The issue of obesity is a growing problem in the UK. This documentary series shows the adjustments and improvements that have been implemented within emergency response teams in the NHS to deal with the increasing rate of obesity.
Throughout the documentary, the cost of upgrading ambulances and equipment are repeatedly stated. Whilst the economic impact on the emergency services is an issue, it seems immoral to discuss the financial costs to the services helping the obese, rather than the physical and social statistics of the obese themselves.
The camera work is almost exclusively hand-held, giving a shaky, unconfident and uneasy feel to the documentary. This is not the impression we want to be left with from a documentary about emergency services, where we want to feel we are in safe hands. When the "big body squad" have to transfer people from their homes, overly dramatic music is overlaid. This distracts from the sympathy we, as an audience, are meant to feel for the patient. The patronizing voice-over does not help this. By describing what we can clearly see, it seems unnecessary in some scenes.
Although obesity is a problem, building new ambulances for obese people does not help the problem, but supports it. The documentary instead resorts to using scare tactics and guilt tripping the obese by quoting the financial impact to the NHS and the expenses of arranging their funerals. There was a segment showing how much more it would cost to arrange a funeral for an obese person, and how undignified it could be. Surely filming the individuals in hospital was undignified enough.
Towards the end of the documentary though, there was some solace in the fact that all the individuals in the documentary who had to receive help from the "big body squad" did start a new diet. Although this may not be enough to solve the obesity problem for an individual or solve the national obesity problem overall, it is progression. Eating healthily is good for everyone, regardless of weight.
Throughout the documentary, the cost of upgrading ambulances and equipment are repeatedly stated. Whilst the economic impact on the emergency services is an issue, it seems immoral to discuss the financial costs to the services helping the obese, rather than the physical and social statistics of the obese themselves.
The camera work is almost exclusively hand-held, giving a shaky, unconfident and uneasy feel to the documentary. This is not the impression we want to be left with from a documentary about emergency services, where we want to feel we are in safe hands. When the "big body squad" have to transfer people from their homes, overly dramatic music is overlaid. This distracts from the sympathy we, as an audience, are meant to feel for the patient. The patronizing voice-over does not help this. By describing what we can clearly see, it seems unnecessary in some scenes.
Although obesity is a problem, building new ambulances for obese people does not help the problem, but supports it. The documentary instead resorts to using scare tactics and guilt tripping the obese by quoting the financial impact to the NHS and the expenses of arranging their funerals. There was a segment showing how much more it would cost to arrange a funeral for an obese person, and how undignified it could be. Surely filming the individuals in hospital was undignified enough.
Towards the end of the documentary though, there was some solace in the fact that all the individuals in the documentary who had to receive help from the "big body squad" did start a new diet. Although this may not be enough to solve the obesity problem for an individual or solve the national obesity problem overall, it is progression. Eating healthily is good for everyone, regardless of weight.