Pest Management Professional, February 2013
giving back Pest Barrier Brings Bed Bug Relief to Homeless Shelter Will Nepper Managing Editor O ne hundred beds three rooms and countless bed bugs Thats the challenging circumstances Donna Miller the director of operations for the Samoshel homeless shelter in Santa Monica Calif was up against last October It was a bad situation made worse by the nature of the infested structure a place where people from all walks of life come when they have nowhere else to go According to Miller it was one of the worst bed bug problems she could imagine The situation was bad impacted by a very limited budget and a perpetually changing occupancy All of the residents had complained of being bitten and bed bugs were easily visible on their blankets during daylight hours Samoshels staff and residents did what they could without the professional help the job required whether it meant keeping their possessions in plastic trash bags or putting the legs of their beds in buckets of water According to Cameron Riddell president of Bird Barrier Pest Barrier 100 beds were placed in three different rooms of a temporary The Samoshel shelter as Bird Pest Barrier found it left and duing treatment top right Bottom right Pest Barrier president Cameron Riddell treats a bed structure Low walls separated the rooms and considering the countless infested possessions and bedding and infrequent laundering Riddell considered the shelter a zero control site When Pest Barrier heard about the situation they offered a free treatment with Cimi Shield the companys green bed bug treatment But we were nervous Riddell said The problem was so vast with so much food and easy passageways we didnt think anything could possibly solve the problem but we decided to give it a try anyway On paper Pest Barriers offer looked good to Miller so once she received the ok from her executive director the wheels of treatment were set in motion Three weeks before treatment began a dozen insect interceptors were positioned randomly under bunk bed legs around the shelter Nearly 200 bed bugs were caught by outer rings and 46 Continued on page 91 88 February 2013 Pest Management Professional www mypmp net
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