Air ambulance service crafts obesity rules
SEATTLE – A Seattle-based air ambulance service is asking hospitals and paramedics to notify it when they want patients transported who are more than 250 pounds.
“There’s been a real increase in the size and girth of some of the patients we’ve been asked to transport,” said Mardie Rhodes, a spokeswoman for Airlift Northwest.
On Friday, the nonprofit air ambulance service began asking hospitals to fill out a form when requesting transport by helicopter for anyone weighing more than that. Paramedics at emergency situations are being asked to estimate the same information, which includes the size of the patient’s abdomen when lying down.
Jeff Richey, Airlift Northwest regional manager, said the information is critical because the pilot and two nurses who work on each air ambulance may not be able to move the patient safely, and crews need to know whether patients will fit into the helicopters.
If a crew arrives and finds a patient can’t fit into the helicopter, or will take up too much room, waiting for another mode of transportation delays the move, Richey said.
At least once in the past year, an Airlift Northwest crew arrived to find the patient was too big to fly out. They ended up loading the patient onto an ambulance and having the flight nurses accompany them, he said.
The Seattle Fire Department also has taken measures to accommodate large or obese patients, Lt. Sue Stangl said.
Crews now carry a device called a Mega Mover, a tough, fabric sheet with a dozen handles that can support 1,500 pounds.
Stangl said it can be used to reach patients in confined spaces and to get a better lifting position.
Seattle firefighters now also have use of wider backboards, 32 inches wide, to augment the standard, 18-inch-wide boards they have traditionally used.
But the problem of big patients is particularly acute for air transport.
“Weight is crucial when you’re talking about transporting by air,” said Blair Beggan, spokeswoman for the Association of Air Medical Services.