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KUALA LUMPUR: The Fire and Rescue Department is not just known for firefighting and responding to road accidents. It is increasingly asked to handle unusual rescue operations, requiring precision, patience, and compassion. Last year, the department handled 72,977 special rescue operations, a 10.1% increase from 66,299 cases in 2024.

Between January and June, there were 31,965 such incidents, averaging 177 per day. This surge is due to increased public awareness of emergency services, ongoing urban development, and a wider range of incidents needing specialized rescue expertise.

Among the most delicate operations, firefighters remove metal rings and other objects from sensitive body parts. This requires precision and composure, using a ring cutter and cooling the area with running water to prevent injury. Another common rescue involves children trapped in cooking pots or metal grilles. Firefighters must calm frightened children before using hydraulic rescue equipment in tight spaces.

However, the department's special rescue workload extends beyond these cases. Humanitarian assistance made up 57,957 special rescue tasks, followed by natural disasters (5,927), building emergencies (4,667), hazardous material spills (3,448), and search-and-rescue (978) operations.

Firefighters are also regularly called to transport severely obese patients, some weighing over 200kg, from upper-floor apartments without lifts. This requires careful coordination to ensure the safety of both patient and rescuer as they maneuver reinforced stretchers through narrow staircases. Other unusual rescues include freeing victims whose hands become trapped in toilet bowls or food-processing machines.

Firefighters carefully dismantle fixtures or machine parts to avoid further injury. In a memorable 2023 case, firefighters rescued an adult stuck in a children's swing, protecting the victim's dignity amid onlookers and mobile phone recordings.

The department maintains a wide range of specialized equipment for these rescues, including hydraulic rescue tools, hazardous materials detection, rescue boats, confined-space rescue systems, drones, specialized vehicles, and communications equipment. Despite the rise in special rescue operations, the department's readiness for fires and major emergencies has remained unaffected.

It maintains operational capability through strategic deployment of personnel and assets, continuous readiness monitoring, and incident prioritization based on risk. The department also recorded 156 false or non-actionable emergency calls involving special rescues between 2024 and June, urging the public to use the 999 emergency line responsibly with accurate details to ensure a swift response to genuine life-threatening situations.