Forbach. "What she is experiencing is a real injustice": an octogenarian deprived of an ambulance because of her weight

"My mother didn't choose to be in this state, to have to have scans or go to the doctor. And she has the right, like everyone else, to medical care." Marcelle Vagner, 59, is angry. This Forbach resident has lived for several years with her mother, Hannelore, on the second floor of a three-story building in the Wiesberg district. At the end of February, her 83-year-old mother suffered a fall. "She found herself trapped between the bed and the radiator. She was in pain. The emergency services came to get her and take her to the emergency room," says her daughter. "That day, the care went well. It was after that that the situation deteriorated..."

Subsequent medical appointments have become a real headache. "Until now, we called ambulance taxis to transport her if necessary, because she could travel sitting down. Due to physical complications since her fall, my mother has to be assisted up the stairs and carried lying down. We need an ambulance. It's become a nightmare," sighs Marcelle Vagner. "Once, she was supposed to go to the hospital in Saint-Avold for an examination. My brother called five ambulance companies in a row. They all refused to take her."

According to her, several reasons are then cited: lack of availability or suitable equipment such as a motorized assistance chair. But also the excessive weight of the patient… “My mother weighs around 100 kg. Some paramedics told us that we would have to pay an additional €400 to transport her, because it requires more staff and a motorized chair. This is an additional cost that is not reimbursed. We can’t pay that for each transport! It quickly adds up to several thousand euros, entirely our responsibility.”

Marcelle Vagner is distraught. "This situation makes my mother feel very guilty, because she's well aware of the problem. She blames herself for being so heavy, for not being able to move around. This discriminatory system doesn't help." Faced with refusals, the octogenarian's children invested in a special chair so they could lower their mother down the stairs and then transport her. "It's not normal to have come to this. My mother has the right to be treated like any other patient. She raised seven children, she gave so much to society. What she's going through is a real injustice," denounces Marcelle Vagner.

The issue of so-called bariatric transport for obese people is an increasingly pressing problem. " Obesity affects a growing proportion of the population ," notes a professional from an ambulance company near Forbach. "Caring for them represents an additional cost for us, as it requires more staff, up to six paramedics. While a standard transport costs around €150, a bariatric transport costs around €500. Motorized assistance chairs cost around €10,000. Not all ambulance companies have them." These more expensive transports are not currently fully covered by Social Security. It is up to the patient to pay. The issue of reimbursement regularly comes up in government debates. No measures in this regard have yet been taken.