Choosing Emergency Contacts

[PhreeZone 20]

With the upcoming jump season I wrote the following article after having to hunt down the proper emergency contacts for an indicent last year. It took me over an hour of calling half a dozen people to get ahold of the correct contact and it could have been addressed by the jumper just putting the correct name on their waiver to start with. Some of the points might be different for each person or dropzone, but I think that this is an area that a lot of people overlook and by writing this I'm hoping to bring it to the top of their minds before the jump season starts again for the majority of the northern jumpers.

Choosing Emergency Contacts

One of the things that all most every Dropzone or Boogie waiver has is a space to list an Emergency contact. Most jumpers just fill this information in with the first relative or friends name that pops into their head as they fill out the waiver, but jumpers should fill this section out after carefully selecting a contact. Jumpers should put as much thought into this decision as they do into what type of jumpsuit they are going to buy or what their next boogie is going to be.

There are criteria that make people better emergency contacts then others and jumpers should keep this in mind as they make their selection. Potential emergency contacts should meet the following criteria at a minimum:

1) Potential emergency contacts need to be aware of any medical issues or conflicts that you might have. If someone is allergic to something and forgets to put it on their waiver the emergency contact might just be the last line of defense there is to prevent the emergency responders from giving them a potentially dangerous drug or drug combinations.

2) Emergency contacts should have phone numbers to your immediate family members rapidly available so they may inform your loved ones about any potential incidents that might have happened. Poor choices for emergency contacts include people that have never met you or your family before you visit the DZ. At a minimum your emergency contact should have the phone number to contact the person that you would want to be notified of your injury or death first.

3) Another trait that makes a good emergency contact is choosing someone that is not at the airport the same time you are. In the case of something like a plane crash or canopy entanglement you might be involved in the incident with potential emergency contacts. By choosing someone that is not involved in skydiving or at the airport at all you maximize the availability of contacts that DZ personal might be able to reach in the case of an emergency on the dropzone.

4) Contacts should be someone that will be able to initially handle receiving potentially devastating news about you. Choosing someone that is known to be extremely emotional over the phone might be a poor choice as a contact if the Dropzone or medical teams need to ask questions of the emergency contact. Choose someone that will be able to calmly answer any potential questions after being informed that you are injured or worse.

5) Having multiple methods of contacting emergency contacts makes the task of reaching the emergency contact a lot easier for the dropzone personal. Emergency contacts should have at least one phone number and if possible multiple phones. List every phone number in the order that they should be called. Listing mobile numbers, home numbers and work numbers should all be done at a minimum to insure the maximum possibility of reaching someone in a true emergency.

Other things that should be used as criteria in potential emergency contacts include knowing who might be on vacation and out of reach at the time of certain boogies, knowing which contacts will be available to rapidly travel to deal with incidents if they happen, and in the case of international jumpers knowing the time difference and how that is going to affect the ability to contact your potential contact.

Using these criteria to choose an emergency contact will increase the probability that the dropzone personal will be able to reach and inform people of emergencies involving you, plus it will reduce the anxiety factor on the dropzone staff side in contacting people if they know they will not have to end up calling 10 people to reach someone that has needed answers about you.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[sunshine 2]

Excellent post Phree.

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[jdthomas 0]

I think that the contact person should be made aware that they are an emergency contact.
I used to use my brother, but I have learned that he will not answer a call if he does not know who is calling.. I don't know what he ever did before caller ID came along.. but now he just won't answer.
So making them aware that you have placed them on the list and that you are heading off to the DZ might be over doing it.. but it might be wise as well.

www.greenboxphotography.com

[boxingrrl 0]

I absolutely agree, Phree. I've been fortunate enough not to have to make any of those calls re: skydiving, but have in other sports. It's incredibly frustrating when the info isn't accurate or helpful, and it really does the injured a disservice in terms of their quality of care, etc, as you mention above.

Spread the word folks, and fill out those waivers responsibly this year!

[Nightingale 0]

also,

make sure your emergency contact can make medical decisions for you, in the event you are not conscious or unable to make such decisions for yourself.

[velo90 0]

Excellent post but I have a problem. I cannot think of anyone I know that would come even close to the criteria set.

[skyyhi 0]

Sometimes your emergency contact person will change depending on where you are and what you are doing. . .

What I do at my home DZ is fill out the waiver putting my first choice contact, then attach a sheet of other potential contacts in case the first choice is unreachable for whatever reason - as this sometimes happens - I also have in my equipment bag a signed, notarized release and authorization for medical treatment - name and phone number of my physician - and that same list of emergency contacts. Just another step to help those that will be trying to help me in an emergency situation. . .

________________________________________
Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ
FGF #6
Darcy

[ChileRelleno 0]

Nice and concise article there Phree, My contactrs have been used before when I shattered my leg. Proper info makes things go so much smoother.

ChileRelleno-Rodriguez Bro#414
Hellfish#511,MuffBro#3532,AnvilBro#9, D24868

[flyangel2 2]

Eric, very good post.

My emergency contact haves a copy of my Living Will. Because of me being a single parent, and my family lives out of state, my emergency contact also has access to all my banking accounts. That person will have to make some decisions involving my children while waiting for family to show up. It's all spelled out to this person.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[skybytch 273]

Don't forget to update your emergency contacts (at every dz you visit!) when things change, too. Might be a hassle if your parents have moved or you are no longer married to that person when/if something bad happens...