(Newswire.net — October 19, 2013) Chesapeake, VA —
Reports like these are common. In Suffolk, Virginia firefighters had to relocate because of bugs found in their station. The crew at the station on Market Street had to temporarily move while it was to be exterminated. Channel 3 News reports, “The station had to upgrade all of the mattress, box springs and linens.
WEB MD explained “Bedbugs are small, oval, brownish insects that live on the blood of animals or humans. Adult bedbugs have flat bodies about the size of an apple seed. After feeding, however, their bodies swell and are a reddish color.” According to Pest World, “99.6 percent of U.S. pest management professionals have encountered a bed bug infestation in the past year and that infestations have increased in the majority of locations in which pest professionals typically treat for bed bugs. Prior to 2000, only 25 percent of respondents had encountered a bed bug infestation.”
We asked Jesse Parker from U.S. Termite and Moisture Control here in Hampton Roads about the rise in these pests and he stated “The steady increase of people having bed bug problems in our area alarms me, especially the number of single family homes verses apartments” .
Another incident where medics have had problems was in Columbus, Ohio. 10TV’s Maureen Kocot reported that “Columbus firefighters said that bed bugs are creeping into medic vehicles. Union officials representing Columbus firefighters said that they were growing more concerned about the potential for a full-blown infestation. “We could potentially be passing bed bugs on from one patient to the next,” International Association of Firefighters Local 67 union president Jack Reall said. Reall said that firefighters also were concerned about transferring the bugs to their homes. “If that truck’s infested, there’s a potential for us to walk out of the truck, into somebody’s house, into a fire station, into a business, and carry bed bugs with us,” Reall said.
Columbus fire currently has a plan in place to dry firefighters’ uniforms in high heat if they believe they have been exposed to bed bugs, Kocot reported. “We’ve got to take some time to do it right the first time and come up with a policy that’s doable, and it’s not going to happen overnight,” Reardon said. Reall said that time is of the essence when it comes to developing a working plan. “Tell you the truth, I’m completely surprised we have not infested a fire station yet,”