Homicide Cleanup

Call at any hour, any day --

My name is Eddie Evans and I am a professional crime scene cleaner. I remove and decontaminate biohazardous environments created by violent crimes. This means that I clean areas contaminated by blood and other potentially infectious materials (OPIM). I clean in homes, businesses, factories, boats, airplanes, and vehicles. My experience includes military trauma cleaning as well as crime scene cleanup experience as Biosafe's owner and sole cleaner.

Crime Scene Cleanup Explained

Crime Scene Cleanup is a phrase denoting a type of professional trauma cleaning. Popular culture plays a part in the term's usage. Television productions like Crime Scene Investigation add to the popularity of Crime Scene Cleanup. The term Crime Scene Cleanup is most widely used in the USA. Australia, Canada, and England have added Crime Scene Cleanup to their professional cleaning terminology.

The generic terms for Crime Scene Cleanup include trauma cleaning, biohazard recovery, decontamination, blood cleanup, and CTS Decon (Crime and Trauma Scene Decontamination).

There are very few jobs in this field of cleaning. Like carpet cleaners, most crime scene cleaners start their own business from scratch or add-on to an existing business activity. Carpet cleaners entered this field early because their Yellow Page advertising gave the public ready access to their help. They were the "natural" resource for removing blood from violent crime scenes. Their early cleaning methods were eclipsed by federal regulations and hygiene considerations.

Others foresaw a meaningful and profitable business activity emerging as the US population pressed congress for greater regulation to ensure safer handling of blood loss events, especially in the work place. The Occupational and Safety Administration (OSHA) became a legal administrator and enforcement agency for handling blood and blood products in the workplace. Concerns voiced by hospital staff became the concerns of labor in general.

The crime scene cleaners' work begins when the coroner's office or other official, government body releases the "scene" to the owner or other responsible parties. (See Crime Scene Cleanup Cronyism) Only when the police investigation has completely terminated on the contaminated scene may the cleaning companies begin their task. A crime scene cleanup may involve a single blood loss event following a burglary, battery, or homicide.

Companies also clean suicides, unattended deaths, teargas damaged environments, and other crime and trauma scenes. Larger crime scenes involve terrorist attacks, mass murder scenes, and the cleanup of anthrax and other biochemicals. Standard operating procedures for the crime scene cleanup field include military methods for the decontamination of internal and external environments.

Crime Scene Cleanup is a small business activity in most cases. At times small businesses, such as carpet cleaning and water damage companies, add Crime Scene Cleanup to diversify their activities. Businesses as diverse as locksmith and poultry farming have added crime scene cleanup to their activities. The general element that these businesses share is a freedom and willingness to answer their business telephone 24/7. Some franchise opportunities are available through Servpro and other nation-wide franchisers.

Noted authors for the field of Crime Scene Cleanup include Mr. Kent Burg, Mr. Patrick Moffett, and Mr. Don McNaulty. Kent Burg's publications include Crime Scene Cleanup, a how-to paperback. Mr. Burg offers educational opportunities at The National Institute of Decontamination Specialists in South Carolina.

Mr. Patrick Moffett's publications are often produced as academic essays and treatises. Mr. Moffett defines Crime Scene Cleanup in The Blue Book and lists general price guidelines for cleaning crime scenes. Moffett's activities are generally related to indoor environmental inspection as well as environmental consulting.

Among Mr. Don McNaulty's writing efforts are found titles pertinent to crime scene cleanup. See Cleanfax magazine online for one such source. Mr. McNaulty also has a crime scene cleanup school.

Generally recognized organizations for this field of cleaning include the American Bio-recovery Association, ABRA, and the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification, IICRC. ABRA is the largest membership organization in the USA for trauma cleaners. The IICRC is a certifying body for the cleaning trades in general.

Blood and Biohazard Cleanup

For the purpose of crime scene cleaning, we understand that Biohazards may be infected blood or tissue from crime scenes, suicides, and unattended deaths. Such infectious environments must be isolated until all cleaning, disinfecting, and removal is carried out. Extreme hygienic exaggeration should be used by the novice as well as the professional. Always clean biohazardous environments as if cleaning for a toddler's use.

Never remove biohazardous material without wearing gloves. "For cleaning blood or bloody fluids from floors, bed, etc., you can use household rubber gloves." Wear protection over eyes, nose, and mouth. Have a safe means of exit and a place to decontaminate yourself and clothing.

Dried blood that flakes may easily become aerosolized if mishandled. Contact with airborne blood places the cleaner at risk of infectious disease.

Before removing, moisten flaking (scabbing) blood. Cause it not to become airborne. Cover flaked blood with paper towels and lightly moIsten with a disinfectant (bleach) from afar. Use a spray bottle while making wide, misting applications to the paper towels' surface. Before removing blood, ensure that it is moist enough not to flake, but not dripping.

Dry paper towels may be used to contain wet blood. Allow towels to dwell until dry. Flush in small quantities, or gently place inside two thick plastic bags. Seal tightly with duct tape. Directly dispose of in a landfill.

Dripping wet blood is considered biohazardous and universally considered infectious until proven otherwise. Contain blood from afar and disinfect it. Pour blood down the sanitary sewer if you are not going to seal it for transfer.

Thoroughly wash hands.

See Blood Cleanup 1, blood cleanup 2, and blood cleanup 3.

OSHA 1910.1030(d)(1)

General. Universal precautions shall be observed to prevent contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials. Under circumstances in which differentiation between body fluid types is difficult or impossible, all body fluids shall be considered potentially infectious materials. Top

Useful disinfectants may be found here:

Blood Spills: see index at http://www.bccdc.org/downloads/pdf/epid/reports/CDManual_

Vinegar: http://www.apple-cider-vinegar-benefits.com/vinegar-as-a-disinfectant.html

Household bleach is a wonderful, but very corrosive disinfectant. It is a "midrange disinfectant." Bleach has a wide bacterial killing spectrum. It is inexpensive and found on most market shelves. However, bleach is extremely dangerous in the presence of acids, including urine. Open bleach bottles lose their strength; it loses strength when applied to organic material, like blood and decomposing matter. Bleach must be used cautiously, wisely.

Crime Scene Cleanup Odors - Miasma

The death odor, which I call "misasma," is not dangerous. Unethical cleaning companies will tell you that this odor is "dangerous." If it were dangerous, thousands of coroners' technicians, tens-of-thousands of morticians, pathologists, and Pharos' priests would have died shortly after taking up their trades. The dangers from the death scene odor are in the human imagination; even our repulsion to this odor is learned. There is nothing instinctual about our sense of dread as it relates to the death scene odor.

There are people that actually enjoy the sweet-like odors which emanate from long-decomposed matter. In its earliest stages, these odors are offensive to the same people. (I have no current documentation to recite here, only oral history.)

Sometimes miasma lingers because of poor ventilation, Sometimes miasma will linger because it has permeated porous materials; fabrics, paper, wood, and more. Miasma, like everything else in nature, will leave the scene. It begins and ends.

I have cleaned murder-suicide scenes left for over one year. As a result of this extended time for biowaste decay, no miasma remained. The miasma creating bacteria died and wasted away . They starved. Interestingly, blood-soaked garments became pink or purple where they had been first blood-red, then brown, then black. Even blood on walls, ceilings, floors, mirrors, and the rest turns pink or purple without leaving an odor, miasma.

I do my best to remove miasma associated with death scenes. However, removing the source material will not always return the scene to its pre-incident condition for some time. Time and heavy ventilation, and removal of miasma permeated materials will help return the scene to a more "normal" condition.

We can apply chemicals to help increase miasma's departure from the scene, but even chemicals have their limits. Ask about our odor control policies and methods if this is a concern.

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Bloodborne Pathogens means germs carried in blood. Some of these germs are called "bacteria" and some are called "viruses." These germs can cause disease in humans. These germs include, but are not limited to, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A simple exposure to an external source of any of these germs and others may be dangerous or deadly.

Viruses are not cellular like bacteria. Because viruses lack the housing structure that bacteria develop, viruses cannot create odors like the death odor, miasma. Viruses cannot receive and export oxygen and carbon dioxide. They do not "off-gas" the way that germs with cellular structures, bacteria, off-gas to cause miasma. Viruses live directly off their hosts.

Bacteria can live for some time without a host because they store energy within their cell walls, their structure. They have their own internal digesting organs. So bacteria can change energy into different forms from within their own cellular walls. Sometimes this energy becomes a gas. When expelled, we call it "stink" and at times following a death we call it "miasma." Bacteria also create life-energy from external environmental resources, their human hosts.

Bacteria from the stomach, from the anus, and elsewhere off-gas from their tiny little cellular structure, which gives us notice of their presence. Following a long period of decomposition, it is this gas that permiates cellular walls. These walls may be natural materials which I call "cellulosic matter" or man-made, which may be wood, paper, plastic, clothing.

It is said that the human stomach contains over ten trillion bacteria (10,000,000,000,000). These bacteria must off-gas or explode. Sometimes during human decomposition they do both. The strength of miasma becomes relative to the size, diet, temperature, and other conditions related to the deceased. By way of example, a large male's decomposition after many years of alcoholism and meat eating will create strong miasma when the deceased passes away during summer in Florida. A small female vegetarian's decomposition in front of an apartment window in Wyoming during November will cause much less miasma.

In a sense, bacteria germs belch and flatulate as they undergo changes in temperature and chemical composition. They are in a way like humans: they give and take from their environment, except that these micro-organisms exist within us, within our internal environment. This is one major source of the death odor, the miasma odor released from the trillions of micro-organisms within our bodies as we decompose.

We can see that there is a difference between somehow ingesting or injecting odor causing bacteria and unperceivable viruses. In any case, ingest or inject the the wrong bacteria or viruses, and the results could be deadly. Inhale bacterias' off-gassed carbon dioxide and other gases (miasma) and the results are nauseating at worse.

Consumer Alert!

Crime Scene Cleanup Cronyism - Tap for image (Corruption)

Are you being well served by your local government when death scene cleaning is needed?

Some cities, county coroners, county medical examiners, detectives, and county administrators refer the public to death scene cleaners.

If one or more cleaning companies are not referred by these local governments, then your local government is creating a quasi-monopoly. Your local govenment is also thwarting competition and the public good.

The referring employee may receive money for handing you the telephone numbers that you received. They are handing you to a crony company.

Or, it may be that the referring employee has a friend or relative that owns the companies that you were referred to call for cleaning help. Possibly, the referring employee owns part or all of the companies that you were referred to for cleaning. Catching this type of cronyism is quite hard, especially when local governments would rather ignore crony employees than create a firewall between them and you.

There are a number of ways that cronyism occurs in local governments. If you suspect that you are being victimized by cronyism, then shop around. Cronyism's essence is in fact a form of quasi-fascism. It is a standing threat to the open society.

Cronyism is unethical and thwarts free enterprise. (return to Crime Scene Cleanup Explained)

Eddie Evans - Crime Scene Cleanup

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Fees

I try to keep my fees fair and reasonable.

Some clients feel that my fees are a bit high, and I easily understand why they fell so. I can relate only that I work hard providing this special cleaning service 24/7/365. The nature of my work creates some of the greatest rewards possible, and this is for certain.

The authentic thankfulness of my clients upon completing my work should be reward enough, or at least I wish it were so.

Business has its own reality, however. There are times when my telephone goes quiet for way too long, and business idles while I wait on the next opportunity to serve by removing the horrific from others' lives. There are times when operation costs are higher than I would like. And then there are those death scenes that take their toll in other ways.

So, yes, I probably do charge "a bit high" for the number of hours that I labour.

My fees reflect business realilties for keeping the lights burning 24/7/365, mentally and physically. There are always the emotional and physical costs associated with crime scene cleanup, not quantitavie costs, but qualitative costs beyond measure.

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What I Do

I clean most bio-hazards, including blood and other potentially infectious materials, like feces, spinal fluids, meth labs, and more. Properties cleaned include commercial, residential, and government facilities as well as vehicles.

A caring, skilled, and knowledgable cleaning counselor will respond within one hour of your call. Following his assessment of your cleanup needs, cleanup begins after we receive written permission to proceed from your responsible party.

My objective: Quietly, safely and discreetly restore the scene to a safe state, thereby relieving others from a traumatic task. You can be confident that we are dedicated to restoring a safe environment without publicity or sensationalism. We protect your privacy and property from onlookers and media once cleanup begins.

All biohazard materials removed from the site are properly sealed for proper disposal. My fees are reasonable and customary, and oftentimes paid by homeowners' insurance or business insurance.

Suicide Prevention Resources and Numbers

Important Phone Numbers and Resources

HELP LINES

Suicide Prevention Center Crisis Line, in LA County: (877) 727-4747

National Suicide Prevention Crisis Line: (800) SUI-CIDE 784-2433

RESOURCES

Compassionate Friends, Inc. (parents grief): (630) 990-0010

www.compassionatefriends.org chat room 10am-11pm

Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Project, Light for Life International: www.yellowribbon.org, (303) 429-3530

SA/VE Suicide Awareness/Voices of Education (depression and suicide information): www.save.org, (952) 946-7998

SPAN-California: www.span-california.org, (760) 753-4565

SPAN-USA Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network: www.spanusa.org,
(202) 449-3600

NOPCAS National Organization for People of Color Against Suicide, www.nopcas.com, (866) 899-5317

NAMI-California: namicalifornia.org, (916) 567-0163

NAMI National Alliance for Mentally Ill: www.nami.org, (800) 950-6264

Compassionate Friends/South Bay, LA: (310) 368-6845

AFSP American Foundation/Suicide Prevention (research & education): www.afsp.org, (888) 333-2377

AAS American Association of Suicidology (professionaltraining/education/research/prevent/survivors): (202) 237-2280, www.suicidology.org

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