NYC Considers Supersized Ambulances

The City Council has revived a proposal to buy special "jumbo" ambulances for the morbidly obese, officials told The Post.

The idea for the ambulances - which can easily transport people over 500 pounds - has languished in the council for years, but now lawmakers plan to hold a hearing on the issue on Tuesday.

It was spurred by the plight of labor leader, 420-pound Mark Rosenthal, who suffered a stroke in 2003.

The District Council 37 representative was forced to lie strapped on an ambulance floor, because the stretcher couldn't fit him.

"We have to ensure that no one has to ride on the floor of an ambulance again; we would not stand for it for any protected group," said Councilman James Sanders Jr. (D-Queens), the bill's sponsor.

"I'm insisting that the city has one so if there is a call we know that we can save someone's life. We read of these cases where we have to cut a wall to save someone's life then we don't have a way to transport them."

Miguel Martinez, chairman of the council's Fire and Criminal Justice Committee, added that the council wants to ensure the Fire Department is equipped for every New Yorker, morbidly obese or not.

"We've seen pictures of cranes used to lift people," Martinez (D-Manhattan) said. "And in this city we should be able to transport these citizens."

A spokesman for American Medical Response said the company developed its "bariatric" ambulance because the demand was growing.

The vehicle costs about $50,000 more than their average, $75,000-$100,000 ambulances.

"Generally the use of the vehicles are prearranged," said Eric Berthel, spokesman for the company. "We have placed them in our larger markets and we were among the first to recognize the need for this kind of service."

Rosenthal said the ambulances would prove to be cost-effective for the city and could come in handy for transporting multiple people in a catastrophic event.

"There is a use for them," he said. "The only difference is they are lion-size."

Rosenthal said he believed that buying the supersized ambulances would "end the last vestige of discrimination."

"It's going to save lives," he said. "You can't put a price on that."

But it appears city officials aren't eager to buy jumbo ambulances just yet. FDNY spokesman Frank Gribbon said the agency had in the last few years been acquiring stretchers that could lift people up to 700 pounds and are used in regular ambulances.

"We have more than 164 ambulances equipped with these stretchers," Gribbon said.

Ambulances had been equipped with stretchers that could lift people up to 400 pounds.

"We feel this is adequate for now," Gribbon added.

Republished with permission of The New York Post.