Topeka, Kan.  The memory still bothers Ken Keller:  A panicked ambulance crew had a critically ill patient, but the man weighed more than 1,000 pounds and could not fit in the vehicle.  The stretcher wasn't sturdy enough to hold him. 

The crew offered and idea to Keller, who was then an investigator with the Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services.  Could they use a forklift to load the man - bed and all - onto a flatbed truck?  Keller agreed:  There was no other choice. 

"I'm sure it was terribly embarrassing to be in his own bed, riding on the back of a flatbed truck with straps tying him down, going to the hospital, and then a forklift at the hospital unload him," Keller said. 

As the nation battles the obesity crisis, ambulance crews are trying to improve how they transport extremely heavy patients.

Transporting extremely heavy people costs about 2 and 1/2 times as much as normal weight patients. 

Some critics say the higher fees are a form of discrimination.  But proponents of the extra fees say obese patients are grateful for the equipment that eliminates the need for flatbed trucks and forklifts. 

For more humor and comedy visit:  comedytake.com