"Getting a stretcher into a house is difficult anyway," he said. "With clutter piles, it makes it that much more difficult."

All while trying to maintain sanitary on-site treatment, Read said he has encountered falling trash and falling feces in hoarded houses.

"You just have to keep on going," he said.

Added Ooten, "I can't wait — I have to do something in a hurry to get to the patient. These are the conditions I have to work in, and again, we see it a lot."

First responders are mandated to report hoarding situations to adult protective services, he said, noting their first concern is helping the person in need. It's not just the elderly, Ooten added, describing his response to the apartment of a 40-something female.

"She had 30 or 40 cats and never cleaned the boxes," he said.

In another case where the home had inoperable plumbing, buckets of human waste were piled up all over, including next to the stove where a woman was cooking bacon.