Amputee Group Provides Graphic Realism for Emergency Training

Amputees in Action is a one-of-a-kind agency that provides professional amputee actors for EMS and military training simulations, as well as for the film and screen industries. The group, based in the UK, just finished demonstrating its capabilities last week at the DSEI 2013 defense and security exhibition in London. 

The personnel “use their personal trauma experiences to enable graphic realism that is second to none,” the group advertises, “and our team of special effects make-up, moulage and prosthetic artists use cutting edge technology to enhance and extend the appearance and function of limb-loss scenarios.”

Amputees in Action founder John Pickup shared the group’s story through a written exchange this week with EMS World.

Pickup lost his right arm after a motorbike accident at the age of 17, and first got involved in work as an amputee extra while he was a paralympic athlete. In 1997 the team was approached for anyone interested in playing the part of a severely injured featured extra. Pickup says he jumped at the chance and became smitten with the world of film and drama.

He first came up with the idea to create a specialist agency after finding himself on the set of the blockbuster Hollywood movie, Saving Private Ryan.

“Several amputees were being used on the film to add that extra shock to the imagery,” he explains. “Somehow, we were handed to the stunt department who saw our potential and used us accordingly—bodies and parts of bodies being thrown all over the place!”

Amputees in Action now has more than 300 trained actors and stunt performers.

“A lot of our personnel have experienced traumatic injuries resulting in amputation,” Pickup writes. “We have everyone from former armed services personnel to people who have lost limbs through illness. They have turned these experiences into positive and often beneficial opportunities, such as adding that extra depth of realism to an action scene, to providing feedback to emergency services personnel, or to fellow soldiers during casualty simulations.”

Even with the graphic and ongoing focus on traumatic injury, “Many of us find it cathartic to take part in acting and training scenarios,” Pickup writes.

Amputees in Action works extensively with the emergency services, medical personnel and emergency planners in the UK, with the goal of providing interactive realism to casualty simulations, both on a large and small scale.

"We pioneer the development of new techniques, leading towards enabling a range of on-casualty interventions, including cannulation, packing out and cricothyrotomy," the group advertises. "Our SFX experts enhance the amputee experience, replicating injuries beyond leg and arm injuries. We also recreate traumas like head and facial wounds, eviscerated abdomens and groin wounds."

The group has also had a long association with the military and helping to train military medics to deal with combat trauma, reporting, “The agency’s highly trained amputee actors, supported by make-up and special effects artists, are able to bring such a level of graphic realism to any exercise that the trainees become desensitized to the shock of the battlefield reality and essential techniques and procedures become instinctive."

The agency bills itself as the first to promote the use of amputees with real acting skills to put the ‘shock factor’ into simulations, and says all trauma casualty amputees working for the group undergo comprehensive training in theatrical techniques and medical procedures.

The effects for medical simulation participants can be stunning.

“Participants are allowed unique exposure to trauma scenarios and specialist wound effects, enabling hands-on, adrenaline-fueled training that is second to none,” Pickup writes. “Medical and emergency services participants are able to experience the effects and management of trauma incidents in the most realistic way possible.”

Beyond visual realism, and perhaps just as important, the amputees offer realism through their portrayal of trauma incidents because they have been through it.

Pickup shared the following comments from emergency service officials:

"The use of Amputees in Action has, and continues to be, an essential and fundamental part of SORT training and preparation for major incidents involving mass casualties." —Jim Dickie, Resilience Manager, Scottish Ambulance Service

"The ‘human experience’ is often the hardest element to simulate, the team from Amputees in Action significantly enhance the exercise. They are positive and innovative in conducting a unique role." —David Bull, Ambulance Command (CBRN) and HART Training Lead

"Amputees in Action personnel inspire people to learn and practice. Realism is paramount in retaining momentum and focus, enabling real skills and experience to be drawn upon when ultimately needed." —Extract from letter by Maj N Mackinnon, S02 Res, FTG (UK)

The group's website can be located at www.amputeesinaction.co.uk

Heather Caspi is an associate editor for EMS World.