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Attleboro woman stung more than 500 times by wasps

Print | Comments () Posted by Martin Finucane September 7, 2010 04:04 PM

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Robin Loznak/Daily Inter Lake/AP

Don't make him angry. An AP photo of a yellow jacket on a rose covered with water in a garden in Montana.

By L. Finch, Globe Correspondent

A 53-year-old Attleboro woman was stung more than 500 times in an encounter with a wasp nest outside her home, local fire officials said.

The woman was found covered by a swarm of yellowjackets, lying on the grass on her Division Street property when firefighters found her around 7 p.m. Saturday, Attleboro Fire Chief Scott Lachance said.

Firefighters used a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher, which sprays cold, compressed gas, to stun the insects, allowing rescuers to help the woman, Lachance said. But several yellow jackets remained in her clothing, stinging three other firefighters in the ambulance, he said.

A few stragglers even made it to the emergency room, he said.

The woman, who was nearly unconscious, was transported to Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, Lachance said. He did not know if the woman, whose name has not been released, was still hospitalized today.

Firefighters believe the insects swarmed her when she either fell on or stepped on a nest somewhere nearby, but they were not able to locate a nest when they later returned, Lachance said. The department has never seen anything like it, he said.

“We’ve had some minor stings and a handful of bees before, but nothing to that extent,” Lachance said.

A swarm of yellow jackets also stung a group of Dover, N.H., middle school students and their teacher this morning during an outdoor science activity, school officials said.

The students were in a sixth-grade science class at Dover Middle School. One of the students stepped on a wasp nest, according to a statement released by Dover School Superintendent Jean Briggs Badger.

Three students received medical attention from a nearby fire station, while the remaining students and teacher were treated by the school nurse, according to the statement.

No further information was immediately available.