[ObesNewsBot]

ABC News
Obesity Threatens Emergency Services: Report
ABC News - 6 hours ago
And as the country's rates of obesity and "superobesity" continue to climb, many worry that such accommodations will put an increasingly heavy toll on an ...



published Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:49:35 GMT

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[BreeChick]

I think this was a great article.

Having been in the EMS field, emergency and non emergency, I can say that care for the super obese is tough. The whole attitude towards the super obese is not positive and the way the super obese are dealt with is not always positive either.

Plus in a true emergency care situation a super obese person is more likely (in my OWN opinion from what I've experienced!) to die waiting for transport.

What happens when you have a super obese person is you have to wait for Fire to show up with the heavy lifters or special equipment. Plus if there is an issue of a home bound person who won't fit out through the door, you have have to wait for the way to be cleared to get that person OUT of the house to the ambulance. Once there you have to have assistance, and then if they don't fit you have to have a tarp to get them into the ambulance on the FLOOR.

Once you are at the hospital ambulance bay, again you have to wait for assistance to get that person out of the ambulance and into the ER sometimes waiting for a special bed to be brought out to the bay.

It's a terrible situation and very very hard to keep it in mind of the EMS/FIRE staff that they are dealing with a PERSON. They get so caught up in the 'problem' solving they forget they are dealing with a person. I've often been on scene where terrible comments have been made while trying to move a super obese person and also in front of their families.

--Something to think about for sure. Reality is that deal with an emergency with a super obese person involves a LOT more time consuming issues than with a regular sized person.