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| DATE:
July 9 2010 |
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By Petra Minoff & Rick Cooper
In the event that bed bugs are detected by housekeeping or maintenance staff, there are a number of measures that can be taken to reduce the likelihood of dispersing the bugs outside of the infested room. The following guidelines are intended to reduce the potential for bugs spreading outside of the infested guest room:
1)The housekeeping staff member (without leaving the infested hotel room) should contact the necessary entity within the hotel and inform them of the situation.
2)Hotel management should immediately contact their pest management vendor to arrange for inspection and treatment as quickly as possible.
3)Do not remove anything from the hotel room.
4)If linens, or towels have already been removed from the room, the following actions should be taken:
a. Retrieve all of the linens and towels along with other linens and towels that were already in the linen cart and place in a large plastic bag that is then sealed tightly by tying a knot.
b. If the laundry cart has a canvas linen bag that can be subjected to laundering, it should also be removed and sealed in the plastic bag by tying a knot at the top of the bag.
c.Place the sealed plastic bag in another plastic bag and seal by tying another knot.
d.The contents should be taken to the hotel laundry and the contents of the sealed bag should be dumped directly from the bag into a dryer.
e.The dryer should be run on a hot cycle for at least 15 minutes for a small load and at least 30 minutes if it is a large load.
f.The empty bags used to hold the clothing should be immediately discarded in an exterior garbage receptacle.
g.The linen cart should be inspected for any live bugs.If live bugs are visible they should be removed and destroyed or saved in a sealed container for positive identification by a trained pest management professional.
h.The linen cart should be taken out of service and placed in an out of the way location (preferably outside) until it can be inspected by a trained pest management professional.If possible the linen cart can be sealed by wrapping it in plastic sheeting (available at hardware stores).
5)The likelihood of getting bed bugs on your clothing is remote if you have not had any physical contact with the areas where the bed bug infestation was observed. However, if you believe you had physical contact with the area where bed bugs were present or are concerned about the possibility of taking bugs out of the room on clothing worn during the bed bug inspection the following measures can be followed:
a.A fresh set of clothes should be brought to the room.
b.The individual who identified the infestation can change their clothes in an area that is away from the infested area of the guestroom (i.e. bathroom).
c.Clothing that is removed should be sealed tightly in a plastic bag, tying a knot at the top of the bag.
d.Place the sealed plastic bag in another plastic bag and seal by tying another knot.
e.The sealed bags should be removed from the room and taken directly to the hotel laundry.
f.The bagged contents should be dumped directly into a dryer and run on a hot cycle for at least 15 minutes.
g.The bags used to hold the clothing should be immediately discarded in an exterior garbage receptacle.
6)Take the guest room out of service so that it can be treated correctly by your pest management vendor. If the infested guest room is in service at the time the infestation was identified. The guests should be notified of the situation and the following steps should be considered.
a.Consider offering a refund for the length of the guests hotel stay.
b.All of the guests belongings should be sealed tightly in plastic bags and left in the room until decisions have been made as to how to handle the items.
i. Offer to have the guest’s clothing hot laundered and/or dry cleaned as necessary (follow same guidelines as stated above for in step #5).
ii. Offer to replace clothing if the guest is not accepting of the laundering suggestion.
iii.Offer to have the guests luggage professionally inspected or replaced.
c.Offer to move the guest to a different room.
i.Have the new room inspected for bed bugs before moving the guest. Ideally the inspection should be conducted by the hotel’s pest management vendor. If time does not permit, hotel staff can conduct the inspection so the guest can be moved and then follow up with a professional inspection.
d.If the guest no longer wishes to remain in the hotel, offer to help them find new lodging accommodations and consider picking up the bill for the duration of the length of their reservation at your hotel.
e.Being empathetic to your guest and spending money to demonstrate that you take the situation seriously may prove to be extremely important should the incident develop into a legal claim.
The Recipient of this information acknowledges that the information contained in this Recommended Pre- and Post Infestation Procedures Outline is a broad guideline based on the authors’ current knowledge and research utilizing sources and materials considered to be reliable and relevant to the issue. JAB Distributors, LLC has not confirmed this information and makes no representations, expressed or implied, as to its accuracy or completeness, and is in no way responsible for the content, accuracy, or effectiveness of the implementation of the procedures. JAB Distributors LLC shall in no way be liable for any damages arising out of the adopting and implementation of these procedures.
The Recipient further acknowledges that this document does not constitute legal advice, which should be obtained from Recipients own legal counsel. |
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