NationStates Jolt Archive

But this time it's not to a losing war in the Middle East.
It's in the losing war against the battle of the bulge:
Obese Aussies get big ambulances

Australia's obesity crisis has forced health officials to revamp their fleet of ambulances to cope with a sharp rise in overweight patients.
Super-sized vehicles have been introduced and new air ambulances will be remodelled to carry heavier people.
Studies estimate that 67% of Australian men and over half of all women aged over 25 are overweight or obese.
So many Australians are now bulging at the waistline that ambulances are being equipped with heavy-duty stretchers.
These are capable of carrying patients weighing up to 220kg (34 st 9 lbs).
In the country's most populous state, New South Wales, officials have said that more super-sized ambulances may well be needed to cope with this health crisis.
Special vehicles with over-sized wheelchairs and a hydraulic tailgate were introduced a few years ago to transport larger people.
Their workload has doubled since 2004.

Obese toddlers
Dealing with the obese or overweight is becoming more common for medical teams and it can be an arduous experience.
In a recent case in Sydney it took 16 people several hours to take an injured man from his home to hospital.
He weighed about 400kg (69 st) :eek: and had broken his leg.
Emergency workers had to demolish part of his house to lift him out.
There are strong signs that Australia's obesity epidemic is getting worse.
A lack of exercise and a poor diet, including drinks loaded with sugar and high-fat snacks, are breeding a new generation of fat Australians.
Experts here are warning that by 2030 half of this country's children will be overweight or obese.
They have insisted that breast and colon cancer as well as diabetes and heart disease have strong links to obesity.
It is reported that some Australian hospitals are now treating obese patients who are as young as two years old.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6494117.stm

When will you Aussies stop doing this?
Are you really that insecure you feel the need copy everything the USA does?
It's like the dopey younger brother trying to act like his older brother cause he thinks it makes him look cool.
It doesn't, ok? Surely this is yet another reason to rid yourself of Howard and his govt. His sycophantic sucking up to GWB is to blame for this!

do I win points/cookies/waffles for linking this to the Iraq war and local politics?

When will you Aussies stop doing this?
Are you really that insecure you feel the need copy everything the USA does?
It's like the dopey younger brother trying to act like his older brother cause he thinks it makes him look cool.
It doesn't, ok? Surely this is yet another reason to rid yourself of Howard and his govt. His sycophantic sucking up to GWB is to blame for this!

Hey, leave me out of this, i'm doing my part for anorexia.

I'd say it's not so much of following America and say most of the blame lies on cushy living, lack of discipline and too many energy saving devices.

Of course a heavy diet of McDs and assorted junk food certainly doesn't help.

And on a related note, why is the Burger King franchise in Australia called "Hungry Jacks"? :confused:

And on a related note, why is the Burger King franchise in Australia called "Hungry Jacks"? :confused:
uhhh....something to do with playing cards, maybe?
King...Jack..that sort of thing.
'Hungry Queens' would have sounded too much like a transvestite revue bar, which is why they went for Jacks.

Yeah, but America don't have flying ambulances...

Super-sized vehicles have been introduced and new air ambulances will be remodelled to carry heavier people.

I still say the USA should re-open the Japanese-Asian camps and stick fat people in there and just get them started on a 24 hour exercise program. Either that or just stick all the fat people out in the wild and let them hunt for their own damn food.

Yeah, but America don't have flying ambulances...

They may use the Cessna's Caravan.

http://grandcaravan.cessna.com/graphics/cvan_gcvan_hero.jpg

Those things can haul a few hundred pounds.

Well I certainly have nothing to do with it, I've been underweight for most of my life.

They may use the Cessna's Caravan.

http://grandcaravan.cessna.com/graphics/cvan_gcvan_hero.jpg

Those things can haul a few hundred pounds.

I was thinking more along these lines...

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a47/DarkSideOfTheSpoon/amb.jpg

Can't believe I bothered to make that.

'Hungry Queens' would have sounded too much like a transvestite revue bar, which is why they went for Jacks.
I thought Australia really went in for that sort of thing. I mean, I've seen The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Great film as well. Watching it means you can never quite take Agent Smith from the Matrix seriously ever again.

I was thinking more along these lines...

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a47/DarkSideOfTheSpoon/amb.jpg

Can't believe I bothered to make that.

But it is funny, the only thing that'd make it funnier if it has bird wings. :D :p

Here's another Aircraft Ambulance candidate, the Chinook.

http://www.tgarden.demon.co.uk/biog/chinook.jpg

Actually, it's not down to cushy living it's down to people being so very lazy. I could stand to lose a few pounds, but at least I do exercise - if I didn't I'd probably be that size too.

And on a related note, why is the Burger King franchise in Australia called "Hungry Jacks"? :confused:

according to wiki:

When Burger King decided to expand its operations into Australia, it found that its business name was already trademarked by a man running a small takeaway food shop.

Well, there you go.

But it is funny, the only thing that'd make it funnier if it has bird wings. :D :p

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a47/DarkSideOfTheSpoon/am2.jpg

Either that or just stick all the fat people out in the wild and let them hunt for their own damn food.

I'm told that Americans are generally more out-doors orientated than their European counterparts. Would not the risk of being savaged by rampaging packs (or 'blobs' as they will be known) of ravenous wild fatties destroy this facet of American culture?

But this time it's not to a losing war in the Middle East.
It's in the losing war against the battle of the bulge:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6494117.stm

When will you Aussies stop doing this?
Are you really that insecure you feel the need copy everything the USA does?
It's like the dopey younger brother trying to act like his older brother cause he thinks it makes him look cool.
It doesn't, ok? Surely this is yet another reason to rid yourself of Howard and his govt. His sycophantic sucking up to GWB is to blame for this!

do I win points/cookies/waffles for linking this to the Iraq war and local politics?
Come on, but this is something we can actually be better than the USA at! :p

When will you Aussies stop doing this?
Are you really that insecure you feel the need copy everything the USA does?
It's like the dopey younger brother trying to act like his older brother cause he thinks it makes him look cool.
It doesn't, ok? Surely this is yet another reason to rid yourself of Howard and his govt. His sycophantic sucking up to GWB is to blame for this!

If I could vote or buy I gun the world would be a better place. Unfortunately I can't. So you and I have to put up with them for little while longer.

We have too many scared old people voting.

They are scared of the communists, no that's not it any more, I can't think of what it is, it's the latest 'ist word that make people vote without thinking, what is it now, 'ist, 'ist, 'ist. AH I remember is it still terrorist? Or have we moved on to something else.

I would vote for a stuffed monkey to get rid of the current government.

We have too many scared old people voting.

They are scared of the communists, no that's not it any more, I can't think of what it is, it's the latest 'ist word that make people vote without thinking, what is it now, 'ist, 'ist, 'ist. AH I remember is it still terrorist? Or have we moved on to something else.

I would vote for a stuffed monkey to get rid of the current government.

Stay on topic...

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a47/DarkSideOfTheSpoon/am2.jpg

according to wiki:

When Burger King decided to expand its operations into Australia, it found that its business name was already trademarked by a man running a small takeaway food shop.

Well, there you go.
iirc, before Kentucky Fried Chicken opened in NZ, someone copyrighted the name 'Kentucky Fried Chicken' and then tried to sell the rights back to KFC for a fortune.
All KFC did was open their franchises as 'KFC'. Several years later they picked up the name for next to nothing and rebranded their stores as 'Kentucky Fried Chicken'.
Then they went back to KFC in an effort to sound more 'healthy' - mainly from not drawing attention to that they have 'fried' in their name.

I'd say it's not so much of following America and say most of the blame lies on cushy living, lack of discipline and too many energy saving devices.

Of course a heavy diet of McDs and assorted junk food certainly doesn't help.

Considering that fast food kills more people than death by firearm in the US every year, one wonders why we don't force people to get a physical examination, make them fill out forms, and have a seven-day waiting period to buy a McDonalds' hamburger.

if people are too fat to be put in an ambulence they can get put in a skip on the back of a lorry. i think if you're anything around 69st you have an obligation to tell the operator so they can call in a crane rather than expecting a couple of average paramedic to get you into an ambulance.

Here's another Aircraft Ambulance candidate, the Chinook.

http://www.tgarden.demon.co.uk/biog/chinook.jpg

heh, definitely, and they've got the option of slinging the load underneath in a net so you don't even need to bother loading fatty into the hold.