Comments on: Quick Outrage: Fire Dept. Wants to Charge Extra for Moving Fatties

By: RachelR

RachelR — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 21:48:46 +0000

I don’t know what the procedure is for fire departments in England. But I do know a bit about how the U.S. operates. I was a volunteer EMT briefly several years ago. My father was a volunteer fire fighter when I was younger, and my mother and brother both work as EMTs.

Firefighter tests vary by state and departments, but generally you have to lift a 175-pound dummy up several flights of stairs and then back down. By yourself. Wearing about 40 pounds of gear.

If one is physically capable of doing this, I don’t see what the problem is for a crew, which usually averages four people in smaller departments and more in larger departments, to lift a 300 or even 500-pound person onto a stretcher.

By: fillyjonk

fillyjonk — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 21:06:17 +0000

None Given, we have a whole post for snarking on that article -- have at it! I mean, if you want to get FAT, that is.

By: None Given

None Given — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:57:26 +0000

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/careerist/48564
“And if my bringing this up makes you angry, consider being more forgiving, because anger is a risk factor for obesity. ”

Yeah, it couldn’t be that being treated like shit for being fat makes you angry.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:45:00 +0000

Thorn, what does liberalism have to do with it?

Dorianne, I hope you are feeling better now. I’m so sorry that you went through that.

The last thing anyone who is in pain needs is to be shamed.

By: Eleanor Blair

Eleanor Blair — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:48:24 +0000

I note that most fire brigades do also charge for things like rescuing cats.

I also note I’m almost exactly the same weight as the woman the paramedics let die, which is a very sobering thought.

By: Dorianne

Dorianne — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:02:14 +0000

Okay, you know what’s even more completely fucknutty about this….earlier this year, I was holed up in my bed for a week, alone in the apartment, delirious with fever and pain, vomiting nearly constantly, and possessed of a kidney infection I didn’t yet know I had. I should have gone to the ER, and within a few more days, I indeed wound up there (via taxi, taken by my mother, who had travelled 350 km to take care of me), and was immediately checked into the surgical ward, told by the doc that it was a “life and death situation.”

The thing is, one night, lying alone in bed, it was so bad, I came very close to calling the ambulance several times. I was scared. But I never called, partly because I was convinced it couldn’t possibly be that serious…but also, partly, wayyyy in the back of my mind, and in my delirium, I was embarrassed, ashamed, and worried about what “they” would think of my fat self (and by then, my totally dirty, messy, stinky, week-long-bedsick self), and what would happen when they tried to get me out of my apartment.

Of COURSE it was stupid. Had I been in my right mind, I would never have thought that way. But yes, I was delirious. (I was also having constant, very Ingmar Bergman-esque dreams.) What might I have thought if I had read an article like this, or the one about the paramedics, beforehand? (111 kg? That’s less than 250 lbs – big fat deal!) What might somebody else think, if they’ve read articles like this, are not possessed of much sense of self-acceptance yet, and wind up in as much danger as I was in? It frightens me to think about it. (ODDLY enough, nobody had any problems moving me around in hospital, including when I was dead to the world for three separate surgeries.)

By: stefanie

stefanie — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:08:56 +0000

Good point, Thorn, how it’s really not about the weight. Do EMT workers charge more when someone’s injured in a football or rugby match? If a Japanese team comes to do demonstration sumo, will they charge extra if one of the sumotori needs transport?

Oh, wait, sumotori are fat. Silly me.

By: Jae

Jae — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:44:06 +0000

Kate–I guessed by the language that this woman was probably a world champion at Fat Hate Bingo many times over…I’m sad to hear that my thinking was correct. I’m sure if you did a post on her, the comments would be out of control.

I am continually amazed by people’s bigotry. Between this horrible story about the fire department (ZOMG WE HAD TO SEE EIGHT FAT PEOPLEZ!!!!1111!!) and that other gem, I am about ready to call it a day.

By: kateharding

kateharding — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:37:05 +0000

Jae, I’ve gotten links to that bitch a few times now, and just haven’t had the energy to write about it. Maybe I just need to do an open thread to let y’all have at her. :)

By: Jae

Jae — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:35:18 +0000

This is off topic except for the fact that is also made my head want to explode…

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/careerist/48564

Apparently being fat means that you are probably being percieved as a lazy slob at work…the solution? “So don’t be overweight and don’t dress carelessly. “