Firefighters callouts to lifting assistance jobs spike in Hawke's Bay

The number of lift assistance callouts in Hawke's Bay increased 2350 per cent since 2007. Photo / Andrew Warner

Firefighters are increasingly being called on to help paramedics lift patients out of "awkward situations" in Hawke's Bay.

They say the rise has been caused by more commercial buildings in the region, and greater awareness of what to do when you have a back injury.

Figures released by Fire and Emergency New Zealand show a total of 49 lift assistance callouts were attended by firefighters in the region last year.

It reflects what has been a marked change in the past decade - in 2007 the number of lifts needed was just two.

In total 406 lift assistance callouts were attended by firefighters in the past decade, with 55 in 2017 the most in one calendar year.

FENZ deputy chief executive Raewyn Bleakley said the data provided does not show the reasons for the call as they do not record that information.

Bleakley added: "The rise in numbers of lift assisted callouts in 2014 reflects the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the then New Zealand Fire Service and St John that year which formalised the assistance that Fire and Emergency still provides today."

Hawke's Bay Fire Area Commander Ken Cooper said lift assists are used for "awkward situations" and "situations where access in an issue." Photo / Duncan Brown

Hawke's Bay Fire Area Commander Ken Cooper said the lift assistance system is used for "awkward situations" and "situations where access is an issue".

"St Johns Ambulance calls us for lift assistance incidents if they are a single crew appliance and are in need of assistance to move a casualty safely," he said.

"It's about working together to make sure the risk to the responder is minimised, as we have a crew of four firefighters on a fire appliance that can assist our partners."

Cooper added: "We'd probably put the rise in numbers down to the increase in commercial properties."

"There is also probably an increased awareness in terms of safety of our people around lifting and back injuries and so on."

Cooper, who praised the "really strong relationship" between St John and FENZ, said the partnership is "built on an understanding that we will assist each other".

"It regular for us to call each other for assistance when required," he said. "Clearly six people trying to help a patient is better than two.

"The bottom line for us is where we can add values to our partners, we will."