What Does Crime Scene Clean Up Mean?

4/9/2024 (Permalink)

A large swath of blood on a concrete floor in a commercial building

Most of the time, a crime scene will involve clean up of blood but it can be other biological material as well.  If a person is not found within a couple days of passing away their body will start breaking down resulting in other fluids being released.  The clean up will also typically involve mitigating the odor that comes along with the decomposition. Unaffected, porous materials like clothing will need to be discarded in order removed the odor. Additionally, crime scene clean up often includes doing necessary demolition to the property to make sure all the biological material is removed.  It is typically the case that the body has been removed before the crime scene cleaner arrives on the scene.  Cleanable hard items like glass or metal will need to be sanitized and disinfected.  Give our SERVPRO of Southwest Dallas team a call if you need some assistance with crime scene cleaning.

Biohazard Cleanup - Necessary but Not Much Discussed

3/11/2022 (Permalink)

Blood from a crime scene in a downtown Dallas building stairwell

Biohazard clean-up most commonly refers to the clean-up of an area that involves blood, other bodily fluids or other potentially infectious materials.  Often this is a crime scene where someone is now deceased. 

Removing the body is just the first step in the process.  This is typically done by the EMS team or a coroner. The next steps involve cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting the scene.  This is where a professional biohazard clean-up company is usually called upon.  The professional clean-up crew will don personal protective equipment (PPE) such as full facemasks, heavy duty gloves and tyvek suits, and additionally have the right equipment and chemicals for the job. 

Non-salvageable or non-cleanable items such as drywall, bedding, etc will have to be removed, and disposed of appropriately. The remaining structure and items will then need to be sanitized and disinfected.

One of the last major steps in the process is deodorization.  Depending on duration and what happened, odor can be a big issue.  There are a variety of methods to help with odor including air scrubbers with carbon filters that adsorb smells, thermal fogging, and running ozone generators to name a few.  If you or someone that you know is in this situation please give SERVPRO of Southwest Dallas a call to come help get you through this stressful, challenging event.