sky diving..

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aymes

aymes

Senior Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
The 'learning to fly' thread reminded me of a question I have been meaning to ask... Has anyone on here done a tandem sky dive?

I've just signed up for one (excited and nervous in equal measure at the moment)but gave to get my gp to sign a certificate to say I'm fit to do it. I've got an appt to see him next week but just wondered if anyone had had any problems with it. I'm hoping he'll just look at my records and sign it rather than having to have a medical or anything....?
 
I think they will have to check blood pressure and things like that, because my mum wasn't allowed to do it years ago due to high blood pressure.
 
I have done one!

In Taupo in New Zealand -
One of the best things I have ever done! As soon as I landed I wanted to do it again. It is such a buzz and over too quickly! Diabetes is so not an issue for this! How exciting for you!🙂🙂🙂:D
 
I did sky diving a few times last year. My doctor wouldn’t sign the consent form, saying he didn’t know if it was ok, and would need to investigate. And the time by which he would investigate and get back to me, was gonna be after the jump.

So on discussion with a dudes at the jump centre… we agreed I wasn’t diabetic… cos if I put on my form I was, and didn’t have the doctors form… then I wasn’t going to be jumping, end of.

So… essenitally… I lied…

But anyway… I did jumping a few more times after that too on agreement with the dude whos centre it was, that I would always let him know I was gonna jump so he could check make sure I was all ok… obviously it meant the insurance would count for nothing, but if I was dead, I'm sure I wouldn’t have cared so much. I guess if I got seriously injurred I would be fucked, but skydivings normally great or dead results anyway. And as a new jumper, its incredibly safe (it’s the experienced jumpers that put themselves at risk).
 
I admire all you folks who have no terror of heights. Good luck with the sky diving. Just spare a thought for me living in terror if I go too near my 5th floor office window that is double glazed and will never open because it affects the buildings air conditioning!
 
Oh, I never had an issue with heights before but now I'm signed up I seem to have developed one.....
 
If you are doing it in tandem, close your eyes and hope the other guy is paying attention...
 
yes in tandem, their insurance won't let me do it solo because of the diabetes (not that I would want to though!) I am really looking forward to it, just also very scared coming up with irrational things that might go wrong! Sure I'll be fine when I actually do it though!
 
The nature of an irrational fear means you come up with all kinds of reasons why you can't do something and what nmight go wrong..
 
just thought I'd update on what happened.

So I had my doctors appt yesterday, went in and she said ' I don't think we can sign this' but she said she would ask her boss to confirm and let me know, she then sent me on my way...
Three minutes later she called me to ask if I was type one or two (surely it's on my notes) if I was on insulin and if I ever had hypos... Why she didn't ask while I was there I'll never know.
Got a phone call today, they signed it without any other appointments so did no blood pressure check etc. It did cost me ?10 though.
It did make me laugh that they put a big red note on the form saying that I must test my blood before I jump, now I understand why they did but was amused at the suggestion that I may jump out of a plane without testing my blood!!
 
I feel for you

I have come across many incompetant medical professionals with regards to flying (a not to dis-similar activity to sky diving, except we have wings! lol) Diabetics should be individually assesed for medicals for such activities and not excluded under a blanket ban which affects those who are really well controled and motivated by being able to do such activities...:(
 
Actually, ?10 was pretty cheap for a non statutory medical statement from a GP. A few years back, about 1991, before diabetes, I helped a doctor to carry out medical for a university SCUBA diving club - the doctor was a SCUBA diver and asked for ?10 donation to local hospice, if I remember right, which was far less than GPs were entitled to charge then. I was a RGN, and SCUBA club member, so to speed things, I did initial blood pressure, pulse and respiration records. In that case, all worked for everyone's benefit. I'd got my certificate signed by a doctor who I worked with in a Territorial Army medical unit. By writing a warning on the form, dependent on blood glucose testing before sky diving, or whatever, the doctor is covering themselves by recording that they have given appropriate advice. Of course, for many people it is unecessary, as they would act responsibly anyway. As another example, I have recorded patient's decision not to have certain travel health vaccines and the fact that we have discussed this.
I definitely agree that all medical decisions should be made on individuals, not blanket bans affecting driving, flying, sky diving, proefssional SCUBA diving etc.
 
aymes said:
if I was on insulin and if I ever had hypos...
Click to expand...

I find this a funny question to ask, anyone on insulin who doesn't have hypos probably doesn't have good control. I got asked it at the dentist the other day, how many hypo's and hypers I have a year?

Glad to hear you got it signed and can do your dive 🙂
 
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