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(c) Elliott Publishing.

Stuck in a Hotel
Err Travel · February 15, 2000

Have you ever been stuck in a hotel room? I don't mean, "Have you ever had to spend an extended period in a hotel room?"

No. I mean it quite literally. Have you ever been stuck … really stuck … like in the finger … like with a syringe … in a hotel room.?

Ouch!

This is not the beginning of a column on another urban myth such as the wake-up-in-the-bathtub-packed-in-ice-with-a-note-that-says-call-911-because-someone-has-stolen-one-of-your-kidneys myth.

No, this is even scarier. This is real.

According to a story supplied by Sharps Compliance, a biohazardous waste disposal company, and reported in The Inn Times, eight hotel employees have contracted AIDS from accidental needlesticks. Five of those infected have already died.

In an interview with Security Management Magazine, Jim Stover, the corporate director of safety and security of Bristol Hotels and Resorts, reported that, on average, a syringe or other "sharp" is encountered by a housekeeping staff member once every ten days at each of their properties.

Finding "sharps" - the industry term for syringes, razor blades, and other prickly biohazards - is even more common at hotel properties near hospitals or medical centers, especially those properties which house patients who may be in long-term, outpatient programs.

For example, Stover said that in the two Bristol hotels that are located near medical centers, "housekeeping encounters a sharp once or twice a day."

Yikes! As high as the risk of being stuck is to housekeepers, it could be even worse for hotel guests who assume that their rooms will be all tidied up upon their arrival. I sure don't expect to find potentially deadly biohazards under my mattress. (Well, I didn't until I did the research for this column.)

Now I am very careful about using my hand as a probe in searching for items I can't see such as a telephone book inside a drawer or a blanket on an overhead shelf. And I'm very careful to lift the mattress and look before tucking in the sheets.

In general, I don't put my hand anywhere that I can't see what awaits it. I suggest you do the same.

And if you do see a syringe or razor blade or other sharp object in your room, call security. They should have in place a procedure to remove and properly dispose of sharps.

Now if there were only a procedure to eliminate the hotel "dulls" …

Dr. Terry Riley is a psychologist and travel security authority. His column appears on Wednesdays. He is author of the popular book Travel Can Be Murder. Visit his site at http://www.appliedpsychology.com or e-mail him at terry@ticked.com.