Penny Wise and Pound Foolish

Above is the three page document I was given (on Friday) with the time of my pest treatment (the following Tuesday) and the preparation instructions required. The attached bugs are some that I captured with tape as I saw them and wanted to save to show management/pest personnel. If you click on the individual images they will open up into a full-sized (and clear) image.



It was bound to happen.. When The Hodges Co. was replaced as the property management company for CATCH's properties one of the things that changed was our monthly pest inspections. I was promised by the new property manager that they would be resuming the apartment inspections at some point. That was at the end of 2007 and now the Endicott is experiencing a Bed Bug Infestation.

I've lived at the Endicott for just under seven years and have never had a problem with pests of any kind. After spending 1994-1997 in Ft. Lauderdale it's been a welcome change! Frankly I was surprised that such an old building didn't have any noticeable pest problem.What I'm not surprised by however, is the fact that we developed a problem after the apartment inspections were stopped.

When Hodges was our property manager we also had quarterly safety inspections. Now those inspections are few and far between, and the items checked are much fewer. I tend to notice things like that because I worked for Concord Royal Gardens inspecting apartments.

Now I'm no 'Mr. Clean' but I keep my apartment generally free of leftover food or anything that might attract bugs. I vacuum and dust when I get ambitious and generally keep things clean, which isn't easy when you've inherited your father's belongings and live in a one bedroom apartment. Through my experience inspecting other people's apartments I know how bad conditions can get, and I can only imagine what can happen if the inspections are stopped or reduced.

When I heard about our bed bug problem I did some research on the Internet, and one of the first things I noticed was news articles about 'the recent increase of bed bug infestations'. I wonder if the issue was covered by the property management trade publications. I haven't asked around but if the subject hasn't been covered it should be.

What I learned on the first web site I checked for information about the little buggers was not comforting. Once an infestation gets going it's very hard to stop. Bed bugs can live for up to 18 months without food. It only takes one male and one female to survive somewhere in the building to quickly repopulate, so they're really hard to totally eradicate. They're small and fairly flat (especially the young ones!) and can crawl through some stitching holes in furniture and things like mattresses. The one [fairly] good thing I learned was that they don't transmit diseases when they bite. That's a small consolation to ponder while you try not to scratch the bites..

Climbing into bed and going to sleep isn't something to look forward to when you know that during the night these little blood suckers will go to work, and the next morning you'll likely have groups of bites somewhere on your body. The itching usually takes a while to start and once it does it lasts for days, although regular applications of something like hydrocortisone ointment or Bactine™, or one of the many other 'bug bite' products can help quite a bit (depending the location of the bites).

The history of my experience started with a visit from our maintenance man and a guy from a pest control company. They asked to look under my mattress and the subsequent inspection turned up no bugs. That was a number of weeks ago. Recently I started to see what looked like ticks crawling across the carpet. One, then another until I it was almost daily. Each time I'd grab a piece of tape and catch it then tape it to a sheet of paper (originally to show to a pest specialist but quickly became a 'collection'!). I started hearing about people's apartments being sprayed for bed bugs here and there and soon I started feeling the itching and seeing groups of red bumps on my feet and legs.

In the last 2-3 weeks it hit my floor. The first apartment I heard about was my former neighbor Hazel. They treated her apartment, and I'm not sure about the exact time frame but [days] later she couldn't be contacted by friends or relatives (the Concord Police knocked on my door asking if I'd seen her) and later unfortunately was found deceased in her apartment (I'm going to miss Hazel).

Then Tony in the apartment across the hall from me told me (after asking him if he had any problems with bed bugs) that no, he hadn't seen any but that pest control had come in and 'bombed' his bedroom. He said that's the only room they treated and that he had to leave for several hours.

That brings me to last Friday when our maintenance guy knocked on my door and handed me three sheets of instructions regarding preparations required before the treatment of my apartment the following Tuesday at 9:30 AM. He emphasized that all the instructions had to be followed precisely prior to the appointment, I had to arrange to be gone for 3/6 hours (I'm not sure which, and the instructions said 3 hrs on one page and 6 on another) and that they were 'doing the entire building' instead of the previous approach.

I wasn't able to even start the massive preparation until Monday evening. I literally worked through the night and thought I was almost done by the 9:30 AM appointment time. The instructions included stripping the bed, discarding and/or washing everything then securely bagging the items, emptying all drawers inspecting and bagging everything, vacuuming, and removing every outlet cover (among other things like moving all the furniture away from the walls, oh and also make sure there's room for the pest control folks to work!).

Did I mention that this is a one bedroom apartment?

The way I read the instructions and the fact that the guy across the hall only had his bedroom 'bombed' led me to believe that just the bedroom & closet was to be treated and that the room had to be empty except for the mattress and box spring (and the cloth removed from the bottom of the box spring). Thus everything from my bedroom (and packed BR closet) was in the living room area.... 9:30 arrives and the maintenance man shows up, looks around, and tells me that the entire apartment is being treated and that the bedroom didn't have to be emptied just things piled in the center of the room!

By that time I was so tired and soaked in sweat I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I looked around in disbelief trying to figure out how that was even possible. After working frantically all night and being so tired my disbelief started turning into mild rage. He said "keep on working", he now had to call the property manager and talk to the pest control guys who were on the floor below to figure out how to proceed, then he left.

Did I mention that I have heart problems including high blood pressure, Type-2 Diabetes, and Chronic Depression? - Yep, and right about then I wasn't sure if I was going to have a stroke or a nervous breakdown or both..

I decided to sit down and ponder the situation while I drank what must have been going on 3-4 gallons of water by that point. The temperature was fine, the A/C was set at 68 degrees but I'm so out of shape that I was sweating buckets and my back was hurting just standing up straight. After a while I started to think about how all of this might have been prevented if the monthly inspections hadn't been stopped, and started yelling out loud "How do they expect people (with all sorts of various conditions including age, physical/mental, etc.) to get all this done in such a short time?". "Damn it! This isn't my fault, if anyone's it yours/CATCH's, and if you hadn't tried to manage this property on such a low budget this might not have happened!". @#$%^&%*!

After a few minutes (and more water) I cooled off, got up and started moving things back into the bedroom, cursing only occasionally when the sweat blurred my vision or my back twinged. I slowly worked away and around noon I was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I was also wondering why neither maintenance nor the pest guys were there yet.

The maintenance guy never returned but around 1:30 PM the pest control guys showed up dressed in their space suits. I explained that I'd done the best I could but couldn't empty one closet because there was simply no space. They were cool with that and said that they were going to be returning (every week?) for a while anyway. They told me to leave and come back at 5:30 PM.

When I returned at around 5:20 they were gone. There was no note/paper work regarding safety instructions regarding treatment residue or their return date(s) and my door was left unlocked. After a while the apartment seemed to be unusually warm so I checked the A/C unit and discovered that the filter was totally clogged with a white powder. Elsewhere there was a very light amount of residue on surfaces and the floor was slightly tacky.

I'd forgotten to call in three of my prescriptions and ran out the day before so I picked them up while I was out. I took my meds, had a bite to eat, then I started the whole process in reverse....

Today I'm happy to say so far so good. I've only seen two bugs and both of them were dead! It was nice to wake up and not see or feel any bites! I do however feel like I ran a marathon yesterday. My body is sore as is my mind. This morning I finished up returning things to their places and by noon I was relaxing watching TV. I started to nod off and was just getting up to take a nap when there was a knock at the door.

Now I rarely get visitors, or even people knocking at my door aside from maintenance and occasionally Concord Police looking for someone, so the last one I expected was a reporter and photographer from the Concord Monitor.. and guess what she was asking about?
[UPDATE 8/28/09]: The article "Bedbugs infest Endicott" [by Amy Augustine] was on the front page of the Concord Monitor Online today. Thankfully there were no photos of me..

Evidently another resident in the building contacted the Concord Monitor and they were knocking on doors and asking about the issue. When they asked me if I had anything to say I was more than willing to tell them my experience and thoughts to date (even though I'd answered the door unshaven and in my boxers and a T-shirt).

Afterward I did wonder what the reaction from the property management company might be, but I have to hope that they will handle the situation maturely and professionally. Frankly I was impressed when I spoke with the new property manager on the phone. He was congenial and professional, and as opposed to the manager who preceded him seems in control and not hurried. Situations like this can generate a defensive response especially when it's an organization. Then multiple egos are at play and a lot depends on the management style of the company and how far that extends down the ranks.

This is a serious situation for everyone involved, from CATCH to MB Management, and also the residents of the Endicott. With an infestation the State of NH officials could get involved. Here's a quote from the New Hampshire Department of Justice web site 'DOJ > Consumer Protection & Anti-Trust Bureau > Consumer Sourcebook' >

Landlord Responsibilities: "[...]

RSA 48-A:14 sets minimum health and safety standards for rental property in towns that do not have ordinances that establish housing standards. An apartment does not meet these minimum standards if:

• It is infested by pests and the landlord does not conduct regular inspections and pest exterminations [...]"
  

Now it's my understanding that from this point forward regular inspections have been resumed which is great news. Lets hope that the pest control company can gain control of the infestation and ultimately eradicate all the bed bugs. That goal is going to be incredibly difficult to achieve from what my research into the subject tells me, and frankly won't be achieved without the residents active participation. Attentiveness and strictly adhering to the instructions provided are essential, as is frequent and open communication between management and residents. Assistance needs to be provided to residents who need help understanding what needs to be done as well as those who need help moving items. It's also a good idea to double check to make sure the required items have been done, well before the actual appointment. I realize that's not easy when you only have two maintenance personnel who I'm sure have a pile of job tickets to attend to.

Keep in mind that the efforts required of the residents for the treatment(s) are difficult for those in good health, and this is not our fault! Communication is so important in all facets of life and the lack of communication and outreach in this case is a perfect example. With it this could have been caught in time and stopped before it turned into an 'infestation' and a major disruption in the lives of the residents affected not to mention a giant and potentially legal headache on the management/landlord side.

The Endicott has a number of residents who have special needs and require additional assistance and monitoring. The man in the apartment below mine is in a wheelchair, and I learned yesterday his mattress was covered with literally hundreds of bed bugs. I don't know what kind of living assistance he has (if any) but I have to believe that his bug problem would have been caught much sooner if someone was at least checking in on him weekly. Others have psychiatric issues that affect their ability to recognize and communicate problems such as this. All this has to be taken into consideration, not just in this situation but to prevent other issues that can crop up in buildings that house people with special needs.

I realize that the current financial situation has an effect on everyone and that budget cuts have made an already under-resourced care system even worse. I expect that CATCH hasn't escaped the effects of the economic downturn and various budget cuts either. I think it's important to keep that in mind. But in some areas (like outpatient/independent psychiatric care & supervision as well as home health care for disabled low income people) some basic needs of our most vulnerable citizens aren't being met, and this incident is one example of that failure. Whether it's state agencies or whoever, nobody should be left to wallow in a bed full of bed bugs.

I'll try to update this post as I get more information from both residents and management. To date the only communication from management is the 3 pages of instructions delivered to me last Friday. I seriously hope there is much more to come. Back when Hodges Corp. managed us there was a steady stream of letters and other communication as well as a extremely friendly and welcoming staff. I wish that could be the case again.
I should note that yesterday afternoon I called Hodges Corp. to ask our former property manager some questions connected with this issue. She was evidently busy so I had to leave a voice message, but at the time of this post/3rd edit [3:33 PM] she's not returned my call.

[Update 8-29-09]: It's been nice not waking up with bites since they treated my apartment. I now have both the mattress and box spring enclosed in dust mite/allergy covers (@ $28 apiece..) and new [white] sheets. The white sheets will make it much easier to spot the little buggers if/when they return. I'm on constant lookout when I move around the place and wonder how long this respite will last. I'm also hoping that we're provided with instructions regarding future visits from the pest company, claims for expenses incurred, and maybe even some kind of letter from management or perhaps a visit from the property mgr.?

We'll see.. and I'll keep updating this post as events unfold.

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Here are a few links to information about Bedbugs:

"Bed Bugs - Description, Life Cycle, and Habits of Bed Bugs" [About.com]
"Getting Rid of Bed Bugs - Why Is Getting Rid of Bed Bugs So Hard?" [About.com]
"How to Kill Bed Bugs" [About.com]
"Bedbug Bites" [About.com]