Snakes, swings and stuck rings: Fire Dept's strangest rescues [WATCH]

In Malaysia, the Fire and Rescue Department is expanding its role beyond traditional firefighting and road accident response to handle increasingly complex rescue tasks. In 2024, the department completed 72,977 special rescue operations, a 10.1% increase from 66,299 cases the previous year. Within the first half of this year alone, there were 31,965 such incidents, averaging 177 per day.

Some of the department's most delicate rescues involve removing metal rings and other objects from sensitive body parts, often necessitating precision and calm composure. Firefighters use specialized equipment and cooling techniques to minimize injury risks. Another recurring rescue task is freeing children who get their heads stuck in cooking pots, plastic chairs, or metal grilles. Firefighters must first calm the frightened children before using hydraulic rescue equipment.

The department also handles a wide range of emergency tasks including assisting hospitals in transporting severely obese patients weighing over 200kg from upper floors without lifts. This requires careful coordination to ensure patient and rescuer safety. Firefighters also rescue victims trapped in toilet bowls or food processing machines by carefully dismantling fixtures or machine parts to avoid additional harm.

One notable rescue in 2023 involved freeing an adult woman stuck in a children's playground swing while protecting her dignity amid curious onlookers. Despite the surge in special rescue operations, the department maintains its readiness to respond to fires and major emergencies through strategic deployment of personnel and assets, continuous readiness monitoring, and prioritization of incidents based on risk.

The department dealt with 156 false emergency calls involving special rescues from 2024 to mid-2025, urging the public to use the 999 line responsibly by providing accurate details to enable prompt responses to true life-threatening situations.