Ohio firefighters are running into a new concern on calls: bed bugs.
"We never really had (bed bugs) up until about six years ago," Lancaster Assistant Chief K.J. Watts told WBNS-TV.
In recent years, exposure to bed bugs has been up 10 percent for Lancaster firefighters, and it has led to the creation of five department policy pages and new rules pertaining to gear. The department also has leaned on a little four-legged help.
"Just like narcotic sniffing dogs and bomb sniffing dogs, they have bed bug sniffing dogs," Watts said.
Monthly, those dogs come into Lancaster's three fire stations to see if they can find any bed bugs. Heaters also are used to kill bed bugs while on calls and to disinfect apparatus.
So far, Lancaster firefighters have picked up bed bugs in two different instances, Watts told WBNS. When that happens, the department will help the affected firefighters and will even bring its "Bed Bug Killer" heater to their homes.
"(W)e're an all-hazards response company. That's kind of what we do and bed bugs are the recent hazard for us," Watts told WBNS.
