“Local organizations tackle bedbugs | By Pierrette J. Shields and Magdalena Wegrzyn © 2011 Longmont Times ...” |
| Posted: 18 Jan 2011 04:35 AM PST Publish Date: 1/18/2011 Local organizations tackle bedbugs LONGMONT — An encounter last week with a transient man who suffered from exposure to bedbugs prompted Longmont police to begin work on a policy to protect officers, cars, the police department and homes from infestation. Cmdr. Jeff Satur said police officers discovered that a transient man bound for the Addiction Recovery Center in Boulder was infested with bedbugs and carrying his possessions around with him. Bedbugs are notorious for catching a ride from home to home on clothing or in luggage, so police are concerned that officers could be exposed while working with the city's homeless population, Satur said. "This is something that is new to us," he said. "We want to protect our officers and we want to protect our officers' families." The police department is often tasked with storing possessions for people taken into custody, and bedbugs in those possessions could jump ship and make homes at the department and among the homes of department staff. There is also the possibility of a patrol car becoming a bedbug homestead, exposing officers or arrestees who travel in them. Satur said administration at the department is working with the Center for Disease Control, Longmont United Hospital, Boulder County Public Health and the city's risk management department to develop a policy to try to protect officers. Bedbugs are small, reddish-brown bugs that are difficult to exterminate once they've taken hold in a home. They proliferate in beds and dine on the blood of their hosts as they sleep, adjusting their feeding times to the host's sleeping schedule, according to the CDC. When they bite, bedbugs inject an anesthetic preventing a person from feeling it. However, when the bug is done feeding, an irritating bite mark often appears. Karen Logan, spokes- Bites are treated with over-the-counter ointments. The CDC considers bedbugs a national problem, and it has reached Longmont and its homeless population. The Longmont Police Department is not the only organization dealing with it. OUR Center staff spotted a wayward bedbug in early November after the warming shelter was open overnight. The following day, staff put affected furniture and items in black bags and placed them outside to freeze, said executive director Edwina Salazar. Salazar said staff gave warming shelter clients clean clothing and asked them all to take showers at the center. The warming center's bedding and linens have been replaced, and the OUR Center hires a company to inspect each of its facilities monthly and treat each building — inside and outside — with a chemical spray. Each article of bedding is washed after it is used, Salazar said. "We are vigilant now," Salazar said. "That was a disappointing day when we discovered the one bedbug, and we rallied instantly to clean it up." Salazar said the OUR Center has not had problems with bedbugs during the center's past three seasons. AGAPE Family Services has not had encounters with bedbugs but has taken preventive steps, said the Rev. Gary Jefferson, who runs the network of church-run emergency overnight shelters. Before the shelters opened in October, all mattresses and linens went through a 24-hour ozone treatment, a more environmentally friendly form of fumigation. "We did it initially as a preventative measure because we started hearing about all these bedbugs," Jefferson said. "The coordinators decided to be proactive even before they had to do anything." Each of AGAPE's two shelter sites — an annex building owned by Front Range Christian Fellowship, 10667 Parkridge Ave., and The Journey of Longmont Church, 1285 S. Fordham St. — rotate being open for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, each shelter cleans and airs out all its linens, Jefferson said. New clients are given fresh linens each time they come to the shelter, though repeat clients use the same linens on consecutive visits to one shelter, he said. Although AGAPE has not had any problems with bedbugs this season, Jefferson said if the problem arises, coordinators likely will opt for another ozone treatment.Bedbugs also have not been an issue for Homeless Outreach Providing Encouragement. The minivan HOPE volunteers use to transport the homeless to shelters, detox or medical treatment facilities is cleaned regularly, said executive director Bray Patrick-Lake. But she said bedbugs can become a problem for people who are homeless. "If you're not having regular access to keep your body, clothing and personal belongings clean, it can make it really difficult to deal with," she said. Pierrette J. Shields can be reached at 303-684-5273 or pshields@times-call.com. 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