⋅The Unknown Risks⋅
Most of us, at some point, have seen a crime or death scene portrayed on a show or in the movies, but these neat, carefully planned sets don’t come close to the stark reality families face when the loss of life and its devastating impacts hit home. In addition to dealing with the emotional trauma of losing a loved one, the very real, very hazardous scene now sits waiting to be cleaned. This isn’t a situation many of us have ever had to consider being faced with, and no television show can prepare one for the dangers of attempting a trauma scene cleanup without professional training and equipment. There can be long-term health, financial and even legal impacts for those who go it alone, as mistakes can be both costly and dangerous – for those doing the cleaning and for future inhabitants. There are also laws which regulate the safe handling and disposal of bio-hazardous materials, with extensive training and permits required in most cases. Penalties for improper disposal of these materials can range from fines of several hundred dollars to the hundreds of thousands and can even include jail time, depending on the state, volume of waste dumped and other factors. While this may seem excessive to some, these restrictions are in place for good reason, as improper trauma scene cleanup, handling and disposal can have dangerous consequences.
Dangerous Trauma Scene Cleanup Mistakes
In previous blogs, we discussed the danger of deadly pathogens and the devastating emotional toll of entering a death scene. Here we will focus on another reason not to attempt the cleanup yourself but rather to call a professional: Mistakes Can Be Costly and Even Deadly
One of the most important reasons to hire a professional company to handle trauma scene cleanup and decontamination is the layman’s lack of knowledge, which could prove deadly. There are many factors involved in cleaning up the scene of a death, including health, safety and legal regulations. Professionals go through extensive training and pass exams before receiving permits and certifications for their work, along with having access to the proper cleaning materials and safety gear.
Before you consider handling a trauma scene cleanup, ask yourself a few questions:
- Do you understand the extent and severity of the damage, much of it hidden from view, created by excreted bodily fluids?
- Do you have the expertise to determine what can be cleaned and what can’t?
- Do you have a license to transport and dispose of bio-hazardous waste?
- Do you have the protective clothing, professional equipment, and industrial-strength chemicals to decontaminate the environment?
If you answered no to any of the above questions, then attempting to clean the scene yourself could be disastrous, for you, future occupants and the environment. Ineffective cleaning often results in permanent damage to the home in which the death or trauma occurred, including the structures and trimmings, such as floors, walls, furniture, and linens. Our professionals at Advanced Bio Treatment use EPA registered disinfectants and cleaning agents and special machines to thoroughly decontaminate and deodorize the environment in which an individual died. We also professionally package and safely remove everything that cannot be cleaned and dispose of it at approved biological material locations.
Massive quantities of blood and other bodily fluids cannot simply be mopped up and rinsed down the sink or toilet because they seep into wood floors, under baseboards, through carpeting, padding, and sub flooring. The wood floors in the above photo could not be cleaned at all; they had to be removed because the blood lay pooled on the floor for several days and the boards warped. The floor boards had to be safely packaged and disposed of because they presented a biological hazard.
Even the transportation of bio-hazardous waste requires a special license and often, registering with the state department of Health and Safety.
Because blood had seeped between the floor boards and into the sub flooring, some of that sub flooring also had to be safely packaged and removed before it could be replaced. The wall behind the bed where the murder occurred was spattered with blood and body tissue, which had to be safely removed, and the walls then had to be disinfected before repainting. The bed sheets could not be washed or simply thrown into trash bags and placed at the curb. They had to be professionally packaged, removed, and disposed of, as did the blood-soaked mattress, because the blood in them presented a serious bio-hazard. Attempting to clean or dispose of these items improperly and illegally would have exposed those doing the cleaning, along with other people, to deadly pathogens present in decomposing blood, not to mention possible legal charges.
Our trained professionals know how to recognize personal items that present serious bio-hazards, how to contain those items, and how to safely and legally dispose of them.
Additionally, our company has the expertise to properly and thoroughly clean what crime-scene investigators and police leave behind, such as tear gas, fingerprint powder, and luminol spray (sprayed on walls, floors, appliances, and furniture to detect the presence of blood). Residues of these substances are often toxic and should be cleaned professionally to protect future occupants. This is especially true of tear gas, which leaves a chemical residue not only damaging to the property with which it comes into contact, but also is so powerful that protective gear must be worn during its cleanup and removal.
Inadequate attempts at trauma scene cleanup result not only in health risks to the individuals doing the cleaning and to those who occupy the environment later, they also compound the problems and stress the deceased’s loved ones already face.
Now they must deal with knowing what to clean and how to clean it, what to dispose of and how to dispose of it, hidden damage to the property, and the legal constraints of transporting and disposing of bio-hazardous waste, not to mention the expensive industrial-strength chemicals, equipment, and clothes that are necessary to properly decontaminate a death scene.
The added physical and mental stress, along with the emotional trauma sustained while cleaning up the scene of a loved one’s death can have long term psychological impacts, making an already traumatic experience that much more difficult.
If the unthinkable happens to you or to someone you know, please call the professionals at Advanced Bio Treatment. We understand what you face and are respectful and compassionate, while relieving you of the emotional suffering of a trauma scene cleanup. Most importantly, we assure you that we will do more than a cursory clean up. We are trained to walk into an environment full of bio-hazards, safely contain and remove or clean them, and completely decontaminate a death or crime scene following all OSHA, EPA, and state health department guidelines. We will restore the environment to a safe one for others to enter and live in again.