jdthomas

http://www.skydiveradio.com/pics.htm Shayna on one of many tandems! this one happens to be with her boyfriend/instructor. I think it's the fourth pic down! www.greenboxphotography.com

Wow what a crappy thing to do! I hope you aren't serious. If you have anger issues about your life, why take it out onn a person when it is your job to help them? Again if you're kidding, then brush my post off. KillerKimmy I have brushed off your comments and I was kidding about it. I am glad that I am there to help if needed. It's my life calling. As you can see there are many answers and thoughts to your statements. I hope that you find answers you are looking for. Sad part about EMS is that are alot of rodeo EMT's out there and you will find that many of them are on volunteer services. But I guess there are alot of guys like that in every line of work. I personally have seen guys that need to find a new job as they are in this for the glory and not the line of work! As far as two choppers and having a use for one somewhere else. in my area alone we have access to a dozens of choppers and my county does not even have a hospital! we drive our patients 30 mins to the nearest ER! Thats 30 mins from in town, if they are a rual patient it can be sometimes one hour drive time.. so we fly them alot. Your area I am sure has plenty of choppers to cover a mass of calls. Another thing is that when cell phone users call in then dispatch has to weed out how many persons are hurt.. well dispatch sends us out.. 911 does not ring at the ambulance station. So dispatch gets alot of calls, alot of people get sent out. thats our jobs, go out and see whats going on and we don't mind having help if needed. As far as running to the scene. I will rarely run to any scene. If the person who is there to help gets hurt then what? I will not place myself in danger to help another person out.. one of the many golden rules of EMS.. BSI-Scene safe! body substance isolation and a safe scene. My advice is to call a diffrent ems service direct instead of 911 and avoid the local volunteer service. Now where did I lay down those trauma shears? I have a great pair just for cutting off rigs! Joe www.greenboxphotography.com

"Huh. I thought she was quoted saying she didn't know and wouldn't have jumped if she did." One of the many reasons we are all getting a little pissy over this story! She never aired this in her first story because she did not know how to play the hand yet.. now she see's that baby's mean money she is all about it. She knew before she made that jump.. it's a couch freaks boogie baby! Joe www.greenboxphotography.com

good one jack! www.greenboxphotography.com

I am sorry to read that many of you have had bad experiences with EMT's. One thing to remeber is that we EMT's are just like you, we are people and we have off and on days. Because the kid at McDonalds gave you a hard time and the wrong order do you hate McDonalds as a whole and think from now on you will have bad service based on this one event? As far as parking an ambulance away from an area or on the runway. We park for the convience of leaving the scene and not getting blocked in somewhere. as well as try to find a place that is close to the patient. Sometimes we roll to an address given and park by the front door only to find the patient out in the back yard way away from the place we thought was a good parking spot. And patient care comes first, the plane can wait or divert of needed. the patient needs to be stable before moving them.. so you got a good show of an otter flying circles. to the medics it was patient first planes later! If you want better relations with your local EMS then invite them to saftey day. help them understand skydiving and try to understand thier job. both party's will be happy if you take honest intrest in each others callings of life.. kind of like dating, you have to show intrest in your date or you won't get naked later! Personally, if I work another skydiver while I am trying to have a day off at the DZ I am going to shred the rig out of spite for making me work on my day off and so i can get more money when I repair the rig as that persons rigger! Love your local EMT's.. they may just save your life! Joe Thomas EMT-I www.greenboxphotography.com

Shayna's sabre-2 190 was stuffed into a container sized for a 135! and she did not have the skill to fly anything in that performance range. the triathalon 190 may have well been a better canopy for her then the sabre-2. Joe www.greenboxphotography.com

Shayna herself broke the story to local (springfield Mo) media and every local story has a line at the end asking for donations to off set her medical expense. She does not work and her boyfriend claims to be dissabled and draws govt money.. however her boyfriend is the guy who shot the video. It has also come to light that she is a medical write off and she is not paying any bills from the hospital. I have not confirmed this so i don't know if it is true but when you are uninsured and unemployeed then these things have a way of getting written off thru charity hospital's. Shayna does not talk to the local skydivers now, nor does her boyfriend/instructor.. they had said they where to tired to talk about this any longer and just fields to many questions when they went to the DZ. Weeks later we start to see her all over the media! Joe www.greenboxphotography.com

CNN has contacted the Dz this accident happend at. www.greenboxphotography.com

So sadly enough this story get's a little ugly. The student that was hurt in this accident has been traveling to all the local news stations of south east kansas, south West Missouri and North East Arkansas with her story. She leaves out so many of the facts that it would make you cringe! Pregnant Skydiver Survives Plunge .c The Associated Press SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) - Pregnant skydiver Shayna Richardson has survived a face-first plunge into the ground. Richardson, 21, of Joplin, Mo., was making her first solo jump in Siloam Springs, Ark., on Oct. 9 when her main parachute failed and her reserve chute didn't fully deploy. Richardson was falling at about 50 mph when she hit face first in a parking lot. Badly injured, but alive, Richardson spent 16 days in a hospital. ``I heard a snap and I started spinning and I didn't know why. I didn't know what to do to fix it. I didn't know how to make it stop,'' Richardson told Fort Smith, Ark., television station KFSM. She cut away her primary chute so her reserve could deploy. ``It's called your guaranteed open. That's what everyone refers to it as,'' Richardson said. But the reserve didn't open all the way. ``To have a malfunctioning reserve is one in a million. It just doesn't happen,'' Richardson said. She spun out of control, heading straight for the asphalt of a parking lot below. ``At the end I said, 'I'm going to die. I'm going to hit the ground. I'm going to die,''' she said. ``I don't remember it. I don't remember hitting the ground. I don't remember the impact or anything that came with it.'' She landed face first. ``In the hit, I egg shelled my entire face. Everything got egg shelled. I broke my pelvis in two places and I broke my leg,'' Richardson said. Rescuers got her to a hospital in Fayetteville where Richardson underwent surgery. ``I went into the first surgery where they cut me from ear to ear and they cut my face down and they took out all the fractured egg-shelled bones and put in steel plates,'' Richardson said. During treatment, doctors found that Richardson was pregnant, which was a surprise to her. She said she would not have jumped had she known she was pregnant. ``To hit the ground belly first - that's dangerous. I mean at any stage of pregnancy that's dangerous. That's not something you want to do let alone at 50 miles per hour,'' Richardson said. Four surgeries and two months later, Richardson said she and her fetus are doing fine. ``Just this last week we went and saw the doctor and we've got arms, we've got legs. We've got a full face. The baby is moving around just fine. The heart rate looks good. So not only did God save me but he spared this baby,'' Richardson said. Richardson has 15 steel plates in her face and lost six teeth. Her fall was videotaped and Richardson said she was able to watch it, without qualms. ``I wanted to watch it,'' said Richardson. ``And the whole reason I'm comfortable with watching it because I know how it ends.'' Richardson said her due date is June 25. She said she plans to make her next parachute jump in August. The motovation behind these actions seem to be the all mighty dollar as has set us a bank account that viewers can donate to her medical expenses.. Here is her side of the story as per a private disscussion board from those listed area DZ's. "Guys...I am not bothered by any questions...I hope people can and will learn from my accident. Yes...I did jump Sunny's main...and no I do not believe the size had anything to do with the accident. Before my jump Rick took my rig with that main on a hop and pop and the parachute deployed perfectly. After that we went up for my 10th jump and first AFF. The malfunction could probably have been fixed by a more experienced jumper. What happened exactly was this...we jumped from 10,000 ft, and I performed the dive perfectly. I deoplyed at 5500 and had a perfect canopy. With my breaks still stowed I attempted some reriser turns just for practice. During my turns I heard a heart stopping SNAP that sent me into an uncontrolable spin, so I cut it away. My first thought was that I had broken lines...but after landing it was determined that one of my breaks snap free, and was unstowed. Not recognizing the problem, and not really knowing what had caused the snap or spinning I thought it best to cutaway and go to the reserve. The reserve also deployed properly, but the slider did not come down, and it appeared to me that part of the canopy was stuffed throught he graument of the slider. This once again sent me into an uncontrolable spin. I flared the canopy several times, and did everything I was intructed to by my radio, and by Rick in the air. Nothing I attempted worked. I have jumped a 190 every jump before this at Freefall Express, and I weigh 125 lbs. This accident is simply that...an accident. Like I said...my lack of experience was my worst enemy...an experienced skydiver would have recognized the problem, and known how to fix it. I guess my #1 lesson from all of this is...don't be so quick to cutaway! Simply unstowing the other brake would have straightened me out, and allowed me a safe and fun skydive. However, I didn't know, and the only way to learn is to keep jumping. Rick says that students aren't taught to repair all simple malfunctions like that becuase they will spend too much time trying to fix it, and not ever cutaway. Given the fact that the reserve is supposed to be your "guaranteed open" I understand that way of thinking. In most cases it is probably safer to cutaway then to try to fix the main, but I happen to be the fluke that didn't get a good reserve. I will not blame anyone for anything...the only person I could possibly be upset with is myself...and trust me...I have torn myself up about cuting away so quickly, and not even trying to fix that main. After having my baby (which by the way is due June 25, 2006) I fully entend to return to skydiving. Rick received his static line rating the same day as the accident, and plans to return to jumping this comming weekend. I know my accident brought up many questions and concerns, and I hope that this answers most of it. Please rest assured that your questions do not offend me or discomfort me in anyway. I am happy to be alive, and I don't think there is anything wrong with educating people from my near fatal accident. Back to the baby... I saw my OB/GYN for the first time today and got our first baby pictures and got to see the heartbeat! It was very exciting, and even made me cry a little. I didn't realize how emotional this baby would make me. The doctor says that the baby is appearing healthy and normal so far, and that the pain medication I have been taking will not hurt the baby (thank God...because I hurt!!!). The doctor did say that I will probably have to have a c-section delivery because of the pelvis fractures. I kind of thought that might be the case, and at this point I know I can handle either way...lol. My mouth is still wired shut, and will be for 5 more weeks!!! I am very tired of eating through a straw!!! I am scared to death that morming sickness might kick in before my mouth gets unwired. If I do start getting sick we have to try to cut the wires loose...and that doesn't sound like something I want to do when I am in the process of vomiting...lol. The joys of combining injury and pregnancy...lol. I am still very happy like I said simply to be alive. The pain sometimes makes me question that happiness, but then I see my baby pictures, and I am happy again. Well...I just reread my post and realized I am rambling...so I am going to go now. I hope all this information means something to somebody...lol...oh...and my address for any letters " Joe www.greenboxphotography.com

so why don't you have a rig any longer? And what happend to the excitment you had after bridge day? Just go after mark to get you one.. I think you should post on the haze that you need a rig! Joe www.greenboxphotography.com

Why do I owe you a rig? Don't you have one and besides that should be Chad's job to supply you a rig.. maybe you can get shitflybassboat to get you one for Christmas! Joe www.greenboxphotography.com

Hey Sarah is all about the freeshit.. just ask her friend shitflybassboat and he will tell you! Sarah, i am bummed that I did not make the list! see you over at the haze! Joe www.greenboxphotography.com

Jimmy We have spoke about this and I am happy to offer my services as a climber and an EMT. Until then I ran thru this thought the other night while sitting at the ambulance station. We have these little vials (pill bottle) that our company gives to elderly persons. It's called vial of life and we ask them to place medical history on the sheet and put the thing in the fridge.. well it's just not for old people and it's a great idea for everyone to have this. all EMT's know to look in or on the fridge for health info of the elderly. Why not carry this while doing all high risk sports? This will help us (emt's) know your med allergies, history and current scrips as well as other great info. Get one of these things, fill it out and carry it with you, tell your buddy where it is and you know where his is at. If your friend is out cold, can you provide his medical info? this could be a life saver! www.greenboxphotography.com

IMO if the student had unanswered questions on the gear she was jumping, and voiced her concern to other jumpers about it, then maybe the DZM or DZO should have been involved before she was allowed to board the plane? And if the other jumpers that suspected this girl is being put into unsafe gear, allow the her to jump that gear, without bringing someone with more experience into the situation, they are wrong too for not bringing it up This is a very good point. Other jumpers did bring up the saftey issue of this. stuffing a 190 into a container sized for a 135 was not a great idea and thus expressed by others. One of the many reasons this instructor was told he could not jump that at his home DZ. This reason as well as a few others is why they went to a diffrent DZ away from the home dz. The away DZ was a place that this instructor had made many jumps at in the past so he was welcome there. As far as the DZO having suspect and stopping anyone at the DZ from jumping. I don't know all the in's and out's of the procedures for gear checks there but this one seemed to slip thru the cracks. Joe www.greenboxphotography.com

The intent in posting is to help show that the chain of saftey was broken and red flags should have been obvious. Thsi student, even though dating her instructor had questions on the saftey of this main in that container, thus the public disscussion prior to the jump. If you have questions and you are nervous you should get thos questions answered by as many knowledgeable outside sources as possible. And to answer the next question. No she was not dating him before she made her first skydive.. maybe they started dating on jump 2 of the ten she has made.. the first jump was a tandem and then he took over. We are all still trying to figure out why her reserve had a hung slider and it was spinning. FAA and other riggers could not see anything wrong with the gear. www.greenboxphotography.com

Okay here is a thread from a Springfield Mo news station. This accident happened just a short time ago and was heavly disscussed with the surrounding DZ's of that area for some time and was never posted here. The event is now public knowledge and I feel fre to post it so that we all can learn form these mistakes. The run down. This jumper is dating her instructor. The AFF-I instructor has been on probation at a small DZ for non safe skydive instruction and is told that he can not teach his new girlfriend AFF at this DZ for this reason and the simple fact that there is a no staff student dating policy in place. The instructor wants to put his girlfriend student out on a sabre-2 170 that is not sized for the container he wants to put it in. He is told that this is not a good idea from riggers and experienced jumpers, so he takes his girlfriend to a diffrent DZ and makes the jump happen there. During deployment the student has a toggle that is unstowed from possibly a bad pack job and not knowing what is going on she does a clean cutaway. This where the things gets intresting.... her reserve is spinning and she later states she did not know why it was spinning. The FAA did not find anything wrong with the gear and no real reason was ever come up with as to why her reserve did not fly correctly. the people that jump at the DZ where the student and instructor are from have a messgae board and the people that jump at the dz where the accident happened also chat and view this board. We all have pondered this accident and have never really come up with a solid answer as to why this occured. My thoughts came after I saw the actuall video of the jump and it looks like one toggle on her reserve was also undone and the student did nothing to fix the spin. I hope that others will learn form this and make skydiving safer for all. Sorry this is a long read. Joe www.greenboxphotography.com

My girlfriend and I both climb, though not as much as we would like to we do enjoy it. We also enjoy kayaking, mt biking, base jumping and I skateboard as well. We did not jump that much this summer so we could do other sports more. Joe www.greenboxphotography.com

My girlfriend (who is a skydiver)went by the pawn shop yesterday and she was told that she could only view the rigs on ebay as they where not available. I am not sure that they would be stolen if Chris can get them to send copys of the packing data cards, I mean after all they have contact names on the cards. Joe www.greenboxphotography.com

Can someone post the pawn shop address for me? I don't know where to find that in the ebay ad.. I live just north of Olathe and could stop by on Friday if I knew where the place was.. find out the story and see if the serial#'s to see if they are stolen. Joe www.greenboxphotography.com

Armstrong, was that Jimmy C from KC? Looks like him! JT www.greenboxphotography.com

Well there are two cessna DZ's in the Wichita area. Air capital and skydive Wichita...Both places are very nice. But you are coming in winter, kansas in the winter is not a friendly place to be. I think you should drive to Hutchinson and see the kansas cosmosphere, it will be worth your time.. look it up on line. Joe www.greenboxphotography.com

That is a pic of Jennifer Sharp, owner of skydive Kansas and thats her old canopy. Right! JT www.greenboxphotography.com

Yep Fletcher got it right, my Offical Title in Life is Rev Joseph D Thomas. Been that way for years.. oh Remember me, the guy who preformed the wedding of a few skydivers thru the years! As far as kicked off the dz, man I would have to think about that and Nope no thoughts of that come to mind.. I did leave on free will once, left for several years in fact.. jumped at many other great DZ's in the process. I eventually came back when I moved back to the area! Bryan welcomed me back to the DZ and offered me a job.... Such pettyness, it's sad. Hide behind a fake name, make up jump numbers you don't have.. is that to try and give your self some kind of status? You have an A# and I am sure not close to 450 jumps. Don't do this. Can't we all just get along, sorrys don't fix everything but they are a start. I hope that you will find a DZ to call home and that makes you happy, I really do mean that as I always wish people the best. Good luck in Arkansas or where ever you choose to jump. R. J Thomas www.greenboxphotography.com

I have been jumping at this DZ for a few years now, I have been to many others thru my now 14 years of skydiving and I know that I have found "home" with this DZ in question. I have seen people come and go and will see many more. we try very hard to welcome new people all the time and we can't make everyone happy thats just the way that it is. I am sad to think that you can't get along with our DZO.. I wonder why? This past winter many of us from our DZ traveled to Florida to be with our DZO, in one group there where 10 of us, and a few other went at diffrent times before and after the big group went down there. If it is so bad then why did a few of our students travel to Florida to finish training with there DZO? I had great respect for you before this post and now that has gone. Please do not make such comments about our DZ, DZO or anyone else for that matter. The staff at freefall express love thier DZ, we love our DZO's like family and are very happy.. so just go away! Joe Thomas www.greenboxphotography.com

I usally put them in a long sleeve t shirt and a pair of freefly type pants, I made up a few diffrent styles of pants (american flag, hawiian, and solid blue) one of those with a soild color top loks like a suit and they get to play dress up. Since I am so small in size i try not to have them in anything to baggy, so old RW suits are very nice to me as well. And once again my size plays a rold and I have alot of tall guys try to land before me, so they can get dirty.. but I usally stay clean. Joe www.greenboxphotography.com