SUFFOLK firefighters have been called out 14 times since 2005 to help hoist seriously obese patients, it can be revealed today.The cost to the county's fire service - and ultimately the taxpayer - for moving massively overweight people during that period was estimated at between �3,000 and �4,000.
SUFFOLK firefighters have been called out 14 times since 2005 to help hoist seriously obese patients, it can be revealed today.
The cost to the county's fire service - and ultimately the taxpayer - for moving massively overweight people during that period was estimated at between �3,000 and �4,000.
The figures have come to light following a freedom of information request.
In 2008, crews were called out to three such incidents, two of which were to remove deceased obese patients and the third was to assist with the transportation of an overweight person to the ground floor of a building.
A county council spokesman said that when crews are requested to help, the fire service will send two officers and a rescue appliance to the scene.
Their assistance can involve the use of specialist equipment to remove walls and windows to improve access for medics.
Across the country, there were more than 3,200 fire service call-outs at a total cost of �7.3m.
Among them included people wedged in their baths, a 42-stone woman who almost died when she fell over, and others trapped between hospital beds or unable to move from dentists' chairs.
The government recently admitted specialist equipment to lift obese patients, including reinforced beds and operating tables, costs the NHS �44.8m each year.
Obesity facts:
- The volume of obesity related deaths are second only to smoking.
- Adult obesity rates have nearly quadrupled over the last 25 years, and two thirds of UK adults are now overweight.
- According to figures from the National Audit Office, being obese can take up to nine years off your lifespan.
- It also makes you far more likely to develop a range of health-related problems including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, high blood pressure, gallstones, infertility and depression.
- The number of obese children has tripled over the last 20 years.
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