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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Ambulances Start Charging Extra For The Obese


Transporting heavy people can cost more than double

TOPEKA, Kan.
- The memory still bothers Ken Keller: A panicked ambulance crew had a critically ill patient, but the man weighed more than 1,000 pounds and could not fit inside the vehicle. And the stretcher wasn't sturdy enough to hold him.

The crew offered an idea to Keller, who was then an investigator with the Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services. Could they use a forklift to load the man — bed and all — onto a flatbed truck? Keller agreed: There was no other choice.

"I'm sure it was terribly embarrassing to be in his own bed, riding on the back of a flatbed with straps tying him down, going to the hospital, and then have a forklift at the hospital unload him," Keller said.

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18 comments:

Anonymous said...

They should pay more

D. Benton said...

My question is this: By medical standards, I am obese because I am 5'11" and weigh 280 lbs. My BMI is not high due to the workouts I do but I still have some fat on my muscles. Who will be the ones who determines how much I will be charged? Also, what about the out of shape or the small built EMT's, men and women alike, who don't have the strength to lift much period?

Anonymous said...

I bet the taxpayers thru food stamps funded most of this weight gain to 1,000 lbs. Let the morbidly obese get the money to fund this addiction somewhere else. I bet BO's death squad is looking into this right now.

Anonymous said...

Is Salisbury going to charge for Obese Patients?

If so why? City vehicles transport Gordo's and Hoppes' Obese fat ass around at our expense.

Anonymous said...

What ever happened to equal protection under the law?

Anonymous said...

no matter how you cut it 5'11'' and 280lb is obese. Your BMI is 39.

Anonymous said...

Think the SFD converted one of the old Ambulances just for this purpose... Not sure about charges...

Anonymous said...

Standard stretchers handle 400-500 lbs. Heavy duty ones go up to 800 lbs. When you get into the weight range that the typical local equipment is not rated high enough for your girth, then you should be charged extra.

Anonymous said...

I laughed when I read the headline (sick sense of humor).

4:16 I agree.

4:56, I agree that the BMI sucks. I would have been considered obese in highschool at 205 and 5'11" but I was in the best shape of my life. But, you know what they mean by charging more for obese. It's the huge fat @$$es you see on discovery health that require extra equipment to get them out of bed.

Anonymous said...

4:56, I think the article was about a person who weighed ONE THOUSAND POUNDS, for Christ's sake! Seems to me you would fit in the ambulance, but you really should get out more.

M. Naylor, EMT-P said...

If you're 5'11" and 280, then yes, you're fat. You don't grow fat on muscles. It's either fat or it's muscle- most likely in your case, fat.

This is old news, has been going on for quite some time.

Anonymous said...

They are talking about obese people who need to be moved by crane or forklift.
I agree that people who are overweight should pay more to have yellow equipment come to their house and extricate them.

Anonymous said...

god now to listen to the fat ppl whine about how "that's not fair". guess what... it's not their fault you're a tub of lard. try excersizing and eating less and maybe crap wouldn't happen. DUH!

Jamie P. said...

Oh no wait until Gordy finds out about this ambulance billing will quadruple to fund his radical spending. By next week you won’t be able to afford a ride on one of Salisbury’s ambulances. My goodness people wake up and get rid of Gordy.

Anonymous said...

Hospitals now have to buy special fat tables, for the operating room, because so many people do not fit on the regular tables. So now we have the expense of two tables.

Anonymous said...

Just like there are oversized wheelchairs, there should be oversized ambulances, too. Do they cost more? You bet. Should the people who need them pay more? You bet.
Where this falls apart is when we remember that the morbidly obese fall under a protected class: the disabled. The public is required to provide adequate transport to emergency facilities at par with those of the non-disabled.

Anonymous said...

Dude must have caught wind of the 7 patty burger at burger king! The amry standars is out of wack. 5'7" 180 pounds. 8% body fat. Weight lifter and has to get tapped every time when PT comes around. Because that much at the sixe is over the max limit. I can count on 1 hand how many people I know who has 10% body fat and under. Tha is sad!

Anonymous said...

9:14 your an absolute idiot. "It's either fat or muscles"? So apparently the human body has either fat around the bones or muscle lol. Next time you call someone fat dude just think about how you say it before you type it. And no im not fat im 6'2" and weigh 190.