Handling Bariatric (Morbidly Obese) Patients

[Chrisclark]

Honestly, almost every call has at least one curveball in it wether it be BS or a bariatric pt or a really stupid suicide attempt or even a person with a bodypart stuck in a really strange place.

There are a lot of calls that you want to laugh a lot more than for a bariatric call.

When I was in 9th grade I was one of those calls. The day before I accidentally locked a push button file cabinet. The school janitor had to come in and bust the lock off of the filling cabinet. The next day, I had forgotten that the lock button had been removed. I began to play with the lock button only to realize that it was missing and my thumb was now stuck in the hole that was left. I decided that the best course of action was to pull it out forcefully. I severed an artery in my thumb. It started squirting blood everywhere. The school nurse could not slow the bleeding. You know what happens next.

[MadMod]

We looked at a special unit and equipping all trucks with the new powered Strykers....until we saw the cost involved. However, what will we pay when an employee hurts himself moving such a patient?

We regularly now see patients in the 300 to 350 pound range. I fear that average weight will only continue to rise.

The best advice I can give is call for help when needed, and get some type of patient mover or "slide board". We have one on every truck. When used correctly, they help getting the patient onto the cot. There's still the issue of lifting the cot up and into the unit. My crews regularly have to do the "four corners" method. Definitely watch your hands and feet. We had an EMT-Basic have a cot with a 450 pound patient roll over and break his foot.