Fire Ants and Texas Nursing Homes Staff roles and responsibilities

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Fire Ants and Texas Nursing HomesStaff roles and
responsibilities

• The Texas Fire Ant in Nursing Home Project
• Texas Cooperative Extension
• Texas AM University System
• Project Coordinator Michael Merchant
• 17360 Coit Road, Dallas, TX 75252-6599
• 972-231-5362

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Red Imported Fire Ant
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Fire ant workers

• Vary in size
• (2-5 mm, 1/16-3/16 inch)
• Most of the colony consists of female workers
• Defend the colony
• collect food
• care for queen and brood

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Fire ant stings

• 80 of Texans have been stung by fire ants
• Stings produce severe burning and itching at site
• Can also cause allergic response

image by Matt Yoder
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The Sting
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Fire ant mounds
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Fire Ants

• Respond quickly to nest disturbance
• Live in large colonies
• 100,000 to 500,000 workers

Photograph courtesy USDA, Scott Bauer
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How do fire ants find food?

• Workers forage randomly from nest
• Successful workers recruit others to food or
  water source
• Rapid recruitment within minutes

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Ant foraging trails

• Ant that finds food lays down odor trail when
  traveling to nest
• Other ants follow trail and reinforce it
• Removing trails with common cleaners disrupts
  attachment to food source

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How fire ants enter buildings
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What to look for

• Outdoor mounds
• Live or dead ants
• Soil and debris in resident rooms
• Cracks and openings
• Risky conditions
• food
• spillage
• soiled linens, clothing

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Whos at risk?
www.clarkson.edu

• Mobility-, sensory- or communication-impaired
  residents
• Bedfast residents (6 of nursing home residents
  nationally)
• ADL dependent residents (estimated 3,375 Texas
  nursing home residents)
• Catheterized residents (6.5 nationally)

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Consequences of not addressing fire ant problems

• Increased risk to residents
• Increased liability for facility
• failure to provide a clean and safe environment
  free of pests and rodents
• failure to have written policies and procedures
  to prohibitneglect and abuse of residents

42 CFR 483.70 (h)(4) TAG f469, and 42 CFR
483.13 (c) TAG f224, respectively
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Documented fire ant stinging cases in long-term
care facilities
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What can your facility do?

• Establish contract with reputable pest management
  company
• Make contractor aware of at-risk patients
• Assign responsible person(s) as contacts for
  contractor
• Establish and communicate written policy
  concerning fire ant control and what to do in
  case of sighting
• Assign staff roles
• Nighttime bed checks important for at-risk
  residents

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What can you do?

• Report fire ant signs immediately
• Remove at-risk patients from infested room
• Record report in pest control complaint log
• Remove foraging trails with approved cleaning
  agent
• Collect ants for pest control company

collect ants in ethyl or rubbing alcohol for
preservation
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• http//fireants.tamu.edu

Texas Imported Fire Ant research and Management
Plan
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The Texas Fire Ant in Nursing Home Project

• Mike Merchant, Dallas, TX
• Janet Hurley, Dallas, TX
• Paul Nester, Houston, TX
• Wizzie Brown, Austin, TX
• Molly Keck, San Antonio, TX
• Kim Schofield, Dallas, TX