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700-Pound Body Poses Problem For Coroner
Officials at the Alameda County Coronerâs office are having a difficult time moving the body of a 700-pound Oakland man, who died of natural causes Tuesday night, according to coronerâs spokesman Dan Apperson. Apperson said officials had to use a crane to remove the manâs body from his home at 18th and West streets. His body remains inside the coronerâs van because they cannot get the large corpse out, Apperson said. Officials are trying to make arrangements to transport the man, whose identity has not yet been released, directly to a mortuary, Apperson said.As an EMT, this is a terrible issue. Weâre buying new stair chairs in order to be able to attempt to carry our 300 lb. patients. These chairs have a set of tracks that rest on the stairs, helping to absorb some of the weight load. Rural Metro locally has a "Fatmobile" which is designed to transport the big ones. It has a ramp into the back, an appliance dolly and no gurney. In Seattle, I believe, their "Fatmobile" actually has a winch in the back to crank the patient up the ramp. Iâve used as many as six people to lift a patient into my ambulance on our gurney. And he got stuck between the side rails of the gurney because so much of him oozed over the edge. Getting him off the gurney at the emergency department was tough. Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-03-11 |
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