Self inflicted deaths are the 7 th leading cause of death in this country, with that number rising everyday.
Everyone is vulnerable to losing someone they love in this manner, from the very old to the very young, to the richest, most famous individuals to the poorest, most obscure.
Suicide can affect the lives of anyone in our society, and often the reason for the tragedy is as varied as the victims.
In this job, we rarely ever just clean up the physical reminder of a tragic event, we also are required to handle the fragile state of minds that the remaining family members are in, during the aftermath of something like a suicide.
No family never should ever attempt, through their grief, to cleanup the scene of a crime or accident. Suicides in particular should be off limits for many reasons but primarily the emotional toll that it can take on the people doing the cleanup, not experienced in such sights like the professionals at Advanced Bio Treatment.
Also, these scenes can contain dangerous materials such as drug paraphernalia, human waste, hoards, and the bodily fluids left behind after someone passes. Blood too, can contain hazardous pathogens like HIV or Hepatitis and is suitable for remediation only by experts.
ABT is trained to properly dispose of this medical waste, and to eliminate not only any harmful agents at the scene, but to also erase any evidence of the event itself.
For instance, we were called out to a home near Baltimore, Maryland, the call came into our Washington D.C.regional office, to restore a property after the resident had taken his own life using a firearm.
The apartment was located in a pleasant enough neighborhood, full of lots of young families. One man who lived next door to the address we were cleaning up told us that his wife had been in their master bedroom when the shot went off…. and can through their wall, shattering a dresser mirror and lodging in the wall just behind it.
If she had been just a few feet to her right, we might have been called to their home as well. Thank god for seemingly small miracles.
The scene itself was typical of a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Blood and brain matter covered the walls and the sofa he had been sitting on when he carried out his final act. The bullet had passed through his head like a cantaloupe, having much the same effect, and had maintained enough momentum to make its way into the adjacent apartment.
Looking at the hole in the blood covered wall, I had to shake my head. The young lady next door had come very close to a Final Destination, film style ending.
All in all, the cleanup was fairly routine and once we had all the pieces of skull picked up along with the brains dripping down from the ceiling, everything moved quickly. After we thoroughly sanitized the area, and repaired the carpet and walls, we were able to hand the keys back to a very grateful apartment manager.
Still, not as grateful, I should think, as one little housewife who may think twice about which wall she puts her bed on in the future.
You don’t want to try and attempt to clean up a crime scene or accident scene. Blood and other bodily fluids can contain dangerous pathogens which pose a significant risk to human health. Our scene clean up technicians will decontaminate and remove any blood, tissue or bodily fluids a crime and trauma scene has left behind. Advanced Bio Treatment is a professional scene cleaning company.
Regardless of whether the scene is at your home and personal property, a commercial business, or industrial site, we’ll strictly adhere to OSHA regulations and API Worksafe guidelines in our cleanup efforts. We only deploy EPA registered hospital grade cleansers and disinfectants.
If you need trauma or accidental death clean-up guidance, have questions about your payment options or current insurance policy covers don’t hesitate to give Advanced Bio Treatment a call at: 800-295-1684.
