A Growing Threat

Over the last several years, long-term health care companies have settled lawsuits regarding fire ants for large amounts of money. In one case, a company settled for $1.875 million with the family of a 73-year-old patient who died after fire ants swarmed his bed in the early morning hours. A Florida jury awarded $1.2 million in a similar case involving a 93-year-old woman who was stung by fire ants in her nursing home bed.
While still relatively uncommon, such fire ant attacks in long-term care facilities have garnered much media attention. These stories demonstrate how devastating a fire ant infestation can be, and, in some cases, illustrate how hard fire ant infestations can be to prevent. Records from one of the lawsuits mentioned above showed that fire ants had infested the facility for years, despite weekly fire ant treatments in patient rooms by a contracted pest control company.
So how can you protect your customers and yourself from fire ants, minimizing the possibility of devastating lawsuits? Because of the threat to human health, diligent, watchful service is essential. The first steps to preventing fire ant attacks are to understand fire ant behavior and gauge your customers’ facilities’ risks for infestation.

DEFENDING THEIR TURF. Though fire ants never set out to sting humans, they will be very aggressive when defending themselves and their colony. As fire ants forage for food and water sources, anyone perceived to be a threat could quickly become a victim of a multiple-sting attack. Long-term care residents are among the most vulnerable to major attacks because they often are unable to move quickly or at all, so any encounter with the insects can escalate into something more serious.
Weather, soil type, geography and other variables can affect a facility’s risk for fire ant infestations. Fire ants currently infest some 310 million acres in at least 12 states and could potentially infest more in the future. Left alone, the insects can expand their territory about three miles per year. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, America’s fire ant problem could be getting worse – their research confirms that fire ants are adapting to new climates and infesting new territory across the country. 

PUTTING OUT THE FIRE. How do you go about treating for this pest? What steps should you take and what steps are your customers’ responsibilities? You should include in your service contract specific instructions and explanations of the customer’s and PMP’s responsibilities. These defined roles will be important in the execution of the service and help protect you should a legal situation arise. 
First, let’s discuss the customers’ responsibilities. At-risk facilities can deter fire ant problems by implementing measures as part of a comprehensive fire ant management plan. For example, facilities should be aware of and be prepared to work with you to:
• Quickly clean up any food debris in common areas.
• Keep the roof, gutters and downspouts free of debris.
• Repair leaks and other excess moisture sources.
• Seal any cracks, holes and other potential entry points in the exterior masonry.
• Trim vegetation at least 18 inches away from building structure – contact with the building provides a conduit to entry.
• Be sure the exterior grade diverts surface water away from the facility.
The customer should also take an active part in the ongoing inspection of the facility, both inside and out. In order to stay on top of fire ant activity:
• Continually monitor landscape garden beds for fire ant mounds.
• Always be on the lookout for signs of fire ants when observing long-term care residents. This simple extra step can stop a fire ant incident before it starts.
As for the pest management professional’s part in this service, inspection, inspection and more inspection is a necessity. Keep in mind that chemical treatments alone will probably not be completely effective in fighting fire ants. While effective products are available, ongoing and thorough inspection has to occur so you know where treatment is needed. 
When working in and around a health care facility, remember that you are in a sensitive environment. The sensitivity of the inside of the facility is obvious, but you may not be used to thinking this way about the exterior. Depending on the facility’s rules and the condition of the residents, there may be access on a regular basis to the outside, and people may be allowed to maintain items such as bird feeders and bird baths. Both of these ornaments can supply some necessities not only for fire ants, but many other pests as well. When choosing exterior control methods, you must find out if these conditions exist.
There are two basic concepts to fire ant control. The first is to discover and eliminate the current mounds. The inspection should allow the technician to find most of the mounds. They can be treated with a localized placement of one of the many fire ant baits, or they can be drenched with an appropriately labeled liquid pesticide. This step is designed to get immediate control in high-traffic areas. If executed properly, the mound will die within a few hours or days. 
Remember that fire ants are potentially dangerous to you while you are treating. If drenching the mounds, beware of the ants’ escape routes. In most cases, fire ants create tunnels that will extend several feet away from the mound. These tunnels are used by the ants to exit the mound to gather food or to provide security. When the mound is disturbed, the ants will not only exit from the top, but also exit from these tunnels. If you are standing in the wrong spot, ouch!
The second basic concept is prevention. Again, a continuous inspection program is critical and can and should be completed by both the facility staff and the PMP. All areas of the grounds must be checked on a regular basis. Since fire ants normally live out of doors, all grounds within 50 feet of the building must be checked. 
The grounds can be treated in several ways. There are many effective products available that can be used: materials range from residual granules that are not baits, but are conventional insecticides, to standard bait granule materials. All of these products have different application directions on their labels, varying from monthly to yearly restrictions. There are also some effective liquid residual materials that can be applied to the structure. These applications should be made to all grassy areas and flower beds around the facility. The distance from the actual structure that you can treat may be dictated by the label as well as individual state regulations. 
As with all applications, you should ensure compliance with local and state regulations regarding licensing. Prior to offering this service you should verify if certification other than a regular structural license is needed.
Indoors there are a few primary areas of concern, including wall voids, especially the exterior walls, and slab penetrations. Conventional treatment protocols normally will be effective in these areas as long as you keep in mind the need to observe the sensitivity of the environment.
Wall voids can be treated using liquid materials converted to foam or dust products. Around the slab penetrations, a localized application of a contact material will normally eliminate the ants.
Once the ants are controlled in wall voids or around slab penetrations, you should work with the facility to implement exclusion techniques to help keep future populations of ants from using the same route of entry.
Service frequency is a big factor when dealing with fire ants. Most experts will agree that daily to weekly inspections are needed. In most cases, the product that you select will dictate how often the actual application is made.
Whether the inspection is provided by you or the facility staff is something that both parties must agree on. The customer may prefer to have you make all inspections, or it may be possible to split the responsibility. Again, make sure that you include all agreements about the responsibilities of each party in the service contract. 
By following a partner approach to fire ant management and enlisting the help of the facility staff, you can greatly reduce the possibility of having fire ant attacks place your customer or company on the front page.

The author is technical director of Atlanta-based Orkin Pest Control and can be contacted at fmeek@gie.net.