by Jeffrey Stouffer editor
July 19, 2010
A continually evolving and expanding segment of the remediation industry, bio-recovery – better known as “crime scene cleanup” or “trauma cleaning” – has made great strides since it first came into being as an organized segment of the business almost two decades ago. Recently, R&R spoke with Kent Berg, director of the National Institute of Decontamination Specialists and founder of the American Bio-Recovery Association, to get his take on where the industry stands today and where it’s headed in the future.
Restoration & Remediation: Briefly, what falls under the scope of work when people talk about “bio-recovery”?
Kent Berg: Bio-recovery is actually a term that was derived from the words BioHazard Cleanup and Scene Recovery. We chose that term because our industry’s scope of work is actually much broader than cleaning crime scenes. We are often thought of as the guys that will clean up anything that is nasty, repulsive, or gross, so people naturally call us to clean up human feces, animal feces, dead animals – usually rotten ones – and gross filth, as in rotting food, poor hygiene, and piles and piles of garbage. Then there’s the decomposed human body scenes, meth labs, the occasional disease outbreak, and anything else that would cause a normal person to stay a hundred feet away to keep from puking.
R&R: You’ve been part of the bio-recovery profession pretty much since before it became a profession. Since that time, what are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen, both positive and negative?
KB: When I first started, very few people in this business knew anything about cleaning and disinfecting. They just wanted to make the visible contamination go away. No one in the insurance industry had ever heard of a crime scene cleanup company, and many adjusters argued that our services were not covered. Today, the biggest changes have been in our profile. What I mean by that is the public, who had never heard of our services, now see us in TV shows, documentaries, movies, magazines, and newspaper articles. We have recognition now, and families are more aware that these services exist.
Another change has been in the performance of the cleanup itself. We as an industry are much more aware of the antimicrobials we are using, the techniques and knowledge related to home construction, vehicle dismantling, and being able to actually render a property safe on a microscopic level.
R&R: From a purely objective point of view, bio-recovery would seem to be about as “recession-proof” as any remediation specialty out there. There will always be accidents, suicides and other traumas that require a professional remediator. What are some of the pros and cons that come along with that?
KB: We know that our services will always be needed, but with a higher profile, we are seeing more and more companies starting up, and more and more fire/water restoration companies adding this service to their menus. Although the demand for our services is increasing, the individual companies’ call volumes aren’t growing as fast because there is more competition for that finite number of incidents.
The pros are that the public will have resources to respond if they need them, and that companies will have to step up their game in service quality and marketing. The cons are that the majority of these new companies are not attending training, not getting any type of certification beyond a half-day OSHA bloodborne pathogen course. It’s these companies that are dragging the good companies down when the public hears about a company throwing a bloody mattress in a dumpster, etc.
R&R: Since hindsight is 20/20, if there was one thing you would go back and change, as far as how you operated your business, what is it, and what would you do differently?
KB: I would have marketed harder. I assumed that people would need my service and seek me out. That was true for a while, but when competitors popped up with their marketing programs, the public chose who was freshest in their minds. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but one I will never forget.
R&R: Technologically speaking, what areas have seen the greatest advances? Chemicals? PPE? Containment?
KB: One of the advancements has been our recognition as a legitimate industry. Today, vendors of specialty restoration products are targeting our industry. Kimberly-Clark markets their suits with the “Recommended by the American Bio-Recovery Association” seal on them. Other products used in our industry have similar tie-ins with our trade association or at the very least mention in their advertising that their product is great for cleaning crime and trauma scenes. Even the insurance industry no longer recognizes us under their “janitorial service” heading, opting now for a “crime scene cleanup” designation for insurance coverage.
We are also seeing new technology in the form of new disinfectants, odor-remediation technology, and devices to actually measure how clean a surface really is. The National Organization for Victim Assistance is putting on a training program this fall for teaching all interested bio-recovery technicians how to better interact with victims and their families. Meanwhile, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has sought out input so they may better understand our industry.
However, I believe the most important advancement for the industry has been the formation of training centers. Legitimate training programs help make sure that any technician who wants to be the best at their profession can attend a school that specializes in that field. By establishing a standard training and certification program, students graduate far ahead of their competitors and benefit from years of experience from seasoned industry professionals, scientists, chemists, and pathologists that helped to design the curriculum.
Jeffrey Stouffer editor
stoufferj@bnpmedia.com
Jeffrey Stouffer is editor of Restoration & Remediation magazine
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Crime Scene Cleanup A Booming Business
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Realtors walk through several empty homes each day with potential buyers, but most of the time they do not know why the seller has placed the property on the market.
Chris Pedon, with HER Real Living, said one house he sold several years ago was more of challenge, Arica Robbins, from 10TV's statewide affiliate ONN, reported on Wednesday.
"We had an incident where there was a murder of a wife, and then a suicide by the husband, and that was very tough," Pedon said.
It most municipalities, once the police, fire department and crime-scene investigators leave, it becomes the responsibility of the victim's family to clean up.
Until recently, very few cleaning companies would handle that kind of job, Robbins reported.
Brett Jones, a Columbus firefighter, noticed a need and started Casualty Cleanup; a biohazard firm that helps families pick up the pieces.
"As a technician, you're able to go in and help a family because they are already under a lot of stress," Jones said. "You've got to get funeral arrangements done and it was likely unexpected. That's emotionally distressing."
Crime scene cleanup can also be dangerous.
"A lot of times it's just not something that you should be attempting to do if you don't know how to do it," said Chris Kincaid, co-owner of Casualty Cleanup.
Once an unconsidered concern, the crime scene clean up business is a growing one, Robbins said.
"There are pathogens that you can contract when you're dealing with blood and body fluids," Kincaid said.
Pedon said in Ohio there are no set rules on whether to disclose a suicide or crime in a home that is listed for sale.
"Commonly people wait until the house is shown and once somebody showed interest, they'd disclose at that point," Pedon said.
Some non-profit organizations help families with crime scene cleanup, which can be costly and time consuming.
Watch 10TV News HD and refresh 10TV.com for additional information.
More Information:
Netcare
Here4Hope
Casualty Cleanup
Chris Pedon, with HER Real Living, said one house he sold several years ago was more of challenge, Arica Robbins, from 10TV's statewide affiliate ONN, reported on Wednesday.
"We had an incident where there was a murder of a wife, and then a suicide by the husband, and that was very tough," Pedon said.
It most municipalities, once the police, fire department and crime-scene investigators leave, it becomes the responsibility of the victim's family to clean up.
Until recently, very few cleaning companies would handle that kind of job, Robbins reported.
Brett Jones, a Columbus firefighter, noticed a need and started Casualty Cleanup; a biohazard firm that helps families pick up the pieces.
"As a technician, you're able to go in and help a family because they are already under a lot of stress," Jones said. "You've got to get funeral arrangements done and it was likely unexpected. That's emotionally distressing."
Crime scene cleanup can also be dangerous.
"A lot of times it's just not something that you should be attempting to do if you don't know how to do it," said Chris Kincaid, co-owner of Casualty Cleanup.
Once an unconsidered concern, the crime scene clean up business is a growing one, Robbins said.
"There are pathogens that you can contract when you're dealing with blood and body fluids," Kincaid said.
Pedon said in Ohio there are no set rules on whether to disclose a suicide or crime in a home that is listed for sale.
"Commonly people wait until the house is shown and once somebody showed interest, they'd disclose at that point," Pedon said.
Some non-profit organizations help families with crime scene cleanup, which can be costly and time consuming.
Watch 10TV News HD and refresh 10TV.com for additional information.
More Information:
Netcare
Here4Hope
Casualty Cleanup
Friday, March 12, 2010
Trauma Cleaning: Without Standards, The Pain Can Keep Coming
by Kent Berg
As an instructor in crime and trauma-scene recovery and a board member of the American Bio-Recovery Association, I am often approached by attorneys, the public and insurance adjusters to evaluate the service they or their clients received from other crime-scene cleanup companies.
For the most part, these are just routine questions from people who want to make sure that the service they received was within the normal parameters of good practice. But a few times each month I receive calls that just cause my stomach to knot up and my blood to boil.
With the bio-recovery industry in its 14th year, it is mind-boggling to find individuals who still decide that they are going to start-up a new company and declare themselves “experts” in crime and trauma scene cleanup without any research or training.
It is even more outrageous to find that, although they know almost nothing about the science, chemistry, biology or laws of our industry, they are charging fees that are often four or five times the industry average.
The majority of those operating in the industry today are honest, ethical professionals. It’s the few bad apples in the bio-recovery barrel, so to speak, that amplify the problems tainting our industry.
Example 1: The Hit-and-Run Guys
A husband argues with his wife in their kitchen. As she prepares supper, he grabs a shotgun and, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, blows his head off.
It is still daylight when the police arrive. In order to see better, they open the brain-splattered dining room drapes. Splatter is on the dining room and kitchen walls, but since the body fell onto the vinyl tile floor of the kitchen, the largest amount of blood pooled there.
The family asks the police about scene cleanup, and is directed to a local company. The company tells the family that payment will have to be made in cash prior to starting the job, and that the family will not be allowed inside of the house while the cleaning process takes place.
The family agrees and stays with relatives until they get the call that the job is complete and they can return. The company is long gone, and upon cursory inspection, the rooms look contaminant-free.
It is now night and, in an effort to keep neighbors from seeing into the dining room, the wife pulls the drapes closed. To the horror of the family, the drapes had apparently never been checked and still have blood and brain matter clinging to the material.
The kitchen floor appears to be clean but, when the wife walks across the floor, bright red blood spurts up between the tiles, making little puddles and polka-dotting her shoes.
If this isn’t enough to re-traumatize the family, the wife goes to remove the now-cold pot of chili from the stove and promptly throws up when she sees a 3-inch piece of her husband’s skull nestled neatly atop the pot.
The family contacted the attorney general for their state, who then called me to review the family’s statements prior to a decision on prosecution.
Example 2: The Little-Extra-on-the-Side Guys
A man who lived alone died in his bed of natural causes, but wasn’t found for several weeks. When the authorities were finally called, the decomposition could be smelled from the street.
When a crime-scene-cleanup company was called in, the man’s relatives were told that the odor had permeated everything in the house with disease. Their recommendation was that everything in the house should be removed and destroyed.
The family, already nauseated from the smell, relied on the “professional opinion” of the technicians and agreed to let them remove everything from the good silver and china to the appliances.
In short, every piece of furniture, appliance, electronic component and fixture was removed because they were declared “not salvageable.”
The relatives were then presented with a bill for approximately $40,000! If this wasn’t obscene enough, a few weeks later the family found many of the home’s contents that were supposedly “not salvageable” being sold at a local flea market.
Example 3: The Cutting-Down-on-Overhead Guys
It is standard practice for crime and trauma-scene cleanup companies to dispose of human-blood-contaminated items that can’t be salvaged. They do this by red-bagging and boxing these items and sending them to a medical waste processing facility. This includes dismantling recliners, mattresses, and other large items to fit in these containers.
In this case, a company responded to a gunshot suicide in an apartment. The victim had sat in his favorite recliner and put a pistol in his mouth. The subsequent wound bled profusely until there was no more blood for the heart to pump. This resulted in the complete saturation of the recliner.
In an apparent effort to save on labor and disposal fees, the crew decided that they would dispose of the recliner by wrapping it in plastic, putting it in the back of their truck and then dumping it in the woods of a neighboring county.
All seemed to go well until a few days later, when hunters found the chair and called police. Thinking that they had stumbled upon evidence of a homicide, the police launched a full-scale investigation that lasted for weeks and logged many detective hours before they were actually able to review the crime scene photos of every police department in the surrounding counties.
When the mystery was finally attributed to this particular crime-scene-cleanup company, not only were they slapped with fines for littering, they were saddled with reimbursing the cost of the investigation. Every law enforcement agency that heard about this dropped the company like a hot potato, and the subsequent media attention tarnished the reputation of crime-scene-cleanup companies everywhere.
I would like to emphasize the fact that these complaints are not clients disappointed with a poorly painted wall or an out-of-true vanity top. These are abuses by unscrupulous companies that are subjecting their clients to financial greed, improper disinfection, and re-traumatizing that no one should have to endure.
Could training and certification eliminate these types of abuse? Perhaps a good portion of them, but in the end, it is the honesty and character of the companies themselves that should be monitored. I believe the way to do that is to pursue standards, as well as meeting with our state legislators to create specific regulations for our industry.
As an instructor in crime and trauma-scene recovery and a board member of the American Bio-Recovery Association, I am often approached by attorneys, the public and insurance adjusters to evaluate the service they or their clients received from other crime-scene cleanup companies.
For the most part, these are just routine questions from people who want to make sure that the service they received was within the normal parameters of good practice. But a few times each month I receive calls that just cause my stomach to knot up and my blood to boil.
With the bio-recovery industry in its 14th year, it is mind-boggling to find individuals who still decide that they are going to start-up a new company and declare themselves “experts” in crime and trauma scene cleanup without any research or training.
It is even more outrageous to find that, although they know almost nothing about the science, chemistry, biology or laws of our industry, they are charging fees that are often four or five times the industry average.
The majority of those operating in the industry today are honest, ethical professionals. It’s the few bad apples in the bio-recovery barrel, so to speak, that amplify the problems tainting our industry.
Example 1: The Hit-and-Run Guys
A husband argues with his wife in their kitchen. As she prepares supper, he grabs a shotgun and, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, blows his head off.
It is still daylight when the police arrive. In order to see better, they open the brain-splattered dining room drapes. Splatter is on the dining room and kitchen walls, but since the body fell onto the vinyl tile floor of the kitchen, the largest amount of blood pooled there.
The family asks the police about scene cleanup, and is directed to a local company. The company tells the family that payment will have to be made in cash prior to starting the job, and that the family will not be allowed inside of the house while the cleaning process takes place.
The family agrees and stays with relatives until they get the call that the job is complete and they can return. The company is long gone, and upon cursory inspection, the rooms look contaminant-free.
It is now night and, in an effort to keep neighbors from seeing into the dining room, the wife pulls the drapes closed. To the horror of the family, the drapes had apparently never been checked and still have blood and brain matter clinging to the material.
The kitchen floor appears to be clean but, when the wife walks across the floor, bright red blood spurts up between the tiles, making little puddles and polka-dotting her shoes.
If this isn’t enough to re-traumatize the family, the wife goes to remove the now-cold pot of chili from the stove and promptly throws up when she sees a 3-inch piece of her husband’s skull nestled neatly atop the pot.
The family contacted the attorney general for their state, who then called me to review the family’s statements prior to a decision on prosecution.
Example 2: The Little-Extra-on-the-Side Guys
A man who lived alone died in his bed of natural causes, but wasn’t found for several weeks. When the authorities were finally called, the decomposition could be smelled from the street.
When a crime-scene-cleanup company was called in, the man’s relatives were told that the odor had permeated everything in the house with disease. Their recommendation was that everything in the house should be removed and destroyed.
The family, already nauseated from the smell, relied on the “professional opinion” of the technicians and agreed to let them remove everything from the good silver and china to the appliances.
In short, every piece of furniture, appliance, electronic component and fixture was removed because they were declared “not salvageable.”
The relatives were then presented with a bill for approximately $40,000! If this wasn’t obscene enough, a few weeks later the family found many of the home’s contents that were supposedly “not salvageable” being sold at a local flea market.
Example 3: The Cutting-Down-on-Overhead Guys
It is standard practice for crime and trauma-scene cleanup companies to dispose of human-blood-contaminated items that can’t be salvaged. They do this by red-bagging and boxing these items and sending them to a medical waste processing facility. This includes dismantling recliners, mattresses, and other large items to fit in these containers.
In this case, a company responded to a gunshot suicide in an apartment. The victim had sat in his favorite recliner and put a pistol in his mouth. The subsequent wound bled profusely until there was no more blood for the heart to pump. This resulted in the complete saturation of the recliner.
In an apparent effort to save on labor and disposal fees, the crew decided that they would dispose of the recliner by wrapping it in plastic, putting it in the back of their truck and then dumping it in the woods of a neighboring county.
All seemed to go well until a few days later, when hunters found the chair and called police. Thinking that they had stumbled upon evidence of a homicide, the police launched a full-scale investigation that lasted for weeks and logged many detective hours before they were actually able to review the crime scene photos of every police department in the surrounding counties.
When the mystery was finally attributed to this particular crime-scene-cleanup company, not only were they slapped with fines for littering, they were saddled with reimbursing the cost of the investigation. Every law enforcement agency that heard about this dropped the company like a hot potato, and the subsequent media attention tarnished the reputation of crime-scene-cleanup companies everywhere.
I would like to emphasize the fact that these complaints are not clients disappointed with a poorly painted wall or an out-of-true vanity top. These are abuses by unscrupulous companies that are subjecting their clients to financial greed, improper disinfection, and re-traumatizing that no one should have to endure.
Could training and certification eliminate these types of abuse? Perhaps a good portion of them, but in the end, it is the honesty and character of the companies themselves that should be monitored. I believe the way to do that is to pursue standards, as well as meeting with our state legislators to create specific regulations for our industry.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Meningitis outbreak sets off probe at Ohio University
Seven students were sickened by same group of bacteria
By Misti Crane
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Seven cases of bacterial meningitis at Ohio University caused by the same group of bacteria also share the same genetic fingerprint, prompting public-health experts to declare an outbreak and delve deeper into an investigation of the illnesses there.
The investigation by federal, state and local scientists will take at least a couple of weeks and aims to uncover what might have made the students susceptible to the bacteria, which don't cause problems for most people, said Dr. Mary DiOrio, assistant state epidemiologist.
Outbreaks are rare. Ohio's last was in 2001 in Alliance, where two high-school students died and a third barely survived.
The linked cases at OU - three from this school year, four from the last - present an opportunity to look for common behaviors or other factors that might have put the students at a higher risk, DiOrio said.
Meningitis is caused by five groups of bacteria. Vaccination offers no protection against group B, the type responsible for the OU outbreak, but does protect against the other forms of the disease.
It sickens about 100 to 125 people on college campuses nationwide and kills five to 15 students a year, according to the American College Health Association. Almost all bacterial meningitis cases are labeled sporadic, meaning they're never linked to another case. In Ohio last year, 42 cases were reported.
The matching genetic fingerprints don't mean that all of the OU students were sickened by the same person. Experts say that's highly unlikely because healthy carriers don't typically spread the bacteria for long.
DiOrio said investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state and local health departments were still figuring out the specific plans for their study yesterday. It will include surveys of students who were sickened and others who were not in an attempt to decipher what set the ill students apart.
"I think that it will be a fairly lengthy survey," she said.
As of now, investigators haven't unearthed any common characteristics other than the fact that all those sickened attended the same school, she said.
The team also is taking a new look at a dozen other Ohio meningitis cases to see if they match those seen in Athens, DiOrio said.
Andrea Robinson, an 18-year-old from Cleveland Heights, died Feb. 17. The other OU students survived the illness, which is characterized by an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord.
It comes on suddenly, usually beginning with flu-like symptoms followed by severe symptoms that can include a rash, stiff neck, confusion, vomiting, fever, headache and coma. Prompt treatment is essential.
Public-health experts know that crowded living conditions increase risk, as does smoking.
Students might not be able to avoid close quarters, but they can take some precautions to avoid illness, said Dr. Dennis Cunningham, physician director for epidemiology and infection control at Nationwide Children's Hospital.
"We know we need sleep, good nutrition and exercise, and a lot of times in college, that is not what's happening," he said.
Not sharing beverages and cigarettes also is important, DiOrio said.
And, for the protection it offers against most forms of bacterial meningitis, "This vaccine is absolutely necessary for college freshman going into a dorm," Cunningham said.
Beginning this fall, Ohio University plans to require vaccination for freshman. There might be opt-out provisions for those who are opposed, but that has not yet been sorted out, said Ryan Lombardi, dean of students.
Cunningham said many pharmaceutical companies are working on a vaccine that would protect against group B. So far, those efforts have been impeded by serious side effects, including brain damage, in animal studies.
By Misti Crane
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Seven cases of bacterial meningitis at Ohio University caused by the same group of bacteria also share the same genetic fingerprint, prompting public-health experts to declare an outbreak and delve deeper into an investigation of the illnesses there.
The investigation by federal, state and local scientists will take at least a couple of weeks and aims to uncover what might have made the students susceptible to the bacteria, which don't cause problems for most people, said Dr. Mary DiOrio, assistant state epidemiologist.
Outbreaks are rare. Ohio's last was in 2001 in Alliance, where two high-school students died and a third barely survived.
The linked cases at OU - three from this school year, four from the last - present an opportunity to look for common behaviors or other factors that might have put the students at a higher risk, DiOrio said.
Meningitis is caused by five groups of bacteria. Vaccination offers no protection against group B, the type responsible for the OU outbreak, but does protect against the other forms of the disease.
It sickens about 100 to 125 people on college campuses nationwide and kills five to 15 students a year, according to the American College Health Association. Almost all bacterial meningitis cases are labeled sporadic, meaning they're never linked to another case. In Ohio last year, 42 cases were reported.
The matching genetic fingerprints don't mean that all of the OU students were sickened by the same person. Experts say that's highly unlikely because healthy carriers don't typically spread the bacteria for long.
DiOrio said investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state and local health departments were still figuring out the specific plans for their study yesterday. It will include surveys of students who were sickened and others who were not in an attempt to decipher what set the ill students apart.
"I think that it will be a fairly lengthy survey," she said.
As of now, investigators haven't unearthed any common characteristics other than the fact that all those sickened attended the same school, she said.
The team also is taking a new look at a dozen other Ohio meningitis cases to see if they match those seen in Athens, DiOrio said.
Andrea Robinson, an 18-year-old from Cleveland Heights, died Feb. 17. The other OU students survived the illness, which is characterized by an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord.
It comes on suddenly, usually beginning with flu-like symptoms followed by severe symptoms that can include a rash, stiff neck, confusion, vomiting, fever, headache and coma. Prompt treatment is essential.
Public-health experts know that crowded living conditions increase risk, as does smoking.
Students might not be able to avoid close quarters, but they can take some precautions to avoid illness, said Dr. Dennis Cunningham, physician director for epidemiology and infection control at Nationwide Children's Hospital.
"We know we need sleep, good nutrition and exercise, and a lot of times in college, that is not what's happening," he said.
Not sharing beverages and cigarettes also is important, DiOrio said.
And, for the protection it offers against most forms of bacterial meningitis, "This vaccine is absolutely necessary for college freshman going into a dorm," Cunningham said.
Beginning this fall, Ohio University plans to require vaccination for freshman. There might be opt-out provisions for those who are opposed, but that has not yet been sorted out, said Ryan Lombardi, dean of students.
Cunningham said many pharmaceutical companies are working on a vaccine that would protect against group B. So far, those efforts have been impeded by serious side effects, including brain damage, in animal studies.
Monday, November 30, 2009
How Suicide Cleanup Is Taken Up
Suicide cleanup is a part of the broad based service of Crime Scene Cleanup which involves crime and trauma decontamination and restoring it to its previous state.
It is a a niche market in the cleaning industry and involves cleaning the biologically contaminated scene of one violent death like suicide, homicide or accidental death, or even the chemically contaminated anthrax exposed site or scene of a methamphetamine lab.
Broadly speaking, crime scene cleanup and suicide cleanup is almost same but there are few exeptions to this rule. Suicide cleanup requires some extra physical effort and psychological sensitivity that the technicians should be able to handle.
Following are some examples illustrating this. A suicide generally involves close range of weapon to body and so in-depth decontamination and thorough cleaning is required. The cleaners also have to handle family members who might be present at the scene searching for answers that why their beloved person decided to end his/her life. The technicians need to remove all traces of any evidence of a suicide so that no remains are present for family members and friends that might remind them of the tragedy. Restoring of a suicide scene also means clean and restore sentimental items that mean the lot to the family of the deceased and requires additional time and effort. On a visual inspection of any suicide scene you will generally find a lot of blood and bodily fluids, but invisible to the eye, a great amount of biohazard contamination is also bound to be there.
The suicide cleanup technicians have to search thoroughly in all areas, even those that can not be seen or accessed easily and remove all traces of them from the scene. Most suicide cleanup services have their staff trained in not only dealing up with decontaminating and cleaning up issues but also about dealing with family and friends with sensitivity and compassion. Since most of such companies work in association with leading insurance companies so they can even help you to bill the insurance company directly thus saving you all the hassles. A suicide cleanup consists of the following steps. Firstly the scene should be evaluated. Next all contaminates should be located and decontaminated. A thorough search should me made again to decontaminate any traces of contaminates that might have been left out. All types of bio hazardous agents should be properly disposed of. Any microscopic remains should b treated with chemicals and the environment should be treated for odors.
Last but not the least all tools and equipments should be disinfected. But before you attempt to clean a suicide scene on your own it is always better to consult a trained professional first.
It is a a niche market in the cleaning industry and involves cleaning the biologically contaminated scene of one violent death like suicide, homicide or accidental death, or even the chemically contaminated anthrax exposed site or scene of a methamphetamine lab.
Broadly speaking, crime scene cleanup and suicide cleanup is almost same but there are few exeptions to this rule. Suicide cleanup requires some extra physical effort and psychological sensitivity that the technicians should be able to handle.
Following are some examples illustrating this. A suicide generally involves close range of weapon to body and so in-depth decontamination and thorough cleaning is required. The cleaners also have to handle family members who might be present at the scene searching for answers that why their beloved person decided to end his/her life. The technicians need to remove all traces of any evidence of a suicide so that no remains are present for family members and friends that might remind them of the tragedy. Restoring of a suicide scene also means clean and restore sentimental items that mean the lot to the family of the deceased and requires additional time and effort. On a visual inspection of any suicide scene you will generally find a lot of blood and bodily fluids, but invisible to the eye, a great amount of biohazard contamination is also bound to be there.
The suicide cleanup technicians have to search thoroughly in all areas, even those that can not be seen or accessed easily and remove all traces of them from the scene. Most suicide cleanup services have their staff trained in not only dealing up with decontaminating and cleaning up issues but also about dealing with family and friends with sensitivity and compassion. Since most of such companies work in association with leading insurance companies so they can even help you to bill the insurance company directly thus saving you all the hassles. A suicide cleanup consists of the following steps. Firstly the scene should be evaluated. Next all contaminates should be located and decontaminated. A thorough search should me made again to decontaminate any traces of contaminates that might have been left out. All types of bio hazardous agents should be properly disposed of. Any microscopic remains should b treated with chemicals and the environment should be treated for odors.
Last but not the least all tools and equipments should be disinfected. But before you attempt to clean a suicide scene on your own it is always better to consult a trained professional first.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Meth labs spawn testing, cleanup industry
By Rick Armon
Beacon Journal staff writer
Roy Wilkinson waved the meth scanner around the kitchen pantry.
The red ''Meth'' light on the futuristic-looking, hand-held scanner blinked on at numerous spots, indicating a positive hit.
Not a good sign, since the property owner had cleaned the pantry to get rid of the meth spill in the Akron home.
So Wilkinson, owner of Safety Elements in Akron, double-checked the scanner, which can provide false positives. He conducted two separate swab tests that are 99.9 percent reliable.
Each one came up negative. No methamphetamine.
Wilkinson and others who test for and clean up after meth labs are experiencing a business boom because of the ongoing meth problem in Ohio. Last year, the Summit County Drug Unit busted 68 meth labs, which turn homes, motel rooms, storage lockers and anywhere else the drug is made into a toxic waste site.
The need for professional testing and cleanup services is expected to keep growing, experts said, as people become more aware of the potential health hazards of living in a former meth lab.
Landlords, hotel owners and others also are starting to understand the legal ramifications of renting homes, apartments or rooms used in meth operations without first cleaning them.
''We get tons of phone calls regarding meth labs. We get them every day,'' said Marc Onesta, owner of Bio Clean Services in Hudson, which began offering the testing and cleanup services in 2006. ''Companies like mine are benefiting from other people's crimes.''
Public awareness has grown thanks to media reports about the meth problem and Web sites such as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's National Clandestine Laboratory Register and Summit County Meth Awareness. Both sites identify locations of busted meth labs.
''The awareness is out there,'' Onesta said. ''Everybody knows what a meth lab is. I don't have to explain to anybody. Meth lab? Bad. Two years ago, no one really knew.''
Meth is a drug manufactured by cooking ingredients, including over-the-counter medications. The cooking process creates dangerous chemical residues that can seep into walls and carpeting.
Exposure to those chemicals can cause headaches, chest pain, nausea, dizziness and other problems, depending on the length and type of the exposure, according to health experts.
No regulation
Despite the hazard, Ohio and most other states have no cleanup standards that determine when a meth-tainted property is safe again.
Ohio also doesn't regulate meth testing and cleanup companies.
Anyone can start a meth cleanup company or add the service to an existing firm without training or knowledge about the drug. That's happening, industry leaders said, because companies can make a lot of money.
It can cost anywhere from $200 to $1,200 for the tests and $2,000 to $6,000 for the cleanup. Those costs can be higher if the meth exposure is severe, and those costs do not include replacing carpeting and drywall or other repairs.
Meth isn't something that can just be wiped up, vacuumed or painted over — that can actually spread the chemicals, experts said. They worry that shady operators could pocket money without removing the health hazard.
''What's an expert and who's qualified?'' said Dale Cillian, president of the American Bio-Recovery Association and owner of BIOPRO in Gilbert, Ariz. ''That's a real big problem.''
Ohio should license meth workers similar to plumbers and electricians to ensure they know what they are doing, industry leaders said. The state also needs to develop cleanup standards, they said.
''Everyone knows you have to clean up a meth lab, but you have to do it the right way,'' Onesta said.
Congress approved the Methamphetamine Research and Remediation Act that requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop cleanup guidelines for states and municipalities. The EPA is still working on the guidelines and expects to release them by the end of September.
State Rep. Stephen Dyer, D-Green, a former Beacon Journal reporter who wrote about the local meth problem, has proposed legislation to require disclosure by property owners and to direct the Ohio Department of Health to develop statewide cleanup standards.
His proposal also would allow victims — property owners whose homes or apartments are damaged without their knowledge — to tap into state funding set aside for crime victims to help pay for cleanup.
Considering the increase in meth testing and cleanup companies, the state also should explore whether those operators should be regulated, he said.
Testing
Wilkinson, who also is a full-time Akron firefighter and served last year on the Summit County Methamphetamine Property Awareness Task Force, carries a giant black and yellow toolbox around in the back of his Porsche Cayenne on meth calls.
The toolbox contains a $5,000 CDEX meth scanner and other gadgets, such as an item that works similarly to a pregnancy test and allows him to identify the presence of meth.
Wilkinson started his company a year ago after seeing firsthand the damage caused by meth as a firefighter and member of the Summit County HazMat team.
Wilkinson returned to an Akron home recently to retest the property. He had been there once and found meth residue in a kitchen pantry, where a bottle filled with meth had exploded.
The property owner decided to try to clean the pantry himself and called in Wilkinson to make sure he had done it right.
Wilkinson wore blue booties and purple gloves for protection as he entered the home. In other cases, he wears a mask or even HazMat suit, depending on the extent of the meth damage.
He said he receives calls all the time for testing and advice, including calls from car rental companies, motels, the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority and Summit County Children Services.
''People don't know what to do,'' Wilkinson said.
''There are hundreds of houses that have been contaminated [in the Akron area],'' he added. ''It's unbelievable . . . ''
Meth aftermath
Tom Dubetz, who owns apartment complexes in the Akron area, was shocked when police busted a meth lab at one of his units in Kent last year.
He said he didn't want to worry about the potential health effects for future tenants and he didn't want to be slapped with a lawsuit because he didn't do anything to clean up the property.
He also knew that the apartment would show up on government-sponsored meth lab Web sites.
So he hired Bio Clean to ensure the property would be safe to lease again.
He estimated that he spent $8,000 for the cleanup and another $3,000 for new carpeting, paint and drywall.
''They were very professional and very good with what they were doing,'' Dubetz said. ''I don't have to worry about it now because everything was done professionally.''
Want to learn more about methamphetamines? Go online to:
• U.S. Department of Justice: http://www.usdoj.gov/methawareness/
• U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration: http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/seizures/index.html
• Summit County: http://www.co.summit.oh.us/scma.htm
• Bio Clean Services: http://www.biocleanservices.com
• Safety Elements: http://www.hazmatandmore.com
Friday, August 7, 2009
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