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Protecting myself from BB in the hospital?
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bugsnyc
newbite
Joined: Jul '09
Posts: 4
Posted 5 months ago
Fri Oct 23 2009 0:26:48
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After a long battle with the buggers in my nyc apt, I havent gotten bitten in a few months. Im not sure if im in the clear, but Ive been washing, steaming, living out of ziplocks, ect. Im 35 weeks pregnant and am completely afraid of getting BB in the hospital (Cornell on the UES) when I give birth staying there overnite for a few days. im terrified of getting them, bringing them home (either me or my husband), ect.
Any suggestions on how to protect myself while there?
Thanks so much. This forum has been a such a help to me..
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These FAQs tell you how to avoid bed bugs when you travel, and consider that going to the hospital is like traveling to a potentially infested hotel room.
These FAQs tell you how to get bed bugs out of your stuff.
If you want to take precautions, keep in mind you will have to decide how far you want to go.
Here are some ideas:
Try not to bring personal belongings.
Those personal belongings you must bring should be sealed in an XL Ziploc bag. Bring your own, seal it and --if they insist -- put it inside the hospital plastic bag which probably has a non-airtight closure (based on ones I've seen).
Clean items should be kept in it until use, and later stored in and brought home sealed in a second "possibly contaminated" bag.
You should then treat the items inside the second bag.
Preferably you only have clothing, linens, blankets, the kind of thing you can wash (any temp) and then dry on hot. Your own clothing should be changed (your best bet is to change clothing head to toe right before leaving hospital -- change into items which have been brought from home sealed in plastic. Don't sit or lie down at the hospital after doing so -- change right before you leave. The same goes for husband.
Shoes are tricky. Ideally, they were bagged with the other stuff. Maybe your husband wear crocs or something more easily inspected while in the hospital visiting.
Other items brought in like plastic water bottles may be washed as you would dishes in hot soapy water.
Books, magazines, and other items used in the room are potentially worrisome. They may be exposed. You might only want to bring such items if you can discard them. (Something like a Packtite would kill bed bugs in them, but most people would not make such an investment for one hospital trip.)
Purses and other necessary unwashables are tricky. If they can be kept sealed in a larger ziploc, in the drawer or wherever such things go, that is good.
Try and dress and wrap the baby for going home in items also brought from home in a clean sealed bag.
I know all of this is a hassle. Remember that to some degree, if you live in NYC (or many other places, for that matter), you risk getting bed bugs every time you sit in or place your bag or coat on a chair or floor in a bar, restaurant, house of worship, train or subway, plane, waiting room, friend's home, etc.
Remember that some hospital situations are more dangerous than others.
For example, if patients are allowed to bring blankets and pillows from home, the unit is more likely to be infested (and definitely do not do this unless you plan to bag and treat the blanket; pillows are very difficult to treat so I would toss it).
On the other hand, hospitals are also less cluttered than other public spaces such as hotel rooms. And the mattresses are generally sealed in some way and new clean linens brought out. This is good.
Most of us must take some risks. Don't wear yourself out. Decide what you're willing to and can do easily, and don't go nuts.
Remember also that awareness of bed bugs is your best defense. Knowing infestation is possible and taking what steps you can to avoid it will help you do so.
Recognizing what the problem is should you ever have any signs at home (so you can treat promptly) goes a long way towards minimizing the impact.
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Oh, and try not to stress about this.
You will not be able to do all the things listed above and that is okay, that is life. You have other important things to concentrate on.
FWIW, I had an emergency hospital visit, and had no chance to control any of these things. I did bring items home and carefully inspected and washed them. But friends visited me and sat in the chairs and nobody changed before hopping in the car and going home. It's life. Frankly, I was in a bad way when I left the hospital and had much more important concerns (like feeling better) and could do very little to control whether I brought a straggler in.
Remember too that it's unlikely that a hospital will have a large infestation, since there is little clutter and lots of people changing beds and looking at things all the time. I feel your chances of getting infested are not huge, but that obviously, having experienced bed bugs, and for your own peace of mind, you want to do what you feel comfortable doing.
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bugsnyc
newbite
Joined: Jul '09
Posts: 4
Posted 4 months ago
Fri Oct 23 2009 8:53:16
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Thanks so much for the advise. Im mostly concerned with the visitors (parents/husband) sitting and sleeping on the furniture (those sleeper chairs-yuck!). I know i have other things to worry about (the baby!) but I wish I could just ziplock the furniture in there!
Thanks again...
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well if you come from a home that does have bedbugs you should let the hospital know. they can take precautions by placing the room in isolation to keep from spreading them to visitors and to other rooms....although thinking on how the isolate for lice, its doesnt really work as well for bedbugs because for lice or other "contact" isolation they use gloves, gowns, booties, and bonnet....you put on clean ones outside the room and discard the items inside the room just prior to leaving, but yeah, the gowns arent all encasing, hmmmm, quite interesting. Makes me want to call one of the local hospital's infection control departments and see what they would do, considering they are mobile critters.
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