2012 Bed Bug Tour : San Mateo Live coverage

Feb 2, 2012, 13:28 PM by User Not Found

Todays line-up:

8:30 - 9:30 Gail Getty (UC Extension) - Bed Bug Biology that effects your business bottom line

9:30 - 10:30 Jim F. (NPMA) - Detecting and controlling bed bugs in the 21st century

10:45 - Jeff Lipman - Beb bug liability, the legal precedence being set

 

On deck... Gail Getty.

Bed bug History:

DDT

  • One application did the job
  • No prep needed
  • Inexpensive
  • Resistance hit in 1947

Today

  • People are NOT vigilant
  • More clutter in the homes
  • Key to control: through treatment

Behavior

  • 90% of lifetime is hidden
  • Feed 3-4 days
  • Often go days to a week or more without a blood meal
  • Tend to live in aggregations

How big are they? - the size of an apple seed

Let me say it right away

  • Can't fly
  • Don't jump
  • Coloring differs from opaque to dark brown

Life cycles

  • Adults
  • Eggs
  • Babies

Mating and dispersion

  • Tramatic insemination and female dispersal
  • male pierces females abdominal
  • Females matted repeatedly reducing longgevity of females by 25-30%
  • Female disperses
  • Result eggs deposited in unpredictale fasions

Adult life cycle

  • Thin with no blood meal
  • Female can lay eggs from 6-18 months
  • Eggs to egg 2 months

Eggs

  • Lays 2-5 eggs a day
  • 200-500 in her life time
  • Eggs 'glued' to surfaces
  • Tggs hatch in 6-10 days on average
  • Temperture makes a diffrence

 

 Babies/Nymths

  • Molt 5 times
  • Must feed to molt

EARLY DETECTION IS KEY

Feeding

  • Poorly understood
  • Carbon dioxide
  • Heat
  • Maybe movement in room
  • inject anticoagulant and numbs area
  • Some people are allergic to injection
  • Draws out blood

Adults

  • 1 year no blood meal

Nymths

  • 3 months without a blood meal
  • leave dark fecal spots behind
  •  One bug inflicts multiple bites
  • will travel 20+ feet

Bites

  • Different reactions to bites
  • Proteins in bugs saliva can cause a progressive sensitivity to repeated bites
  • None - delayed up to 3 weeks
  • Misdiagnosis
  • Most common misdiagnosis - carpet beetle

Biting marks

  • Arms, legs, neck, back, shoulders and face

 

Disease

  • 40 human pathogens
  • Neven proven to biologically transmit any human pathogen
  • Secondary infection
  • Not considered to be medically important

Customer Anxiety

  • It's real
  • Handle with care and empathy

Where

A study in infested aparments showed

  • 935 FOUND IN ASSOCIATED WITH BED
  • 23% furniture
  • 7% less predictable places

Gail Getty

Thank you Gail!

 

Next Up Jim F. of the NPMA

 Understanding Bed bug treatment and inspection methods

Survey

  • more than 400 PMPs surveyed
  • 99% treated bed bugs
  • 84 % indicated bed bugs were increasing in their region

NPMA task force

Industry -Regulators - Academics

  • Consumer protection
  • Identify active infestation
  • Communicate fees
  • Communicate details of service
  • Communicate realistic expectations
  • Provide bed specific information with agreements
  • Canine teams require 3rd party certification
  • Non-chemical
  • Steam
  • Vacuum
  • Heat
  • Freeze
  • Traditional options

 

Community wide approach

  • Discourage disposal of mattress and furniture
  • Recommdations for inspection and treatment of surrounding areas and ajacent rooms
  • recomendations for training and educating hotel and facility staff about bed bug identification

 

 Visual Inspections

Pros

  • Humans can integrate facts to enhance search parameters
  • Visual confirmation

Cons

  • Labor intensive
  • low level

Monitoring Devices

Pros

  • Can be used to monitor when visual inspections are conclusive
  • Proactive approach
  • Can be used to measure post treatment success 

Cons

  • The most effective bait is a human
  • detect bed bugs over days or weeks 
  • Low level infestations can be missed
  • Cost 

 

Mattress and Box Spring Encasements

 

Pros

 

  • Makes inspection easier
  • Seals bugs and eggs inside mattress and box spring
  • Easy to install 

 

Cons

 

  •  Not all encasements are created equal
  • Ripped covers don't work
  • Covers can't be removed for Laundering

Traditional Product Application

 

Pros

 

  •  Mulitiple formulations available for diffrent treatment sites
  • Many effective products available

 

Cons

  • Labor intensive
  • Resistant populations have been reported
  • Sensitivity may be a concern

 

Steam Treatments

 

Pros

 

  • No residue
  • Destroys all life stages, including eggs
  • Penetrates fabrics and cracks 

 

Cons

 

  • Labor intensive
  • No residual
  • Some surfaces are heat sensitive
  • Temp must rapidly exceed 122 F

 

Thanks Jim!

 

Next, Jeff Lipman (Attorney/Judge) - Real legal cases

Bed bug litigation

Document you Advise - PCO are at risk of being named in a lawsuit. Improtant to document your action plan.

Follow the Action Plan

  • Hotel/Motel and apartment managers will be named  in most lawsuits extremely important to follow the action plan and document compliance:
  • Written actiona plan approved by the PCO
  • Written engagement contract specifing bed bugs

Have PCC provide requirements for treatment readiness

 

Landlord and Hotel's duty to tenants and guests

1-provide a habiital premises

2-protect from clear and present danger

 

Landlord or Hotel Act

1-warn guests of dangers

2-evict tenants who interfere with bed bug eradiction

3-assist tenants who are mobility impaired with preparation for treatment

 

 Ongoing Duty to Investigate

1-Bed bug monitoring

2-Periodic inspections as recommended by your PCO (Pest Control operator)

 

Implied warranty of Habitability

An implied warranty of habitability

When a Liability arises

The law commands that you inspect bed bugs

Landlords Obligation

To do what is reasonable under the circumstances

Unfair Deceptive Acts and Practices

  • Rental units may not contain illegal hazards that endanger the occupants well-being or make the unit unfit for habitation. UDAP violation

Jeff is now walking us through the Spaulding v. Young Case (1992)

Mathias v. Accor, 347 F .3d 672 (2003) This is a great case to research, this is regarding bed bugs at a motel.

Reliance not required (most of the time)

Generally courts are more receptive to consumer fraud class actions than common law fraud class actions.

 Fee structure

  • In writing
  • Req. PCO to provide written estimate
  • PCO should specify work to be performed (Bed bug)

Insurance for Building (covers bed bugs risk and exposure)

Getting Sued - Call your Insurance company

  • Do not speak to the client
  • Do not speak to the clients attorney
  • Do not speak to the press
  • Speak to your Insurance company, they will do the talking for you

Burdons of proof

  • Reasonable doubt
  • Clear and convincing evidence
  • Preponderance of the evidence

 

What Jury hears in bed bug cases

  • Blood sucking pests
  • Fecal smears
  • Nymphs
  • Carry diseases

 

What the jury see's

  • Photos of sheets
  • Bites (Photos)
  • Suffering (Photos)
  • How bb travel
  • PCO records

 

 

Jeff Lipman Bed bug attorney