[Integrated Pest Management] On the Case

It was hot and muggy that day. The winds of the night before had
dissipated, departing with the storm that had drenched the soil across
the city. I looked up into the clear blue sky as I drove across town to my office, the air conditioning in the car maxed out to keep the day’s heat at bay. It was then my cell phone rang. I answered it, snapping, "This is Rocky. Can I help you?"

The voice on the other end was familiar. It should be. It was one of my assistants with a message from a client. "You’d better get over to the club ASAP, Rocky. It sounds like trouble over there," Miriam said. "Roaches are taking hostages, so to speak, and the management ain’t too happy ’bout it."

"Okey doke," I replied, "Tell ’em I’m on my way."

The club is the local racquet club where city bigwigs and players hit tennis balls back and forth. Corporate presidents and politicians pay big bucks to be members, and roaches don’t fit into their definition of high class. It’s not the first time pests have stirred up discontent over there. There was the time mice raided the gift shop, and termites have "busted up" a few board feet of timber in the bar. Cockroaches are a regular concern in the kitchen and I figured they were causing a disturbance this time.

At the club, the manager lays into me. It’s not the first week roaches have been seen on the food tables during a banquet. It’s happened the past three weeks. That’s why I got the call. My name is Rocky Jackson and I’m a PI — a Pest Investigator. In my line of work, it’s my job to locate pests and take them out. This may sound easy, but in many cases, it takes some real knee pad work to get results. And my clients demand results.

Last night, it seems, bugs were seen sharing the wedding reception buffet with the guests. My associate, who handles this account, is already here and is at a loss as to a solution. He gives me his song and dance about all the treatments he’s done and complains he can’t find a single cockroach anywhere in the banquet room. Yet, the club manager tells me every time they have a function in the room, they see roaches. Obviously, my guy is missing an important clue . . . or two.

When I run into these situations, I follow a tried and true process I like to call SIC-EM. It’s action oriented, straight to the point and easy for anyone to understand. The acronym stands for:

S = See

I = Investigate

C = Correct

E = Eliminate

M = Monitor

Easy, right? Let me explain. By "see," I inspect or observe to determine which areas require more thorough attention. I then "investigate" each of those sites hoping to find clues for solving the infestation. These clues I discover during my investigation should reveal the source or sources of the infestation, the areas that may require attention, and any conditions that may be contributing to the problem or could possibly contribute to another pest problem. I then advise the client on the value of "correcting" these conditions. For some pests, such as flies, this step often comprises the majority of the solution.

The last two steps address the pests directly. By "eliminate," I mean that all identified sources of the infestation are addressed directly using nonchemical techniques or the appropriate treatment technique and insecticide formulation. I then "monitor" the results of my efforts to ensure the infestation has been taken care of to my client’s satisfaction. Monitoring can be accomplished by a simple phone call, a scheduled follow-up visit, or by just stopping by to check in. My clients appreciate the fact that I keep in touch and make sure they’re happy.

WORKING THE CASE. In the racquet club, I put SIC-EM to work. I looked at the bare-topped folding tables in the banquet room (see), and the first thought crossing my mind was what I didn’t see. I recalled that at any banquet I’ve ever been to, they didn’t serve food on tables bereft of cloths, skirts and decorations. It seemed to me the reason cockroaches weren’t being seen except during an event serving food was that they were harboring in whatever was being carried into the banquet and placed on the tables.

I asked the manager how the tables were decorated for banquets. He said the tables were skirted and covered and food dishes were placed on mirrors. The mirrors seemed the most likely thing to check so I had the manager show me where they were kept (investigate). Indeed, more than 50 German cockroaches were resting quietly in the cracks behind the outer ring on the backs of the mirrors. These pests were removed by vacuuming (eliminate), and the table and surrounding area where they were stored was checked and treated using a gel cockroach bait just in case we missed a few hiding elsewhere.

I recommended to the manager that he have the cracks in the back of the mirror filled with a silicone sealant to help prevent their future use as a cockroach harborage (correct). The service professional servicing the racquet club would then add the inspection of these mirrors and other items used in the banquet room to his routine to be sure they did not again become a problem (monitor).

I still wasn’t finished in the club. The head chef mentioned to us when we were dealing with the main pest issue that he had seen cockroaches on one of the prep tables in the kitchen. I used the opportunity to have my associate use SIC-EM to solve that concern. I led him to the table and asked what he saw in the area that might be particularly inviting to a cockroach (see). He listed things such as cracks in the table’s construction, the electric outlet box mounted on the back of the table and the orange juicer sitting on the table. Which of these, I asked, did he think was the most inviting. He indicated the juicer and I directed him to examine it and take off the inspection cover (investigate). Inside, he found a dozen or so cockroaches along with what looked like months of sticky juice build-up. I pointed out this fact to the chef and asked if the juicer could be thoroughly cleaned (correct).

I then asked my associate how he thought we would best deal with the cockroaches now in the juicer. Having just used the vacuum on the mirrors, he correctly suggested vacuuming, using a short burst of pyrethrum to flush the insects out (eliminate). I recommended that since the kitchen was in operation, we take the juicer to the janitor closet to do our work. This juicer was then added to the list of items of interest to inspect regularly on future services (monitor).

A NEW DETECTIVE. As I drove back to the office, I reminisced about a case where a new night service professional named Derek requested some additional field training. I spent the night riding with him, and it didn’t take long for us to begin applying the SIC-EM process. The first stop was a fried chicken fast food store, and Derek proceeded to use the outdated SAP pest control strategy — SAP meaning "spray and pray."

When we entered the restaurant, he started treating baseboards immediately in the dining area using his sprayer. I stopped him and asked, "Why are you doing the service that way?"

Derek replied, "That’s the way they showed me to do it."

I sighed and thought "Note to self: give this guy’s field trainer an ‘attitude adjustment’ along with a refresher course on the advantages of SIC-EM over SAP." Then I asked Derek, "Do you want to work smart or hard?"

"Smart." No hesitation, Derek wanted to do things right.

"They always do," I said to myself.

It’s not the new guys’ fault when they aren’t taught any better by their field trainers and supervisors. I explained the basics of SIC-EM, adding, "You don’t need to start treating anything until you have some information and you can’t do that without inspection and investigation."

I led him to the back to talk with the manager who told us he knew of two places cockroaches had been seen, although he had only seen them himself in one of those areas. I asked him to show me exactly where those two sites were located, which I explained to Derek was always the best place to start your service. "Pay particular attention to those sites where customers report seeing pests," I explained. "Always have them show you where they see the pests. If they say the bugs are ‘all over,’ then have them show you where they saw the last one. More often than not, most of the problem is centered around that one area."

We began by addressing the prep table where the night manager said he personally saw cockroaches regularly. I led Derek through the "see" process, asking him to imagine he was a cockroach and where would he most like to live. He pointed out the small refrigerator under the table as a likely harborage (see). "Why," I asked him, "is a fridge a good source for cockroaches?" He replied that it produced heat and that food was nearby — both excellent answers. Derek was starting to get with the program.

I directed him to pull out the fridge and examine it carefully for activity (investigate). His investigation revealed the insects clustered in and around the electric junction box into which the appliance was plugged. We went to the other site of reported activity — another prep table in an adjoining room — and repeated the process. Derek’s instincts were good. He started his flashlight inspection under the table at floor level where experience has shown me cockroach activity is often found. Trapped in the corner behind the table leg were debris, paper and a dinner roll. Amongst this accumulation were about a dozen insects, happily exploiting the treasures provided by the kitchen staff’s inadequate attention to cleaning practices. Of course, we showed this to the night manager and suggested he might point such oversights to the cleaning crew (correct).

For the eliminate part of the process, we used a vacuum to remove the cockroaches from the junction box and the corner behind the second table (along with the debris and food particles). A small amount of dust was applied into the junction box and placements of gel cockroach bait were applied into cracks of the tables surrounding the small fridge. I had Derek apply a small spot treatment to the corner behind the table leg where we found activity. We completed some additional inspection and investigation in the restaurant, focusing on pipe voids, beverage stands and other sites where moisture and food might be more abundant. No other cockroach activity was found. We thanked the night manager, had him sign the service report then headed to the next stop.

I advised Derek to give the daytime manager of the restaurant a call in five days or so to check whether activity had stopped (monitor). By the end of the night, Derek had a firm grasp of SIC-EM and was looking forward to solving his customers’ pest infestations.

When I arrived at the office, I gave the boss the rundown on the racquet club and checked my messages for new cases to practice my trade. Being a pest investigator has its challenges, but I’ve found SIC-EM can be applied successfully to any pest situation. The key to effective resolution of pest infestations is finding the source or sources of the problem. It starts with correct identification of the pest involved so you understand the conditions in which the pest is likely be residing. The service then begins with seeing the sites in and around the building the target pest is most likely to be found, then investigating, correcting, eliminating and monitoring. As I told Derek after the long night servicing commercial kitchens, the difference between a novice and an expert is experience. It’s no coincidence the first five letters in both expert and experience are the same.

Sorry, I have to leave now. Another case just came in. Something about giant cockroaches in a day-care center. Sounds challenging — and fun. This PI is out the door.

The author is a board certified entomologist, a registered sanitarian and manager of technical services, Terminix International, Memphis, Tenn. He can be reached via e-mail at shedges@giemedia.com.