[Bed Bug Supplement] Other Aspects of Control

Editor's note: Click here for a chart listing common bed bugs and other cimicids of the United States.

A  pest control company should ensure that a prospect or a customer has realistic expectations about bed bug control. Most people assume that controlling bed bugs is no different that controlling cockroaches or ants: Call the exterminator, pay him a hundred dollars, he treats the room — problem solved. Of course, it does not work that way, and a critical component of bed bug control is educating prospects, customers, managers and staff about bed bugs and their control, including the following information:

• Basic biology and habits of bed bugs;
• Why bed bug infestations are difficult to eliminate; and why simply spraying a room will not control bed bugs;
• The reasons that successful bed bug control requires effort and coordination from all parties including the pest control technician, residents (in apartments and other residences), staff and management; and
• Why bed bug control is prone to failure unless the customer guarantees access to all areas, authorizes initial service in all the potentially infested sites as well as during follow-up service, and cooperates as requested (reducing clutter, hot-laundering clothing, removing stored materials under beds, etc.).

PROVIDING KEY INFORMATION. A pest control company needs to provide this kind of information early, from the initial sales contact with a prospect and just before service begins, as well as throughout the treatment programs.

Customers can be educated through various methods including: 1) service contracts specific for bed bugs; 2) initial presentation by sales personnel; 3) printed information on bed bugs, their biology, habits and control; 4) information on your company’s Web site; 5) a brief training session for staff (housekeeping, maintenance, rental office, etc.) to include bed bug biology, the planned control program and the role of staff in ensuring success and, finally; 6) technicians and pest control office staff who are trained to understand the problem and can effectively communicate with customers.

LEGAL TECHNICALITIES. Pest control companies need to document all actions taken to control bed bugs for both technical and legal reasons: Technical, because documenting infested areas, levels of infestation, conducive conditions and control actions can help pest control companies assess the infestation and fine tune their control efforts. Legal, because documenting the actions taken to control bed bugs, and problems with cooperation, can protect both the pest control company and the customer from liability claims as a result of bed bugs. Bed bug control records can include such things as inspection reports, staff training reports, service reports, pesticide application reports, corrective action notices, status reports and log books.

ISSUES TO COVER. Specifically the things that should be recorded for each dwelling or unit include the following:

• Rooms infested and levels of infestation in each;
• Conducive conditions (clutter, crowding, structural problems);
• Special safety issues (children, pets, illness, chemical sensitivity);
• Level of cooperation, and specific description of lack of cooperation;
• Rooms that could not be serviced and the reasons why;
• Any special problems identified;
• Training provided to customer or staff (dates, times, subjects, attendees, trainer);
• Specific control actions taken including details on insecticide applications, steam treatments, etc. Application records must include EPA registration number, insecticide brand name and lot number, rate of application or concentration, date, time, site, amount used and applicator;
• Recommendations for repairs, corrections, and other changes to help control or prevent bed bugs; and
• Follow-up action required.

CONCLUSION. Due to the ongoing nature of control efforts (several visits or more over time), companies should keep all records for each dwelling, hotel room or apartment together in a single file so that staff can easily access the records and review the history of work at the site. Detailed recordkeeping may be critical when a customer calls with questions about bed bug service or billing disputes.

This article is an excerpt from Pinto & Associates’ Techletter, a biweekly training publication for professional pest control technicians. For more information about Techletter, visit www.techletter.com or call 301/884-3020.