Alcohol Plus Water = Trauma
In the United States, about ten people each day die from drowning in non-boat related accidents according to the Center for Disease Control. Not surprisingly, in 2010 about 25% of drowning related emergency department visits involved the use of alcohol, and a whopping 70% of deaths related to water recreation involved alcohol. Needless to say, alcohol and swimming pools aren’t a wise mix, especially when you are a teenager. The CDC reports 4,300 deaths each year related to underage drinking and almost 200,000 emergency room visits by intoxicated youth under the age of 21.
A Balcony Jumper’s Bloody Mess
Last year, in Lakewood, Ohio, Advanced Bio Treatment arrived for a blood cleanup call at a home swimming pool. Our operator was told about a party in which underage drinkers were jumping into a pool and one was injured, resulting in a bloody mess. It turned out that the high school seniors were celebrating their homecoming win with liquor and jumping off a second story balcony into a pool. Apparently they got creative and teenagers were jumping off backward and even attempting to flip mid-air into the pool from the rooftop. But there was about 3 feet of roofing that jutted out on the first level that the balcony sat upon, and the teens were attempting to stand on the stone railing of the balcony and jump outward over the roofing into the pool.
On my last jump I hit the gutter but I made it into the pool. The gutter was dangling and everyone thought it was hilarious. It sobered me up enough to not jump again. But Andy did. He stood on the balcony and slipped and somehow grabbed the gutter on his way down, but it detached immediately and he fell on his back into the pool, clipping his head on the edge of the pool.
Andy hadn’t just sliced his head open, he’d severely injured both of his arms and his right hand from grabbing and sliding down the gutter. His friends quickly dragged him out of the pool that was red with his blood and drug him onto the pool deck. Unconscious and bleeding, several of the boys brought him into living room through the sliding glass doors and Andy lay there on the carpet until the paramedics arrived.
Cleanup Time
The homeowner’s son reached out to us for help. He wasn’t sure how to explain to his parent’s what had occurred, but he knew that he had to get the pool, pool deck and his living room cleaned of the bloody mess and sanitized. He told us how his mother had installed the new carpet, replacing the carpet he grew up on, just a few months ago. That’s when one of our compassionate technicians convinced the young man that the truth would set him free. There was an entire portion of the carpet that would need replacing due not only to the blood that had seeped through the carpet, padding and into the subflooring, but also due to one vomit stain and a mud track near the patio entrance. It was time for some growing up in more than one way. The teen’s irresponsibility lead to his friend’s trauma and his home’s destruction. And lying was only going to create more distrust and possibly drive a rift between him and his parents. Our highly trained technicians suited up in their biohazard gear and drained and scrubbed the pool and sanitized all of the tubing and lines, ensuring that no bloodborne bacteria or viruses would be circulating in the water or lingering along the sides of the pool. The pool deck was cleaned and treated with chemicals to ensure that any biological material was destroyed. The subflooring was salvaged, but part of the carpet was removed and disposed of.
Ensuring that a bloody mess is completely cleaned and safe involves technology and training that all of our technicians at Advanced Bio Treatment receive. Let us use our expertise to help you in the event that you need biohazard emergency cleanup services or trauma scene cleanup services.
We have operators standing by 24-hours a day, 365 days a year at 1-800-295-1684 to answer your questions and help assess your situation.