Severely obese need more help
DOZENS of severely obese people are being helped by firefighters in the North East because they are too large to move on their own.
Home Office figures show firefighters in our area attended 67 “bariatric assists” in 2020-21.
This involves coming to the aid of plus-size people, often because they are trapped in their own homes. Rescues can involve lifting equipment, special slings, and even the removal of windows, walls and bannisters.
The number of bariatric assists attended by North East firefighters last year fell by 37% from 107 the previous year, bucking the national trend, but is 60% higher than the 42 incidents in 2012, the first year the figures were recorded.
Of bariatric rescues in 2020-21, 25 were attended by Cleveland firefighters, 23 by Durham, 15 by Tyne and Wear, and four by Northumberland. At least seven fire appliances were called out to attend on one occasion, and at least four on four call-outs. Seventeen of the rescues required the assistance of between ten and 19 firefighters.
In six out of 10 incidents (60%), firefighters spent more than an hour providing assistance and on ten occasions, officers were occupied for more than four hours.
Home Office figures show there were 597 firefighters in Tyne and Wear in 2021. That is 18 fewer than the previous year when Tyne and Wear had 615 firefighters, and 234 fewer than in 2012.
In Cleveland the number of full-time equivalent firefighters has dropped from 538 in 2012 to 410 in 2021. In Durham numbers have slumped from 539 to 494 and in Northumberland that figure has fallen from 385 to 265.
In total across the North East, there were 1,766 full-time equivalent firefighters in 2021, 63 fewer than the previous year, and 527 fewer than in 2012.
Tam Fry, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, National Obesity Forum said: “Sadly, these figures will continue to rise for many years to come. Even when the government’s latest plans to tackle obesity have been finally implemented, there will still be hundreds requiring rescue teams to get them out of their homes and into hospital for treatment.”
New rules requiring calorie information to be displayed on menus and food labels – for businesses with over 250 employees – came into force in April. Regulations to restrict the promotion of less healthy foods online will start from October. Nationally, bariatric assists are still relatively rare, but have been increasing over the last decade.