Advanced Bio Treatment is experienced in dealing with suicide scene cleanup
More importantly we will always treat in a way that demonstrates we understand the pain and difficulty that results from suicide. As part of any suicide scene cleaning, we’ll remove and decontaminate the blood, tissue and bodily fluids this trauma leaves behind. We’ll strictly adhere to OSHA regulations and API Worksafe guidelines and only deploy EPA registered hospital grade cleansers and disinfectants. We always perform suicide clean services with both your environmental and your emotional needs in mind.
Suicides are always hard for me. Life is so precious that it’s hard to understand how one could take their own away. Not to mention it has always seemed to me that the families left behind after such a terrible event have the hardest time coming to grasp with what has occurred. That is why suicides are so hard on me as well.
Even though I have an important job to do, one that I take very seriously, I know that I can not bring back the a family’s loved one. But occasionally, as was the case with this next story, I can help shed light on the reason their family member chose to end it all.
The call came in to my office on a Monday in early December. The caller was a family member who was calling on behalf of a mother who owned a rental home in a working class neighborhood on the south side of Washington D.C. I was told that my services were needed immediately and that the job would involve restoring the home in the wake of a suicide by firearm. Never a pleasant scene.
The drive to the address took us through some neighborhood which had seen better days… The houses we passed were in all stages of disrepair with an occasional well loved home sticking out like a polished stone in a bowl of dirty rocks. The home we pulled up in front had once been a charming house, but years of neglect had started to show.
As we geared up we were met by the caller who identified himself as the brother of the woman who owned the home. After shaking his hand and offering my apologizes for having to meet under the circumstance, the man nodded his head and motioned for me and my co-worker to follow him inside. Standing inside the living room, it was immediately clear where the incident had taken place: a large pool of semi-dried blood stained the couch and carpet.
As I examined the scene to get an idea of the process I would need take to completely remediate the home, I listened to the man describe what had happened: his sister’s son, his nephew, had lived in the home for the last two years alone after he had separated from his wife. Things hadn’t been easy for the young man, who had fallen into a depression as a result, and after losing his job on top of everything, had started to distance himself from family and friends. According to his uncle, the young man had not been himself for sometime, but everyone assumed that he would eventually turn his life around. No one had thought that he was capable of killing himself, but that’s exactly what he did just two days prior to my company being called.
The family was at a loss, and with no apparent suicide note, was unable to come to terms with what had happened. I truly felt for the family and after the man left, we really got down to the nitty gritty in an effort to thoroughly remove any trace of the tragedy to bring closure in some way.
We understand you’re calling on us in the aftermath of a terrible event
Remember, you should never attempt to clean a suicide scene yourself. It is important to protect yourself, your family, and your employees by hiring a professional suicide cleanup company. Even a single drop of blood or body fluid can carry bio-hazards, germs, bacteria and diseases that can be dangerous for years. ABT is EPA and OSHA certified and we will work with your insurance company to provide the smoothest, most painless process possible to restore not only your home, but also your peace of mind.
Once we got started, I noticed that unlike many of the calls we get related to suicide by firearms, that this job was relatively straightforward to clean because the victim had used a low caliber pistol. This meant that the bullet did not exit his head, which in turn, many that the blood was very localized and there was not brain matter splattered on the ceilings or walls.
There was still a lot of blood on the carpet, and as we moved the bodily fluid soiled couch so we could clean the flooring beneath, a piece of white paper that had been carefully folded caught my eye. Quickly I picked it up and a brief glance told me that I had found something very important. The young victim’s last letter ever, with the word ‘mom’ scrolled across the top. Without reading any more (I didn’t believe it was my place) I put the note in my pocket and finished the job.
When it came time to turn the home’s keys back over to the uncle, I told him what I had found. I could see as he took the letter from me that he was moved beyond words. After we left, I couldn’t help but wonder what the young man had written inside the letter. What reason would he give his mother for taking her only child away? I’ll never know. But what I do know is that we brought that family closer to closure, not only by restoring their home in the aftermath of the suicide, but also by finding John Doe’s last written words, we were also able to answer, hopefully a little, why it had happened at all.
If you need scene clean-up and decontamination guidance, have questions about your payment options, which clean up and decon procedures your current insurance policy covers or require our scene cleanup services immediately, don’t hesitate to give Advanced Bio Treatment a call at:800-295-1684
