[Technically Speaking] Lessons Learned - A Real World Example

Lesson Learned — A ‘Real World’ Example

Up until about two months ago I thought, as many pest management professionals do, that if you were reasonably familiar with the products you use, particularly the label (e.g., application sites; human, animal and environmental hazards; safety precautions; efficacy; etc.), you knew most of what you needed to know. In one instance, however, this proved not to be the case and very costly to my firm. Hopefully, you can learn from my “real world” example.

One of the areas where we should become better informed is the toxicological profile of the products we use and the consequences of an accidental poisoning. This has changed dramatically over the years. In the old days, we talked about chlorinated hydrocarbons, organophosphates, carbamates, zinc phosphide, warfarin and other historically significant products, and if there were accidental poisonings they were easily diagnosed and treated. Today, we have products whose names we can barely spell, much less thoroughly understand their toxicity and treatment recommendations following accidental exposure.

We talk about reduced risk of exposure because the concentrations are so low. For instance, some insecticides are applied at 0.01 percent and some rodenticides at 0.005 percent and there are probably application rates even lower. Our perception as pest management professionals is that these low concentrations are relatively harmless. However, the “perception” of someone suffering an alleged exposure is frequently on the opposite end of the spectrum, i.e., the slightest exposure is life threatening, regardless of amount and concentration.

Thus, it behooves us, regardless of the product used and the amount applied, to make the application as inaccessible as possible to minimize the risk of exposure. Despite our best efforts, however, situations occur that are unexpected and result in accidental exposures to products that in most cases are detectable and readily treatable.

AN EXAMPLE. The incident I’m going to discuss involves a reported exposure to cholecalciferol, a form of Vitamin D used in rodent control. We’ve been using a product containing this active ingredient (AI) the past two years in apartments with significant mouse problems. My rationale was that it was a very effective rodenticide, it was a seed formulation (less attractive and, therefore, less likely to be consumed by children and pets), and in packet form could be placed in areas inaccessible to children and pets, e.g., under (not in) base cabinets, wall voids and behind virtually immovable appliances such as gas stoves. In accessible locations our rodenticide baits are placed in RTU containers to prevent exposure.

The apartment where the suspected exposure occurred was treated in March and April 2008 with the packets of the subject bait (12 months prior to the date of the incident). The bait was placed under the base cabinet, behind the stove and in the secured HVAC closet. In April 2009 a new tenant moved into the apartment over the weekend and mid-week called from an emergency vet clinic claiming his kitten had eaten some of the seed bait, was sick and vomiting as a result.

The tenant informed us that he found the cat playing and reportedly eating seed from the place pack. (I didn’t know cats ate seed — the emergency vet assured me that they do it all the time — I still don’t believe this.) We suspect that the bait was displaced from behind the stove when the apartment was renovated by property management staff.

The veterinarian at the emergency clinic called our office to find out what we wanted them to do. My initial response was to determine if the cat had actually eaten the bait. At that time I was informed that there was no way to determine if the cat had eaten any bait, and that if the cat was to survive exposure, treatment had to begin immediately. A later call to the manufacturer’s hotline confirmed that exposure wasn’t detectable and that treatment needed to begin immediately — they graciously agreed to work with the emergency clinic.

The tenant was unable to pay for the emergency vet services and unless I agreed to pay a minimum of $1,500 up front they wouldn’t treat the cat and it could possibly die. I know there are probably a few individuals out there who would say let it die, but I felt the backlash from the press on a story of this nature wasn’t worth the risk. Also, this is our largest commercial account and I didn’t think it was worth jeopardizing. Before agreeing to pay we checked our application records to verify that we had in fact placed the bait in the unit.

According to the veterinarian the cat needed to be monitored continuously and treated prophylactically for four days to ensure its survival. The cat was monitored for calcium, sodium and renal functions for four days in the veterinary clinic and at no time was the calcium level outside of normal limits. The total cost for the unlikely consumption of this product and four days of emergency vet service was $2,756.

Another major mistake we made in dealing with this situation was not turning it over to our insurance company from the outset. By paying a portion of this veterinary bill upfront and subsequently filing a claim we became the claimant, practically excluding us from coverage under the policy. Had we let the insurer handle the claim from the outset they could have negotiated with the tenant and/or the clinic or, depending on the laws of your state, disallowed the claim.

LESSONS LEARNED. A number of valuable lessons can be taken from this experience, which I hope will benefit PCT’s readers:

• Fully understand the products that you are using, particularly their toxicological profiles and treatment protocols, should an exposure occur.
• Keep accurate records — in this case they confirmed that we put the product in the apartment and unfortunately that didn’t help our situation.
• Don’t assume there is any safe placement. Perhaps we would’ve been better off just applying the loose seed instead of the packs — the packet couldn’t have been displaced during renovation and the kitten wouldn’t have been able to play with it.
• Involve your insurance carrier from the outset — you never know where these situations can go particularly if they involve personal injury.
• Pick your products wisely, selecting them based on the specific situation. There are many products and AI’s available. 

The author is president of Innovative Pest Management, Brookeville, Md. He can be reached at rkramer@giemedia.com.