British hospitals are dealing with an obesity epidemic and may have to use zoo scanners to accommodate heavier patients.
Britain’s obesity epidemic is prompting surgeons at National Health Service hospitals to propose a radical approach for large size equipment in a recent investigation and report.
Surgeons at North Bristol NHS Trust have concluded that only one in 6 hospitals has the ability to use CT scanners or other equipment needed for obese patients, who weigh 490 pounds or more.
Britain may be following in the footsteps of hospitals in the United States, calling on zoos to utilize their scanners, which are built for large animals like horses, cattle and gorillas. One of the consulting surgeons, Sally Norton reported that nearly half of the hospitals in Britain are unequipped and unprepared to handle morbidly obese patients.
Beds, wheelchairs and gowns were also not able to accommodate heavier people. Norton states “The current challenges in managing the increasing population of morbidly obese patients must be addressed.”
Earlier this year, a cremation facility in Austria suffered a harsh fire, leaving the building gutted, after cremating an obese woman.
An investigation concluded that the body fat from the nearly 450 pound woman blocked an air filter, causing the filter system to overheat and catch fire.