HERBIE1 Posted August 19, 2009 Posted August 19, 2009 This is an actual scenario for me. 620lbs woman in respiratory distress, non-ambulatory. Broken elevator and on the 3rd floor. Call placed to fire department after a few phone calls to supervisors etc she was brought out on a tarp with handles essentially (forget the actual name of the item) The fire department placed her on the device and dragged her down the stairs. The type of material and the floor made the drag really easy. The stairs they lifted her as best as possible but it was still a bit of a drag. When she was released from hospital I was working IFT and was called to transfer her home with our bariatric unit (which was JUST repaired). Thankfully the elevator was working and we had no issues getting her home. For years, salvage covers worked well for these incidents. Now they have fancy large patient conveyance devices- essentially a salvage cover with handles and a prettier color. LOL
Lone Star Posted August 19, 2009 Posted August 19, 2009 I don't see why y'all are complaining about 620 pounds! I had a patient that I had to regularly deal with (twice a month minimum) that weighed 1,685 pounds. Yes, I said 'one thousand, six hundred eighty-five pounds'! I'm part of the crew that held the record for the fewest people to ever move her, (not because we were trying to set a 'record', we just didn't have any more people to use). We got the job done with SIX people.
Christopher.Collins Posted August 19, 2009 Posted August 19, 2009 Barriatrics is no fun when your patient tries to make it to the door with your assistance, dosnt and lays down on the floor near the door but still inside. Then you gatta move her on to a backboard and straddle her lifting her fat up so she can fit through the door while your partner and backup pulls the backboard through. You could smell the patient from outside the house... I never took so many showers in one day than I did that one. Thankfully it was end of my shift and I had worked the maximum hours allowed per day by company protocols.
Lone Star Posted August 19, 2009 Posted August 19, 2009 Barriatrics is no fun when your patient tries to make it to the door with your assistance, dosnt and lays down on the floor near the door but still inside. Then you gatta move her on to a backboard and straddle her lifting her fat up so she can fit through the door while your partner and backup pulls the backboard through. You could smell the patient from outside the house... I never took so many showers in one day than I did that one. Thankfully it was end of my shift and I had worked the maximum hours allowed per day by company protocols. Another reason the tarp with handles makes so much sense. The sides of the tarp are pulled inward and upward, narrowing the width as it's being pulled through the door. Those on the inside 'peel off' and go out another door to join the crew members on the outside....until the patient is completely through the door. This also saves on straddling the patient (as we all know is a 'no no')....
Eric Posted August 19, 2009 Posted August 19, 2009 (edited) statment i would only think this and not say or do it so dont get mad at me if the pt was just fat from eatting way way too much and the famliy is helping them get fat then by all means let them move the pt to my truck see then if they keep feeding the pt thats to fat to roll over we had one pt that was takeing to the doc 1 once a week it took 5 crews to move them and this pt would ask if they could call ahead to the pizza place before we took them home or ask if we could stop and get them 6 bigmacs Edited August 19, 2009 by Eric
Mateo_1387 Posted August 19, 2009 Posted August 19, 2009 statment i would only think this and not say or do it so dont get mad at me if the pt was just fat from eatting way way too much and the famliy is helping them get fat then by all means let them move the pt to my truck see then if they keep feeding the pt thats to fat to roll over we had one pt that was takeing to the doc 1 once a week it took 5 crews to move them and this pt would ask if they could call ahead to the pizza place before we took them home or ask if we could stop and get them 6 bigmacs I honestly hope you are joking bro. Otherwise, you need to realize that these patients are sick folk. They honestly need medical care. Their cases are going to be tough ones to manage. The last thing they need is a bunch of disgruntled EMTs who do not like to do the job they signed up for. You should take a psychology class or two and learn about the psychological aspects of being addicted to food. Then of course you should do all sorts of studying on the medical aspects of being morbidly obese. After that, you might think about taking a professional writing class.
aussiephil Posted August 19, 2009 Posted August 19, 2009 I honestly hope you are joking bro. Otherwise, you need to realize that these patients are sick folk. They honestly need medical care. Their cases are going to be tough ones to manage. The last thing they need is a bunch of disgruntled EMTs who do not like to do the job they signed up for. You should take a psychology class or two and learn about the psychological aspects of being addicted to food. Then of course you should do all sorts of studying on the medical aspects of being morbidly obese. After that, you might think about taking a professional writing class. Always follow you ABC - Ambulate before carrying!!!!!!!
Christopher.Collins Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 Another reason the tarp with handles makes so much sense. The sides of the tarp are pulled inward and upward, narrowing the width as it's being pulled through the door. Those on the inside 'peel off' and go out another door to join the crew members on the outside....until the patient is completely through the door. This also saves on straddling the patient (as we all know is a 'no no').... Well Lone, we would have happally done that if it were possibe. Thing is when she finally decided to go down (steps from going out the door) it just so happend to be in a place where barley one of the four of us coud fit with her. We had the recources to do what you suggest... but even rolling her and pushing something rolled halfway up against her back and flipping her to pull (as you would change a bed without moving a pt) was completley out of the question. Had she not been in severe respritory distress, yea maybe we woulda had time. I wasnt on the initial crew... I neglected to mention I was actually the backup. Why the initial crew let a morbidly obese pt walk that far while in severe respritory distress I have no clue. Sorry for leaving out the details, been a long week.
Katiebug Posted August 22, 2009 Posted August 22, 2009 Um... How are you going to fit a 620 lb woman in a stair chair? Even if you could, what is the weight limit on your stair chair? A man sack is the only way to go. Thank goodness I work for the fire department and I can call out as many engine companies as I need to get the job done. That is not a happy scenario.
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