Asian Heart Institute to provide insurance and CPR training to stunt artists from Movie Stunt Artist Association

Asian Heart Institute and Akshay Kumar today announced that they are joining hands to provide a health and accident insurance scheme.

Asian Heart Institute and Akshay Kumar today announced that they are joining hands to provide a health and accident insurance scheme that will cover 380 stunt artists between 18 and 55 years of age from the Movie Stunt Artist Association. Accidents and injuries are part and parcel of a stunt artist's life. While they are always prepared for the most outrageous tasks, avoiding accidents on film sets entirely seems impossible. Although stunt artists risk their lives daily, unfortunately so far there is no provision of insurance schemes for them in the film industry. According to industry insiders, it is difficult to cover stuntmen activities as they come under risky category and several insurance companies in the past have declined the proposal. Stunt artists are the real brave hearts. They are the unsung heroes and their contribution to the films is undisputable. It is high time that they are provided with a proper accidental insurance cover. Akshay Kumar is a dear friend and is championing the cause of stunt artists in the film industry and we are glad to support it whole-heartedly, said Dr Ramakanta Panda, renowned cardiovascular thoracic surgeon and Vice Chairman, Asian Heart Institute.

I am a stuntman first and then an actor. I believe that my stunts and action sequences are the reason why I have come so far in this industry and the entire credit goes to the stunt community and action choreographers. I am extremely thankful to Dr Panda who is not at all related to the film industry but by supporting this initiative, Dr Panda has saved many stunt artists' hearts without doing a surgery. He has a very big heart, said Akshay Kumar. Elaborating on the initiative Akshay Kumar added, "Finally insurance will be available for those who risk their lives to entertain us. Until now, there have been no such insurance schemes for stunt artists across any film industry in the country." Read here Asian Heart Institute trains over 100 BEST employees including drives and conductors in CPR

Dr Panda also announced a free Cardio-pulmonary-resuscitation (CPR) training for stunt artists community. CPR is an emergency procedure in which a person presses up and down on the casualty s chest (chest compressions) and gives them a series of rescue breaths to help save their life when they are in cardiac arrest. "CPR is an essential life skill, especially if performed in the first few minutes of cardiac arrest, can double or triple a person s chance of survival. If CPR is not provided, persons chances of survival fall by 7-10% for every minute of delay," said Dr Panda. The Asian Heart Institute is planning to train 5000 Mumbaikars in CPR this year, including 1000 police personnel, and 25000 Mumbaikars over time. Read more about Asian Heart Institute trains over 50 fire brigade employees in CPR

Highlighting the importance of CPR, Akshay Kumar said, "Unfortunately anyone can suffer a sudden cardiac arrest and therefore CPR is an important skill which all stuntmen should know." As per the insurance scheme, in case of hospitalisation due to any physical injury or accident while doing stunts, a stuntman will be covered for Rs six lakh at about 4,000 hospitals through a cashless system. And in case of death, there s a provision of Rs 10 lakh, which will be given to whoever the stuntman chooses as their nominee.

Press release