This isn’t a humor piece. Manufacturers Supersizing Stretchers:
The sharply rising number of obese Americans is leading medical-equipment manufacturers and ambulance crews to supersize their stretchers.Manufacturers are adding thicker aluminum frames, bulkier connectors and extra spine supports to create stretchers with a capacity of 650 pounds, instead of the standard 350 to 500. Ambulance crews are switching to the heavy-duty models to avoid injuries to rescue workers and patients alike.
This passage gets a bit Onion-esque:
Josh Weiss, a spokesman for Southwest Ambulance, which serves the Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., areas, said the company’s paramedics used to employ a tarp to carry patients too big for a standard stretcher.“You’d have to have five to 10 different firefighters lift it up. It was unsafe for our units. There would be many physical problems for our crews,” he said. “Back injuries would often occur.”
Southwest, which operates 225 ambulances and answers more than 200,000 calls a year, recently replaced its stretchers with those that can handle up to 650 pounds. It has also created a special unit with wider ambulances that have special hydraulic lifts and shock absorbers to carry the obese.