The emergency services and care homes are using 40 stone manikins in training exercises to practice rescuing obese people.
The bariatric dummies are being used by services across the world to replicate the weight of unconscious people in response to rising obesity rates.
Produced by Ruth Lee Ltd, a manufacturer of rescue training manikins, the dummies come in three sizes – 90kg, 180kg and 260kg – and are filled with a stone core and steel ball bearings.
There is also a water-fillable bariatric suit which allows teams to position their manikin in a difficult spot to access, such as the high cab of an articulated lorry, and then add the weight using water.
The demand for a range of bariatric dummies comes as the number of morbidly obese people has dramatically increased. A quarter of British adults are classified as obese.
Sarah Hampson from Ruth Lee Ltd says: “Events like Grenfell have highlighted the need to come up with a good evacuation plan. There’s no point having a plan if you’re not sure you can carry it out.
“For example, a hospital could have an operating theatre on the fifth floor. If there’s a fire, the lifts close and you’ve got somebody who’s morbidly obese, what do you do?
“As a company, we aim to make manikins which provide teams with a realistic challenge. With the obesity levels rising, it’s important that the emergency services learn how to safely manoeuvre heavier people from difficult access areas.”
