[Treatment of the obese patient in the Emergency Medical Services - an increasing problem].

The prevalence of obesity is high in Germany, almost half of the population are overweight. Hence emergency doctors are increasingly confronted with obese patients for whom special anatomical and physiological factors need to be considered. Furthermore this could lead to poorer quality and delayed treatment as normally available emergency therapy and transport are not designed for the special needs of patients with extreme obesity. The following article describes the special factors in the emergency treatment of these patients.