ER and Critical Care physician and paragliding hound Matt Wilkes returns to the Mayhem to share the many takeaways from several large studies he’s been involved with since his last talk three years ago on hypoxia and cold; the largest and most comprehensive study done to date on throwing a reserve; and an accident analysis study done with the BHPA and Cross Country Magazine. How dangerous is free flight really? What leads to most accidents and what does the data support? What do we find from the “Exposure Model”- ie what is more dangerous- flying more and having more currency, or flying less and having less exposure to risk? What are the most common pilot errors that lead to accidents? We know reserves work really well but many people either freeze up or lose track of their height and don’t throw- why? We discuss how should we throw them, what can go wrong if you do, creating the right mindset for throwing, the importance of standardizing the gear and a lot more on tossing the laundry. How much does cold, altitude, dehydration and other environmental factors cripple our cognition? How vulnerable are pilots who are just out of their initial training? We discuss the debacle on Mont Blanc last summer and how we can make bad judgements with the best of intentions, we revisit intermediate syndrome and a ton more. Listen, learn, and share with your friends; this one has a ton of valuable information we all need to digest.
Important links from the show:
Free Flight Physiology Project: https://www.freeflightphysiology.org/
Extreme Environments Laboratory: https://www.port.ac.uk/research/research-centres-and-groups/extreme-environments-research-group
Link to reserve throw video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HS1ppN6vw4&feature=youtu.be
Link to current first aid kit and advice: https://www.freeflightphysiology.org/first-aid-key-skills/
The Killing zone: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Killing-Zone-Second-How-Pilots/dp/0071798404
Critique of book: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24013111
Brilliant avalanche article, massively applicable to paragliding
http://www.sunrockice.com/docs/Heuristic%20traps%20IM%202004.pdf
Show Notes:
FIRST AID

* The scene and team
* The airway
* External bleeding
* Bind the pelvis
* Environmental protection
* Tourniquets, spines and helmets etc.

STUDIES

* Instrumented pilots in live flight, including XC and acro, heart G
* Simulation
* Reserve throw – zipline, G force sim
* Lots of other work, BHPA analysis, XC survey

OWN LEARNING

* Guiding / tandem
* Bandwidth, theirs and my own
* Lots of SIV courses – talking to experts/andres and paw
* Understanding the challenges facing beginners (so easy to overestimate)
* LLSC

XC SURVEY AND BHPA ANALYSIS

* Exposure model (‘the more flying, the greater the exposure to risk’) vs. ‘currency’ model (‘the more flying, the safer the pilot’).
* Member numbers – hugely variable
* Babadag (7 per 100,000 flights) Tandems? Acro?
* 1.5 deaths and 20 serious injuries per 100,000 flights (BHPA pilots)
* Pilot error

* Decisions and glider control
* Misjudgement of distance
* Passive safety is not the most important factor