Chicago vs. Bed Bugs

Wow.  As Pest Management Professional reports, the Central Ohio Bed Bug Task Force launched its website today, and it is impressive, folks. Looks to me like Dr. Susan Jones (a mastermind behind the Cincinnati-Hamilton County Joint Task Force Strategic Plan) found a way to help her fellow Ohioans after all.

Here’s what the task force is all about (emphasis is mine):

The Central Ohio Bed Bug Task Force formed in November 2008 because of the growing number of bed bug infestations in Franklin County. It is a collaborative endeavor including representatives from local governments, health departments, social service agencies, pest control applicators, landlord and tenants rights groups, fire departments, the Ohio Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Health, and the Ohio State University Extension.

The goal of the task force is to prevent bed bug infestations through education and serve as a resource to those struggling with an infestation.

No community is immune to bed bugs. Socioeconomic status is not an indicator of one’s susceptibility to a bed bug infestation nor is it an indicator if someone is dirty. Anyone can experience an infestation.

Here’s what’s fantastic about the website:

Target Areas Page

• Schools
  • Pictures from the Bed Bug Overview for schools
  • School Letter to Parents (download)
  • School Identification and Management Guidelines for Schools
  • “Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite: What Every School Community Needs to Know” presentation

• Public Safety
  • Informational Presentation for firefighters
    

• Housing
  • “Anyone can get a bed bug infestation” article
  • New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Fact Sheet for the home

• Social Services
  • For health care and social service guidelines for home visits, click HERE (links to Social Service policy document)

• Health Care
  • For health care and social service guidelines for home visits, click HERE

• Hotels & Lodging
  • Hotel Staff Training Guide
    English
    Spanish
  • The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene bed bug factsheet for hotel safety

• Steering Committee: The steering committee is made up of individuals with a wide ranch of expertise regarding bed bug infestations. To send comments to the steering committee, please click HERE.
  • Matt Beal, The Ohio Department of Agriculture
  • Sue Carpenter, Columbus Code Enforcement
  • Andrew Christman, The Ohio Exterminating Co., Inc.
  • Dr. Susan Jones, The Ohio State University Extension Office
  • Paul Wenning, Franklin County Board of Health

Partners Page (with links to almost all task force partners listed)

• Buckeye Real Estate
• Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging
• City of Hilliard Code Enforcement
• City of Reynoldsburg Building Department
• City Of Westerville Building Department
• City of Whitehall Code Enforcement
• Columbus Apartment Association
• Columbus City Schools
• Columbus Code Enforcement
• Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority
• Columbus Public Health
• Columbus Urban League
• Dragoo and Associates Property Management
• F & W Properties
• Franklin County Board of Health
• Franklin County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MRDD)
• Franklin County Office on Aging
• Grove City Area Visitors and Convention Bureau
• Jackson Township Division of Fire
• The Legal Aid Society of Columbus
• LifeCare Alliance
• Madison Township Fire Department
• Ohio Department of Agriculture
• Ohio Department of Commerce
• Ohio Department of Health
• Ohio Exterminating Company, Inc.
• OhioHealth Group
• Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association
• Orkin Pest Control
• The Ohio State University Extension
• The Ohio State University Medical Center
• The Ohio State University Student Housing Legal Clinic
• Quality Pest Control
• Southern Mill Creek Products
• St. Agatha School
• State Fire Marshal Inspection Bureau
• State of Ohio, Division of Industrial Compliance
• Truro Township Fire Department
• Upper Arlington City Schools
• Varment Guard Environmental Services, Inc.
• Washington Township Fire Department
• Waste Management
• Westerville City Schools
• Willis Law Firm

Photos Page: Images are courtesy of The Ohio State University Extension Office.

• Behind a baseboard (2)
• Shed skins on box springs
• Fecal spotting on sofa underside
• Fecal spotting on sofa frame
• Bed bugs on suitcase (2)
• Electrical outlet plate
• Hatched eggs
• Fed bed bug nymph
• Bed bug inspection

Nice work, Central Ohio. City of Chicago? State of Illinois? It’s time.

Special thanks to our adviser Renee Corea for the tip.

In today’s Bedbug Conference article, The Post Chronicle features this Associated Press YouTube video, taken at the EPA National Bed Bug Summit yesterday:

My favorite line from the video?  Environmental Protection Agency’s Lois Rossi on the purpose of the summit:

We felt at this point in time it was necessary to bring interested stakeholders together to collaboratively try and solve a problem or come up with some solutions that might lead to the resolution of this problem.

Perfect.  This, my friends, is how strategic plans like the one we advocate for the City of Chicago begin.  It’s the first thing I’d ask our city to do, if I could share my Bed Bug Wish List with the officials responsible for addressing the spread of bed bug infestations in Chicago: invite interested local stakeholders (public health agencies, community organizations, pest management professionals, entomologists, housing authorities, city council members, streets and sanitation officials, apartment associations and others) to participate in a collaborative brainstorming session and generate ideas about how to solve the problem.  It’s the best first step our city can take; it’s the first step many other cities and states have already taken.

Chicagoans, if you’d like to send a message to your aldermen, you can do so quickly through our CitizenSpeak Campaigns.  We’re all in this together, remember.

*Pete Grasso of Pest Management Professional posted live updates from the EPA summit here and here.  Check it out!

Our friend Renee Corea at New York vs. Bed Bugs posted this list today.  It’s wish list, of sorts, for New York City’s new Bed Bug Advisory Board.  Renee got my wheels turning, as usual, so I decided to post a wish list of my own– a list of the things I’d love to see in our city right now.

Here’s what would be included on my wish list, if I were allowed to give one to the city officials who are working to stop the spread of bed bugs here in Chicago:

• Work with a sense of urgency, but work responsibly as well.  Get the job done right from the very beginning.  Form a committee or board or task force– comprised of health department officials, building inspectors, expert entomologists and pest management professionals, community stakeholders, public housing officials, and city/state legislators– whose sole purpose is to create a coordinated, strategic, multi-faceted plan to control the spread of bed bugs.

• Consult with entomologists and other experts to begin developing a good, comprehensive informational web page like this one (click the links on the left side– it’s incredible!), but do so quickly.  You can tweak it as you go along.  For now, get the basics done right, and get them out there ASAP.

• Get our 311 operators trained to handle reports of bed bug infestations, and develop a protocol for them to follow.  Record and track bed bug reports so that we can begin to evaluate the extent of the problem in our city.

• Pass legislation to define and enforce landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities that are specific to the complex circumstances presented by bed bug infestations.  State of New Jersey Assembly Act 3203 is a fantastic model for you to follow, in my opinion.

And there you have it: Jessica’s Bed Bug Wish List for the City of Chicago (For Now).  The rest– and there’s a whole lot more– can come later.

I hope Renee and our pals over at New York vs. Bed Bugs don’t mind that I’ve so blatantly stolen their idea.  Hey, what can I say?  You know a good thing when you see it, right?