how to survive a long fall

What can you do if you slip off the scaffolding 10 stories above the ground or, worse yet, if your parachute fails while you are skydiving? The odds are not on your side. Is it possible to survive a free-fall from 50, or 250 feet (15, or 75m) above the ground? The answer is yes. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of people who have fallen from such heights and lived to tell the tale. While most of it comes down to luck, there are ways you can influence your velocity, the duration of your deceleration, and the distribution of the impact forces upon your body, and ultimately increase your chance of survival.

Slow your fall using the arch position. Unless you’re falling from an airplane, you won’t have enough time to try this step. Maximize your surface area by spreading yourself out using this skydiving technique.
 

1. • Position yourself so that the front of your body faces the ground.
   • Arch your back and pelvis and tilt your head back like you’re trying to touch the back of your head to the back of your legs
   • Extend your arms so that your upper arms are out to the sides, and bend your elbows at a 90 degree angle so that your lower arms and hands point forward (parallel to, and on the sides of, your head) with your palms facing down; spread your legs to shoulder width.
   • Bend your knees slightly.
2. Find the best landing spot. This step can only be performed if falling from an airplane. For very high falls, the surface on which you land is the greatest influence on your chance of survival. Search for steep slopes that gradually grow gentler, since you will not lose all of your momentum at once when you hit the ground. Observe the terrain below you as you fall.
   
   
   • Hard, inflexible surfaces such as concrete are the worst on which to fall. Very uneven or jagged surfaces, which present less surface area to distribute the force of impact, are also undesirable.
   • The best possible surfaces on which to fall are snow, deep water (preferably water that is fast moving or frothy), soft ground (such as a newly tilled field or in a marsh), and trees or thick vegetation (although these present a high risk of impalement).
3. 3
   Steer yourself to the landing spot. If you’re falling from an airplane, you will usually have about 1-3 minutes before impact. You will also have the ability to travel horizontally a good distance (up to a couple of miles or three kilometers).
   
   
   • From the arch position described above, you can direct your flight forward by pulling your arms slightly back at the shoulders (so that they are not extended forward as much) and straightening (extending) your legs.
   • You can move backward by extending your arms and bending your knees as though you are trying to touch the back of your head with your heels.
   • Right turns may be accomplished while staying in the arch position by twisting your upper body slightly to the right (dipping your right shoulder), and left turns are performed by dipping the left shoulder.
4. Bend your knees. Possibly nothing is more important to surviving a fall (or simpler to do) than bending your knees. Research has shown that having one’s knees bent at impact can reduce the magnitude of impact forces 36-fold.
5. Relax. Relaxing during a long fall—especially as you near the ground—is easier said than done, but try anyway. If your muscles are tense, your body will transfer force more directly to your vital organs. One way to remain (relatively) calm is to focus on performing the steps and being aware of your body. Doing so gives you something else to think about besides impending death.
6. Land feet-first. No matter what height you fall from, you should always try to land on your feet. While landing feet-first concentrates the impact force on a small area, it also allows your feet and legs to absorb the worst of the impact. If you are in any other position, try to right yourself before you hit the ground (fortunately, attaining the feet-first position seems to be an instinctive reaction). Keep your feet and legs tightly together so that both your feet hit the ground at the same time.
7. Land on the balls of your feet. Point your toes slightly down before impact so that you will land on the balls of your feet. This will allow your lower body to more effectively absorb the impact.
8. Try to roll. It's in video games, and it works in real life, too. This can absorb the impact greatly by moving your body's force across the ground instead of straight into it. Tuck your arm under your leg and roll your head towards your chest as soon as you hit the ground. Make sure you do not roll after you've 'bounced' off the ground once you've landed.
9. Protect your head on the bounce. When you fall from a great height onto land, you will usually bounce. Some people who survive the initial impact (often with a feet-first landing) suffer a fatal injury on their second impact. Cover your head with your arms. One technique for doing so is to put your arms on the sides of your head with your elbows facing forward (and projecting in front of your face) and your fingers laced behind your head or neck. This covers a large portion of your head, but obviously not all of it.
   
   
   • If you have time to get an indication of which way you’re bouncing (and hence which part of your head you’re likely to hit), you can quickly adjust your arms to cover that part of your head.
10. Control the orientation of your body on the bounce. As you would expect, mortality is highest when the initial point of impact is the head. Mortality declines (in this order) when the point of impact is ventral (the front of the body), dorsal (back of the body), lateral (side of the body), and feet-first.
    Get medical help immediately. With all the adrenaline flowing in response to your flight, you may not even feel injured upon landing. Even if you are not visibly injured, you may have sustained fractures or internal injuries that must be treated immediately. No matter how you’re feeling, get to a hospital as quickly as possible.

Tips

• If you are over an urban area, you probably won’t be able to control your flight precisely enough to choose a good landing surface, but glass- or tin-roofed structures, awnings, and cars are preferable to streets and concrete rooftops.
• Water landings are best done landing feet-first with legs tight together and arms tight against the front of your body with your hands protecting your groin, while leaning back very slightly. Leaning back helps to reduce forced unnatural movement of the neck and the amount of water that will rush up your nose. Also, contract your buttocks so that water does not rush in and cause severe internal damage.
• When you enter the water you will create a path of bubbles which may be followed as they float up towards the surface. If there is no light, follow the bubbles.
• If you find yourself flipping uncontrollably, try to regain stability by going into the arch position. If nothing else, the stability will help you remain somewhat calm.
• If you are in an arch position while falling from an airplane, try to get your body vertical well before you hit the ground so that you don’t get caught in some other position at impact (as a guide, keep in mind that at 1,000 feet (300 m), depending on your velocity, you have about 6-10 seconds before impact).
• Good physical condition and youth seem to positively influence free-fall survival rates. You can’t change your age, but if you’re looking for yet another reason to get in shape, here it is.
• Studies of long-fall survivors have shown that those who reported being relaxed suffered, on average, far less severe injuries than those who reported being panicked or tense.

Warnings

• If choosing to land in water, it is important to understand that unless the water is quite deep and you land feet-first with your body nearly vertical, water will cushion you about as much as concrete (since water is so dense, it doesn't move out of the way fast enough to create a hole for your body; this is why even small belly flops into swimming pools hurt). In addition, if you survive the impact, you may be severely injured and/or unconscious, and thus the risk of drowning is high.
• People very seldom survive falls from heights of 100 feet (30 m) or more, and mortality is high even at heights of 20-30 feet (6-9 m). It is always best not to fall at all.
• Bear in mind that while skydiving is a fairly safe sport, there is always risk of serious injury or death.
• Expect an injury if you're not familiar with skydiving.

 

 

 

HOW TO ESCAPE FROM DROWNING CAR

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Any car accident is frightening, but an accident in which your vehicle is thrown into the water, with you trapped inside, is absolutely terrifying. Such accidents are particularly dangerous due to the risk of drowning and in Canada alone, 10 percent of drowning deaths can be attributed to being submerged in a car,^[1] and about 400 North Americans dying from being submerged in a car every year.^[2]
However, most deaths are a result of panic, not having a plan and not understanding what is happening to the car in the water. By adopting a brace position to survive the impact, acting decisively when the car ends up in the water, and getting out fast, being trapped in a sinking vehicle is survivable, even if it's a flooded river.

 

Stay as calm as possible. When you have gallons of water filling your car, it’s hard not to panic. But when the difference between life and death comes down to a matter of minutes, having a clear head is essential to your survival. Panic is often the reason people drown; they lose the ability to think straight and don’t know what to do. The women in the North Dakota accident called their friends on their cellphones! But panic=death. Hyperventilating and wasting your energy on ineffective actions closes off the easiest options of escape, wastes precious oxygen and shortens the amount of time you’ll be able to hold your breath when making an escape. Just concentrate on what you need to do.
Keep your seatbelt on. Survival experts all agree that you should keep your seatbelt fastened until the very last second of escape. While this may seem counter-intuitive,  it actually makes a good deal of  sense. Water will be rushing into your car. If you’re not anchored to your seat, there’s a good chance you’ll be pushed away from the door or window that will serve as your escape hatch. Moreover, it’s easy to get disoriented when you’re floating around in the cabin of your car. This is especially true if your car flips upside down. Finally, being anchored to your car seat can give you more leverage to break the side window than you would have if you were floating in the water.
Do not wait for the pressure to equalize! When your car starts really sinking, the differential between the pressure outside the car and inside the car makes opening the door impossible. So people are commonly told to wait until the car fills completely with water in order for the pressure inside and outside of it to equalize, at which point you will supposedly be able to open the door. But two shows, Mythbusters and Top Gear have tested this theory and found it wanting. The inside/outside pressure will eventually equalize, but it won’t happen just as soon as the car fills up with water. It takes a bit longer, so long that you’ll likely drown before it happens. It is possible if you are patient, calm, and conserve your oxygen, but don’t count on it

 

Get out immediately through the door! Your best chance for survival is to open the door as soon as you hit the water. You should be able to get the door open up until the point that the water has reached your waist. After that, the pressure from the water outside the car will prevent you from opening the door. Of course, if you just accidentally drove or fell into a body of water, you’re going to be somewhat in shock and disoriented. You may not have the presence of mind to open the door before the pressure becomes too great. If so, you need a Plan B.
Roll down or break a window. If you can’t get the door open, the window is your best chance for escape. If the waterline has not risen past the windows, try rolling down the window first. Contrary to popular belief, Mythbusters found that automatic windows don’t immediately short circuit underwater. But as the car sinks, the pressure of the water will prevent you from rolling them down. This is even the case with manual windows. Even if you’ve got Popeye-sized biceps, you won’t be be able to overcome the pressure and roll down the windows. You’ll probably just break the crank.
So if rolling down the window doesn’t work, you’ll need to break the side window to escape. This is actually harder than you might think as the windows are made of strong, tempered glass.  While the windshield is easier to shatter, they’re designed to be unbreakable and are laminated with a plastic sheet that could keep you trapped in the car. If you’ve been doing your push-ups and pull-ups, you might be able to break the side window with your elbow or fist. Aim for the center of the window. But this is extremely difficult. The water significantly slows down the force of your movements. The Mythbusters were unable to break it with a kick from a steel-toed boot. Even if you are able to punch it through, your risk cutting up your hands on the broken glass. Remember the scene at the beginning of Karate Kid II when Cobra Kai sensei John Kreese punched through some car windows? Yeah, your hands could look like that.  Wrapping your hand in something can help reduce the chance of slicing them up.
Your best option is to have some sort of device in your car at all times that allows you to easily break your windows in case of an emergency. The LifeHammer or ResQMe keychain are two tools you might want to consider keeping in your car or on your keychain. They both have a hardened steel tip that makes breaking strongly tempered windows a breeze. The LifeHammer and ResQMe keychain also have a cutting device that will cut through a seat belt if you find that you can’t unbuckle yourself. Keep them in a place that will be immediately accessible in case of an accident; you don’t want to be rummaging through your glove compartment as your car fills with water.

 

Escape through the window. If the waterline is still below the car window, escaping from the window will be pretty easy. If the waterline is past the window, keep in mind that as soon as you break the window, you’ll be hit with a flood of water. But you should still be able to swim out. Watch Adam from Mythbusters “break” the window and make his escape:

 

Escape through the door. If escaping through the window is not an option, then your last resort is to wait for the pressure differential to equalize. Try to remain as calm as possible. Don’t waste your energy and oxygen fruitlessly trying to open the door before the car is completely filled. As soon as it is, wait a few seconds more and then give it a try.
Swim to safety. Push off the car and swim to the surface. If you’re disoriented and don’t know which way is up, look for bubbles and follow the direction they’re going.

What to Do with Passengers

First, don’t open the door to make your escape. While you might be able to get out, the car will quickly fill with water and sink rapidly, possibly trapping your passengers in a watery grave. Instead, roll down or break the window.
Escaping from a sinking car is hard enough by yourself. But what if you have passengers? The first goal is to keep them calm. Take control of the situation by explaining exactly what you’re about to do. When people see there’s a plan, they’ll usually calm down. Tell them to leave their seat belts on until you’re about to make the escape. Try to make your escape from a single front window.  They’re bigger than the rear passenger windows. Plus it makes it easier to ensure that everyone has left the car safely if they go through a single exit.

• Don't take anything heavy or unnecessary with you as you escape, and remember that everything is unnecessary in this situation except your life and the lives of those around you.
• Under most circumstances you should not wait for help. Rescuers will most likely not be able to reach or locate you in time to provide support.