Thank you for your request under the Environmental Information Regulations.
We can confirm that Essex County Fire & Rescue Service does hold the information you have requested.
Please see below the answer to your request.
Questions and final response:
Question 1 - How many callouts has the service attended for a plus size patient either in an evacuation process or to assist them with movement in their home or hospital between 1st January to 31st December in 2022 and January 1st to 31st December 2023? For callouts involving plus-size patients, how many vehicles attend the scene? In instances of callouts to plus-size patients, how many staff members are typically present on a vehicle?
Please see attached spreadsheet containing the above information requested.
Question 2- If a callout to a plus-size patient occurs, who covers the watch during that time?
Essex County Fire & Rescue Service (ECFRS) have over 50 Fire Stations covering the County of Essex.
We have well established procedures and policies to enable us to respond to multiple incidents at any given time.
Where one station is mobilised to an incident and detained at an incident, nearby appliances would be mobilised to subsequent incidents occurring in the local or wider area.
We operate a dynamic mobilising system whereby incidents are attended to by the nearest available crew, this may be an appliance returning from another incident, training, exercise etc.
Question 3 - In the period of Jan to Dec 2022 and Jan to Dec 2023, did any members of staff go off from work injured due to moving a plus-size patient, if so, how many?
ECFRS have no information of any injuries occurring from our attendance at these incidents.
Question 4 - If a callout to assist in moving a plus-size patient happens, who is responsible for covering the associated service costs?
The cost of attending all incidents including rescue, are borne by ECFRS.
Question 5 - Does your service have equipment to facilitate and support moving a plussize patient?
ECFRS, generally are called to assist our Ambulance Service colleagues. As part of the response to this particular type of incident, Ambulance would request the attendance of their Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), the HART response carry equipment to enable a rescue.
Question 6 - Has your service seen an increase in activity for supporting Plus-size patients?
Please refer to this previously published Response EIR 1630 / August / Bariatric Assistance (essex-fire.gov.uk).
This response contains data for our attendance at this type of incident since 2019
Question 7 - Does your service believe there is a growing need for a service to facilitate moving plus-size patients.
ECFRS attend Bariatric rescues, normally as a result of our Ambulance Service colleagues requesting our assistance at an incident that they have been mobilised to. We will always assist our partners in delivering an emergency response to ensure the preservation of life. ECFRS have no information of any growing need for a service to facilitate these rescues. We hope this information is useful to you.
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Incident and other data is published on our transparency site. Incident Data (essexfire.gov.uk) .
Please note that the response and data released to you as part of this request will be published on our website http://transparency.essex-fire.gov.uk/. All requests will be anonymised and no personal information including contact details will be disclosed as part of this process. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Thank you for your interest in Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, we hope this satisfies your request
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to apply for an internal review.
Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of your original email and should be sent to informationgovernance@essex-fire.gov.uk or sent to our postal address: Internal Review, System & Data Information Governance Team, Kelvedon Park, Rivenhall, Witham, Essex CM8 3HB.
Please ensure you quote the above reference number in all future communications