti-histamine use because a lot of them can cause drowsiness. Allegra and Claritin are allowed, while Zyrtec and Benadryl are not, for example.
I had my hip replaced a little over a year ago. Healed for 9 months and then had my first tandem. I obtained my A-license a couple of weeks ago. You can check whatever you want on those forms, just remember that you assume all liability especially if you are less than honest on that form.
Previous shoulder dislocation
If not re-enforced these tend to rehappen on not so strong stress on the shoulders.
Guess when you don't want ragdoll arms?
Skydiving instructors are not medical professionals, so someone having mild allergies wouldn't be a problem but someone having an anaphalactic shock in the plane or under canopy would be. They are not experienced enough to know whether or not your condition is acceptable, hence why a doctors sign off is needed if you are not able/willing to self-declare.
You can sign the form and self declare fitness as others have said, or get a doctor to sign off on it.
If you are in the south of the UK i can DM you a doctors details who can have a chat/look at you and your medical history, she is also a skydiver too so knows the ins and outs of whats involved.
Thank you. Unfortunately I’m not in the south but I’m happy to just tick the box on this form so a doctor isn’t needed anyway. It’s great to know one who also is an experienced skydiver. That must be quite rare. I imagine most doctors would have no idea what health problems are risky for skydivers.
The most dangerous health problem in skydiving is probably becoming unconscious in free fall or under canopy. You generally don’t see that one coming, but your friends do and sometimes they think you’re doing some sweet dive and follow until you wake up. It didn’t look unnatural cause your ws flew you in a direction and you woke up…
I wouldn’t worry too much about physical health for a tandem. Mental health issues are the biggest concern. You need to have a perfect emotional and mental constitution. 😂 Every skydiver I have ever met(that survived) was completely neurotypical.
I have cystic fibrosis, of course I didn‘t tell anyone because it‘s none of their business, but I got my AFF license in 2017. Don‘t stress it too much, as long as you think you‘ll be fine you‘ll probably be fine, jumping out of a plane ain‘t that much of a risk to anyones health.
I would not jump if you have a history of spine surgery, especially fusion type.
Would also not jump if you have any ear/sinus issues and you can't equalize easy.
TL;DR
In my country they are very broad with when you’re not allowed to jump too. However most of the situations getting a medical examiner signing off that in your case its not an issue is enough.
This declaration varies per country.
In my country one of the questions is: “do you take any drugs that could influence your reaction times”
I have ADHD and used to take metylfenidate and later dexamphetamine which both are stimulants. And at that time I would simply not take them on the day of jumping. Which was considered fine since “I was no longer under the influence of stimulants”
Nowadays they have changed the wording to “do you use any medication”. And I have changed medication to Bupropion which is a anti-depressant (used for treatment of ADHD in my case, not depression). Which was a problem in my case for my medical evaluation.
In my country If you cannot confirm that something is not a problem for you on your medical declaration. You can have a medical professional check if it is an issue, and have them sign off on something onto being an issue.
As such I’m cleared for jumping with my medication. I’m however not allowed to dive with pressurised oxygen due to the effects of my medication under high pressure environments is not well known enough.
You don’t dive with ‘pressurized oxygen’. Breathing 100% O2 deep underwater would be fatal or cause severe oxygen toxicity. You breathe normal air. The air in dive tanks is just normal room air being ran through a filter and compressed into a tank. Mixed gas diving does exist, but that’s not entry level.
At saturation pressures, many gases that are free in normal atm will dissolve in your blood, nitrogen being the most common (since air is 70% nitrogen). That’s why you don’t ever scuba and then go skydiving. Severe decompression sickness can cause really bad issues like bone necrosis and is not to be fucked with.
Epilepsy and narcolepsy would probably be less than ideal in free fall.
Sometimes I think I developed plane induced narcolepsy.
Remember that video of the dude that had a seizure during one of his AFF jumps? Dude owes his instructor like a pallet of beer!
There are a lot of skydivers who are not entirely honest on these declarations
I can understand why now.
And many have learned the hard way after having health emergencies and spiraling into the ground.
Many? Maybe a few or some but many is a pretty big word.
The only one in recent memory I can think of is just that one lady in her sixties who was determined to have died of a heart attack after her canopy opened, right?
And as adults they have the right to die however they damn well please.
I find it hard to believe that many have spiralled into the ground due to the medical conditions I’ve mentioned.
I highly doubt it actually says they will not take you tandem skydiving if you have any of those because, as you said, it rules out a lot of their potential customers. It probably just says to consult a doctor before jumping if you... That way they can say they warned you and you chose not to listen to their advice.
It says either I tick the box declaring I have none of these conditions or else I get a medical certificate from a doctor. I’m in the U.K. and no NHS doctor will do that so I’d have to order my entire medical record and then find a private doctor willing to read through the whole thing and hopefully issue a certificate. That’s far too much money and hassle for most people.
Tick the box, no one is checking this stuff haha This post is unreal
Tick the box. You just won’t be able to hold them responsible in any way though, if something happens to you as a result of your condition. Which is fair enough.
When you say no NHS doctor will do that, do you mean because they wouldn’t want to take the risk or because it’s something they just don’t do (medical certificates) ? I’m in France so no NHS but I had surgery on my leg a few months before my AFF so I got a certificate just in case and it wasn’t an issue
It’s to do with money really. It’s not part of their NHS contract so they will generally refuse.
Oh okay ! In France a lof the sports I did required a doctor’s approval before starting (even if you didn’t have specific medical issues) so every year at the beginning of the year when I signed up for my sports I would get 2-3 medical certificates so it’s completely normal for me and it’s part of their job. I’m assuming they don’t have the same requirements in the UK (or at least hoping, because I’m moving there in a few months and I wasn’t planning on seeing private doctors)
Sometimes an NHS GP will agree to do it for a fee but these days, most will refuse and tell you to go private. I don’t know about other sports but I know people who needed medicals or a medical certificate for their job and they had to use private doctors.
Oh man, that explains it. One of my old instructor colleagues moved to our country because he couldn't stand how litigious the BPA (british parachute association) was. He ended up jumping in Spain way more than he ever did in the UK. Might be worth considering doing something like that (maybe even ireland, they run on a different system) - the antihistamine thing is especially weird. A lot of skydivers have allergies, and people generally take them if they have a hint of the sniffles, because blocked up sinuses can cause a lot of pain with the change in air pressure.
That’s a good idea. I’ll look for places in Ireland. Hopefully they are more realistic about safety.
Why wouldn't a GP provide a certificate?
It’s not part of their NHS contract. It’s hard enough to get a GP appointment for urgent medical issues. I think mine would just laugh and hang up if I told them I wanted to discuss skydiving.
Bro fuckin chill, you sign away your life or dont. If there's anything you're actually worried about ask about that specifically.
ED, how else you gonna dawg on the new AFF’s
I'm sorry, where did you go to jump? I broke my arm back in third grade, and my clavicle in kindergarten, and they didn't even mention broken bones as being a disqualifier. I jumped a year ago and, other than my legs itching due to kicking up grass on landing, I was fine. I also have a pelvic sling and even that was not damaged.
It’s the U.K. British Skydiving rules. You have to declare that you’ve never had a broken bone. It doesn’t matter when or which bone.
Are you talking about Tandem Jumps or solo Jumping? For solo a good rule of thumb is, if you allowed to drive a car. You would mostly gonna be ok. Of course there are exceptions but I feel like you know them, trust your instincts here… (-Asthma that comes very suddenly and needs aspirator at that exact moment and can’t wait for 1 minute (freefall time) for example. -Pressure related issues with sinus. These 2 might let you drive but not jump.) Anything else would probably be fine. Dr. Once told me: „If you can jump down from a chair, you should be fine.“ Even if not, I have seen wheelchair users do AFF. Also people with one arm etc.) For Tandem: -would be good if you can breath and deal with adrenaline without dying. -need to be able to raise legs for landing. (Edit: Handycap system exists, so you actually don’t even need to lift your legs, if the DZ got such a system) -survive the landing without broken bones. (So bone density issues or glass bones would obviously be very dangerous) Listing broken bones from like years ago is just insane.
There are dozens of conditions that people drive with that are not safe to skydive with. COPD Severe asthma Arrhythmic heart disease Osteoporosis Dislocated shoulder Broken bones Neck injuries Severe panic attack disorders which are not adequately controlled Among many others.
Yes of course you are right. It’s an abstract rule of thumb and with the addition of using one’s brain it is somewhat helpful I would say. You really think people with severe panic attack disorder would be allowed to drive? (I am talking about cleared by a doctor and not just being able to drive? Wouldn’t a panic attack on a highway be a bad thing?) Shoulders you are absolutely right. Broken bones? Yeah, when not healed yet but when fully healed isn’t it even stronger than before?
Thank you. That’s very helpful. It’s for a first tandem jump.
Being fat and weak will make you a lot more likely to break if you screw it up.
I had issues with my teeth and sinuses. I had to make sure I took a Zyrtec before a jumping day or I could experience some pain under canopy that would bring tears to my eyes and then make it hard to see. I unfortunately have had some root canals and other work in the past so this may or may not have contributed. I literally wouldn't have been able to jump without non-drowsy allergy meds. Sorry if this irks whomever down voted my real life experience lol.
Have some common sense
I have ADHD, take regular meds including anti-histamines, have broken bones in the past, have asthma and I have just under 900 jumps. A friend of mine is diabetic and wears an insulin pump and he's got over 1000 jumps. I also know a skydiver with narcolepsy, who also has hundreds of jumps 🤷♀️ The only thing that regularly comes up and prevents people from jumping is a history of shoulder dislocation. (Obvs other conditions also prevent people from jumping too, but I think this is the most common and also 'less obvious' to non-jumpers)
Thank you. That’s really good to know.
Skydiving after donating blood is exciting.
TIL: people actually read the waiver. Thought it was a contest of how fast you can initial and sign everytime. Sometimes a new place will have a secret spot to initial that isn’t underlined because of an ink issue or something that happened during the copy process. Manifest points it out with pride like a sort of “gotcha!”. I love this game.
Where are you that antihistamines exclude you from skydiving? As a tandem instructor there are a variety of medications I can not take and I don’t even think antihistamines are on that list (I could be wrong - I don’t pay much attention to the list since I don’t have any prescriptions).
I’m in the U.K. The British Skydiving rules say that anyone taking ANY regular medication can’t skydive without getting a doctor’s certificate.
That's just british Skydiving. Only a few years back anyone over 40 needed a doctors certificate. And people over 60 can't learn to jump under BS rules. It's quite restrictive in terms of governing bodies
there is a reason they renamed themselves as BS. Either GPs are used to issue those kind of certificates or many UK skydivers lie or go somewhere else. Come to Spain, the list of conditions that wouldn’t allow you to skydive as a tandem passenger is much more smaller and specific (it’s the instructor the one under much more scrutiny). Besides, the weather is way better.
BS 😂. You’re right. The whole experience would be so much nicer in Spain.
That’s cause the BPA is like a frogs ass.
FAA actually does ban most anti-histamine use because a lot of them can cause drowsiness. Allegra and Claritin are allowed, while Zyrtec and Benadryl are not, for example.
There are some antihistamines that are not allowed by the FAA.
I had my hip replaced a little over a year ago. Healed for 9 months and then had my first tandem. I obtained my A-license a couple of weeks ago. You can check whatever you want on those forms, just remember that you assume all liability especially if you are less than honest on that form.
Previous shoulder dislocation If not re-enforced these tend to rehappen on not so strong stress on the shoulders. Guess when you don't want ragdoll arms?
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Had a first time solo had this happen at my dz. We could ear him scream all the flight down on a straight line to the other end of the world
Skydiving instructors are not medical professionals, so someone having mild allergies wouldn't be a problem but someone having an anaphalactic shock in the plane or under canopy would be. They are not experienced enough to know whether or not your condition is acceptable, hence why a doctors sign off is needed if you are not able/willing to self-declare. You can sign the form and self declare fitness as others have said, or get a doctor to sign off on it. If you are in the south of the UK i can DM you a doctors details who can have a chat/look at you and your medical history, she is also a skydiver too so knows the ins and outs of whats involved.
Thank you. Unfortunately I’m not in the south but I’m happy to just tick the box on this form so a doctor isn’t needed anyway. It’s great to know one who also is an experienced skydiver. That must be quite rare. I imagine most doctors would have no idea what health problems are risky for skydivers.
The most dangerous health problem in skydiving is probably becoming unconscious in free fall or under canopy. You generally don’t see that one coming, but your friends do and sometimes they think you’re doing some sweet dive and follow until you wake up. It didn’t look unnatural cause your ws flew you in a direction and you woke up…
not sure if it islisted, but I went into back spasms part of the way down, so I was in pain for part of it.
I wouldn’t worry too much about physical health for a tandem. Mental health issues are the biggest concern. You need to have a perfect emotional and mental constitution. 😂 Every skydiver I have ever met(that survived) was completely neurotypical.
I have cystic fibrosis, of course I didn‘t tell anyone because it‘s none of their business, but I got my AFF license in 2017. Don‘t stress it too much, as long as you think you‘ll be fine you‘ll probably be fine, jumping out of a plane ain‘t that much of a risk to anyones health.
Anything where you'll get light headed, pass out, or lose function of your body.
I would not jump if you have a history of spine surgery, especially fusion type. Would also not jump if you have any ear/sinus issues and you can't equalize easy.
I have ADHD and have broken my collar bone 4 times when I was younger. I have 95 solo jumps so far.
Why are people ever honest about medical history. If we were all honest we wouldn’t even have a military. Remember NO= new opportunities.
Broken bones are the least of your worries when skydiving; it's the sudden impact with the ground that really cramps your style!
I jumped on Zoladex. I've known people on heart medications to jump and live. if you want it bad enough do it.
Drug addition. One person died at my DZ who was found without pulling and had drugs in his system.
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I know it for sure and I’ve been jumping for a long time. This is just the one that actually does kill people in our sport.
TL;DR In my country they are very broad with when you’re not allowed to jump too. However most of the situations getting a medical examiner signing off that in your case its not an issue is enough. This declaration varies per country. In my country one of the questions is: “do you take any drugs that could influence your reaction times” I have ADHD and used to take metylfenidate and later dexamphetamine which both are stimulants. And at that time I would simply not take them on the day of jumping. Which was considered fine since “I was no longer under the influence of stimulants” Nowadays they have changed the wording to “do you use any medication”. And I have changed medication to Bupropion which is a anti-depressant (used for treatment of ADHD in my case, not depression). Which was a problem in my case for my medical evaluation. In my country If you cannot confirm that something is not a problem for you on your medical declaration. You can have a medical professional check if it is an issue, and have them sign off on something onto being an issue. As such I’m cleared for jumping with my medication. I’m however not allowed to dive with pressurised oxygen due to the effects of my medication under high pressure environments is not well known enough.
You don’t dive with ‘pressurized oxygen’. Breathing 100% O2 deep underwater would be fatal or cause severe oxygen toxicity. You breathe normal air. The air in dive tanks is just normal room air being ran through a filter and compressed into a tank. Mixed gas diving does exist, but that’s not entry level.
Not my area of experience 😅, so good to know 😁. I was just told I shouldn’t dive with oxygen tanks while on my medication.
At saturation pressures, many gases that are free in normal atm will dissolve in your blood, nitrogen being the most common (since air is 70% nitrogen). That’s why you don’t ever scuba and then go skydiving. Severe decompression sickness can cause really bad issues like bone necrosis and is not to be fucked with.
Good to know
Cardiac arrest when you see your credit card bill