[REARVIEW] stories and statistics of interest to pest control operators

AUSTRALIAN PEST PROFESSIONALS SURVIVE BALI HORROR

On Saturday, October 12, 2002, Glenn DuBois of Sydney, Australia-based Fumapest Group and his uncle, Peter Cooper, who runs Fumapest in Gippsland, Victoria, went out for a night on the town at the Sari Club in Kuta, Bali. But what happened that night was far from enjoyable.

As a result of the terrorist bomb attack that night, DuBois had a 75 percent hearing loss, a cracked cheekbone, a grazed eyeball, and countless cuts, bruises and bumps. Cooper was also rendered three-quarters deaf, with cracked ribs and other injuries. But thankfully, the two are now safe at home.

DuBois and Cooper arrived at the Sari Club about 10:50 p.m. After entering the club, they thought about moving back towards the entrance, where it was less crowded, but Cooper wanted to stay where they could "check out the scene."

"If we’d gone down the front, like I’d wanted to, we’d have been within five meters of the car bomb. The people there would have been torn to pieces. No chance those people would have survived," DuBois said.

Just after 11:30 p.m, when the Sari was really starting to "jump," the first bomb went off at Paddy’s Bar. The two pest management professionals were halfway through their second drink when they heard "a very loud boom."

"I said to Peter, ‘What do you think that is?’ I remember looking outside and saw people scurrying. It was all happening to the left of the entrance," DuBois said.

"The main bomb blew about 20 seconds after the first, smaller explosion. "I saw a big orange flash," DuBois said. "The next moment I was flat on my back, with bodies all over the lower half of me."

Both Cooper and DuBois were unconscious for at least five minutes.

"When I came to, I must have had a huge adrenalin rush as I surveyed the devastation in front of me. Everything seemed so clear for a few seconds," DuBois said.

Peter Cooper, meanwhile, woke to find himself entangled in debris, bodies and apparently live electrical wiring.

Finally, the two made their way to the exit. "I had blood coming through my jeans, on the leg, between knee and groin," Cooper recalled.

Glenn will likely have surgery to restore his damaged ear drums and also, probably on his depressed and fractured cheek bone. He said Cooper may also need surgery.

Editor’s note: The preceding article appeared in the Oct./Nov. 2002 issue of Professional Pest Manager and was reprinted with permission.

Holy Treatment, Batman! Vampire Bat Saliva May Lead to New Stroke Drug

According to a report from the Associated Press, a substance in the saliva of vampire bats could prove to be a potent new treatment for strokes, an Australian scientist says.

"When the vampire bat bites its victim, it secretes this powerful clot-dissolving substance so that the victim’s blood will keep flowing, allowing the bat to feed," said Dr. Robert Medcalf of the Monash University Department of Medicine at Box Hill Hospital in Victoria, Australia.

That same substance — Desmodus rotundus salivary plasminogen activator, or DSPA — might someday be given to stroke victims to dissolve clots and thereby limit brain damage, he said.

The substance has yet to be tested for effectiveness and safety in humans, but it showed promise in preliminary experiments in mice. The findings were reported in a recent issue of the journal Stroke, published by the American Heart Association.