Firefighters have been in the news and on this blog a lot recently, with the strikes against changes to their pension rules and rescues of people and animals alike. The heroics of the fire service were once again called into action on Hastings, East Sussex, when a child had gotten their head stuck.

A two-year-old boy, himself a fan of the fire service, had managed to get his head stuck between the rungs of a ladder on his bed – a bed that was (ironically as it turned out) shaped like a fire engine. The emergency services were called in after measures to free the child failed and the professionals were needed to extricate the boy from his fire engine themed bed. No doubt he was delighted to be helped by firefighters!

When Ladders Aren’t a Safety Feature!

There are a handful of different fire-engine shaped beds available. Most of them follow a design where the pillow end is fenced in by two ladders, the rungs of the ladders forming railings to stop small children falling out of bed. In this case, the safety feature turned out to be an unsafe feature, so always make sure that any items of furniture or toys have no gaps large enough for a child to get stuck in.

Firefighters were also recently involved in the rescue of another two-year-old who was stuck in a tractor themed ride at a garden centre. The bars holding up the roof of the toy tractor were wide enough for the young girl to get her head through, but not wide enough for her to get her head back through. Firefighters used bar bending equipment, normally used to free people from crushed cars, to stretch the bars enough to squeeze the toddler’s head back through. Afterwards, the brave tot was allowed a ride in the fire engine and wore a firefighter’s helmet as a reward. She has apparently been inspired to become a firefighter when she is older perhaps one day she will rescue a child who has become stuck in a playground ride?