Call a flatbed next time...fattie

[pauldun170]

Ambulances start charging extra for obese patients
By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH, Associated Press Writer Heather Hollingsworth, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 22, 2:48 pm ET

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.

As the nation battles the obesity crisis, ambulance crews are trying to improve how they transport extremely heavy patients, who become significantly more difficult to move as they surpass 350 pounds. And caring for such patients is expensive, requiring costly equipment and extra workers, so some ambulance companies have started charging higher fees for especially overweight people.

The move to modify ambulances is just the latest effort to accommodate plus-sized patients. Some hospitals already offer specially designed beds, wheelchairs, walkers and even commodes.

Ambulance companies say it's time for insurance providers, Medicaid and Medicare, or patients themselves to begin paying the added costs, which are cutting into their razor-thin profit margins.

In the past, ambulance companies often absorbed the extra expense of serving the obese. Now they are adding charges similar to those already imposed on intensive-care patients, people requiring multiple medications and patients on ventilators.

"In order for these systems to survive and continue to provide their service, there has to be some way to recover those costs," said Jim Buell, a director at the American Ambulance Association.

Transporting extremely heavy people costs about 2 1/2 times as much as normal-weight patients. It takes more time to move them and requires three to four times more crew members, who often must use expensive specialty equipment, Buell said.

Keller, now an operations manager for the American Medical Response unit in Topeka, successfully petitioned the Shawnee County Commission last summer to raise ambulance fees from $629 to $1,172 for critical-care patients and people who are 500 pounds or heavier.

In Colorado Springs, Colo., and the Nebraska cities of Omaha and Lincoln, the fees are $1,421 for an extremely obese patient, compared with $758 for a typical patient.

Before those ambulances had heavy-duty equipment, crews just had to make do, often calling in burly firefighters to help lift patients.

"I've heard stories of people moved by U-Haul trucks and sides of mobile homes having to be removed to move patients out, things of that nature," said Ted Sayer, a general manager for the American Medical Response unit.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has long said that nearly a third of Americans are obese. About 5 percent of the population is morbidly obese, meaning they are more than 100 pounds heavier than their ideal weight.

Some critics say the higher fees are a form of discrimination.

"Ambulance services are a critical public service and should accommodate the needs of all of those who require them at a fair cost," said Joseph Nadglowski, president of the Obesity Action Coalition, a group that advocates for the obese.

Higher payments for heavy patients are commonplace in Oregon and Washington because the insurance industry there acknowledges the additional costs, said Liz Merritt, a spokeswoman for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Rural/Metro Corporation, an ambulance provider.

Ambulance companies say the insurance industry is their best hope for closing the financial gap.

As with any medical service, ambulance companies bill private insurers or government health care programs. Medicare and Medicaid do not pay extra for transporting the extremely obese, although that's something the ambulance industry wants to change. The uninsured are charged directly, but many of them cannot pay.

"It's really an emerging area," said Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for the America's Health Insurance Plans, an insurance industry trade group. "It is one more way that obesity is contributing to health costs."

Proponents of the extra fees say obese patients are grateful for equipment that eliminates the need for flatbed trucks and forklifts.

"We've noticed that people who are heavy know that they are heavy, and they don't want to impose on others, and they don't want someone injured while moving them," Sayer said.

Like many ambulance companies, Keller's unit in Topeka recently spent about $10,000 to retrofit an ambulance with equipment that accommodates patients weighing up to 1,600 pounds. Ambulance services with helicopters also are creating larger patient compartments and adding stronger gurneys.

Sales of specialized lift systems nationwide are expected to reach $193 million by 2012, up from $75 million in 2004, according to EMS Insider, an industry newsletter. The sale of specialized stretchers is expected to nearly double to $50 million in 2012.

Keller is hopeful more companies add the equipment so the very obese will receive better care. He recently went out on a call involving a severely overweight woman.

"The family was there, and we brought the cot in and helped her onto the cot. And she said, 'I appreciate it so much, you looking out for our needs,'" Keller said. "And I thought that was pretty cool."

[Dave]

cant wait till we get that government run health care and these folks get cut off.

[pauldun170]

I know a girl upstate...former cuty, then fatty (during the cuty to fatty transition..she became a militant NOW rep...but now she works for an Assemblyman) and now morbidly obese fatty.

She snacks on "brownie soup"

How to make:
Get brownie mix.
Add all the ingredients
mix
toss in microwave for a couple of seconds to warm it up (but not actually cook it)
eat.

(then if you are a normal human being...vomit your brains out)


I'm patiently awaiting the day when she shows up on the news for a "fireman rescue obese women from bedroom she hasn't left for 10 years" story.


Crap, I feel nauseous just telling the brownie soup story

[Rider]

Weeding out the gene pool one fat fuck at a time.

[Kaneman]

Jesus. I think I'd rather have whole stuffed camel than brownie soup.

NOW...what a huge waste of time.

[goof2]

I know a girl upstate...former cuty, then fatty (during the cuty to fatty transition..she became a militant NOW rep...but now she works for an Assemblyman) and now morbidly obese fatty.

She snacks on "brownie soup"

How to make:
Get brownie mix.
Add all the ingredients
mix
toss in microwave for a couple of seconds to warm it up (but not actually cook it)
eat.

(then if you are a normal human being...vomit your brains out)


I'm patiently awaiting the day when she shows up on the news for a "fireman rescue obese women from bedroom she hasn't left for 10 years" story.


Crap, I feel nauseous just telling the brownie soup story

On which does she blame her obesity; problems with genetics, metabolism, or thyroid?

[pauldun170]

On which does she blame her obesity; problems with genetics, metabolism, or thyroid?

:lol:

When she was 18, she had a seizure and ended up on medication. That's when she began to transition from cutey to fatty. she blamed her weight gain on the medication. (the weigh gain had nothing to do with the 2 bags Dorito's+2 packets of string cheeze after dinner every night followed by oreos and Ice cream before bedtime every day. All spent on the couch she rarely left because of her "condition". It also had nothing to do with "big italian dinners" her mom would make every day).

Once in college, and 100lbs later, and the "why won't any guys ask me out?" kept piling on, she turned to lesbianism and joined up with N.O.W.
Being among many other tubby angry cows blaming all around them for their woes, she learned that OMG my weight gain is due things I can't control!!!

That would be
genetics,
metabolism,
and thyroid.

[karl_1052]

Some critics say the higher fees are a form of discrimination.

"Ambulance services are a critical public service and should accommodate the needs of all of those who require them at a fair cost," said Joseph Nadglowski, president of the Obesity Action Coalition, a group that advocates for the obese.

http://www.walkonthecapitol.com/event/wotc10.jpg

Why does he care?

[goof2]

:lol:

When she was 18, she had a seizure and ended up on medication. That's when she began to transition from cutey to fatty. she blamed her weight gain on the medication. (the weigh gain had nothing to do with the 2 bags Dorito's+2 packets of string cheeze after dinner every night followed by oreos and Ice cream before bedtime every day. All spent on the couch she rarely left because of her "condition". It also had nothing to do with "big italian dinners" her mom would make every day).

Once in college, and 100lbs later, and the "why won't any guys ask me out?" kept piling on, she turned to lesbianism and joined up with N.O.W.
Being among many other tubby angry cows blaming all around them for their woes, she learned that OMG my weight gain is due things I can't control!!!

That would be
genetics,
metabolism,
and thyroid.

I figured. It seems those are the three go to excuses for those who have become morbidly obese. It never has anything to do with the daily caloric intake of Michael Phelps coupled with physical activity equivalent to the average houseplant.

[goof2]

http://www.walkonthecapitol.com/event/wotc10.jpg

Why does he care?

He probably has a close relative who would crack concrete by walking on it, you know, if they walked.:lol:

On a side note, none of the chairs behind him look like they could take a 500+ pound person. I guess none of them could make it out of the house.:lol

[BobTheBiker]

fuck the fat bastards. let em die before we bother, then leave it up to someone who can afford to handle disposing of the lard in an environmentally friendly way and ISNT a government agency to deal with it.

[wildchild]

we did a job bid on a floor for a woman who hadn't been out of her basement in years. yeah the floor had caved in under the bathtub. we threw an unreal bid just to get the hell out of there. the sound of smacking jowels never stopped while we were there.

[pauldun170]

we did a job bid on a floor for a woman who hadn't been out of her basement in years. yeah the floor had caved in under the bathtub. we threw an unreal bid just to get the hell out of there. the sound of smacking jowels never stopped while we were there.

:lol:

Co-worker: Have you met him\her before? how do you know they are fat? You only spoke to them once over the phone?
Me: Sometimes you just know.

[Smittie61984]

Why does he care?

Probably makes some major cash heading an organization that represents a good portion of America.

Buddy of mine was a life flight paramedic and we had a friend who was 525 (but 6'7" and moved pool tables but still fat). He told him that he'd let him on board if he could chop 225lbs off his body. I think LF has a 300lb limit.

I wonder how much money you could make if you started a ambulance program for fat people...
http://tri.army.mil/LC/CS/csa/ch54001.jpg

[MikeSP1]

Probably makes some major cash heading an organization that represents a good portion of America.

Buddy of mine was a life flight paramedic and we had a friend who was 525 (but 6'7" and moved pool tables but still fat). He told him that he'd let him on board if he could chop 225lbs off his body. I think LF has a 300lb limit.

I wonder how much money you could make if you started a ambulance program for fat people...
http://tri.army.mil/LC/CS/csa/ch54001.jpg

Funny you mention the skycrane. I was thinking that the LifeFlight helicopters cannot possibly haul someone weighing nearly 1000lbs. They would need a heavy lift helicopter on standby just for fat fucks.

[njchopper87]

I wonder how much money you could make if you started a ambulance program for fat people...

I'm intrigued.. this is a possible win as far as get rich quick schemes go considering how many of them are out there. Or if nothing else a field with room for expansion.. ha.. no pun intended.

[Dragonpaco]

http://www.walkonthecapitol.com/event/wotc10.jpg

Why does he care?

the walk for obesity just seems like a cruel joke to fat people

[Dave]

I'm intrigued.. this is a possible win as far as get rich quick schemes go considering how many of them are out there. Or if nothing else a field with room for expansion.. ha.. no pun intended.

inflatable hospital service, with gourmet catering. Why go through the hassle of cutting holes in the wall when i bring the hospital to you?

[Smittie61984]

Funny you mention the skycrane. I was thinking that the LifeFlight helicopters cannot possibly haul someone weighing nearly 1000lbs. They would need a heavy lift helicopter on standby just for fat fucks.

I think height matters too. Life Flight helicopters are very small (considering you have a laid out person paramedic/doc and a nurse with a pilot and co pilot. My buddy did a Prom/DUI skit that had life flight come out and took him for a ride. He was 6'1" 200lbs and they kept beating his legs in to shut the door.

NJchopper - Would be a good idea but I'm worried about the increased liability of having fat people. Dealing with fat people is much more tricky for medical personel and you have to specialize in all fat people on the verge of death. Sounds like lawsuit city.

I've also entertained the idea of a motorcycle paramedic. Such as a BMW GS with basic life supporting medical supplies that will allow a trained paramedic to get through shitty traffic and keep a person going until the ambulance got there. But it'd be extremely hard to make money I think. Too much paperwork and grey areas of who did what and who should get paid considering the Ambulance would be the main key of saving a person's life.

[Mikey]

I think height matters too. Life Flight helicopters are very small (considering you have a laid out person paramedic/doc and a nurse with a pilot and co pilot. My buddy did a Prom/DUI skit that had life flight come out and took him for a ride. He was 6'1" 200lbs and they kept beating his legs in to shut the door.


I'm 6'6" 220 lbs (and gaining) and I've been hauled off in a chopper (because I was actually dying, not in a skit). IIRC, though, there was no door to close, and I was sorta hanging off the side of the bird.

My thought is this- if you weigh over 500 pounds and you're less than seven feet tall, fuck you. The ambulance crews should not be responsible for picking your fat ass up. If you really wanted to live, you wouldn't be morbidly obese.

[azoomm]

Weeding out the gene pool one fat fuck at a time.

But, we're not weeding. We're enabling.

:(

[Amorok]

http://www.walkonthecapitol.com/event/wotc10.jpg

Why does he care?

The girl is probably on the way up, he's just being supportive in advance.

[Rider]

The girl is probably on the way up, he's just being supportive in advance.

:lol

[Mikey]

But, we're not weeding. We're enabling.

:(

That was my point. We should not be making concessions for extremely obese people. No special hospital beds, wheelchairs, or ambulances should be available at any cost. If you are so fucking big that they need a crane or a forklift to move your fat ass around, you should be left to figure it out on your own.

If that means a few more fatties die because they don't have access to health care, I'm cool with that. They quite literally did it to themselves.

[unknownroad]

That was my point. We should not be making concessions for extremely obese people. No special hospital beds, wheelchairs, or ambulances should be available at any cost. If you are so fucking big that they need a crane or a forklift to move your fat ass around, you should be left to figure it out on your own.

If that means a few more fatties die because they don't have access to health care, I'm cool with that. They quite literally did it to themselves.


Dude, did you get sat on by a fat guy when you were little, or walk in on your mom banging a fat guy* or something? That's a lot of hate you're carrying 'round. :willy:


*pow, right in the kisser!*

[Dave]

That was my point. We should not be making concessions for extremely obese people. No special hospital beds, wheelchairs, or ambulances should be available at any cost. If you are so fucking big that they need a crane or a forklift to move your fat ass around, you should be left to figure it out on your own.

If that means a few more fatties die because they don't have access to health care, I'm cool with that. They quite literally did it to themselves.

that'll never work. Once you stop coddling one minority you'll have to do the same for the rest of em.

[azoomm]

I'm just so entirely confused how they GET that large. I mean, if you can't get out of bed or off the couch SOMEONE is bringing you ho-hos. And, it takes so much more than just a twinkie to do it - the caloric intake to just maintain 1000 pounds is incredible. :panic:

[Dave]

I'm just so entirely confused how they GET that large. I mean, if you can't get out of bed or off the couch SOMEONE is bringing you ho-hos. And, it takes so much more than just a twinkie to do it - the caloric intake to just maintain 1000 pounds is incredible. :panic:

not to mention the monetary expense

[azoomm]

not to mention the monetary expense

Right! I mean, my grocery bill is EXPENSIVE and we don't eat that much.

[unknownroad]

I'm just so entirely confused how they GET that large. I mean, if you can't get out of bed or off the couch SOMEONE is bringing you ho-hos. And, it takes so much more than just a twinkie to do it - the caloric intake to just maintain 1000 pounds is incredible. :panic:

Unless you have certain metabolic or thyroid disorders... oh, wait, according to TWF's resident endocrinologists those don't actually exist :doh:

[tommymac]

Unless you have certain metabolic or thyroid disorders... oh, wait, according to TWF's resident endocrinologists those don't actually exist :doh:

They do but arent THAT common to justify all the fat fucks out there. I think it will continue to put a burden on health care esp as they all get older and develop more health problems. I want to know what obama plans to do about that on top of everything else.

maybe they should make accomodations for the fatties but only people with documented medical conditons can use them, if you did it with dorritos and ho hos to fucking bad.

Tom

[azoomm]

Unless you have certain metabolic or thyroid disorders... oh, wait, according to TWF's resident endocrinologists those don't actually exist :doh:

funny.

Sure, those are probably out there. I won't argue whether they are or not. But, seriously?? Where were these issues years ago... how did we get to where we are now... it didn't just happen.

[unknownroad]

funny.

Sure, those are probably out there. I won't argue whether they are or not. But, seriously?? Where were these issues years ago... how did we get to where we are now... it didn't just happen.

By enabling them, just like all the people with life-threatening peanut butter allergies. When i was a kid, no one had ever heard of such a thing :idk:

[Mikey]

Dude, did you get sat on by a fat guy when you were little, or walk in on your mom banging a fat guy* or something? That's a lot of hate you're carrying 'round. :willy:


*pow, right in the kisser!*

Nope, I just worked in the medical field for too long and got jaded. Combine that with having to sit next to fatties on airplanes, etc, and I have a really negative view of the obese. They actually fucking disgust me.

[tommymac]

Nope, I just worked in the medical field for too long and got jaded. Combine that with having to sit next to fatties on airplanes, etc, and I have a really negative view of the obese. They actually fucking disgust me.

I hear ya on all the fatties I see in the hospital. Been many instances where I love to tell them loose a duce and half and you may not have these problems you fat fuck :lol:

[azoomm]

By enabling them, just like all the people with life-threatening peanut butter allergies. When i was a kid, no one had ever heard of such a thing :idk:

:dthumb:

[goof2]

Unless you have certain metabolic or thyroid disorders... oh, wait, according to TWF's resident endocrinologists those don't actually exist :doh:

I believe they exist, just not to the extent the disorders are claimed. It is tough to take the claim seriously when you know the person lives on junk food, fast food, and diet coke (always a dead giveaway). Driving around a parking lot for 5+ minutes looking for the closest spot to the front door of where they are going to avoid walking 50 feet isn't a good sign either.

[tommymac]

I believe they exist, just not to the extent the disorders are claimed. It is tough to take the claim seriously when you know the person lives on junk food, fast food, and diet coke (always a dead giveaway). Driving around a parking lot for 5+ minutes looking for the closest spot to the front door of where they are going to avoid walking 50 feet isn't a good sign either.

Youre 100% right in that they do exsist and are NOT that common, couple of blood tests can make the determination rather easily. my youngest sister had put on a lot of weight, and finally got into the gym and started exercising but couldnt shed the weight that easily. She told her doctor and it turns out she is slightly hypothyroid, so there working on that now and should be going in the righ tdirection the next few months.

Tom

[wildchild]

I want to know what obama plans to do about that on top of everything else.


Tom
well first he'll be winning the biggest loser competition to show he can empathize with them, then he'll find a way to make twinkies free if you need 'em

[Dave]

well first he'll be winning the biggest loser competition to show he can empathize with them, then he'll find a way to make twinkies free if you need 'em

nah hes gonna start by apologising for all the food we produce and the prosperity that allows you to consume it :lol

[Particle Man]

I know a girl upstate...former cuty, then fatty (during the cuty to fatty transition..she became a militant NOW rep...but now she works for an Assemblyman) and now morbidly obese fatty.

She snacks on "brownie soup"

How to make:
Get brownie mix.
Add all the ingredients
mix
toss in microwave for a couple of seconds to warm it up (but not actually cook it)
eat.

(then if you are a normal human being...vomit your brains out)



Man, I need to go yak just from the description :wtfru: