“Unnecessary strain on crews... please. We are here to serve the public, volunteer or career, it all pays the same. I have had a couple of instances where a member has complained about having to do it... I left him at the station watching the truck leave. He finally figured it out that you run these calls with the same dedication and commitment as you do a roaring house fire... or you stay home. He decided to stay home, permanently.”
“My Mom has put on a few (pounds) and I would really appreciate it that there would be someone there to help her if I could not.”
“I believe Community Assistance calls are part of our bread and butter, including helping an obese person who cannot help themselves. That said, I think it would be wise if the fire department identified people who are obese and people who are shut-ins and encourage them to fight obesity, and help them find another source of help so they are not reliant on us to help them get up for the rest of their lives.”
“In our city 300-500 pounders are quite common. Have members been injured dealing with morbidly obese people? Yes. In fact we had a gentleman who weighed over 700 + lbs. In order for him to go to the doctors, or the hospital it required a full box alarm assignment. The front windows of his house had to be removed to get him out. In fact a special apparatus was built so he could be hauled out the window on to a flat bed truck. I'm not kidding. Eventually an arrangement with the hospital was worked out so the doctor came to him as opposed to the full ordeal of bringing him in. That was till the patient expired. The moral of the story is people call because they need help. We come and use "whatever" means necessary to give comfort and aid to assist these people regardless of their weight status.”
“Out of 1000+ calls per year, I have been called on to assist maybe 3 or 4 obese patients in the 25 years of service I have rendered. As far as helping the elderly and the obese back in bed it was part of the job, they paid taxes and were entitled to compassionate and professional care rendered by the members of our fire and rescue department 24/7/365 days a year”
There is still more comments on the next page.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7939630.stm
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