State Specific Prevalence of Obesity
This is a bleak map for EMS providers. As you probably know obese adults are at greater risk for many health problems, such as heart disease, hypertension, respiratory illness, and diabetes. Obese patients also increase the risk of acute or chronic back injury for EMS providers.
- Have you received education in health complication of morbid obesity?
- Do you have powered lift cots for use with all patients?
- Does your service use specially equipped ambulances for morbidly obese patients?
- Do your regularly receive training in safe lifting practices?
- What do you do to maintain your own strength and fitness?
RapidCE.com distributes several related EPS lessons, including:
- Morbidly Obese Patient Assessment and Treatment
- Lifting and Back Safety for Emergency Responders
- Diabetic patient assessment and treatment
Learn more about the prevalence of obese adults in this MMWR alert from the CDC.