PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich — Officials with the Kent County Sheriff's Office say 13 toddlers were stung by bees after a trip to the park on Friday.
The incident happened around 12:15 p.m. when children being cared for by the Milestones Child Development Center went to Rogue River Park, about a half mile from the daycare center.
Officials with Milestones Child Development Center tell 13 ON YOUR SIDE the 3-year-olds ended up being stung by ground-nesting bees.
Some bees got inside the children's clothing, according to the daycare center. A few children were stung multiple times. Bees were still attached to the children's clothing an hour after the hive was disturbed.
Kyle Svoboda, Plainfield Township Fire Chief, said they issued a mass casualty event due to the magnitude of the event.
"The reason we did initiate that mass casualty was due to the complexity and the number of people that potentially were hurt," Svoboda said. "We can't manage that on our own with the resources that we have here."
Multiple units from neighboring agencies were called in to assist Plainfield as a precaution, including ambulances. Calling a mass casualty event, Svoboda said, also alerts hospitals in case there is an allergic reaction.
Svoboda said no one was seriously injured and they did not have to transport anyone to the hospital.
Four adults were also stung.
Bee stings can be serious, Svoboda said, especially for children.
"It's very serious as bee stings, especially with young kids that may or may not have been exposed to that before their body's going to react differently," he said. "So every unit that we called has, we call, EpiPens, or some sort of way of providing that medication to reverse the effects of bee stings. So it's very serious when you have that many kids that have been stung by bees."
When disturbing a ground-nesting bee nest, Svoboda said to do exactly what the Kent County Sheriff's Department did.
"They got the kids away from the situation. They got them on a bus, moved them away because the bees are there. We're not going to get rid of them right away," he said. "And then, as a patient, you have to know what. What is your body telling you? Are you starting to get puffy cheeks? Is your throat starting to close up? Those are all serious things that we need to consider and calling 911 is an immediate thing if you start to have any of those life-threatening situations."