The Windsor-Essex County Housing Association, which owns John Fontaine’s building, is taking action. But not very swiftly, in this reader’s opinion.

Fontaine said the problem surfaced several months ago when management posted a noticed advising tenants to stay out of the disposal room where refuse and old furniture is put handled. He said he started noticing the odd insect in his apartment six weeks ago, but didn’t realize they were bed bugs until Labour Day weekend when he spoke to someone who told him they were in the building.

If the disposal room was off limits several months ago because of bed bugs (which I understand to be a reasonable bit of speculation), then the building was aware of the presence of bed bugs but did not warn residents. Fontaine reported his bed bugs on September 4th (the day after Labour Day) but was not told he was on a “spray list” until September 18th, two weeks later. What’s more, there was a presentation for residents on bed bugs and cockroaches two weeks ago, according to the article, implying that by the time Fontaine reported the problem, the building managers knew enough about the spread of bed bugs in their building to have planned a presentation about the insects.

The housing officials had this to say:

Kari Schofield, communications officer for the housing corporation, said Fontaine’s apartment would have been sprayed immediately had they known he was sleeping on the balcony.

“If we heard somebody was sleeping on a balcony for three weeks we would definitely be there,” Schofield said. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

It sounds like Schofield thinks that sleeping on a balcony is a real hardship. Why wouldn’t sleeping indoors with bed bugs prompt the swiftest possible service?
While the apology is refreshing, this statement tells me that the housing corporation officials simply don’t understand bed bugs.

Schofield said a presentation was made to tenants several weeks ago on bed bugs and cockroaches, but said it is a very difficult problem to get rid of. If a unit is sprayed and clean and someone with bed bugs walks into it, the problem re-occurs, she said. The corporation’s Glengarry units are also experiencing the problem, which is compounded by the fact some tenants are old, disabled or have mental health issues and may not be able to keep their units clean enough, or prepare them properly for complete spraying.

“I can totally understand how these tenants are getting frustrated,” Schofield said, adding that a task force has been formed to deal with the issue of infestation.

Fontaine said he works long days and was not aware that any such educational sessions were offered.

Schofield is correct that a mojor factor is preparation. Bed bugs are not attracted to dirty or cluttered spaces. But clutter allows them space to hide, and makes treatment tricky. Tenants who are old, or who have mental or physical disabilities, will have trouble with preparing for treatment. I firmly believe the government social service agencies need to provide assistance in this area.

Leaving aside those with physical and mental barriers to doing the prep work needed for treatment, it has to be said that still other tenants will simply not get the point of preparation or even the point of treatment, or may not want to bother. This is a really common problem–especially among those who are not allergic to bed bugs and don’t feel or see evidence of bites. Public education is key. And forums where tenants are invited are not going to do it, because some people won’t hear, some people won’t make it, and still others won’t think it’s “for them,” and won’t care. We need a public education campaign of advertisements to raise awareness about the bed bug epidemic, and the difficulties of detecting and fighting bed bugs. People need to learn how to avoid bed bugs and what not to do at the first sight of them.

Besides spraying, [Deb] Bennett [of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit] said, people must wash bedding and thoroughly vacuum crevasses in furniture and mattresses where the blood-sucking bed bugs like to hide out. Although more of a nuisance than anything else, their itchy bites can result in infection if the skin is broken during scratching, she said.

“When you have a lot of people, everybody has to practice that … or the problem does not go away.”

I hope Bennett also tells people to wash and dry (on hot) and seal in bags all clothing as well as bedding.

And I hope the 920 Ouellette apartments are going to get multiple treatments until the problem is gone. I am not a pest control operator, but I would venture a guess that a thoroughly infested building will need many treatments, spaced 2 weeks apart.

And let’s remember, it’s six weeks since the bites started, and Mr. Fontaine has not yet had his first treatment. And every time he’s bitten by an adult female, she can produce another set of eggs.

• Bed bugs in Grand Forks, North Dakota public housing
• Bed bugs bite in White Plains, NY public housing
• Indianapolis Housing Authority vs. Bed Bugs
• Bed bugs in a senior apartment building in San Diego

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And let’s face it: bed bugs are spreading. However you got them once, you can get them again.

Caitlin is the second person I know of who got bed bugs a second time, at such an interval that she could not have simply reinfested herself (by unpacking some stored stuff, or having them come out of the woodwork after a gap). Caryn (more on her below) was the first.

The good news is that Caitlin’s building’s management company swung into action, treating right away, and did not simply inspect, but rushed in to treat the units above and below, which were infested. (Yay, Caitlin’s landlord and PCO!) Caitlin was also able to spot the reinfestation quickly, finding a live bug after only three bites.

She wrote on August 14th,

… my super and management company ROCK. No questions asked, he just went ahead and made an appointment for the exterminator to come in ASAP and told me he’d be contacting my neighbors above me and below me to have their places exterminated as well. And then he said he’d come in himself to caulk any cracks in the floors along the walls. All this after telling me that no one else had been reporting bedbugs in my building for quite some time.

And then, five days later, she followed up.

As Caryn’s experience of reinfestation back in February suggested, Caitlin has reason to hope this second infestation, caught quickly, will be resolved quickly.

Bedbugger readers panic when these stories come up. Nobody wants to go through this once, and many of us are at our wits’ end with our first experience. It takes a while to get over feeling like it’s all going to come back. So hearing that it can all come back, can be frightening.

Caryn compares her experiences of bed bugs in 2004 and 2007 here. But Caryn’s recent experience of reinfestation sounds like it was way better than the first time, as Caitlin’s also seems to be (so far–it looks very hopeful). Caryn was rid of bed bugs much more quickly the second time around. I have every reason to think Caitlin will be too.

Here’s why:

First, they caught it early. Knowing and recognizing the signs of infestation much more swiftly meant they could spring into action.

Second, their landlords had seen bed bugs before, and were in a better position to get a good PCO in, swiftly, to do what needed doing. They did not have to cajole, beg, or convince landlords to take this seriously and get a good PCO in. What’s more, the landlords and the PCO knew how to handle the neighboring units.

In Caryn’s experience, as she tells it, everything from knowing she had bed bugs, to arranging an appointment with the PCO, to doing her prep, and getting the landlord to pay, went more smoothly the second time. The problem was solved much, much more quickly.

I am seriously bummed that Caitlin has bed bugs again, make no mistake.

But I also think there’s plenty of reason not to panic, or think that the second time is the same as the first.
From what Caryn and Caitlin tell us, it isn’t.

• Caryn, on fighting an infestation in 2004 vs. 2007, and a few words about the banner
• Bedbugger readers: multiplying faster than bedbugs?
• Caryn’s bed bug free again.
• landlords talking about bed bugs

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