A heinous crime reported by news journalists is viewed with distant objectivity. When a ghastly crime takes place too close to home, or worse, in your home, powerful feelings overwhelm those closest to the victim. A swift response is needed to compassionately deal with the aftermath of a vicious act. Public health safety concerns also make it critical that professionals quickly clean up a crime scene.
What are typical crime scenes?
Crime scenes can take numerous forms: Murders, suicides, accidents and animal attacks leave a bloody mess in their wake. Crime scenes may be in physical spaces, like vehicles, hotels or homes. Brutal attacks may also occur out in the open, such as along city sidewalks or in forest preserves.
Investigators and forensic examiners are called to the scene to procure incriminating evidence. The crime scene is secured to prevent contamination of the scene. Once law enforcement officials have completed their investigative duty, the crime scene must be cleaned up.
What is the role of crime scene cleanup professionals?
In a crime scene, there is always a body. The victim’s decomposing body, whether due to a criminal attack, accident or a natural death, must be handled by trained professionals. Crime scene cleanup experts are equipped to clean up blood, bodily fluids, human remains and lingering odors.
What are risks associated with crime scenes?
The blood, bodily fluids and biological materials in a crime scene run rampant with pathogens, like HIV and hepatitis, that can transmit diseases. Amateurs’ cleanup efforts expose them to the biological remains, which can potentially lead to negative health consequences or even death.
Airborne viruses can also potentially lead to ill health in those who come in contact with the crime scene. The dangers are so imminent that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established a set of universal precautions cleanup experts must adhere to when handling a bloody crime scene.
Harmful pathogens, bacteria and airborne viruses may remain active for lengthy periods of time, making the crime scene rife with danger for anyone who comes in near contact with it in the long run. Plus, insufficient cleanup processes allow the scene to remain hazardous for an extensive duration.
Why is a quick crime scene cleanup necessary?
Given the dire health and environmental hazards associated with crime scenes, immediate cleanup is required by crime scene cleanup professionals once law enforcement completes their investigations and turns over the scene to the owner of the property upon which the crime occurred.
With a rapid cleanup, people close to the victim can start healing and recovering from the trauma. Encountering a victim in a crime scene is startling, and a hurried cleanup of blood splatters, body parts and bodily fluids helps remove the initial source of shock.
In addition, a swift crime scene cleaning by experts ensures the surrounding community or building inhabitants are saved from intruding pests that are attracted to the smell of blood. Mold infestations are also thwarted when biological remains are speedily washed away and properly disposed of.
How are professionals qualified to clean up a crime scene?
An immediate response by cleanup professionals is critical to prevent the pathogens at the scene from infiltrating the environment. Unqualified cleaners who attempt to wipe the blood from walls do little justice to the cleanup process; they put themselves in danger of contracting deadly diseases.
Only trained personnel experienced in crime scene cleanup are warranted to complete the dangerous task. These specialists wear protective equipment, such as a respirator or mask to provide air filtration and protect against the inhalation of viruses, a lined uniform, goggles and disposable gloves.
Public health and safety are of prime importance to professional crime scene cleaners. Rules and regulations are set in place by agencies, like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Crime scene cleaners abide by agency standards.
Especially when blood is involved, a thorough sanitization of the premises by cleanup professionals ensures the health and safety of people in surrounding businesses, residences and anyone who accesses the property where the crime took place. Medical grade sanitization solutions are used for lasting effect.
Deathly odors permeate the air of a crime scene, especially in cases when the body is left undiscovered for an extended duration. Cleanup technicians are equipped with commercial grade deodorizing chemicals and air scrubbers to neutralize the lingering, foul smells that emanate from the scene.
The cleanup process does not stop with the removal of biological matter. Professional cleanup specialists are skilled in providing a level of compassion to the victim’s loved ones as they share relevant details at the scene. The sudden emotional trauma is relieved to a degree by cleanup experts.
Restoring a home or property in which a crime took the life of a loved one is essential for the remaining occupants’ health and safety. When a devastating event occurs and leaves you with a grim scene to clean up, heed all safety precautions and call ServiceMaster Kwik Restore, a licensed crime scene cleanup company.
ServiceMaster Kwik Restore is equipped with powerful chemical cleaners to clean up infectious materials, like blood and bodily fluids. Our technicians safely dispose of the bodily waste in a licensed medical waste facility. ServiceMaster Kwik Restore specialists are compliant with all local, state and federal regulations during the biohazard cleaning process.
Our trained technicians remove all traces of the event, so surviving loved ones can grieve and start to return to a sense of normalcy. Experts from ServiceMaster Kwik Restore display sensitivity and empathy to survivors throughout the entire cleanup process.
Serving the communities in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, ServiceMaster Kwik Restore responds quickly to emergency situations. Count on the ServiceMaster Kwik Restore team, even in the most difficult crises. Specialists stand by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to respond to emergency calls
