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Bed Bugs: What's Really Working - Part 2
1 Apr, 2008 By: Paul J. Bello Pest Management Professional
TRAINING & EDUCATION IS NEEDED
More technician training and customer education is needed.
"All of our technicians are properly trained for bed bug control", says Richard Diggs, president of Alexandria (Va.) Pest Services. "We have been doing a lot of bed bug work in the Washington D.C.-to-Baltimore area with great success that we credit to our excellent training program."
"Until recently, most of our technicians had not even seen a live bed bug," reports Justin Knox, vice president of Knox Pest Control, Columbus, Ga.. "We made sure we provided bed bug training that included live bed bugs and on-site field training for them to gain valuable experience."
While it's true that many of today's PMPs have yet to encounter live bed bugs, sometimes it's because our customers don't know they have pest issues — nevermind bed bug infestations.
"One of our customers thought she had a bad case of poison ivy and went to her doctor," recalls Yvonne Cadell of Co-operative Exterminating in Marrietta, Ga. "Even her doctor did not realize that what she really had was bed bugs. After about one year, she found what she thought were ticks in her house and called us for help. These ticks turned out to be bed bugs."
In addition to supplying customers with treatment preparation lists, responsible PMPs are creating information sheets for their customers that include details on bed bug biology, behavior, recognition, identification and related integrated pest management technologies and techniques. Seasoned veterans also supply bed bug accounts with photographs of the cryptic, bloodsucking pests so their clients will be better prepared to recognize and deal with infestations.
BEWARE OF LIABILITY
"You need to have well-drafted contracts with proper disclaimers to adequately protect from potential liabilities when dealing with something as elusive as a bed bug," says Cliff Slaten of Slaten & O'Connor in Montgomery, Ala.
There already have been some cases related to bed bugs. In light of this, Slaten advises that contracts should be written to protect PMPs from actions from third-party relations. Legal experts agree it's possible guests who stay in hotels where PMPs provide service might name PMPs in bed bug lawsuits.
The University of Kentucky's Michael Potter takes it a step further, noting PMPs should be careful about what they promise in their service offerings.
"Get with your attorney to make sure your service agreement says what you intend," Potter notes.
Experts agree that under today's conditions, bed bug infestations can be difficult to eliminate. In some cases, bed bugs might go quietly after treatments, only to resurface months later.
"Just because your post-treatment inspection doesn't reveal any bed bugs does not necessarily mean you've gotten them all," Potter cautions.
PROPER INVESTIGATION & FOLLOW-UP
It's helpful to know the nature of each account when you're dealing with any pest, and bed bugs are no exception.
"We use a customer questionnaire that helps us to gain a better understanding of exactly where we are in the bed bug infestation and management process with each customer," says Rick Cooper, technical director of Cooper Pest Solutions in Lawrenceville, N.J.
Among other information, Cooper Pest Solutions' survey can gauge: how long the problems have been going on; when the customers first noticed issues; which rooms have been problematic; who is getting bitten; who lives in the structures (children, elderly, pets); and whether there have been any recent house guests and/or travel taken recently.
It might not be possible to find every bed bug in an account. That's why successful PMPs conduct follow-up inspections and include customers' observations as part of their programs.
"We want to know if they've been bitten or seen any bed bugs and when," Cooper says. "This helps us to understand whether we've been successful in our treatment programs."
Bed bugs are so stealthy that PMPs need to be thorough and conduct sufficient follow-up to ensure customers' pest situations have been solved. In the case of multi-family housing, an ongoing program is likely necessary to prevent reinfestations.
"We've been burned at a property before", reports a property management professional, "and we wish to avoid that ever happening again. This is why we have our units on a quarterly rotational service to assure that every unit is inspected and serviced regularly to prevent any pest problems from getting ahead of us".
You can reach Bello, president of PJB Pest Management Consulting, at 700-500-0460 or pbelloconsulting@earthlink.net.
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