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Rat-borne diseases are transmitted in a number of different ways. These include: Rat Bites Rat scratches Rat saliva Consuming food or beverages contaminated with rat droppings or urine Touching rat droppings or urine Inhaling dust from dried rat droppings or urine With these different means of transmission, there are a number of diseases that can…
At first blush, an article on identifying rat droppings properly and effectively may seem like an overblown exercise. Indeed, at this moment you may be asking yourself “why in the world do I need to spend my time reading an article on rat poop?” The truth is rat droppings can be highly dangerous. The only…
You undoubtedly have a number of serious reasons why you don’t want rats in your home. What you must bear in mind is that rats can be the conduits for some serious, and even fatal, diseases in the 21st century. Like many people, you may have consigned the idea of rats spreading diseases to another…
If you have a problem with mice at your home or business, you likely have some questions about their behavior and what affects them. For example, you may wonder if mice like having the lights on. You may want to know what effect light has on mice. Mice Are Nocturnal Animals By nature, mice are…
If you are like many people, you’ve experience mice in your home at one point in time or another. Indeed, as you read this article, you may think you have a mouse problem at your residence right now. The grim reality is that your own conduct and behavior may have contributed to mice being attracted…
Hantavirus impacts your body in a number of different ways. The manner in which hantavirus effects your body depends upon the stage of the infection. In some cases, a hantavirus infection can result in serious illness and even death. During the first decade after which hantavirus was reported in the United States, about 600 people…
There is a myriad of misconceptions surrounding rat urine. For example, some people maintain that rat urine is always toxic. At the other end of the spectrum, there are individuals who believe that rat urine never presents a danger. As happens oftentimes in like, the truth about the danger of rat urine is more nuanced…
The best way to control mice at your home or business is to be proactive and keep them away in the first instance. There are some specific strategies you can employ to keep mice away. There are effective strategies that do not involve the use of potentially dangerous chemicals. Keep Your Home or Business Clean…
Hantavirus is a fairly recently recognized pathogen in the United States. Infection with the hantavirus can have devastating and even fatal consequences. Recognizing the early symptoms of hantavirus infection is crucial in order to heighten the chance of survival from an infection. What Is Hantavirus? Hantavirus technically is defined as “single-stranded, enveloped, negative-sense RNA viruses…
When the issue of “how dangerous are rats” is raised, many people think back hundreds of years to the era of The Plague in Europe. During that period in history, fleas associated with rats spread the bubonic plague. A large percentage of the population of Europe died as a result of The Plague. A segment…
In California, as is the case across the country, a considerable amount of discussion is had on whether homelessness is a mental health issue in the United States. The simple answer to this query is: yes. As will be discussed more fully in a moment, mental illness and homelessness intersect in two primary ways. First,…
A hotly debated issue in a good many cities around the country, including in Southern California, is whether U.S. cities should provide places where homeless people can camp legally. In the final analysis, in order to come to a fair answer to this question, you need to consider the pros and cons underpinning the larger…
The manner in which different cities attempt to address homelessness within their boundaries varies significantly. At one end of the spectrum, there are cities that are more open to offering services and developing resources designed to address issues surrounding homelessness within their borders. On the other hand, there are cities that employ aggressive and even…
If you wonder if you have rats in your home, there are some telltale signs that you need to bear in mind. If there are rats in your home, you likely will detect more than one of these signs. Rat Droppings One of the primary signs that you have rats in your home is the…
A decade after the start of the Great Recession, nearly half of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. When living paycheck to paycheck, a person or family is on the edge when it comes to being homeless. There is some debate regarding how many paychecks certain segments of the U.S. population are away from…
One of the ongoing debates in Southern California, where homelessness has reach epidemic proportions, is over providing homeless people with tents. Indeed, providing homeless people with tents is proving to be one of the most passionately debated issues associated with addressing homelessness in communities that include Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Orange County, and…
The homelessness crisis in Los Angeles is described as a national disgrace. The Los Angeles Times has described what historically had been center stage of homelessness in the city: There are few sights in the world like nighttime in skid row, the teeming Dickensian dystopia in downtown Los Angeles where homeless and destitute people have…
Biohazards, also known as biological hazards, are biological substances that pose a health hazard to humans, animals, and the environment more generally. Biohazardous pathogens include: Viruses Bacteria Other microorganisms Toxins derived from a biological source A warning sign, the standard biohazard symbol, was designed and adapted to warn about the existence of biological hazards. The…
An important element of the biohazardous waste cleanup process is the safe transportation of those potentially dangerous materials from the location of the remediation to the destination where the waste will be treated or disposed of. In the state of California, there are a set of laws, and associated regulations, that govern the manner in…
A trend in Southern California that has continued apace over the course of the past several years is the movement of homeless individuals from areas in which they historically have congregated, to other points throughout the county, according to the Los Angeles Times. As the Times reports: Homelessness burst its traditional borders several years ago,…
A great deal of confusion exists in regard to the question of when is an autopsy required in California. The reality is that many people believe an autopsy is required far more often than dictated by California law. There are a number of factors that come into play when it comes to ascertaining when an…
“Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.” ―Ernest Hemingway There is truth to what Ernest Hemingway writes. The aftermath of a loved one’s suicide can prove extremely painful and challenging. In many ways, suicide is the…
Survivors of Suicide Loss has a group of volunteers who will email and talk with you on the phone about your loss of a loved one through suicide. These volunteers have all lost someone they love through suicide and have an intimate understanding of what you are going through. There is no charge for this…
The Greek philosopher Diogenes is credited with proclaiming “we come into the world alone and we die alone.” In the end, he was trying to make a point about self-sufficiency. In considering death, there are situations in which a person passes on alone, suffers an unattended death. On the other hand, there are more occasions…
Animal hoarding is a mental health disorder marked by a pervasive and persistent need to accumulate inappropriate numbers of animals, according to the Mayo Clinic. The behavior is accompanied by an inability to part with these animals. Cleaning up an animal hoarder’s house can be a daunting and dangerous task. There is no clear data…
Many women elect to have a home birth, attended by a midwife, birth doula, or similar type of supportive assistant. There is also a growing trend where women consciously elect to have a truly unattended home birth. The news media is replete with stories of women who go into labor at home and lack the…
There are over 13,000 home care agencies in operation in the United States, according to data maintained by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC reports that of individuals over the age of 65, more than 70 percent will require some type of supportive care. Agencies like AAA T.L.C. provide a broad…
The Harbor Gateway North Neighborhood Council is a group of elected, volunteer stakeholders that work as a body for improvement of the Harbor Gateway North neighborhood. The activities of the Council are funded by the City of Los Angeles through the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. Updates on the activities of the Harbor Gateway North Neighborhood…
An unattended death occurs when an individual dies the remains are not discovered for days, weeks, or even longer. An unattended death typically occurs when a person lives alone and lacks family members or friends who regularly check on that individual’s wellbeing. Common Types of Unattended Deaths in Los Angeles The most common types of…
Nearly 45,000 people took their own lives in the United States in 2016 (the last year a full set of data is available). Suicide is on the list of the top 10 causes of death in the country. Approximately 4,300 Californians took their lives in 2016. California is ranked 46 when it comes to the…
Little is written to provide guidance and understanding about what it is like to lose your mother, or either parent, by suicide. Perhaps the most important bit of advice about losing a parent to suicide comes from Bryan Behar. Bryan is a longtime writer of American situation comedies – perhaps not the most likely resource…
Up until 2013, hoarding was considered a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD. In 2013, hoarding was classified as a specific mental health condition, separate and apart from OCD. Hoarding disorder, as the condition technically is called, is defined as a persistent inability to part with possessions due to a perceived need to save them.…
Pets or companion animals truly are like family for many people. Some people have a proverbial “house full” of pets, a situation which begs the question of “how many pets are too many?” In other words, when does the population of pets in a person’s home reach the point that an individual can be considered…
When your parents pass away, you undoubtedly will have a good many questions. Some of these questions will center around what happens to your parents’ home after they have passed on. There are a number of factors to take into consideration regarding your parents’ residence after they have died. The Probate Process The California probate…
When adult children face the death of a parent, they confront planning a funeral, making burial arrangements, and dealing with the probate process. What a surprising number of adult children also confront is the shocking revelation that a parent had been hoarding to an unimaginable extent. The situation becomes even more untenable if a deceased…
The primary means of disposing of biohazardous material has been incineration. Prior to 1997, 90 percent of all biohazardous waste was incinerated. It was in that year that the Environmental Protection Agency issued the Hospital Medical Waste Incinerator standards. These standards started a shift away from the incineration of biohazardous waste to other methodologies, principally…
California was the first state in the country to provide compensation for victims of crime. California commenced providing compensation to victims of crime, as well as victim-survivors of crime, beginning in 1965. Following California’s lead, by 1972 eight more states were providing compensation to victims of crime. There are some academic scholarships available to Californians…
The term “crime scene cleanup” is applied to addressing the aftermath of a violent crime. Following a violent crime, the cleanup or remediation of potentially hazardous substances like blood, bodily fluids, and other types of biological and infectious materials must be addressed. Misconceptions exist about who is responsible for crime scene cleanup. Many people presume…
America has been a country that continues to expand the boundaries of liberty and justice. This means as a nation, the law is an ever-changing landscape and continues to be altered by citizen interaction with the justice system. In recent times, changes in victim’s rights have been the subject of several proposed legislative changes that…
1. Pallor Mortis This initial stage of death translates from Latin as “paleness of death” and manifests itself in the flesh of light-skinned humans. The loss of color in the body is the consequence of a deactivated circulatory system, leaving the blood to settle within the body. Onset: Pallor Mortis can take effect anytime between 15…
A person who has not experienced the violent and cruel world of combat has a hard time understanding what someone who has endured it goes through when they return to their home surroundings. Depending on their military duties, they have witnessed and participated in acts of violence and destruction that are not a normal part…
Animal hoarding exists when a person houses more animals than he or she appropriately can provide care, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or ASPCA. Animal hoarding is a type of a more broadly defined mental health condition called hoarding disorder, according to the world-renowned Mayo Clinic. A complex issue, animal hoarding…
The Occupational Health and Safety Association or OSHA is a federal agency in charge of determining worker safety regulations and guidelines. Part of the guidelines that OSHA have put in place is for construction site cleanup procedures by companies after an accidental death has occurred due to hazardous waste accidents or unforeseen circumstances on the…
This story about a long time community member that passed away alone in his home and the police officer that found him was shared on the Bangor Police Department’s Facebook page. I grew up in a small farming community near Bangor, Maine and have fond memories of my childhood. I think part of the reason why…
If a tenant dies in one of your rental properties it is imperative that you act quickly, professionally, and take all the necessary steps to assure your rights and protections. In the event that the deceased is the sole leaseholder, your involvement will be necessary to help repossess the property in a timely manner. In…
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported in 2015 that about 15,700 were murdered in the United States. Some of the perpetrators of these horrific crimes were identified, arrested, and prosecuted. However, not all of the individuals responsible for taking these lives were arrested in the first instance. In addition, even among those men and women responsible for…
The death of a loved one can be devastating. When a family member or friend takes his or her own life, the devastation you feel can be magnified manifold. If you have lost an important person in your life to suicide, you are far from being alone. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention estimates that over 44,000…
One person commits suicide in the United States every 16 minutes, on average, according to Do Something. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. In addition, suicide is the third leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 to 24 and it is the second leading cause of…
Cicero wrote, “the life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.” While the life of the dead may remain the memory of the living, a reality of death is the smell associated with an unattended body. Indeed, the stench associated with a body after death can be extreme. If you are…
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