You’re a Fire Fighter ~ Get Me Out of Here!

It’s not often that the London Fire Brigade will release news that’s guaranteed to raise a smile. However last month, the Brigade released figures which may both shock and entertain as they revealed the number of people who required their assistance after becoming stuck in some strange – and at times alarming – places! And, with the figure increasing year on year, it would appear that curiosity, or perhaps sheer stupidity, is getting the better of people across London more often than ever before…

Since 2010, the London Fire Brigade have attended more than 1,300 incidents involving people who are trapped or struck. This figure has risen each year – from 416 in 2010/11, to 441 in 2011/2012 and 453 in 2012/13. A lot of the people who had become trapped or stuck somewhere had done so in everyday, household objects – including almost 500 people who had got their finger stuck in a ring!

Over the last three years, 307 people suffered injuries as a result of these incidents and – if those statistics aren’t eye-watering enough – some of the incidents themselves are sure to make you squirm. Since 2010, London’s fire crews have seen:

• 18 children with their heads stuck in a toilet seat or potty.
• 5 people with their hands stuck in a shredder.
• 79 people trapped in handcuffs.
• 9 men with rings stuck on their penises.
• 4 people with their hands stuck in blenders.
• 17 children with their fingers stuck in toys, including one with their finger stuck in a piece of Lego.

Dave Brown, an officer at the London Fire Brigade, said the biggest rise he has witnessed is the number of people trapped in handcuffs – an increase he attributed to the “Fifty Shades effect”, commenting that most people would be “fifty shades of red” by the time the crews arrived to free them.

However, people putting parts of their body in objects that they shouldn’t is not just a current trend. In fact, over the past the Fire Brigade have been called to a number of weird and wonderful cases, including:

• A man with his arm stuck in a Portaloo.
• A man with his penis stuck in a toaster.
• A child with their head caught in an ironing board.
• An adult stuck in a child’s toy car.
• A child with its foot stuck in a brass vase.
• Someone with a test tube stuck on their finger.
• A child with a tambourine stuck on its head.

However, all laughing, cringing and involuntary tensing of body parts aside, there is a more serious side to the story. According to the London Fire Brigade, each incident will cost the taxpayer at least £290, meaning the total over the last three years will be in excess of £377,000! In addition to the cost, every time the crews are called to incidents such as this, they may be missing true emergencies, leaving other people at risk.

Dave Brown attempted to remind people of the seriousness of calling the fire brigade, saying:

“I’d like to remind everyone that 999 is an emergency number and should only be used as such. When fire fighters are out attending to some of these avoidable incidents, someone else could be in need of real emergency assistance”.

With that in mind, the London Fire Brigade issued three simple tips to help people avoid such incidents.

• Common sense is needed – if it doesn’t look safe, it probably isn’t, so don’t do it!
• If you use handcuffs, always keep the key handy.
• Fingers and electrical appliances don’t mix, especially those with blades.

So armed with the statistics, and some advice from the fire brigade themselves, hopefully people can curb their curiosity and keep their fingers, heads and…other such body parts…out of places they don’t belong!