Authors (including presenting author) :
Lo YY(1)(2), Tung MK(2), Leung YK(1)(2)
Affiliation :
(1)Supporting Services Department, (2)Administrative Services Division, Kwong Wah Hospital
Introduction :
Situated in one of the busiest districts, Kwong Wah Hospital is prone to the threat of pest infestation due its geographic location surrounded by food premises, garbage collection point with a construction site. In 2019, although the Rodent Infestation Rates (RIR) conducted by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) in Yau Tsim was dropped by 3% while compared with the figure in 2016 (9%), the number of rodents caught hit a new record from 67 catches in 2019 to 121 in 2020. In view of the situation, the Support Services aims to avert the breeding grounds of pest and abate the vectors through comprehensive pest control management.
Objectives :
To enhance the overall environmental hygiene by detect and eliminate the breeding ground and habitats for pests by modernized approach.
Methodology :
Integrated pest control management (IPCM) is adopted to understand the biological, physical requirement and vulnerability of pest for deciding the best measure to meet our pest control objective. Apart from the conventional control programs such as application of pesticide and traps, our team had taken a proactive approach to inspect the vulnerable areas with the assistance of pest control experts and the FEHD. Once problematic environmental condition is spotted, remediate action will be conducted immediately to improve the situation and after-action review will be regularly maintained to ensure the effectiveness of the control tactics. Corresponding to the known problems, In2Care traps are implemented to expose mosquitoes to insecticides by using fluorescent powder adhering to mosquito legs and kill mosquito, larvae and pupae effectively. For rodents, ultra sound and electromagnetic repellants, coupled with SafePRO Electronic Rodent traps (SafePRO) were applied to execute a rodent-free plan by extinct and eliminate rodents in the premises. Constant education is delivered to ensure involved staffs can perform their duties well to ensure our hospital is protected against infestation.
Result & Outcome :
The ovitrap for mosquito maintained a zero record throughout 2020 and additional catches were resulted from the SafePRO, after placing the trap along where signs of rodent activity were observed.
The IPCM is proven to be effective with high satisfactory feedback from the end-users regarding the services provided by the in-house supporting staffs and pest control officers with a positive result to tackle the pest infestation.
