A different kind of obesity study occurred recently: an examination of the impact of ultra-large patients on the mindset of physicians. The authors of the survey, Doctors Virginia Chang, David Asch and Rachel Werner, had already observed that health care professionals often report negative attitudes towards extremely heavy patients. So the research trio set out to determine just how prevalent these negative attitudes are, and whether they translate into a lower quality of care.
The results of their findings were published in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). And their conclusion? They found no evidence that doctors' resentment toward overweight patients contributed to inferior treatment.
However, in our field survey of what EMS care providers have to say, the reality is very different. As one paramedic stated recently, "It doesn't matter what our personal opinions are. A 300-pound patient in an upstairs bedroom will not get the same level of emergency care in the first few moments, as a smaller patient will."
Indeed, Lincoln Nebraska Fire & Rescue is anticipating utilizing fork lifts and construction cranes to move their dozen home-bound patients in the 500-800 pound range.
Other pre-hospital considerations were voiced by James Hacker, CEO of Ambulance, Inc. in Kentucky. "We run 10,000 emergency calls per year. More than 2,500 are for extremely obese patients." He went on to say that not only are ambulance cots not designed for today's extremely heavy patients, but his organization averages 15 paramedic back injuries per year.
As firefighter/EMT Keith Erickson in San Diego stated, "In a car crash on the freeway at night, political correctness takes a back seat to expediency. From oxygen masks to extrication gear, nothing in our bag of tricks is designed for a 400 pound emergency victim. And that in itself causes rescuer frustration."
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