By EMS1 Staff
HONOLULU — Paramedics in Hawaii are not immune to the bed bug infestation that’s swept the nation with unprecedented force this year.
Responders in Honolulu say the bed bug problem has quadrupled — recent reports show an average of one infected patient a week, up from one a month a few years ago.
“Sometimes they might see the bugs crawling out of the patient, or sometimes they might see indications on the bedding in the residence itself,” Lorrin Okumura, EMS Safety Specialist, told KHON2.
Four times this year, responders have had to disinfect the entire interior of their ambulance, as well as decontaminate the equipment brought to the scene, a process that costs more than $900 each time.
The agency has now enacted a tracking system that alerts personnel if the location they’re headed to has a history of bed bugs, according to KGMB.
If responders are on a call to a location that had an infestation in the past, they come suited up in a hazmat gown, according to report. If they happen to spot bed bugs on or around patients, they’ll put the patient in a suit that covers them head to toe, or put them in a large bag to keep the insects isolated.
After they are done with a call, responders follow a checklist to make sure the ambulance is parasite free, the report said.
Infestations by the tiny reddish-brown critters have become increasingly common in New York City over the past three years, with an outbreaks reported in a Times Square movie theater, stores, luxury apartment buildings and even the office of U.S. radio show host Howard Stern of Sirius XM Radio.
While New York City has been called the epicenter of the outbreak, infestations have been reported in hotels and apartment buildings nationwide.