Re: Obese victims at greater risk of dying from crashes and other accidents

From: Carey Gregory (tiredofspam123_at_comcast.net)
Date: 09/21/04 

Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 03:18:16 -0400

foryou@futurewebhost.com (Kenny) wrote:

>"Obesity makes airway management more challenging, surgical exposures more
>difficult and radiographic imaging less reliable," the researchers added.

Not to mention the rescue operation itself. Removing an obese person from a
crashed car takes more time and more manpower. Same is true in other types
of rescues. Most ambulances are staffed with just two medics, and two
people can't remove a 300+ lb. person from a car (or even a house) by
themselves. The obese may have to wait for additional help to arrive.

And when it comes to the severely obese, ambulance stretchers and backboards
are generally rated at 500-600 lbs. If you weigh more than that, just
getting you out of a ground floor dwelling becomes a major operation
requiring the fire department. Operations like that can take an hour or
more....

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