Comments on: Transporting Morbidly Obese Patients

By: cathy sylvia

cathy sylvia — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 02:36:11 +0000

hey theres no arguing getting that obese is not what nature intended. and im sure the coroner did try to creatively solve a difficult situation. that being said, my all female removal crew can move 600lbs. plus using just 2 or 3 of us and we are not amazons we are young, trim, professionally dressed yet smokin hot. and we can do it with dignity and respect. just a shout out to my funeral home.. but… our equipt ment does have a limit. around 1000 lbs.

By: Becca

Becca — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:42:22 +0000

If remotely possible, suggest moving mama to somewhere with double doors, ground floor, ramp access etc. now. (Hospice maybe? Hope the daughter has help, 700lbs is not a one-woman job).

Contact relevant agencies for sure, there are lots of options and it will all be easier and less distressing with planning. Uck. Not nice. My thoughts are with the girlfriend – and her mama of course. Never met someone so big who wasn’t hurting badly.

By: Diana

Diana — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:31:01 +0000

My brother’s girlfriend is taking care of her dying mother. The dying woman weighs 700 lbs. They live in a remote part of the state and there is a volunteer fire department. Looking at the logistics I can see that moving the woman’s body is going to be a nightmare! I’ve suggested to my brother than the family start talking about how to transport the dead woman’s body and if the local funeral homes can accommodate her size, just to avoid any ‘humiliating’ procedures that the funeral home or local fire department might have to do in order to move the body. I’m thinking back to the movie with Leonardo Decaprio & Johnny Depp where they play the sons of a woman weighing 600 lbs. The mom has never left the second floor of the house because she could not walk down the stairs. The woman dies in the end of the movie and the kids are freaked out because they don’t know how they are going to get her down. Johnny Depp plays the older brother. He gets the kids out of the house with all of their belongings. He torches the house with the body of his mother inside. Very powerful and practical.

By: Painless

Painless — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:03:16 +0000

To be honest, I’m considered obese. I know that and I don’t put it any other way. I lead a sedentary lifestyle. Again, I realise this and don’t put it any other way. I DON’T weigh 750 pounds. Folks don’t alway’s realise the impact of weighing that much has on other parts of society. I have a permanent back injury thanks to a morbidly obese person weighing over 700 pounds I was helping another nurse care for in an ICU a few years back. It nearly ruined my career and my livelyhood. Thanks to that person and the people that enabled them to become that obese, I almost lost the ability to care for myself and my family. Yes, workers comp kicked in for the 6 month’s I was out of work. Yes, workers comp pays for the medication I take on a daily basis, and it paid for the surgery I had to implant an intrathecal pump. Do you really know what workers comp pays these day’s? Do you know the hastle I have when i go to the pharmacy… for the past 6 years… on a monthly basis? It doesn’t keep up with the fact that over the last 6 years I make more money than I did – when I was out for surgery I got paid HALF of what I make now – that’s what I was paid back when I hurt my back. If I should lose my job I would likely have a hard time finding another – because I have a history of a back injury and I have lifting restrictions. Not to mention the things I’m unable to do around the house because of the restrictions put upon me so I don’t make my back worse. No longer do I play tennis or softball, no longer do I go hiking. I can no longer carry heavy stuff to/from the car, I have to pay to have things delivered that a few years ago I would have carried with friends and not thought anything of it. I hurt when I mow my yard, bad enough where I have to have a bolus on the intrathecal pump when I start, and another when I’m done.
Yes, I feel sorry for this lady that her dignity in death wasn’t the best of circumstances. I feel sorry for her family for losing their loved one, and the embarrasment at how their loved one was taken away. I only hope and pray that no one lost their livelyhood, no one had to live with chronic pain and disability in order to get her from her home to the coroners, or to the funeral home, as undignified as it might have been.
I sit here and read everyone debate whether obesity is the right term to use or not, debate whether family has complicity in the patient being obese, but nowhere do I see anyone talking about the others who have little choice in what happens to them while taking care of folks who are this heavy. Yes, the hospital could have had better equipment to deal with people of this size. But is it their fault they didn’t have equipment to handle what is not the norm in our hospital (or wasn’t the norm then)? We didn’t have lifts certified for her weight at that time. There were 5 staff helping and still there was injury. Or is it the fault of the patient and the family for allowing themselves to get into this state? Or was it my fault because I was doing my job properly, trying to care for someone who was this big in a competant, caring manner. In the end I blame society in general. We try and make things nice for everyone, we don’t want to insult anyone, and we enable this situation to happen in doing so.
I know, I know…. I’m sorry I’m ranting about all of this, I guess I’m still bitter at the life changes I’ve had to go through because of doing my job caring for a very very obese patient on a ventilator. I don’t claim to be a skinny minny myself, but I’m nowhere near even half the weight of the patient in this story or the one I took care of. Too often we worry way too much at hurting someones feelings – we are in the wrong for calling them obese instead of weight challenged – yet they bear no responsibility for their condition or anything that happens because of it. Get real….

By: b

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:20:25 +0000

WhiteCoat, my main point is we should *NOT* assume that every obese person has the same condition. My point is that it is *COMPLEX*.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156373.php
http://health.yahoo.com/weightloss-overview/are-you-addicted-to-food/prevention–23233.html

And schizophrenia has a spectrum of severity too. One person might not take his meds because it makes him tired, while another might think he’s being poisoned and fear for his life.

It seems people too often take a single example of something and interpret it as a universal truth.

By: I will allow the question. « Psych Survivor 2.0

I will allow the question. « Psych Survivor 2.0 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:08:46 +0000

[...] http://www.epmonthly.com/whitecoat/2009/06/transporting-morbidly-obese-patients/ “No we can’t transport your body in the coroner’s vehicle because you’re too large.” Patients need to understand that sometimes there are consequences to their actions. In some cases, providers will have to get the job done with what’s available to us, and you may not be happy with the results. In other cases, patients may not be able to receive appropriate treatment. What happens if a 750 pound person passes out on the second floor apartment and there is no elevator? What if it happens in a rural location and there are not enough volunteer EMTs to lift the patient? 56 Responses Leave a Comment [...]

By: WhiteCoat

WhiteCoat — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:50:19 +0000

I’m not aware of any studies bearing out the assertion that obesity is a neuroendocrine problem. Can you link to a couple?
I agree that some diseases, such as Prader-Willi Syndrome, may cause obesity, but 30% of the population does not have Prader-Willi Syndrome.
If we classify obesity as a disease, and I’m not sure that we should use such a broad brush stroke at this time, then do we just say “it’s OK to eat a poor diet — you have a medical condition”?
Using your example, people will become upset with schizophrenic patients who repeatedly stop taking their medications. Should the reaction to obese patients who continue to eat a poor diet be different?

By: b

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:43:25 +0000

Obesity is complex and has many factors. But I believe one thing that many folks fail to realize is that some morbidly obese have brains that make them susceptible to obesity. They may actually qualify as mentally ill. For example, they could have too few dopamine receptors and actually not feel that they are satiated when eating.

Or, there was a recent news article about brain scans of obese folk. Learning from positive outcomes is normal for some of them. But some had deficits in learning from a negative outcomes. They literally don’t recognize the negative effects like a normal person would so they aren’t motivated to alter their behavior to get a better outcome.

Just a couple of the many things I’m sure we’ll learn over time about this disease (yes, at least for some it is a real bona fide disease). So, trying to condemn this entire group of people as moral weaklings in need of a stiff kick in the pants isn’t very enlightened. About as effective as telling a schizophrenic he’s being silly cuz those voices aren’t real.

By: Mottsapplesauce

Mottsapplesauce — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:40:29 +0000

These we’re all very thought-provoking comments, as well as the original article. But I wonder, where does this leave those with Marfan’s Syndrome, or Acromegaly? Even if everyone developed a healthier lifestyle, you’re still going to have others who’ll need special ammenities (sp?).

By: Dop

Dop — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:57:44 +0000

As a morbidly obese person myself, I think it’s reasonable for EMS to refuse transport or treatment to someone my size or larger. I’ve worn a DNS bracelet since I was 200 lbs (now 300 lbs). I pre-planned funeral arrangements for same day cremation. Maybe I should add permission to dismember me if it’s too difficult to move the body whole. I accept that a lifetime of bad choices made me what I am and I don’t expect anyone should have to put themselves at risk on my account.