… Before anyone gets offended, we aren’t saying bad things about amazing customers! We are talking about “Bariquins”; which are big mannequins (called Barry) used to train our awesome Emergency Service staff in the UK.
The Big Tee Shirt team thinks this is very cool… and it’s made even cooler by the fact that Barry has excellent taste in super XL-sized clothing: He wears sweatshirts and jogging bottoms provided by us! This proves is not a complete dummy and for the record, he takes a custom 13XL made by the Big Tee Shirt brand.
So let’s shed a little bit more light on Barry and his friends…
25-Stone Barry Makes the News!
Yes, big people are not going away and as a result, training is provided to our emergency service people on coping with a ‘larger than average’ persons in an emergency situation. This made national news at the end of September with ITV, The Metro, Manchester Evening News and even the Daily Mail (To name a few) picking up the story.
It’s a good job that Barry (and his friends) wear our clothing as it protected his modesty when his pictures were being strewn across the internet and national newspapers a week or so ago. Obviously, some of the stories came across a little negative *Cough. Daily Mail. Cough* but the Big Tee Shirt team feel extremely positive that our products are a small part of training our beloved emergency services.
As the population gets larger, this kind of invaluable tool (It’s what you are, sorry Barry) is vital to preventing injuries and saving lives and as bigger people ourselves, it’s great to know that we’re in well-trained, competent hands… Not that there was ever any doubt.
We did ask Barry for a comment but we’re still waiting for him to get back to us.
We Love Our Emergency Service Guys and Girls
The Bariquin dummies serve a very real and very important role: training our Fire and NHS staff to better deal with bigger people. Apparently, between 2011 and 2015, 1,000 NHS staff were injured whilst treating larger patients. It’s humbling to think that our clothing will be on every Bariquin that helps with training and should potentially reduce the risk to our service folk.
As a big bloke myself, I would never want to be a burden on our amazing services and I’m all for the additional training if it helps staff stay safe and saves big lives. Despite a lot of negative press, especially regarding the NHS, I don’t think anyone is in any doubt that it is the dedication, hard work and goodwill of the staff that keeps the wheels turning. We have an awful lot to be thankful for.
Bariquin’s Vital Statistics:
You may be wondering about the details of the Bariquin, so here they are…
- Each Bariquin weighs 25 stone, 350 lbs or 158.75kg
- Barry can be broken down into 25 parts
- Barry’s largest part is his torso which weighs 2.51 stone, 35lbs 4oz or 16kg
- Barry wears custom-size 13XL sweatshirts and jogging bottoms
- Barry has a special removable-limb assembly to allow for amputee training scenarios
- Bariquins were designed and built in the UK
- Assembly takes approximately 10 minutes
- Takedown takes approximately 10 minutes
Fancy a Bariquin For Yourself?
You may wish to have a Barry of your own personal reasons and the good news is: You can! Head over to our friends at http://www.bariquins.com/ to grab a Barry but be prepared to pay over £4000… You can’t put a value on saving a life though, can you?
