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A 27-year-old male service person on an overseas military training exercise presented to his Medical Officer with a 24-hour history of shortness of breath, chest tightness, dry cough and right-sided thoracic back pain, immediately prior to a scheduled military high altitude parachute jump from 5500 metres (18 044 feet) on oxygen. He had completed two jumps in the preceding days from an altitude of 3300 metres (10 800 feet). Through routine medical examinations, he had previously been declared fit for flying duties, including high altitude parachuting and was thus an otherwise fit and well individual with no significant medical history. He was a non-smoker, with no regular medications and had no significant family history of respiratory disease.
On examination, his resting heart rate was 110 bpm, blood pressure was 125/75 and oxygen saturations were 93% on air. Respiratory examination revealed globally reduced …
Footnotes
Contributors KB, TB and AG were involved in the care of the patient mentioned in this report and subsequent preparation of the draft manuscript. All three authors approved the final manuscript prior to submission.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.