South Yorkshire firefighters helping ambulance crews move obese people is on the rise

Obesity is an increasingly big problem for South Yorkshire's firefighters, figures show – with crews required to move severely overweight people dozens of times last year.
Fire crews were required to move severely overweight people dozens of times last yearFire crews were required to move severely overweight people dozens of times last year
Fire crews were required to move severely overweight people dozens of times last year

Home Office figures show South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue crews attended 29 callouts for bariatric assistance - helping ambulance staff move obese people - in 2018-19.

That was higher than the 22 incidents recorded the previous year and more than double the 11 cases seen in 2012-13, when records began.

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Firefighters often need lifting equipment and special slings to transport obese people, and sometimes remove windows, walls and banisters.

Freedom of Information requests to some fire and rescue services have shown the average cost to them of a callout is £400 – that would mean the cost of bariatric assistance in South Yorkshire last year came to around £11,600.

T/assistant chief fire officer Steve Helps said: “As a service we have to meet the changing and diverse needs of our communities and, importantly, support our blue light partners. Our attendance at bariatric rescues is very much about supporting our colleagues at Yorkshire Ambulance Service. This is why our firefighters are trained and equipped to carry out such work, as well as deal with other complex incidents.

“This is about meeting the needs of our communities who we are here to serve. While we do acknowledge and monitor the increase in these calls, it’s worth noting the numbers are relatively small, given the 15,000 incidents we attend each year. We also keep our crews available for other life-risk calls, too, while they’re attending these incidents.”

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In South Yorkshire, 72 per cent of bariatric assistances required more than one fire engine or other vehicle in attendance, while three required four or more. Firefighters most commonly spent between one and two hours at the scene. But on one occasion, they spent four or more hours.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Tackling obesity is a priority for this government, and we are committed to halving childhood obesity rates by 2030. Robust government action has decreased the sugar content in soft drinks by almost a third and we’ve invested millions promoting physical activity in schools.”