Since beginning as a licensed applicator in 1976, it’s clear that I’ve been doing pest work a long time. Pest pros see all sorts of things when working in customer’s homes but it was when working as a pest management consultant on a bed bug remediation project that an incident happened that would forever set the tone for how I conducted bed bug work from that day forward.

I received a call seeking assistance at a large apartment complex.  The call was from the property owner who had been referred to me by an industry colleague.  Our initial conversation indicated that the apartment complex was experiencing a long-standing bed bug situation of at least four years and that it had progressively worsened.  They were on their fourth pest company.  They had simply had enough and were at their wits end.  During the conversation, an action plan regarding the necessary remediation work was discussed and agreed upon.

Soon after, I was on location and up to my neck in bed bugs.  It was immediately clear that the problem would never be eliminated if the work being done was allowed to continue as observed.  The efforts were haphazard and ineffective.  No one involved was happy. Much correction was needed.

Work began with an inspection of the facility.  The complex was large. Hundreds of apartments were infested.  Infestations varied from very light, where just a few bed bugs were present, all the way to severe, where the apartment was a “bed-bug-ground-zero”.

As a pest pro I’ve entered countless homes.  Some are neat and clean, others not so much.  Except for the presence of bed bugs, this location was similar to others I had visited in the past as far as the living conditions observed.

In one particular apartment something occurred which I’ll never forget, the incident that set the tone for me on bed bug work.  It remains a vivid memory which serves me to help my clients.  In fact, it was such an influential moment that it was included in the beginning pages of The Bed Bug Combat Manual. It is intended to help others adopt a similar mindset regarding bed bug work.

Upon entering this apartment, I was struck by how neat, clean and orderly it was.  It was modestly furnished but very clean.  It was the literal translation of the “you can eat off the floor” type home.  At home was a young mom and her infant son, who was lying in his crib.  It was visually obvious that there was a bed bug problem as evident by the numerous bite marks on the mom’s arms and on her baby’s arms and legs.

In speaking with her the absolute despair she felt soon became readily apparent. She related that despite her best efforts to keep her home clean, she could not prevent her baby from being bitten by bed bugs.  She didn’t know where they were coming from or how they were able to get to her son, her husband and herself.  She was doing the best she could but nothing was working. At this point that she literally broke down in tears while holding her baby in her arms and crying on my shoulder.

This is not easily forgotten.  It was “the hook” that shaped my bed bug outlook and mindset to this very day.  I promised that we would be taking care of her problem and saving her and her family from bed bugs immediately.  The mission here was easily defined as:  (1) save these people from being bitten by bed bugs, and, (2) save their assets (i.e., prevent them from having to throw out their infested beds and furniture that they could ill afford to replace).  We’d accomplish the mission by delivering zero bed bugs.  To deliver zero bugs, a thorough and comprehensive work effort was required.

Since that time I have performed bed bug remediation projects at many locations. I am continuously surprised by how this pest can adversely affect so many people on an emotional and psychological basis.  Speaking with numerous bed bug victims, I’ve come to understand that it may not be the bugs themselves, but underlying issues that bed bugs trigger which unnerve people.

There are a multitude of reasons bed bugs affect people as they do.  Some of these include:  the social stigma, the cost of remediation, the feeling of isolation, the fear of spreading them to friends and family, the sleeplessness, the loss of control, the fact that they attack in the most intimate place (your home, your bed) and the feeling that you can’t protect your children from them.  There may be others but it is clear that bed bugs cause anxiety, stress and emotional turmoil to their victims.

When work seems to get to be too much or too difficult, I remember this mom, her son and many other bed bug victims encountered. It serves as a reminder that these folks are counting on us to save them from bed bugs. Thanks to this young mom and infant son . . . the tone was set; and set in stone.