You are the owner of a shelter that can house up to twenty women at a time. The women begin complaining that they are feeling like bed bugs are biting them all during the day and especially at night as they lay in bed. You begin to think of ways to examine to see if your shelter does have a bed bug infestation and the next steps to help alleviate the pesky critters.
Here are some ways:
Stay calm
One of the most important things to do if you think that you have a bed bug infestation is to stay calm. Just because you found one bed bug, does not mean that you have others. Remaining calm and not panicking during this time is important, especially if there are other people in the home. You are the leader of your shelter and/or home and if you are calm, then chances are the others will not panic as well.
Determine the type of bug
When someone states that they have bed bugs, you want to first ensure that it actually is a bed bug. There are many types of bugs that could be crawling in your home and even on your mattress. Making sure that you have bed bug problems is the first step before calling in the exterminator.
Dead or alive is the question?
Once you have determined that this is a single bed bug, ask yourself was the bed bug dead or alive when you found it? If the bug was dead and you have not been bitten or noticed any symptoms of being bitten, then this may have been a one-time occurrence. Check to see if the dead bed bug was female due to the possibility of hatching eggs. If the bed bug was alive, then it may be time to examine the issue a little more closely for a solution to end your bed bug infestation.
Inspect the area for more bed bugs
An infestation of bed bugs will usually occur in clusters with them being found in close range of each other. Check your bedroom and other areas around the home where bed bugs are most likely to frequent. Once you find more bed bugs, your home will need to be sanitized and exterminated so that this will not occur again.
Sanitizing your home
In order to sanitize your home, you will need to use bleach. This is one of the few cleaners that will disinfect and sanitize your home the proper way. You can pour some bleach and mix with warm or hot water and begin wiping in the kitchen and your bathrooms and around the posts of your bed to clean the areas well. You will also need to wash your clothes in the hottest water possible. The hot water will clean and kill the bed bugs on your linen and mattress pads. Wipe your mattress down as well with a bleach and water mixture and allow it to fully dry before laying down for sleep time. Remember that you do not need to add a lot of bleach to the water, as bleach in and of itself is a very powerful cleaner. Perhaps a tablespoon full of bleach added to a bucket warm or hot water should be sufficient.
Call in a professional exterminator
If your bed bug infestation is severe and has been going on for weeks or months, then wiping down the areas with bleach and water may not be enough. You will need to call a professional exterminator to alleviate your bed bug infestation once and for all. Make sure and get tips and advice from him about possible entry into your home and what steps to do to keep them out. A professional exterminator will come in and check your home for bed bugs. Allow him to check each bedroom to make sure there are no bed bugs in other areas of your home.
Remember to do your research about how bed bugs enter a home and ways to keep them out. The more informed you are about bed bugs and how to get rid of them, the more comfortable you will feel when you have to truly deal with this type of emergency. The most important thing to remember is after seeing a one-bed bug in your home, to immediately take action. Do not allow the problem to linger for days, weeks or even months. A bed bug infestation will only grow worse over time and leave you paying out more money than you want for something that could have been prevented when caught early.
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