Really, Columbus, two ice cream cones?

  • Really, Columbus, two ice cream cones?

This kind of news story is always amusing at first, then kind of unsettling . . .

Apparently, according to the Columbus Dispatch, some residents in that city are so overweight they’re too much for paramedics to handle, literally. The Columbus Division of Fire has armed up over the last couple of years with stretchers that can haul around patients who weight up to 650 pounds — only that’s not good enough. No, it appears the city is now considering purchasing high-dollar stretchers that can support even heavier loads, up to 1,000 pounds. Why? Well, according to the Dispatch, about twice a month paramedics have to move patients who are too heavy for the existing equipment, meaning twice a month eight to ten city employees are filing new health insurance claims for back injuries.

The city currently has 18 stretchers that can handle up to 650 pounds. The current plan is to buy an additional 34 so each unit is outfitted with one. They cost around $5,000 a pop.

But when a call comes in that tops the scale, EMS units are now forced to improvise. According to the paper, they roll the person onto a tarp and eight to ten paramedics walk the individual to the ambulance. Some within the department are suggesting the city purchase the sturdier stretchers to avoid such situations. The 1,000 pound cots cost around $10,000 and come complete with a hydraulics system. But the fancy equipment also requires ambulances to be retrofitted, which costs an additional $6,000.

With budget shrinkage at an all time high, the tricked-out stretchers are not a popular option with lawmakers. State Sen. Kevin Coughlin told the Dispatch: “Money is very tight in the state government right now, but I could look at what’s possible, seeing if there’s any money that can be reallocated for that purpose.”

However, if the state doesn’t lend a helping hand, the city seems like it might pull the trigger itself.
“We would strongly consider obtaining these cots, despite the cost,” George Speaks, deputy director of the Department of Public Safety, told the Dispatch. “Obesity is detrimental not only to the individual but society in general. Our community may have to pick up the additional cost.”

This article appears in Jul 14-20, 2010.

25 replies on “Columbus too obese for ambulance stretchers”

  1. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH..LET THEM ROT IN THEIR FOOD WRAPPERS..WHY SHOULD A FIREFIGHTER GET HURT OR EVEN WORSE TO HELP THESE LAZ* SO*’S WHO DON’T TRY TO HELP THEMSELVES..OF COURSE THE TAXPAYERS HAVE TO PAY FOR THIS..

  2. I AGREE WITH FEDUP. PUBLIC SERVICES SHOULD ONLY SERVICE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHOM I DEEM WORTHY.

  3. if u weigh 1k its ur fault, unless u have some kinda rare disorder, its not like u wake up and are sickeningly obese once day “omg wtf happpend i cant get though my door”

  5. As usual, the Elite skinny people have written off everyone in society who doesnt live up to their expectations. The truth is that obesity can be caused from any number of things. Being a lazy glutton is only one of those reasons. I weigh 400 pounds, I go to work (Not a desk job) 6 days a week for 12 hours a day and am a contributing member of society. Who are you to judge these people whom you dont know? You have no way to know (nor would you care) the reason why they weigh as much as they do because you have never done any research to find out why. The simple fact is that Obesity is the last acceptable form of discrimination here in the US and other parts of the world as well. Congrats to you for keeping it that way. Do you feel better about yourself and your bad habits? Well Bully for you and those like you. I sincerely hope you never have to deal with what I and many others have to deal with on a daily basis. Ignorance truly is bliss I guess huh? do me a favor and one of you drop me a line and let me know.

  7. Solution: outfit a 26-foot delivery box van that has a rear ramp with gear from an ambulance that’s being retired. Add a rebuilt forklift, forks modified into a stretcher, able to lift up to 2,000 lbs (for safety’s sake, there must be excess capacity).
    Make sure the 911 operators ask if the person having a med emergency needs heavy lifting services, and the problem is solved at reasonable expense.

  10. Let’s charge fat people more period along with smokers and retards who rush to the ER with a cold. I’m fed up with people who think it’s acceptable to have others pay for their stupidity and laziness.

    If you’re fat it’s for a reason and don’t blame the thyroid all the time. When I see fat people with processed garbage, diet sodas, cakes, cookies (even “low fat”), and all those fake sugar substitutes I just want to punch them in their grotesque guts. It’s fine to call skinny people “elitist” but you can’t blame a fat person for choking on junk food! I exercise and eat healthy food but I’m an elitist skinny bitch because I want all the fat cows to pay for their stupidity. Put down the cake JC73 and stop labeling responsible people as elitist you PIG! I’m healthy because I CHOOSE TO BE – you’re fat because you don’t care and want to blame responsible people for your problems you infant! There needs to be a fat tax and fat people should pay higher insurance premiums and copays for their “fatty” meds! How you like them apples – I mean cupcakes tubby?

  11. How much does a liposuction machine cost? If it’s less than the heavy duty stretcher, bring one of those along and lighten the overweight before lifting them. Win/Win!

  12. I am normally a compassionate person and really feel for people who cannot do for themselves. In this circumstance, however, the first poster had it right. Enough is enough. I don’t have the best diet in the world, but I stay away from sugars most of the time, a bit of Ben and Jerry’s notwithstanding. If I have a huge lunch, I eat a very small dinner. I sometimes pig out on pasta (I’m Sicilian) and cheese-soaked chicken parmesan. BUT NOT ALL THE TIME. No, I’m not a gym rat, either. I hate working out, but a couple times a week I drag myself to the gym, dreading every moment, just to keep the books balanced out. The result: at 31 years old I look better than 75% of 22 year olds I see walking around. But here is the real problem: today, I did a bit of grocery shopping, and I saw an ENTIRE AISLE of nothing but sugar water. All the major brands of sodas, sport drinks, juices, etc. There was as much sugar water available in this store as there were fresh fruits and vegetables. We have ALL been lured by the HFCS-producing companies (I still have a Coke or two a week) and it’s killing us all. We need to wake up and see what is happening to us, the new Crack Cocaine… liquid sugar. Inform yourself, and be responsible for yourself. Paramedics will NEVER break their backs trying to rescue me; let me die in my own poisoned blood instead.

  13. at one point I weighed 320 pounds and now weigh in at 185, a mere 20 pounds overweight. It is very easy to let your weight spiral out of control, and very hard to lose once deposited. Have some sympathy, please.

  14. no one accidently becomes fat!! As well, it takes a lot of money and twinkies to become obese! I agree…obese people who have been warned to lose weight for health reasons should pay more insurance – because they are more of a risk!

  15. Wow, pretty hostile, everyone. I guess it’s really impossible to post in a civil manner, eh?
    I mean, it’s an epidemic, I agree. It takes time for people to get that far down the road to extreme obesity. But I personally know several people who don’t fit the stereotype of “sit around all day eating bonbons”, and yet, their weight is getting to be a problem. I wish there were a way, as a previous poster said, to reform the grocery stores and take out the empty calories and dangerous foods. But there needs to be community support for people to take the weight off, since it IS clearly effecting the greater community.

    There are a lot of reasons these people need to lose the weight that rank higher than “it costs the community a few thousand dollars for some stretchers”. These people are killing themselves, slowly and painfully.

    The last thing they need is your mockery, hate and total lack of support. Back off, people.

  17. These comments are hilarious. I am a firefighter in another state and to comment for those who are claiming discrimination, I have seen people in the 450 range, that isn’t an issue. the stretchers are capable of handling 650 lbs. 650! If you weigh over that, you can’t be blaming other people. And these obese folks complain when a backhoe is brought over to remove them from their houses. The embarassment should be a part of weighing that much. Without it you have no encouragement to lose the extra 3 people’s worth of body fat.

  18. Weight isn’t the only issue. My frame is large I’m overweight. . . but guess what I’m healthy (Not fat healthy) No I don’t have washboard abs, that’s impossible with my body. I have a fairly low body fat % (15) But that still leaves enough on me to be ridiculed as being fat. Now I agree that people who just let themselves go thinking to hell with everyone else are the bigger ass holes (no pun intended), but it’s not fair to lump all of us overweight people in with the cake hoarders. And understand that there is the occasional instance where the person really doesn’t have control (disease that immobilizes them) or they genuinely don’t notice (it’s odd and messed up but it happens). Overweight people do have to pay extra for insurance and doctors visits even when the weight isn’t fat. I actually do like the idea of modifying vehicles that were being retired, mostly because of the recycling but also there is the start of a solution in that. I know I’m addressing these in a completely random order but I’m typing as I think. Now that we’ve run screaming past the point of the article we should at least say hi to it. Get only one or two of the special stretchers/ambulances to address the initial problem if more and more insanely overweight people show up have a different EMT team with full fledged doctors attending to the situation so the emergency crews don’t have to lift. And if someone shows up too heavy for the new stretcher. . . fuck em, no one should be able to get that big and be able to not suffocate under their own weight.

  19. Why is so much hate directed towards overweight people? It’s a waste of time to vent so much rage at the weakness of people….while there are vices in the world, people will be susceptible to them. Sugary, fatty foods are like anything else: gambling, plastic surgery, drugs…any addiction that is fed by low self worth and self control which is inevitable. If you don’t like to see fat people, you will either have to control everyone or simply shut your eyes. It’s free will people. Lighten up.

  20. Directed Specifically to “I Hate Fatties”:

    You call yourself a bitch. Why? Were you born that way or did you become one later in life? Im guessing your parents did the best they could with you but to no avail as you have turned into a self-hating bigoted “adult” who finds her only solace in life is to spew hate at others who dont fit her profile of perfection. The way you come off in what you have written here is both childish and extremely ignorant. congrats on helping me prove my point.

  21. And I guess it’s good to point out that there are a lot of very healthy fat people out there, who work out more and eat better than most thin people I’ve ever met. Just adding that fact to the mix.

  22. People can be so cruel. It is not funny to be obese and I’m pretty sure no one sets out in life to weigh 600 lbs.! I suppose you find alcoholism hilarious.
    It’s sad that some people are so filled with hate for people they don’t even know.
    You’ve got just as many problems as the obese. Your blood pressure must be out of control. And, I wonder how many of you smoke? Or go tanning? Maybe when you get lung or skin cancer people should throw it in your face.

  23. how sad it is that some people are so judgemental…they need to remember that they will be judged according to everything they do and say and the hate i have read here is so, so sad

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