Can You Pass Out While Skydiving?

Can you pass out while skydiving? Yes, but it’s extremely uncommon. With proper preparation, you can soar the skies with confidence and ease. This article will dive into how to not pass out when skydiving and cover our best tips for a safe and enjoyable jump. Let’s goooo! 

How Not To Pass Out When Skydiving

Fainting while skydiving is atypical, but anything can happen, right? Skydiving is a physically and emotionally demanding activity – this is particularly true for the first few times you go skydiving. There are a few precautions you can consider to further mitigate the risk of fainting while taking the greatest leap of your life. 

Stay hydrated. 

When we are dehydrated, our blood volume decreases, and this reduces the amount of oxygen that is sent to our brain and muscles. If anything, we want to stay EXTRA hydrated the day of the jump! 

The day of your skydive is filled with so many emotions – fear, excitement, and curiosity as you get ready to jump into the unknown! These feelings can cause heart rates to skyrocket and nerves to be on extra high alert. Staying hydrated helps to calm your body and make sure that these physiological reactions to the hype don’t become exacerbated. If this happens, you may be left feeling dizzy, tired, nauseous, and (in the most extreme cases) you can pass out. Our best advice: start hydrating early and steadily, avoid dehydrating drinks (no alcohol the night before your jump), and add electrolytes! 

Stay nourished. 

Should you eat before you skydive? Yes, please. We suggest eating what you normally would, in moderation. Meaning, if your go-to breakfast consists of 10 pancakes and a pint of orange juice, let’s tone it down a smidge to five pancakes and a glass of OJ. Cool? Staying satiated helps to keep your nervous system in check, and on a day when it’s already firing on all cylinders, this is critical. 

Similar to how good ol’ H2O affects your blood volume, food affects your blood sugar. Eating a balanced meal provides your body with a steady flow of glucose, which gives you energy and ensures that your blood sugar doesn’t plummet. A low blood sugar can leave you feeling extra icky and quickly switch the happy, excited nerves to dreadful and anxiety-filled nerves. 

Communicate. 

Communication is KEY for every facet of the sport. If you’re nervous about passing out while jumping (or have any other pressing concerns) – TELL US! Letting your instructor know before will enable them to reassure you throughout the entire process. Your instructor will be able to tailor the way they guide you based on the way you communicate with them. We know skydiving instructors may seem a bit intimidating because they jump out of planes for a living, but they were once in your same shoes – doing a tandem skydive! 

Can You Skydive If You Have Panic Attacks? 

Yes – skydiving with anxiety is possible! Many avid skydivers find respite from their anxiety when they jump – it’s one reason skydivers are known for saying that they choose to skydive because it’s cheaper than therapy. Ha! Something special happens when we scream ‘YES’ to facing our fears and this effect seems to resonate even after the skydive. 

What Happens If You Pass Out While Skydiving? 

If you pass out while skydiving as a tandem student, your instructor will guide the parachute to the ground, just as they would if you were conscious. They will attempt to wake you up, and if medical personnel need to be contacted once you all have landed, they will be. Our instructors are experienced, professional, and have hundreds, if not thousands, of skydives 

What happens if you pass out during a skydive and you’re skydiving solo? Don’t fret. Skydiving rigs are equipped with a pretty nifty device called an Automatic Activation Device, or an AAD. AADs are designed to initiate deployment of the reserve parachute if the skydiver is unable to, like if they are passed out. AADs work on a pressure system, and if they deem the skydiver is flying too low and going too fast (meaning they don’t have a parachute above them when they absolutely should), they are engineered to cut the reserve ripcord, which causes the reserve parachute to deploy. AADs save lives! 

With proper preparation, the risks associated with skydiving, such as passing out, are diminished. If you have any hesitations or questions, please reach out to us! We can’t wait to show you the beauty of Key West from the sky – book your jump today!