Remember this post about drunkenness, and the discussion it generated? I still don't have the answers, but I'm always coming up with more questions!
So, here's another one. Go read the following article and watch the video, then come back.
How do we deal with another one of society's big problems? And yes, the pun was intended. These ambulance and hospital adaptations are not for the almost run-of-the-mill 100+ Kilo (220+ pound) patients. A two-person crew will regularly need to carry these sorts of patients down a flight of stairs.
These specialised beds, equipment and ambulances are for patients double that, sometimes, as the report suggests, even triple and more. I sat listening to an overnight radio presenter talking about it, and listeners calling in adding their suggestions, frustrations and solutions. As usual, there were the calls for these patients to pay for their specialised care, or be refused it. Passions ran high between those who have clearly never experienced the problem, and those who face it on a daily basis. People were claiming that as morbidly obese patients bring their condition upon themselves, they don't deserve free NHS treatment, whilst the obese themselves (by their own admissions, this was radio after all), claimed that life-style choices are not the benchmark by which the NHS allocates treatment.
So I ask again.
What about smokers who suffer lung cancer as a direct result of their habit?
What about extreme sportspeople who get injured in their pursuit of adventure?
What about drunks who fall and crack their heads open due to their intoxication, be it acute or chronic?
Do we bar all of them from free treatment, as these are all self-inflicted?
The NHS is still, for the most part, a free service, and proudly calls itself the envy of the world. Its staff, for all their grumbles, are proud of what they do and are dedicated to it.
But everything comes at a cost.
For every bariatric ambulance, somebody, somewhere, will be denied some other treatment.
And whilst the ambulance in this report seems to have all the equipment, there's still one glaringly obvious omission.
What happens when there's a flight of stairs to contend with?
What about the physical cost to the crews?
I only have the questions, and an undecided mind.
Answers are another thing all together. Education is clearly one of them, as with everything else, but over and above that, I really don't know.
Do you?
