When people in Rancho Palos Verdes need help with crime scene cleanup, it’s most likely the first time that they’ll be looking for this type of service. Cleaning up a scene where a traumatic incident has taken place and that has resulted in injury or death takes a very specific skill set, and most people don’t have it. We can help. 

Crime scene cleaning is a type of cleaning that focuses on ridding a site of biohazardous waste, a type of material found at crime scenes where people have been injured or killed. Biohazardous waste contains airborne and bloodborne pathogens, the microorganisms that cause diseases in humans. There are many things about the crime scene cleanup process that most people are unaware of. Having some of that info can help people understand why professional crime scene cleanup is so important. It can also help them make informed decisions about their situations. 

People will still use the spaces after the crime scene has been cleaned.

When a crime is committed in a space like a home or a business, it’s very devastating for the people involved. In spite of this, those same people will most likely be living or working in the space once the crime scene has been thoroughly cleaned. When they returned to the space, they want it to be exactly as it was before the incident. Crime scene cleaners restore these spaces so that there’s no sign of the traumatic events that transpired. 

Regular residential or commercial cleaners should not handle cleanup.

When crime scene cleanup is needed, some people may automatically think of using the cleaning service that they usually use as a resource. This is the last thing they should do. Even if those companies agreed to do the work – and they probably wouldn’t – the type of cleaning that they do is entirely different from the type of cleaning that you’ll need to clean a site filled with biohazardous waste. You need to work with a company that has the qualifications and training necessary to conduct thorough biohazard cleaning. Regular cleaners use supplies that wouldn’t be able to sanitize the space the same way that biohazard cleaners would. They also don’t have the tools that biohazard cleaners do. Those tools are designed to get rid of the unique types of waste found at crime scenes. 

Waste at crime scenes hides more than you realize.

The waste that you’ll discover at crime scenes looks worse than it is. What may look like a simple spot of bodily fluid on the floor masks the fact that that fluid has most likely seeped into the floorboards underneath. Crews sometimes have to rip up floorboards if the damage is extensive. Porous items like drapes and curtains usually have to be thrown out if they have waste on them. Failure to remove every bit of waste and have an area sanitized increases the risk of exposure to diseases to anyone who comes into the room. 

Crime scene cleaners work at “non-crime” sites as well.

Even though the term is “crime scene cleaning”, the process is used at non-crime scenes as well. The teams use their expertise to help out at the following sites:

• Meth lab cleanup: Cleaning up meth labs is an extremely dangerous job and requires rigorous training and safe-labor practices to help ensure that the site is thoroughly cleaned and cleared of all meth residue. If it isn’t, it could pose a deadly risk for people entering the room later.
• Suicides: Suicides can be very traumatic, and there is usually biohazardous waste left at the scene. This is true whether the suicide was violent or non-violent. Violent suicide scenes have the same type of biohazardous waste you’d find at a violent homicide site. Nonviolent suicide sites also have biohazardous waste that needs to be removed. 
• Tear Gas: Tear gas is an extremely dangerous chemical that can wreak havoc on anyone who breathes it in. It’s also very difficult to remove from surfaces and from the air once it’s dispensed. Crime scene cleaners have the special training needed to get it done. 

Crime scene cleaners have an array of powerful tools.

Crime scene cleaners have tools at their disposal that allow them to thoroughly clean and sanitize a site. They use foggers that dispense cleaning chemicals throughout the room that allow them to reach the tightest, most inaccessible areas of a space. They use OSHA-approved, hospital-strength deodorizers and cleaners that are built to remove pathogens from surfaces. They have special enzyme-based solvents that are able to kill viruses and bacteria while simultaneously liquifying blood. They even have truck-mounted steam-injection machines that are able to shoot hard jets of steam into hard-to-remove substances like brain matter, a substance that tends to dry to the consistency of cement. Rooms that have extreme odors are treated with tools like ozone generator machines that shoot ozone into a room to get rid of odor-causing microorganisms. 

Biohazardous waste left at a scene can harm people years later.

If biohazardous waste is left behind at a scene, it can actually harm people long after the room has been declared “clean”. This is why crime scene cleaners use ATP tests so that they can test every surface and ensure that nothing has been left behind. This test measures the amount of growing microorganisms on a surface. In order for a surface to be declared sanitized, the test has to show a reading of zero. 

Crime scene cleanup is a very important type of cleaning. It helps ensure that spaces are safe for human occupancy once they’ve been cleaned. Give us a call at any time if you have any questions about the process.