Bed Bugs- parents don't think it's a big deal

[MHDNURSE]

Anyone deal with this issue before? I know there have been posts about recurring lice infestations, but this is a whole new level of non compliance.

Since September we have had a student that we found live, adult bed bugs on her body and in her shoes. We called parents who denied there was an issue. I sent home zip lock bags with ones we had removed from her so they could see. They finally admitted there was an issue but claimed to be "taking care of it". The problem has continued. This morning her father pulled one off her sweater and killed it (teacher witnessed this) and when she opened her homework folder, there was a small one crawling inside her papers. Parents are still maintaining that they are "dealing with it". I have sent home information numerous time, called them to tell them next steps but it continues. Teachers are understandably stressed since she is bringing them into the classroom. Classrooms are carpeted. Thoughts????

Edited to add that her belongings are all going into a plastic bin when she arrives to keep away from the students' belongings, but if they are on her body, there is no way to prevent transmission if one were to crawl onto the floor, etc. I have sent home numerous times information on landlord tenant laws, extermination, etc.

[SaltineQueen]

https://www.epa.gov/managing-pests-schools/bed-bugs-and-schools

https://articles.extension.org/pages/61823/ipm-action-plan-for-bed-bugs

http://ikecoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Pest-Press-Bed-Bugs.pdf

[T-ROD, LPN]

So we have been dealing with the same issue here only its 4 siblings. We started off with parent calls. No help! We then began the hotlines. Again no help. So after a few months of this and no help for every bug we found on a child we placed a CPS call. We hotlines 16 times in one day.

CPS got us a case worker directly who come to find out had never been notified of the incidents from the gentleman we was reporting to. CPS was able to get the family help and we are on a call basis with this case worker also in means of helping the family.

Until the house was worked over the children were provided clean clothes here in my office and would wear them only here. Afternoons they changed into their home clothes. I had a plastic tub with a lid that we kept their clothes in.

We have had no issues now for about 3 weeks.

[SmallTownNurseSWL]

Yes. I second who said the above about bedbugs not being a medical hazard as they do not carry disease. Short of secondary infection due to bug bites.... I’m highly irritated bedbugs come to the nurse. They are NOT a human infestation, but an environmental one. I am no exterminator and I am NOT qualified to ID pests.... I refuse to say it’s a bedbug, I’ll admit it looks like one. But they can google and ID the bug as well as I can. With all that said, I do have to deal with them. ?

[ChristmasNurse]

In my district, it has to be reported to the health department if bed bugs are found on a student. They handle the home situation.

[Dianna Veneziano]

On 4/11/2019 at 7:46 AM, SaltineQueen said:

I would (and have) asked for a complete change of clothes to be sent in to school. The student changes in the AM when they drop off their belongings, I put what they had on in the dryer for the next day, and repeat. I feel like, at some point, it becomes a CPS issue - just like I might do with persistent lice. Not necessarily in a punitive nature, but they could help them with resources to eradicate the little buggers. Could your social worker get involved?

NEVER call CPS as a referral for resources. When you report, you're telling them that you believe the parents are unfit.

In my case, my 8 year old daughter slept over a friend's house. Luckily she didn't take anything with her, but she came back work bites ALL over her. The other parent has resolved the problem on their end, my kids beds are free of the tell-tale debris, and there have been no bites since (or even before this). The school nurse handed us bug bombs and told us to bomb that night. However, there's so much that goes into having to bomb that I wouldn't have been able to do it that night, anyway. I was advised to keep her out of school until I did so, and the next day, they decided to call CPS to report bed bugs despite the fact that not a single bug has been found. Mind you, they do not have a bed bug policy. A worker is coming out in two days to inspect the beds. However, even if they do come out and see that everything is okay (which I'm sure they will), the report will be in a permanent record. I'm currently waiting on a call back from the director of the school on the matter as we speak. This would be classified as over-reporting in my case, and instances of over-reporting are part of the reason why good parents get their kids taken into foster care where people abuse and traffic them (since a good percentage of the people taking in foster kids do it so that they can have money to be drug addicts since they can't hold down a job).

The part that drives me crazy is that on the other side is the coin, you've got all the cases where there have been 20 calls for domestic violence, no action was taken, but then, a kid dies. Those are the people that should have their kids taken.

[Dianna Veneziano]

On 5/8/2019 at 7:32 PM, ChristmasNurse said:

In my district, it has to be reported to the health department if bed bugs are found on a student. They handle the home situation.

That's how it's supposed to be here. I would trust the Health Department over CPS any day.

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

I'm wondering why bed bugs are falling on you. Are you an exterminator?