Taking the fall: How stunt performers struggle with reporting head trauma

In the heart-pounding action scenes of your favorite blockbuster, 冒险的并不总是一线演员，而是那些默默无闻的英雄——特技演员——把这些惊险的时刻变成了现实. However, 光鲜亮丽的背后隐藏着残酷的现实:这些冒失鬼不愿报告头部创伤, fearing it could jeopardize their careers.

In the recently released blockbuster, “The Fall Guy,观众可以在幕后看到特技专业人员是如何创造出那些最激动人心的时刻的, and although this film celebrates these skilled professionals, it does not highlight the impact the stunts can have on their health.

Ohio University researchers Dr. Jeffrey Russell and Dr. Elizabeth Beverly 我通过发表在《newbb电子平台》杂志上的一项新的定性研究深入研究了这个问题 "Journal of Occupational Medicine & Toxicology," amplifying the voices of stunt performers who often go unheard. Their research, published as a follow-up to a previous study, 揭示了特技专业人员在自我报告头部受伤以及对其健康和生计的潜在长期后果方面面临的挑战.

“这项定性研究允许特技演员用他们自己的话描述他们头部受伤的经历, 他们是如何管理的，行业如何改善，以确保特技演员的健康和健康的未来,” Russell, an associate professor in the College of Health Sciences and Professions, said. 

Seeking proactive measures

这项研究是由加拿大特技演员共同撰写的，为他们的职业成员匿名分享他们的经历提供了一个宝贵的平台. 它暴露了表演者普遍存在的一种恐惧，即报告受伤可能会导致他们被边缘化或被贴上负担的标签, thereby threatening their future job prospects.

“Many stunt performers are afraid to report their injuries, especially head trauma, in fear they will be put on a do-not-hire list or looked at as a liability,” Russell explained. “The more injuries or trauma, the harder it may be to find work. But that should not be how it is; production companies and their unions should be ensuring stunt performers are taken care of and not reprimanded for any injuries sustained on the job.”

Leslie McMichael, a stunt coordinator, stunt performer and co-author on the study, offers firsthand insight into the challenges faced by stunt professionals. Drawing from her experiences, 她强调需要采取积极主动的措施来预防头部受伤，并在发生时加以处理.

“In my first 10 years working as a stunt performer, 我注意到有些人有一些行为问题，并且了解到他们中的许多人在做像车祸这样的特技表演时没有适当的安全措施，因此反复受到头部创伤,” McMichael, who has done stunts in movies such as “X-Men: The Last Stand,” “Final Destination 3,” and “Fantastic Four,” said. “Especially in the older days, 安全并不是最重要的，所以我遇到或听说过一些年长的特技演员，因为他们在表演特技时受伤，衰老对他们的认知能力来说更困难. When I started seeing this more and more, 我知道这是我们这个行业的一个真正的问题，这个人群因为害怕失业而不经常寻求医疗帮助.”

First-person accounts

According to Beverly, who aided in analyzing the qualitative data, 这项研究强调了理解健康状况对个人的情感和心理影响的重要性.

“定性研究的力量在于，它让参与者有机会表达对他们重要的事情和原因,” Beverly, Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Ralph S. Licklider, D.O. 传统骨科医学院行为糖尿病特聘教授说. “So often in the healthcare field, 我们考虑定量结果，因为它通常更容易理解数值. What we forget or fail to ask is how health conditions make people feel. How we feel often dictates our thoughts and behaviors. 总的来说，这可以改善沟通、治疗参与和临床结果.”

Although this qualitative study does not provide numerical evidence, 它提供了更多的东西——特技演员自己的官方记录, not anecdotes or hearsay. 这种类型的研究可以被带到工作室和工会，作为倡导改进这一领域的资源.

“我们已经观察到足球和其他运动中头部创伤的负面结果，并且在过去的五年里已经做出了一些改变来预防和减少这些脑震荡的数量,” Beverly explained. “我的希望是，电影行业也能看到类似的情况，并将其视为干预和做出改变的机会. Stunt performers are an integral part of the entertainment industry, and they deserve to work in a safe environment.”

研究结果还明确指出，需要改善他们所在行业的工作环境质量.

As a performer, 麦克迈克尔的特技表演范围从武术到驾驶序列, working with fire, high falls and more, yet notes that due to the nature of the job, even when someone is injured, they will continue to push through the pain in order to work.

Research that fosters safety

“Unfortunately, 对于头部创伤，没有太多的物理证据可以告诉你的工会或工作室，或者带你的保险公司来确保你能得到照顾. 人们想在这个行业工作，为了谋生，需要一个特技演员在片场, 当他们真正应该休息、照顾好自己的身体和大脑时，却不断地让自己完成潜在的危险特技. However, that doesn’t pay the bills.”

McMichael和Russell的开创性工作为推进这一关键领域的研究奠定了基础，他们的倡导正在努力培养行业内的安全和支持文化, ensuring that the well-being of stunt performers remains a top priority.

“能够参与到我可以帮助并有可能回馈与我一起工作了很长时间的人的事情中来是很酷的,” McMichael, who also has a Ph.D. in Media Psychology, added.

罗素还成立了一个由特技演员组成的国际特别工作组, researchers, 以及来自世界各地的医疗保健专业人员，帮助宣传特技演员的健康.