Purcellville, VA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/23/2014 -- Bed bugs have been found in homes, offices, schools, and hotels, and now bed bugs are starting to crop up in ambulances. This has become a serious problem in Honolulu, Hawaii, where paramedics say they’ve encountered several hundred cases of bed bugs over the past year. When taking injured or sick individuals to the hospital, they’re finding the bugs in two out of every three homes visited.

“When the EMS has to contend with bed bugs, we know there’s a big problem on our hands,” a representative from Environmental Heat Solutions says. “We need ambulatory services to be clean and competent to best serve the public. If EMS staffs are dealing with weekly encounters with bed bugs, we have a huge problem. The public needs to be assured that their ambulances are bed bug free.”

The good news is bed bugs haven’t been proven to cause disease; the bad news is it presents a safety hazard. For most people, a brush with bed bugs will only cause a few bumps. However, some experience severe allergic reactions. A person in need of an ambulance is at a serious health risk; a risk that doesn’t need to be compounded by the additional problem of bed bugs. Worst of all is the stigma that surrounds bed bugs, and their persistent biting.

It is estimated the city of Honolulu has spent roughly $17,000 in the last fiscal year to eliminate bed bugs. In the next year, Honolulu is going to request the budget be upped to $25,000.

“Bed bugs are an expensive problem to have, particularly for ambulances,” the Environmental Heat Solutions representative said. “The major problem is that when one of the ambulances is out for bed bug treatment, there’s one less ambulance on the road serving the public.”

There is not much paramedics can do to completely prevent bed bugs, as Honolulu has assured the public that nobody will be denied medical care because of bed bugs. Paramedics have been trained in prevention basics, but the bed bug problem is predicted to remain.

“Heat treatment would be our recommendation for the fastest, most effective means of bed bug treatment in the ambulances,” the representative of Environmental Heat Solutions said. “It remains to be seen what methods they will use.”

About Environmental Heat Solutions
Located in Purcellville, Virginia, Environmental Heat Solutions was founded with one goal in mind: To help those suffering from bed bug infestations. They are Washington, D.C. Metro Area’s bed bug specialists, offering bed bug heat treatment and canine detection services throughout Washington, D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. With many years of experience handling bed bug infestations, Environmental Heat Solutions has found heat treatment to be the best approach for eliminating widespread infestations quickly and with minimal environmental impact. Environmental Heat Solutions offers a free, no-strings attached consultation with the desire to inform anybody who suspects a bed bug infestation and provide them access to definitive answers regarding the costs involved with finding and eliminating such infestations. For more information, please visit: http://www.greenbedbugsolutions.com/.