Ocular problems in military free fall parachutists

Leonard Gruppo, Thomas H. Mader, Ian Wedmore

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Military free fall parachutists may be unaware of the risk of corneal freezing and desiccation keratitis should their goggles come off during free fall in subfreezing temperatures. We determine the incidence of ocular difficulties in military free fall parachutists and the role freezing temperatures may play in causing these problems. We found that 79% of those who responded to the survey had lost their goggles at least once during free fall and 69% experienced ocular symptoms after goggle loss. Analysis shows a 30-fold increase in the duration of symptoms in subfreezing vs. above-freezing temperatures, with the odds of the ground mission being affected at 7.3 per 100 jumps in the subfreezing group. The rate of goggles coming off per jump is 3.3 times less with >75 jumps. Contact lenses are not protective and photorefractive keratectomy was not detrimental.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)797-800
Number of pages4
JournalMilitary medicine
Volume167
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2002
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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