Dozens of severely obese people are being rescued by firefighters in the North East because they are too large to move without assistance.
According to Home Office figures, firefighters across 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 sometimes involve lifting equipment, special slings, and even the removal of windows, walls and bannisters - and are most often carried out at the request of NHS partners.
The number of such incidents attended by firefighters across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham and Darlington and Cleveland 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, 23 were carried out by Durham firefighters, 15 by Tyne and Wear, and four by Northumberland firefighters. 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 10 and 19 firefighters.
Both Tyne and Wear and Durham and Darlington fire services emphasised that bariatric assists are "just a small part" of a firefighter's workload. According to the national statistics, in six out of 10 incidents (60%), firefighters spent more than an hour providing assistance and on 10 occasions, officers were occupied for more than four hours. Meanwhile, the number of available firefighters has dwindled since bariatric rescues were first recorded in 2012.
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 Durha,m numbers have slumped from 539 to 494 and in Northumberland that figure has fallen from 385 to 265.
In total across the North East (including Cleveland), there were 1,766 full-time equivalent firefighters in 2021, 63 fewer than the previous year, and 527 fewer than in 2012.
The chair of the National Obesity Forum Tam Fry said the figures were the result of "thirty years of political indifference". He 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.
“Thirty years of political indifference are responsible for this desperate situation."
Nationally, bariatric assists are still relatively rare but have risen by 24% to 1,614 in 2020-2021. When records began there were 429 of these rescues and the number has been rising year on year. At the same time, the headcount of firefighters in England has dropped from 42,058 in 2012 to 35,279 last year. That means there are 6,779 fewer firefighters than there were a decade ago.
Dave Leach, area manager for service delivery for Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, said "We are regularly called by partners to jointly assist in a number of different situations across our region which is why our staff need to be highly trained.
"We work closely with our partners to provide the best service and care during bariatric assists and will continue to provide assistance wherever we can. No two days are the same for our crews and this is a small part of the day to day life of a firefighter."
County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service's emergency response group manager Phil Innis echoed this, saying: “As a Fire and Rescue Service, we receive requests to support our colleagues from NEAS at incidents involving complex casualties." He said crews had specialist training to assist with this.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "Bariatric incidents accounted for 0.3% of the 518,261 fire and rescue incidents that occurred in 2020/21. Fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work - overall they will receive around £2.5bn in 2022/23."
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