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If you face a situation in which bodily fluids like blood are present at your home or business, you must understand that there exists a specific procedure that you need to follow to clean it up. The proper way to clean up bodily fluids like blood has a sharp focus on safety and the comprehensive elimination of this type of biological material.
Before getting into the specifics of the proper way to clean up bodily fluids like blood, word of warning is necessary. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly suggests that you elect not to personally clean up bodily fluids, including blood, if the amount to be eradicated is over 8-ounces. As a practical matter, when considering blood, 8-ounces equates to about the size of a regular dinner plate.
The recommendation in such a situation is that you retain the services of a professional biohazard remediation service. Professional intervention for bodily fluid clean up works to ensure that the process safely is undertaken. Professional remediation also ensures that bodily fluid clean up is thorough and comprehensive.
Bodily Fluid Clean Up Safety Is the Absolute First Consideration
You cannot be cavalier about cleaning up bodily fluids. This includes a situation in which the blood or other bodily fluids include dangerous pathogens. For example, you may feel like you know whether or not a member of your family has some sort of diseases that can be passed via blood or other bodily fluids. The stark reality is that even a member of your family may not be 100 percent certain of his or her status when it comes to possible infection by some sort of bloodborne virus or bacteria.
The bottom line is that when it comes to the proper way to clean up bodily fluids such as blood, you must always err on the side of caution. You must take the position that bodily fluids that need to be cleaned up contain some type of dangerous biohazard.
There is basic personal protective equipment that you must utilize if you elect to undertake a bodily fluid clean up on your own. This equipment includes:
- Safety goggles
- Mask
- Gloves
- Apron, uniform, or smock
Bodily Fluid Clean up on a Hard Surface
There are different strategies to utilize depending on where bodily fluids like blood are found. If a hard surface is involved, the first step is to prepare a cleaning and sanitization mixture made from chlorine bleach and water. The solution is 1-part chlorine bleach to 9-parts water.
The next step is to clean up the bodily fluid from the hard surface using an absorbent cloth or similar device. The bodily fluids that are cleaned up in this manner need to be placed in an appropriate hazardous waste container.
The next step is to spray the chlorine bleach solution to the contaminated area. The solution should be left for about 20 minutes. At this juncture, the bleach solution is wiped up, the cloth used to clean it up placed in the hazardous waste receptacle.
Bodily Fluid Clean up on a Soft or Porous Surface
When bodily fluids are on carpeting, furniture, or a similar type of cloth or porous surface, the best course to take is to have the contaminated area steam cleaned. A chemical shampooing of the area is also possible, using a cleaning product that contains an anti-bacterial agent.
There are some porous items that cannot be cleaned. For example, a mattress soaked in bodily fluids like blood will need to be discarded. Proper protocols for disposing of a contaminated mattress will need to be followed.
Bodily Fluids Like Blood in a Pool
If bodily fluids end up in a pool, nothing special needs to be done to address the possibility that dangerous pathogens were contained in the bodily fluids. This is the case presuming that a pool has proper levels of chlorine. Some pools do close for a short period of time to satisfy people that no safety issue exists after an incident involving bodily floods ending up in a particular pool.
Hiring a Professional Biohazard Remediation Specialist
You best protect your health and welfare, and you best ensure a comprehensive bodily fluid clean up, by engaging the services of a biohazard remediation specialist. A biohazard remediation specialist typically utilizes a four-stage process to clean up bodily fluids like blood:
- Clean up
- Sanitization
- Deodorization
- Restoration
The ultimate objective of a biohazard remediation specialist is to return a residence to a livable condition, return a business to a functional and useable condition.
