Just 10 months before the opening of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, the French capital is battling an invasion of bedbugs.
The tiny pests were first reported in hotels and vacation rental apartments across the city during the summer. Then there were sightings in movie theaters and, in recent days, there have even been reports of bedbugs crawling around on seats in both national high-speed trains and the Paris Metro system.
One metro train driver was dismayed to find some of the unwelcome guests in his driver’s cabin.
As someone who worked as a caseworker for adults living in various residential care facilities (RCFs) and assisted living facilities (ALFs), some infestations absolutely require professional intervention…
I’ve watched some facilities try to tackle them on their own with every home remedy, failing and just allowing more residents to suffer. I’ve hotlined facilities for their failure to manage and properly treat bed bugs.
I’m not saying it can’t be done, but I have yet to see home remedies or heat treating rooms actually solve an infestation. All I saw was one room get marginally better while another room or two had them grow in numbers.
I luckily managed to dodge bringing them home all those years. Some of my team members weren’t so lucky, and they had a hell of a time and spent thousands of dollars to eradicate them. One team member brought them to her house twice…
I greatly feared bringing those little bastards home, and that fear was warranted.
Wait, you’re saying heat treating isn’t effective? I thought that was the most effective method.
I’m saying it may not cut it and it can still be a real battle. Those things a pain in the ass to get rid of… One RCF I worked with literally just shut down one of their facilities because I kept getting them in trouble with DHSS and DMH for not adequately treating the bed bugs. I had a client so covered in bites I raised so much hell… They were using the heat treatment and they just couldn’t get rid of them doing it themselves instead of hiring professionals, which are expensive. This sort of situation was all too common in my region.
I’m not an expert on bed bug removal. I’m just saying the fear surrounding bed bug infestations is not unfounded. And I’m just offering skepticism of simple home treatment from what I witnessed at that job. The idea that you don’t need to hire professionals just doesn’t align with what I witnessed or my team member’s home infestations.
With the right equipment, proper preparation, and proper knowledge of use, heat treatment can be the most effective, especially on mass infestations. I’ve had training and used this method professionally many times effectively. But it’s not a DIY home remedy.