A hidden strain is stretching emergency services to their limits, revealing a crisis that goes beyond the usual call of duty.
A 30-stone man was winched from a flat window by firefighters using specialist equipment so he could (Image: WMAS / Newsteam)
Britain’s obesity crisis is placing a “staggering” strain on emergency services as new figures reveal firefighters have spent the equivalent of more than a full year rescuing dangerously overweight people since 2020. Frontline crews are now attending a “bariatric” emergency every three hours and 20 minutes, with incidents often requiring heavy-lifting equipment, the removal of windows and doors, and hours of gruelling physical labour.
Shocking new data obtained via Freedom of Information requests reveals that UK fire services attended 15,849 incidents involving obese patients between 2020 and 2025. In total, crews have spent 553,609 minutes on these call-outs—equivalent to 384.5 days of continuous work. The crisis is most acute in the capital, where the London Fire Brigade (LFB) has responded to over 2,000 such incidents, draining more than £1 million from the service’s resources.
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The crisis is most acute in the capital, where the London Fire Brigade (LFB) has responded to over 2,000 such incidents, draining more than £1 million from the service’s resources.
Tom, a 30-year-old firefighter with the LFB, warned that the “epidemic” is putting first responders at risk of life-changing injury.
He said: “Jobs that would be straightforward with a casualty of a healthier weight become physically damaging and exhausting.”
“Removing a severely overweight casualty from a fire would mean working harder, using more air, and staying longer in a dangerous environment. This significantly increases the risks of heat exhaustion, collapse, and fire spread.”
Tom described one colossal operation that lasted ten hours and required the mobilisation of five fire engines, police, and specialist ambulance teams for a single patient.
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“We had to remove a ground-floor balcony, take out three French doors, build a ramp capable of supporting his weight, and set up a line system to lower him down the verge to the road gently,” he added.
“It took nine firefighters just to lift him from the chair onto an upright stretcher. Normally, you’d take a limb each, but he was so heavy that extra hands were needed. One of my crew members injured his back during this job.”
The experienced firefighter continued: “The sheer number of resources tied up on this job reduced emergency cover across London and likely came at a huge cost to the taxpayer.”
The data, sourced by health experts at ZAVA, highlights a skyrocketing demand on the fire service, often acting as support for the Ambulance Service.
Between 2020 and 2024, bariatric rescues soared by 76%, rising from 1,804 incidents to 3,183—almost nine per day.
While London bore the brunt of the calls, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service reported the second-highest figures with 1,174 incidents, spending the equivalent of 36 days on scene. Northern Ireland saw a massive 146 per cent increase in calls over four years.
Approximately 1.88 million UK adults are now living with Class III obesity, formerly known as morbid obesity.
However, there may be a glimmer of hope for overstretched crews. The study noted that bariatric incidents actually fell by 13% between 2022 and 2024, a drop experts believe could be linked to the surge in popularity of weight loss injections.
Dr Crystal Wyllie, a doctor at ZAVA, said: “Obesity is an epidemic across the world, but within the UK, we can see a natural impact that bariatric care has not only on the NHS, but also on other public services such as fire and rescue services.
“This decrease in bariatric incidents is a light at the end of the tunnel, and with the millions of Brits choosing weight loss management techniques, including weight loss injections, we can expect to see a further decrease in these risky rescues in the years to come.”
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Dr Crystal Wyllie, a doctor at ZAVA, said: “Obesity is an epidemic across the world, but within the UK, we can see a natural impact that bariatric care has not only on the NHS, but also on other public services such as fire and rescue services.
“This decrease in bariatric incidents is a light at the end of the tunnel, and with the millions of Brits choosing weight loss management techniques, including weight loss injections, we can expect to see a further decrease in these risky rescues in the years to come.”
