Patients taken to hospital in fire engines as firefighters respond to rocketing medical calls

Firefighters have resorted to taking people to hospital in fire engines amid rocketing call-outs to medical emergencies.

Fire and rescue services now respond to more “non-fire incidents” than fires in England, including cardiac arrests, suicide attempts and elderly people trapped in their homes after falls.

Official statistics show that they attended more than 18,200 medical incidents in 2021-22, an increase of a third from the previous year, and that firefighters rather than ambulances were the “first responder” in almost half of those calls.

Chris Lowther, who chairs the National Fire Chiefs’ Council’s operations committee, said the figures showed a “new reality” as firefighters step in to help struggling ambulance services.

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Source: The Independent (22 August 2022)