Tag Archives: Illnesses

by | August 26, 2014 · 9:46 am

Hospitality Industry Risk Update: “Dunmore Hotel Evacuated”

“Twenty-four people were taken to Geisinger Community Medical Center. By 5 p.m. all but one had been released, according to hospital spokeswoman Westyn Hinchey.dunmore-pennsylvania-hotel-hotels-atrium The last patient was transferred to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for treatment of carbon monoxide exposure, Hinchey said. She said she could not release that person’s name and did not know his/her condition.”

At least one person remained hospitalized Sunday night and a Dunmore hotel is closed today after over 200 guests were evacuated Sunday morning. More than two dozen were taken to area hospitals to be evaluated for possible carbon monoxide inhalation.

Those staying at the Best Western Plus Hotel on Tigue Street with symptoms were removed in buses and ambulances after a carbon monoxide leak “stemming from a furnace” was discovered just before 9 a.m., Dunmore Fire Chief Christopher DeNaples said.

For more: http://bit.ly/XPDbme

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by | August 20, 2014 · 10:01 am

Hospitality Industry Risk Management Update: “Cause of Sickness Linked to Hotel Swimming Pool Remains Unclear”

“An inspector found that the pool’s pH levels were outside the ideal range Monday morning, but it was not clear that the issue was serious enough to sicken someonepool…The incident began about 8 p.m. Sunday when one of the children vomited and the others said they felt sick. They were all treated and released from the hospital by morning, a Children’s Health spokesperson said…”

The cause of a sickness that hospitalized 13 children after they used a hotel swimming pool Sunday night remained unclear Monday.

The pool at Homewood Suites, 4210 Airport Way, remained closed while the incident was investigated, the Denver Department of Environmental Health reported.

For more: http://bit.ly/1z1fcvo

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by | August 15, 2014 · 9:37 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Millbrook Hotel Faces Legionnaires Lawsuit”

“…The Wheat and Renta families, in the area for a local softball tournament, were among at least 14 people who became sick with flu-like symptoms including difficulty breathing, elevated temperature,Legionella-pneumophila body aches, dizziness, headaches, and chills, according to the suit…Legionnaires disease is typically contracted by inhaling or ingesting Legionella bacteria. The bacteria can also cause related illness, such as Pontiac fever, pneumonia, and other serious and sometimes permanent health conditions…”

Montgomery law firm Beasley-Allen has filed a personal injury lawsuit on behalf of two Jefferson County families, who the suit contends contracted Legionnaires disease while staying at the Sleep Inn & Suites in Millbrook.

Clayton Wheat and Tony Renta, along with several members of a girls’ softball team, became ill and several tested positive for Legionnaires disease after a weekend stay at the Sleep Inn & Suites, according to the suit filed by the Beasley Allen Law Firm in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

For more: http://on.mgmadv.com/1mR4GRC

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by | June 26, 2014 · 9:09 am

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Hot-Sheets Bronx Motel Kept Bloody Mattress in Room Years After Customer Died of Overdose on Bed”

“…A room attendant who photographed the soiled mattress in room 230 weeksbronx hotel before the inspection told an arbitrator it had been in use up until April, 2014…The firm also found that hotel management had failed to properly train staff on how to handle sheets and towels contaminated with human waste and other substances…”

Working in this Bronx motel is a bloody hell.

The owners of a hot-sheet motel where union laborers have been protesting wage and benefits cuts failed to replace a bloody mattress two years after a dead man was found on the bed, workers claim.

Owner Ankoor Naik has also ignored two independent reports that found inadequate training and protection for employees at the 94-unit flophouse despite hazardous conditions and bedbug infestations, workers and safety experts attest.

For more: http://nydn.us/1qL4QQD 

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by | June 24, 2014 · 8:35 am

Hospitality Industry Liability Update: “Hotels Don’t Need CO Alarms, New Rules Say”

“…CO is a very real danger, and CO alarms should be in hotel rooms,”CO says Stephen Thom, a University of Maryland professor of emergency medicine and a CO specialist. “CO incidents happen in every major city regularly, and people only pay attention to the need for CO detectors when there is a tragedy…”

New international building and fire codes that will be published this summer may provide hotel guests less protection from deadly carbon monoxide.

The 2015 codes eliminate a 2012 requirement that required a CO alarm in each guest room or a detection system in all common areas, according to Michael O’Brian, a member of an International Code Council committee that recommended the new codes.

For more: http://usat.ly/1jLdVBe

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by | June 20, 2014 · 9:30 am

Hospitality Industry Health Update: “Food and Water Quality an Ongoing Challenge for Hotels”

“…While a wide variation of food and water quality practices exists from country to country,water it’s a misconception that safety concerns are limited to poor areas in developing regions. Many germs have no boundaries, so the NSF StaySafer program will play an important role in establishing a universal set of standards that can be used as a benchmark and complement local requirements…”

From the buffet salad bar greens to the ice clinking in drinks served poolside, hotel administrators are finding that protecting guests from food and water illness outbreaks is a continuous challenge.

It’s also a necessary undertaking to demonstrate the hotel’s commitment to its patrons’ well being. Travelers won’t soon forget the awful stomach cramps if they experience a sickness during their stay, and such episodes can cause nearly irreversible damages to a hotel’s reputation.

For more: http://bit.ly/1kVhmFd

For a brief video on some of the steps you can take to help prevent Norovirus outbreak at your hotel, check out the video below:

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/98741016 w=500&h=281]

Petra Risk Solutions’ Loss Control Manager, Matt Karp, offers a P3 Hospitality Risk Report – ‘Preventing Norovirus at Your Property’. 

P3 ( Petra Plus Process) is the Risk Management Division of Petra Risk Solutions – America ’s largest independent insurance brokerage devoted exclusively to the hospitality marketplace.

For more information on Petra and P3 visit petrarisksolutions.com or call 800.466.8951.

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by | June 11, 2014 · 9:02 am

Hospitality Industry Bed Bug Update: “How to Search Your Hotel Room for Bed Bugs”

“…I also found “joke” apps pretending to be bed bug detectors for the purposes of freaking your friends out,bedbugs2 and some highly bogus “ultrasonic repelling” apps that suggest they turn your phone into a sonic threat to bugs of all kinds. There is no evidence that bed bugs or mosquitoes are repelled by ultrasound. Don’t waste your money…”

You’re packed for your trip, your boarding passes are downloaded… and then that little moment of terror hits. What if the hotel you’re going to stay in has bed bugs? It’s a real concern, but by being vigilant, you can reduce your chances of bringing home some unexpected souvenirs.

I don’t put a lot of trust in online hotel bed bug ratings or reports; infestation status can change from day to day, and there is no reliable way to verify that reviews are not fake.

Here’s how I search for bed bugs when I arrive at a new hotel. I can’t promise this is foolproof, but knowing how one slightly-paranoid entomologist deals with the threat of bed bugs might be useful to some readers.

For more: http://wrd.cm/1odGOha

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by | May 28, 2014 · 8:26 am

Hospitality Industry Risk Update: “‘Mother Whose Son, 11, Died in Killer Hotel Room Starts Foundation to Raise Carbon Monoxide Awareness”

“…The mother and son, in town to pick up Jeffrey’s sister from a science camp, did not know that only two months earlier an elderly couple died in the same room after being overcome by carbon monoxide gasImage…Mrs Williams also hopes that in sharing her tragic story, she would raise awareness of the silent, odorless and colorless killer that has robbed her of her son…”

The North Carolina mother whose 11-year-old son was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning has started a foundation to raise awareness of the lethal, odorless, colorless gas.

Jeannie Williams nearly died from a carbon monoxide leak in a hotel that claimed the life of her son Jeffrey Williams, and now she’s made it her life’s mission to make people aware of the killer.

For more: http://dailym.ai/1pxZMf3

 

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by | May 19, 2014 · 8:32 am

Hospitality Industry Risk Update: “Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Your Hotel”

“…When working with contractors, make sure to check references and ensure that the company has the proper permits before starting construction on a project, says Stephen Barth, the founder of HospitalityLawyer.com and professor of hotel law at the University of Houston…ImageNew requirements from the International Code Council (ICC) for the International Building Code and the International Fire Code state that carbon monoxide alarms should be installed in any location that includes a device that could potentially produce carbon monoxide…”

Last spring, three people died from carbon monoxide poisoning after staying at the Blue Ridge Plaza Best Western Hotel in Boone, N.C. The victims—elderly couple Daryl and Shirley Jenkins and 11-year-old Jeffrey Williams—visited the property seven weeks apart and all stayed in room 225.

Though the initial investigation following the Jenkins’ deaths was inconclusive, toxicology reports eventually revealed that the deadly gas was to blame for the tragedies. The pool heater’s exhaust pipe, which ran directly under room 225, was the source of the lethal leak.

For more: http://bit.ly/1khYBQb

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by | May 8, 2014 · 9:00 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risk: “Environmental Heat Solutions Warns That Bed Bug Cases Could Rise Due to Increase in Travel and Lack of Awareness”

“…One of the most important places to check for bed bugs, according to experts, is in hotel rooms. This is because of the amount of movement through them. Bed bugs can ‘hitchhike’ on clothing and take up residence in mattresses. Image From there, they can attach to new hosts and ‘hitchhike’ out...Individuals who are dealing with bug infestations should consider methods like bed bug heat treatment and canine bed bug detection to remedy the problem...”

Environmental Heat Solutions is spreading awareness about the rise of bed bug infestations and the reasons behind them.

There’s a silent epidemic that is sweeping the United States, and that epidemic is bed bugs. Due to a number of circumstances and a lack of proper education, more and more businesses and families are struggling with getting rid of bed bugs.

For more: http://bit.ly/1gbWqIR

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