Unattended Death
Our technicians at Advanced Bio Treatment are highly trained in the field of crime scene cleanup, unattended death, and trauma cleanup, but we find that we learn something new every day and it’s often information that is life-saving. We’re eager to share our stories with you along with the invaluable lessons we pick up along the way. We first met John and Emily under very stressful circumstances, but kept in touch with them to discover that so often there is a gift in the midst of a traumatic situation.
John and Emily weren’t the typical snowbirds, but they were traveling south for a few months for vacation and to visit their family throughout November, December, and January. They lived in Burke, Virginia at the time and were considering moving to Florida permanently but hadn’t committed to the decision quite yet. Their home was older and beginning to become a burden, and they were ready to downsize anyway. Emily began having headaches and shortness of breath before their long trip, and she attributed it to the stress of preparing for travel. John, on the other hand, noticed that her headaches started shortly after he’d installed the new furnace in mid-October. He wondered if he’d installed it improperly and that there were air quality issues such as a release of carbon monoxide into their air. It seemed so unlikely, but he’d have it checked out as soon as they returned in late January.
When January rolled around, John and Emily were shocked at the scene they encountered upon returning home. Their home was littered with garbage and rotten food, but it was the repulsive odor that sent them both back outside. Instead of investigating further, they called 911 from their front yard. When the police arrived and conducted their own investigation, they explained that a squatter, or a person who unlawfully inhabits a vacant building or home, had been living in their home and apparently passed away while they vacationed. To make matters worse, the intruder also had a dog that had urinated and defecated all over their floors for the past couple of months, destroying their hardwoods and floor molding. Strangely, there was no sign of the dog, and the authorities suggested that maybe it was let outside at some point and ran away.
Distraught, Emily reached out to our live operators at Advanced Bio Treatment for help. The human remains were removed, but the puddled body fluids and chunks of body tissues that stuck to the flooring where the badly decomposed body lay were still there. Like most crime scenes, unattended death scenes, and trauma scenes, the human remains were removed and nothing else was cleaned and certainly not disinfected in any way. Understandably, she was overwhelmed and didn’t want to touch anything in her home and feared disease remaining not only from the decomposed body but also from the life the man had lived over the course of the past months. Had he carried Hepatitis, HIV, or any number of diseases that might endanger her or her loved ones? Were the brown smears in the kitchen and bathroom feces and blood? She couldn’t even be inside the home without all the doors and windows open because of the repulsive smell. When Advanced Bio Treatment technicians arrived, they assessed the home and immediately began bagging biohazard waste. Already, Emily felt a sense of relief.
Every bag they walked out with was like a weight lifted off. They quickly gutted out the home and the sanitization began. That’s when I got the call, too. My cell phone rang while I was watching the gentleman begin this huge task. The coroner had determined that it was carbon monoxide poisoning that killed the intruder. I was in shock all over again.
John’s inkling was correct. Even though it was more of a passing thought, he had guessed that there was a potential problem with their air quality before they’d ever left Virginia. And there was a deadly problem with their air quality. As soon as they got the news, John and Emily had an electrician take a look at their furnace and correct the problem that resulted in the release of CO2 into their home. John also had a carbon monoxide alarm installed so that no one else would ever be hurt in their home from this “invisible killer”, CO2.
Although there was a tremendous amount of physical work to be done on the home to eliminate the dangers associated with infectious disease and bloodborne pathogens and Emily and John had to deal with emotions of violation, there was also a blessing in disguise. John and Emily were alive. They could have easily been the ones that lost their lives to carbon monoxide poisoning. But this tragedy turned blessing, although in the strangest of ways, gave them a new sense of living a life worth living.
Forever grateful to Advanced Bio Treatment, as Emily and John have expressed their gratitude to us, we also would like to thank them for sharing their story with us. If ever you find yourself in the midst of a biohazard disaster whether it due to an unattended death or a traumatic event in your home or place of work, we hope you too will reach out to our professional, experienced team at 1-800-295-1684.
Please visit the following resource to best protect your family from the fatal dangers associated with Carbon Monoxide Poisoning:
