Firefighters had to move 41-stone man in bed
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Your support makes all the difference.Firefighters demanded a change in guidelines for helping obese people today after being called to a house four times in one week to lift a 41-stone man.
On one occasion, 10 firefighters had to move Robert Marsden two feet across his bed at his home in Grangemouth, Stirlingshire.
Fire service leaders have complained their crews should not be dealing with such matters when they could be called out to an emergency.
And today a union official said a meeting had been organised between various agencies to discuss a new strategy for tackling the problem in the area.
The call-outs were made to Mr Marsden's council flat last week.
The Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service crews were called out a total of four times last week, and attended three times after one call was cancelled.
Gordon McQuade, local secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said: "If someone is in need of urgent medical attention and a doctor or medical personnel think firefighters should go and help that is no problem.
"But this was not the case."
He went on: "The crews had to move the gentleman two feet across the bed. We've got no specialist equipment - it was sheer brute force.
"If you want us to do that type of work you need to start providing the training and equipment."
And he added: "It's a shame, being 41 stone can't be much fun. But it's not a proper use of resources."
But Mr Marsden said he did not understand what the fuss was about.
"The firemen came here and got on with their job, and once they were finished they went on to their next job," he told newspapers.
He added he was grateful to the service for the help.
Mr McQuade said such call-outs were an increasing burden for fire crews.
Central Scotland Fire and Rescue had been called out 12 times in the past eight months to help move obese people, he said.
He also revealed there would be a meeting next Tuesday between a range of agencies to discuss a new approach to dealing with the problem in the area.
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