1. This survey covers in excess of 250,000 parachute descents at The Parachute School.
2. Statistically, any parachutist has only a one per cent. chance of injury in any one parachute descent, and this figure is decreasing.
3. Some typical medical parachute entities have now been established.
a. Strain of the right rectus muscle.
b. Contusions and separations of the acromioclavicular joint.
c. Fracture of the lower third of the fibula, associated with fracture of the posterior tibial lip.
d. The "silent fracture" of the upper third of the fibula, and less frequently a dislocation of the fibular head. The fibula may be fractured in its upper third and be relatively asymptomatic; hence, the designation "silent fracture".
4. Holding the feet together on contact with the ground, replacing the old method of holding the feet eighteen inches apart on landing, has markedly reduced ankle fractures.