[Focus on IPM] IPM Helps Keep Health Care Healthy

Imagine you are admitted to the hospital for a routine procedure and end up spending the night because you have contracted an infection. Your first thought is probably, “How did this happen to me?” Well, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2 million cases of secondary infections occur in hospitals every year and more than 250,000 secondary infections occur in nursing homes every year. Secondary infections can be transmitted in various ways including human contact, food, pests and insects. Controlling the spread of pests and insects is how pest control fits into the health care industry. “Our primary responsibility to the health care industry is controlling that vector-borne disease potential,” Frank Meek, technical director, Orkin Pest Control, said during a presentation at NPMA’s PestWorld.

WHAT IS IPM? Having a clear understanding of IPM will help technicians when setting up the right program for their customers. IPM stands for “Integrated Pest Management,” but every professional has his or her own view as to what IPM actually means. Meek says some professionals view IPM as “Innovative Pest Management” because they do have to get a little different and step outside the normal thought. IPM is also seen as “Intelligent Pest Management” because technicians have to contemplate what they are going to do before doing it.

The internal definition of IPM at Orkin is the use of all available methodologies to provide pest control. This includes biological, mechanical, cultural and chemical controls, with chemical as the last resort. It is common knowledge that pests need food, water, and shelter to survive. “A true IPM program recognizes that fact and addresses that fact before trying to kill that bug. IPM addresses the causes of the pests, not just the symptoms,” Meek said. Meek then explained that if technicians are just  space-fogging for flies because it’s an option, then they are only addressing the symptom. They need to look at the reason for the flies being there in the first place.

SETTING UP AN IPM PROGRAM. “(When setting up a program, technicians must realize) IPM is not a one time event that happens. It is a regularly scheduled, ongoing process,” Meek said. To help professionals better understand the process he broke them down into seven steps.

1. Inspection — Take time to get to know the environment you will be working in. Talk to staff members and take a tour of the facility. Hospitals are very large and you should familiarize yourself with every part of it.

2. Preventive Action — Study the facility to determine those locations most susceptible to a possible infestation and implement preventive pest control measures.

3. Identification — You need to know exactly what kind of pest you are dealing with in order to treat the problem. If you don’t know what bug it is then you won’t know what treatment to use to eliminate the pest.

4. Analysis — Ask yourself questions. How did the pest get here? Why does it stay here? How can I get rid of it?

5. Treatment Selection — Use one or more of the four common control techniques: biological, mechanical, cultural or chemical to treat the problem. Always go with the non-chemical treatment options first.

6. Monitoring — Evaluate the situation to determine if you were successful.

7. Documentation — Remember to write everything down. “If it didn’t get written down, it didn’t happen,” Meek said.

TREATMENT TECHNIQUES. According to Meek, non-chemical approaches should be used first. The non-chemical techniques Meek discussed were: exclusion (building the pest out); moisture control (getting rid of the pest’s water supply); sanitation (cleaning up the pest); and inspecting supplies (keeping pests out to begin with).

“I think one of the most unused pest control tools in the world is the vacuum cleaner,” Meek said. Part of a professional’s service should include physically removing the bugs from the space. Changing the landscaping and examining the waste management of the facility also are considered non-chemical tools.

An example Meek gives for changing the landscaping is replacing mulch with gravel because mulch provides pests with greater access to food and shelter. If these methods do not work, then technicians can move on to  chemical techniques. The three applications technicians should follow are: baiting; crack and crevice applications; and use of insect growth regulators. If appropriate for the situation baiting is a good option because it is minimally intrusive. Meek stressed the importance of making careful crack-and-crevice applications to ensure that none of the product gets applied outside the crack-and-crevice and is visible to others.

IPM CHALLENGES. There are a number of challenges a technician should be aware of when implementing an IPM program. Communication is the biggest. A successful IPM program is not a one-man show. Technicians and the hospital or nursing home personnel must work together. Customers must communicate their needs and technicians must communicate what they need from the customer in order to provide the best support.

An IPM program will not work if the customer doesn’t do what was agreed upon. Other challenges include properly budgeting time. Hospitals are extremely large and technicians need to make sure they have scheduled enough time to thoroughly go through the site. They also want to make sure they have charged enough money for their service. Documentation is another challenge. An IPM program will not work if the customer or third parties can not read  instructions. Dealing with these challenges will give technicians the knowledge and tools they need to provide customers with a lasting IPM program.
So, where does pest control fit into the health care industry? By setting a facility up with a successful IPM program, technicians are contributing to the health care industry’s goals of lowering health care costs by reducing pests in the environment and providing better infection control. 

The author is a writer for GIE Media, parent company of PCT magazine. She can be reached at kmorris@giemedia.com.