Dealing with Cyberbullies
Dealing with Cyberbullies Statistics suggest that 40 to 50% of teens have been victims of cyberbullying/cyberbullies. To effectively prevent and combat this lethal form of bullying, you must understand how it works. There are two broad and overlapping categories of cyberbullying/cyberbullies: “Direct” and “Proxy.” Direct cyberbullying happens when cyberbullies directly attack the victim via texts, […]
Your Workplace Rights: Sexual Harassment
Sexual Harassment in the Workplace The US Department of labor defines workplace violence as “any threat or act of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at a work site.” Sexual harassment, defined by the EEOC as “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of […]
Carjacking Crimes
Carjacking When most people think of a crime scene, they think of a street or the interior of a building or home. Rarely, however, do people think of a car as a crime scene. But we do. That’s because we clean our share of them. Automobiles are involved in bank robberies, drive by shootings, and […]
Workplace Violence: Dissatisfied Customers
Workplace Violence When Dissatisfied Customers Retaliate Not all workplace violence involves one employee attacking or killing others. Many incidences of workplace violence involve a disgruntled client or customer attacking or killing employees. We were recently hired to sanitize a crime scene at which two people died and several others were seriously injured by an irate […]
Workplace Violence: Terrorism in the Workplace
Workplace Violence The US Department of Labor defines workplace violence as “any threat or act of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at a worksite.” Workplace violence is one of the leading causes of job-related deaths, according to OSHA. Annually, more than two million Americans face workplace violence. The Bureau of […]
The Many Faces of Sex Trafficking
What is Sex Trafficking? The Faces of Sex Trafficking Many people refer to it as “child prostitution,” and sometimes, the children are arrested rather than treated like victims when the operation is exposed. Sex trafficking differs from prostitution, however, because it involves three, not two, people. The victim, the buyer, and a third person who […]
Sex Trafficking: Doreen’s Story
Young Victims of Sex Trafficking Part 2 To read Part 1 of Doreen’s story, click here. “I feel so guilty,” the housekeeper said as she hung her head and cried quietly. “I should have done something, but I promised her.” When JD would leave with one of the other girls or hit the streets to deal […]
Sex Trafficking and the Pimp Culture
Sex Trafficking and the Pimp Culture Doreen’s Story Part 1 Early one Sunday morning, Advanced Bio Treatment was dispatched to a motel to clean and sanitize an unattended death in a room used as a meth lab. Even our most seasoned technicians dread unattended deaths in which a body has lain for days or weeks […]
Deck Collapse
Deck Collapse Statistics Every summer, the news is filled with stories of decks and balconies collapsing and seriously injuring or killing people on and under them. According to WSB-TV Atlanta’s Web site, an estimated 6,500 people have ended up in emergency rooms and 29 have been killed in deck collapses since 2003. One of the […]
Child Trafficking: Rape for Sale
What Is Child Trafficking According to UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund), “A child has been trafficked if he or she has been moved within a country, or across borders, whether by force or not, with the purpose of exploiting the child.” The FBI classifies human trafficking as the third largest and fastest growing criminal enterprise […]
Propane – Catastrophic Accidents in Your Back Yard
Gas Grills and Propane Tanks It’s summertime and, unfortunately for the victims, a busy time for bio-hazard and accident cleanups for Advanced Bio Treatment. We’ve recently posted articles on some summertime safety issues, linked below. With summer comes very warm weather, which heats our parked vehicles to life-threatening temperatures in a matter of minutes, making […]
Vehicular Heatstroke: Dangers of Leaving Children in Hot Cars
Vehicular Heatstroke The Dangers of Leaving Children in Hot Cars If it’s something we don’t do every day, our brains face the challenge of struggling to remember to do it. It’s normal. We all deal with this challenge, which becomes even greater if we’re distracted or stressed. Aubrey’s Story When Jessa got home she was […]
Fireworks Safety: Why It’s No Laughing Matter
When Fireworks Safety is Ignored The Fourth of July is a holiday for most folks, but not for Advanced Bio Treatment. Alcohol + fireworks + ignorance = tragic accidents that just do NOT have to happen. While this lethal mix generates substantial business for us, it’s business we’d gladly trade for a little common sense, […]
The Effects of Domestic Abuse
Forms of Domestic Abuse “One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or torture an animal and get away with it.” ~ Margaret Mead Three things commonly happen to children who witness violent domestic abuse or who are victims themselves of domestic abuse: They become desensitized to violence […]
Confessions of Violent Abusers
⋅The Psychology Of Abusers⋅ Larry had been arrested three times in the past year for battering his wife. Each time, she dropped the charges and gave him the proverbial one-more-last-chance. And each time, he kept his promise for a while and then repeated the behavior a little more violently. The first time, Larry slapped her so hard […]
University: Where Binge Drinking And Sexual Assault Meet
⋅Today’s College Campus: a Culture of Binge Drinking, Sexual Assault, and Death⋅ We got the call from a national fraternity house at a large university in Florida on a Monday morning after a big home game and the traditional pre-game house bash. The cleanup was bigger and more lethal than the usual pre-game cleanups, which […]
Senior Abuse and its Catastrophic Results
⋅Senior Abuse – Helen’s Story: The Continuation⋅ Click here to read Part 1 of Helen’s story. After Helen moved into Pat’s home, Kay went to see Helen every week, and one day, Helen was unusually edgy and finally handed Kay a business card, which Helen had hidden in her Bible, and begged Kay […]
The Quiet Epidemic of Elder Abuse
⋅Elder Abuse⋅ When we think of domestic violence, we think of a male partner or husband attacking his female partner or wife. But domestic violence also takes other very ugly forms, like adults who abuse vulnerable older adults, or elder abuse. Elder abuse includes sexual abuse, psychological abuse, financial abuse, neglect, and physical abuse. All […]
Intimate Partner Violence – Who Are the Victims?
⋅Who Are the Victims of Intimate Partner Violence? ⋅ While a whopping 85 to 95% of intimate partner-violence victims are women, intimate partner violence is not more frequent in any particular relationship status or for any particular ethnicity, religion, income, education, or sexual orientation. However, people with certain defining characteristics do have a higher chance of becoming a […]
Domestic Abuse Knows No Boundary
⋅Domestic Abuse Puts on the Ritz⋅ One morning late last summer, our call center dispatched us to Davis Islands, one of the wealthiest, most beautiful areas in Tampa, Florida. My senior technician and I just stared at each other when we got the call. What could possibly go so wrong in a paradise like Davis […]
Trapped – Why Victims of Domestic Violence Stay
⋅“Just Leave Him!” Easier Said Than Done⋅ You met Sam, one of the many victims of domestic violence, in a previous blog, In Memory Of Sam – A Victim Of Domestic Violence, which we wrote as a memorial to her with the permission of our client, Sam’s mother Grace. We want to tell you a little […]
In Memory of Sam – A Victim of Domestic Violence
⋅Victims of Domestic Violence⋅ According to an October 23, 2014, article in the Huffington Post, the number of women murdered by current or previous male partners between 2001 and 2012 was nearly double the number of troops killed in Afghanistan and Iraq during the same time period. This is the tragic story of one of […]
Tell-Tale Signs of Mold in Your Home or Office
⋅Do You Have a Mold Problem? ⋅ Mold is a fungi that grows only in moist, warm environments. Its energy source is whatever it grows on. That means eventually, the mold will consume and destroy whatever it grows on. There are several hundred thousand kinds of mold, and some of them are toxic enough […]
Recognize A Rat Infestation Or Prevent It Altogether
⋅The Lowdown on Rat Infestation⋅ In a previous blog, “Rats, Feces and Oder – Taking Green to the Extreme“, we discussed how quickly and easily rodents can infest and destroy your home and how dangerous their presence in your home can be. In this blog, we’ll give you some tips about how to recognize the […]
Don’t Be A Victim Of Homeowners Insurance Surprises
⋅ “What?! My Homeowners Insurance Doesn’t Cover My Water Damage?!”⋅ About 50% of all homeowners insurance claims filed in the United States are water-damage claims. For this reason, and also because water damage is one of the most costly and devastating kinds of damage to a home, you should carefully read your policy to know what […]
Mold: A Stealthy Assassin Living in Your Home
⋅Mold: a Deadly and Often Invisible Intruder⋅ In a previous blog, “Serious Health Risks to DIY Mold Removal“, we explained to you why popular do-it-yourself cleaning remedies don’t get rid of mold and why you should therefore contact a professional cleaning service with experience in mold remediation, like Advanced Bio Treatment, when you suspect a mold […]
Serious Health Risks to DIY Mold Removal
⋅Mold Removal: Don’t Do-It-Yourself⋅ Most people who try to remove mold themselves use chlorine bleach, vinegar, or similar disinfectants to get rid of household mold. However, these chemicals are not always adequate mold removal tools and appear to work only on the surface. Bleach is made up primarily of water, so it can actually help […]
Animal Hoarding: Inside the Worst Kind of Animal Abuse
⋅What is Animal Hoarding?⋅ Approximately 40 percent of people who hoard “things” also hoard animals, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Almost all animal hoarders are kind-hearted people who truly believe they are helping animals. While their intentions are good, these good intentions pave the way to the hell in which these […]
Rats, Feces and Odor – Taking Green to the Extreme
⋅Rats, Feces and Odor Plague Well-Meaning Gardener⋅ Our client was a quintessential earth mother. She loved everything that lived and had a hand-carved sign in her spacious organic vegetable garden that read, “All God’s Creatures Welcome Here,” and she meant it. She killed nothing, not even All God’s thieves who pilfered her vegetable garden. She lived […]
Deadly Drugs, Dangerous People And Disgusting Results
⋅Deadly Drugs, Rotting Corpse Found in Lethal Meth Lab⋅ Before any meth lab can be safely inhabited, it must be thoroughly and professionally cleaned and decontaminated because the chemicals used to manufacture meth are volatile and lethal. They leave the entire structure and all of its furnishings contaminated long after the chemicals themselves are removed […]
Daily Torment Culminates in Bullycide for Elementary Student
⋅The Tragic End Result of Bullying: Bullycide⋅ In our line of work, we deal with tragedy, heartbreak, and families torn apart by unthinkable horror on a daily basis. It’s an intrinsic part of my job. At the scenes we are called to clean up, most of the victims are adults. Rarely do crime-scenes or suicides […]
Annual Friendly Fishing Trip Ends in Tragedy
⋅One Final Fishing Trip⋅ Every year these four friends from Marietta, Georgia, a suburb northwest of Atlanta, take a fishing trip together and stay in a cabin, owned by the grandparents of one of the four, at a nearby lake. On this particular trip, one of the men stayed behind to catch up on a […]
On the Job with ABT – Tragedy Strikes Jacksonville
A Senseless Tragedy Strikes Home When her father did not show up for their weekly coffee date Tuesday morning, his alarmed daughter went to his apartment, to which she had a key, on the north side of Jacksonville, Florida. The front door was partially open. She immediately knew something was terribly wrong even before she peeked into […]
Unattended: A Lonely Death
⋅A Lonely Death⋅ An unattended death is used to describe an event where a person died and was not discovered for days or weeks and is in an advanced stage of decomposition, which takes only two or three days following death, and fewer if the body is in a very warm room. As a society, dying […]
Behind The Line: Inside Crime Scene Cleanup
⋅Crime Scene Cleanup – The Inside Story⋅ Everybody has a morbid fascination with the job of a crime-scene cleaner. Some people think it’s a glamorous job, thanks to the unrealistic depiction of popular TV shows. Other people think it’s a thrilling and mysterious Broadway production to which we have coveted first-row seats. “Do you do ride-alongs?” they’ll […]
On the Job with ABT: Horrific Workplace Accidents
⋅Horrific Workplace Accidents⋅ Some of the most bizarre and nightmarish scenes we are called to involve workplace accidents in which the victim is badly injured or killed. We see and clean up what is left after the victim is removed by paramedics or the coroner’s office. Meat Grinder Mishap We were once called to a […]
Cold Blooded Killer Caught in Own Snare
⋅Killer Caught in His Own Snare⋅ Normally, we are “second responders,” meaning Advanced Bio Treatment professionals are on a crime scene after first responders—paramedics, police, crime-scene investigators, and the coroner— complete their work. So that evidence is preserved, we are not even permitted to enter a crime scene until authorities release it. But a couple […]
Why You Should Never Attempt Meth Lab Cleanup
⋅Never Attempt Meth Lab Cleanup Yourself⋅ Most of the meth-lab cleanups to which we are called are rental properties. We usually get the call from a bewildered landlord, apartment-complex manager, or motel manager who had no idea what his tenants were doing until the property was swarming with police. Occasionally, we get the call from […]
The Horrors of Pedestrian Accidents Along Railroad Tracks
⋅Stay off the Tracks!⋅ One of the most horrific and tragic jobs we are called to is a suicide or pedestrian accident along railroad tracks. Most of the time, the victim is very young, like the teenager who lost his life on the tracks we were hired to clean a few months ago near Tampa, Florida. […]
When & How to Clean Up Blood Spills
⋅Blood Spills: When Can I Clean Them Myself?⋅ According to OSHA and the CDC, all bodily fluids are potentially contaminated with blood-borne pathogens: bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Federal regulations state that all bodily fluids are considered bio-hazards because blood may carry the deadly HIV or Hepatitis pathogens for which there is no cure. For more […]
Dealing With The Impacts: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
⋅The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly⋅ Every job has a story. It has real people who have usually experienced a crisis or catastrophic tragedy. One way to emotionally detach from the work we do is to know as little as possible about the victims. But that’s easier said than done. Family members of the […]
Know a Hoarder: Here’s How You Can Help
⋅Helping a Hoarder⋅ When we are called to clean up hoarding sites, we are often on site with the hoarders and their families who are trying to persuade the hoarders to get rid of their possessions. I have therefore observed many of the interactions between hoarders and their families and friends, have interacted with these […]
Do You Pass The Scene Decontamination Test?
⋅Why Going DIY With a Bucket of Bleach Won’t Cut It⋅ A lot of folks don’t know how what we do is any different from what they themselves can do. They believe that the do-it-yourself approach to cleaning up an environment full of bio-hazards, such as a crime scene, death scene, or hoarding scene, can […]
Bloody Scenes Don’t Always End Badly
⋅Bloody Scenes: Always Dangerous, Not Always Sad⋅ Not all bloody scenes are horrible harbingers of the grim reaper. Some bloody scenes are calls for celebration. However, all bloody scenes are dangerous, regardless of the circumstance of the blood. How the blood got there has little to do with its inherent dangers. Why? Because blood is […]
Uncle’s Stunt Ends in Terrible Tragedy
⋅A Family’s Terrible Tragedy⋅ We were recently called to the scene of a tragic accident in the quiet, upscale suburb of St. Andrews, just outside Columbia, South Carolina. This cleanup served as a sober reminder of how unprepared the average person is to deal with the aftermath of a sudden and violent tragedy. Leading up to […]
A Day on the Job with ABT – Dumbest Criminals
Dumbest Criminal Gets Dose of His Own Medicine We often get asked, “What’s the WORST mess you’ve ever had to clean up?” and “What’s the most HORRIBLE crime scene you’ve ever remediated?” That got me thinking, and it occurred to me that no one has ever asked me about the FUNNIEST job I’ve ever been hired to do. Believe […]
A Day on the Job with ABT – Tragic Suicide
⋅From Daddy’s Girl to Tragic Suicide⋅ While all cleanup calls demand sensitivity and diplomacy on our part toward victims’ families, the suicide cleanup sometimes requires an extra degree of tact and empathy because the public does not always view suicide victims as sympathetically as it views violent-crime victims. And this particular and very tragic suicide […]
A Day on the Job with ABT – The Horrors of Hoarding
⋅Untold Horrors – Hoarding⋅ We clean and deodorize hoarding sites that rival in deadly bacteria and biohazards the worst crime-scene cleanup. Hoarders are folks who compulsively collect objects, food, and animals. They develop an irrational emotional obsession with what they collect, and their collection gradually takes over their homes and property. Hoarding environments are packed so […]
A Day on the Job with ABT – Decomposed Body
⋅Real Life Scene – Decomposed Body⋅ It’s not anything like what you see on TV. Dead and decomposed bodies aren’t anything like the beautiful actors who have just stepped out of a dressing room in their pressed, clean, unblemished clothes, perfectly styled hair, flawlessly applied makeup, now smartly and carefully posed in glistening pools of blood […]
Underage Alcohol Consumption and Sliding Glass Doors
Things That Don’t Mix Over the years as a crime-scene cleaner, I’ve made mental notes about things that just don’t mix well with alcohol. I thought I’d seen it all, but after working this violent accidental cleanup, I had a brand-new note to add to my mental list of things to avoid when alcohol is […]