Patients too fat for ambulance

In the United Kingdom they are finding an increasing number of patients are too fat to fit in regular ambulances and are refitting the vehicles to accommodate the larger patients. Here is the BBC report:

"Some patients are getting so fat that ambulance bosses are having to revamp their fleets to cope, the BBC has learned.

Every service in the UK has started buying specialist equipment, data from freedom of information requests show.
This includes wider stretchers, more lifting gear and reinforcing existing vehicles.
Many have also bought specialist "bariatric" ambulances - costing up to $300K each - to ferry the most obese.
These are designed so that double-width trolley stretchers for patients up to 318lbs can be accommodated. They also tend to include hoists and inflatable lifting cushions."

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Video: Disaster in Toronto

A devastating disaster in Toronto. Watch and learn more:

From CBC

Charlie Sheen 911 call - Porn star two-day party

Wish I could say this better but best straight from the source.

From CNN.com : "Charlie Sheen was "very, very intoxicated, also apparently in a lot of pain" last Thursday morning, according to a 911 call from a doctor who had just talked to the actor.

"Kind of weird, the phone call I received," Dr. Paul Nassif told the Los Angeles Fire Department dispatcher in the recorded call, which was released by the fire department Wednesday.

Porn actress Kacey Jordan has told media outlets that a two-day party preceded Sheen's collapse.

Paramedics went to Sheen's Los Angeles home and then took him by ambulance to a hospital, where he spent several hours."

 

Read more on CNN.com

 

Photos: Proof that hell exists

I'll have to let the photos from Cracked.com speak for themselves:

 

Click here to see the photos on Cracked.com

Egyptians punch out CNN's Anderson Cooper

CNN's Anderson Cooper was punched in the head ten times while covering the protests in Cairo on Wednesday. He and his crew were attacked by supporters of Hosni Mubarak. CNN's Steve Brusk tweeted that Cooper was punched in the head ten times.

The attack came as as pro-Mubarak supporters attacked protesters who were calling for the president to step down. On "American Morning" Cooper said that he and his crew had been trying to go to a neutral zone between the two groups.

"We never got that far," he said.

Man who dressed like school girl "wrongly jailed"

From the BBC: "A man who upset children by dressing up as a schoolgirl was wrongly jailed by magistrates, the High Court has ruled.

Peter Trigger, of Northampton, received an Anti-social Behaviour Order (Asbo) in 2008 banning him from showing bare legs when children arrived for school.
The 60-year-old was later given a suspended sentence for breaching the Asbo and the sentence was activated last October."  Something seriously wrong here ....

 

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Island of Sark first dark-sky island

From Yahoo Buzz: The Channel Island of Sark, located 80 miles south of England, has been designated as the world's first dark-sky island.  Sark is just 4.5 square miles and has "no public street lighting, no paved roads, and no cars." according to Space.com.  In other words, save for the occasional flashlight or matchstick, there aren't a lot of things to interfere with the nighttime display, which includes "meteors streaking overhead and countless stars on display.

Credit: Nasa

Blame it on Rio: Brazil wants to put happiness in constitution

We always knew those Brazilians were party animals. Well, at least the ones that aren't living in poverty in the shanty towns. Now, they want to put happiness in their constitution. "In Brazil, we've had economic growth without the social growth hoped for," said Mauro Motoryn, the director of the Happier Movement, a non-governmental organization backing the legislation. "With the constitutional amendment, we want to provoke discussion, to seek approval for the creation of conditions in which social rights are upheld." Like I said, Blame it on Rio.

 

Read more in the Huffington Post here

Why liberals fear vaccines

Interesting Q & A from ScienceInsider: "Why the 'Prius Driving, Composting' Set Fears Vaccines – " Journalist Seth Mnookin's new book, The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear, explores the public health scare over vaccines and autism. The 1998 paper in The Lancet by British physician Andrew Wakefield that sparked the panic has long since been debunked and retracted, and Wakefield himself has been barred from practicing medicine and accused of fraud. But that hasn't stopped thousands of people from refusing to vaccinate their children out of fear that they could become autistic."

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Shocker: It snows in Canada

Today it is snowing! In Toronto! In Canada! And there are several inches of snow on the ground! What to do? Well firstly, cancel all classes at schools in the city. Yes, all those kids that walk a few blocks or take public transit to school will not have to bother because all schools are closed. But wait, what about workplaces? Hmm, seems it is pretty well business as usual for  private sector companies, and for a good reason: This is an inconvenience not a disaster. I would love to rant further, but I must get out and shovel the driveway so I can go the office. Which, of course, is open.

 

See a gallery of snow photos in Toronto from National Post here. 

Canada's regulators promise expensive internet

A recent ruling by Canadian regulator the CRTC all but guarantees Canadians will face steadily increasing costs for Internet. The recent ruling forces third party Internet providers to provide only metered bandwidth – pay per gigabyte. While in theory there is nothing wrong with paying for services you use , there are several issues that make this ruling troubling. Canada does not allow foreign companies to compete for service in Canada, creating an artificial market from the start.

This applies to cellular service as well, making Canada one of the most expensive countries in the world for cell phone service as well. Now let's get to cable. Essentially, the country in carved up into fiefdoms, with two dominant players – Rogers and Shaw effectively owning the wires and cable service in their regions. Bell and Telus also provide Internet service via their phone lines and some fiber.

Third party Internet providers buy there bandwidth from the big players. But here is the kicker: Rogers, Shaw and Bell are also in the television broadcast business.

Could this simply be a way to ensure revenues as traditional revenues from television migrate to Internet service based ones?  You bet.

But hey, I am Canadian and I'm mad as hell!

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