By Amber Smith
The Post-Standard
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Not too many years ago, obese patients needing an ambulance ride to the hospital were a rarity. Today, paramedics care for patients weighing 400 or 500 pounds or more, two or three times a week.
“It’s been a growing issue,” says Mike Addario, general manager for Syracuse’s Rural/Metro ambulance service.
Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Add to that the concern about back injuries caused by heavy lifting in the emergency medical services, and you can understand some recent purchases by Rural/Metro:
•$7,000 for a bariatric stretcher, made by Stryker, that holds up to 1,600 pounds. Traditional stretchers will hold up to about 450 pounds, Addario says. If paramedics need the bariatric stretcher, they summon a supervisor, who brings it to their location.
• $2,500 each for Stryker stair chairs, which secure a patient who has to be moved up or down stairs. They have treads that help rescuers slide the chair from stair to stair. These are standard equipment on all Rural/Metro ambulances.
• $3,000 for a portable winch and ramp that can help get the bariatric stretcher into the ambulances.
• About $50,000 for a used supersized ambulance that was reconfigured into a “multi-use vehicle.” It will be used mostly for transporting premature babies and all of the accompanying equipment and staff, but is also available for transporting obese patients. It was placed into service last week.
Rural/Metro’s medical director, Dr. Dave Thomson, says “everybody’s much more aware of obesity and the consequences of that.”
Patients who are obese typically have diabetes, high blood pressure and other medical conditions, which means “if they get sick, it seems like they get sick very rapidly.”
The new equipment should allow rescuers to get them to the hospital more quickly, and more safely.
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