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From YouTube: Testimony on the Impact of Bed Bugs 10-22- 2019
Description
From the hearing of the Committee on Licenses and Inspections held Tuesday, October 24, 2019:
Nurse Home Visitor Erin Blair testifies on Bill No. 190106 regarding beg bug remediation.
Read the bill:
https://phila.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3862125&GUID=4C7394FB-855D-41F7-855B-C468379BA8B5&Options=ID|Text|&Search=190106
A
Thank
you
for
holding
this
hearing
today,
members
of
the
committee
and
Thank
You
councilman
scuola,
for
introducing
the
bill.
This
is
really
important
to
me.
As
a
nurse
home
visitor
I've
been
doing
home
visiting
in
Philadelphia
for
11
plus
years,
I
have
watched,
bedbugs
increase,
I've
watched
the
number
of
families
suffering
the
consequences
of
bedbugs
increase.
A
lot
of
people
have
listed
off
the
public
health,
the
very
real.
A
Health
effects
of
bedbugs
today
but
I
feel
like
there
were
several
things
left
off
of
those
lists,
so
I'm
going
to
amend
my
list
just
to
include
the
ones
that
hadn't
been
discussed
yet
loss
of
wages.
When
somebody
discovers
bedbugs,
they
have
to
take
a
lot
of
time
off
of
work
to
remediate
it.
They
often
have
to
be
home
for
exterminators.
They
have
to
possibly
exterminate
their
car,
as
I
have
had
to
twice.
I
have
had
to
also
take
time
off
of
work
to
check
my
entire
home.
A
Have
other
people
come
in
and
check
my
home
due
to
concerns
of
exposure
related
to
my
job
lost
productivity
due
to
the
health
consequences
such
as
depression,
anxiety,
loss
of
sleep,
etc,
but
lost
productivity
is
has
a
real,
measurable
outcome,
I
think
mr.
Dom
councilman
Dom
has
spoken
to
that
in
the
past.
Regarding
other
issues,
that
I've
heard
you
speak
about,
but
lost
productivity
is
very
real
lost
days
of
school.
A
That
can
either
be
from
the
school
being
shut
down
due
to
bedbug
exposure,
or
that
can
be
due
to
children
being
sent
home
from
school
because
the
bedbug
was
identified
on
them.
That
leads
to
stigmatization
of
that
child
and
further
emotional
health
consequences
that
go
long
beyond
the
exposure
of
that
school
permanent
scarring
a
lot
of
times.
People
don't
talk
about
the
visible
physical
relationship
that
bedbugs
have
to.
A
When
you
see
somebody
with
scars
from
bites,
you're
concerned
that
that
meat
that
they
may
have
come
from
that
and
those
people
face
a
lot
more
social
isolation
and
rejection
from
their
peers
from
their
family
members
from
their
friends
from
employers,
etc.
Risk
for
developmental
delay
was
not
something
that
was
brought
up.
I
have
families
who
refuse
to
put
their
children
on
the
floor.
I
have
families
that
are
afraid
to
have
their
children
sleep
on
safe
sleep
surfaces,
because
those
safe
sleepless
surfaces
may
harbor
bedbugs
I.
A
Impaired
maternal
child
bonding
I
have
seen
the
impact
of
bedbugs
on
pregnant
women,
giving
birth
to
children.
The
depression
and
anxiety
is
impacted
and
impacts
that
relationship
they're
developing
with
their
newly
born
child
housing.
Instability,
increased
substance,
use,
fear
of
child
protective
services,
child
protective
services,
involvement,
exhaustion,
inability
to
think
clearly
which
can
lead
to
driving
issues,
a
host
of
other
public
health
issues,
lowered
self-esteem
and
job
loss.
A
That's
a
pretty
long
list
of
things
that
weren't
included
in
the
very
long
list
of
things
that
were
already
included
and
I've
seen
all
of
them.
I
recognize
that
the
Philadelphia
public
health
department
has
not
yet
listed
bedbugs
as
a
concern,
but
part
of
this
discussion
and
part
of
City
Council's
Duty
here
is
to
increase
that
conversation
with
the
health
department,
because
this
is
a
public
health
issue,
it's
serious.
It
has
severe
consequences.
A
Those
consequences
tend
to
impact
low
income,
families,
minorities
and
rental
people
in
rental
units.
More
than
other
people
there's
our
wrap-up
cook
o'clock
already
low-income
homeowners
also
need
a
system
with
this
issue.
This
issue
has
happened:
we've
had
bedbugs
in
City,
Hall
septa,
the
free
library
movie,
theaters
the
gap
other
malls,
it's
everywhere,
it's
an
issue
that
can't
be
teased
apart
and
simplified,
but
as
a
public
health
nurse
I
assume
the
rest
of
its
Bossier
through
accepting
a
paycheck
for
my
job
as
a
landlord
in
the
city
of
Philadelphia.