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** South Australian paramedics coping with increased bariatric calls

** Wyoming man charged with stealing meds and syringes from ambulance while friend treated by medics

** South Australian paramedics are apparently doing more bariatric calls. That is the word from The Advertiser (Callie Watson/August 10) which said the trend is part of an overall burden on a health care system struggling with an overweight epidemic in the state. According to the newspaper, some 1250 bariatric calls were attended last year, 750 of which resulted in hospital transport. In 2012, the number was 928, with only 428 transports. In 2008, meanwhile, the year the bariatric unit first went into operation, it was used on only about 10 calls. Government figures show 29.2 per cent of South Australians are obese.

** A Casper, Wyoming man has been arrested for allegedly stealing syringes and medications from an ambulance responding to the home in which he was attending a house party. The Casper Star Tribune (Lillian Schrock/August 12) said Michael Carpenter, 24, was arrested several hours after the 1:30 a.m. Monday EMS call because the missing items were not immediately noticed. Ambulance personnel were originally hailed to the locale to attend a seizure patient. According to the newspaper, once medics noted their absence, the unit returned to the call site and the home was searched around 7:30 a.m. Carpenter eventually led police to the stolen stash which was apparently pilfered while his friend was taken to hospital. He has been tagged with larceny, possession of a controlled substance x 2, felony possession of a controlled substance x 3, and being under the influence of a controlled substance.