Crime is never a pleasant experience, and certainly rarely simple and clean. The effects linger. After the police, investigators, and anyone else have walked amongst the debris, it remains. Broken glass, doors, blood, and who knows what else. The havoc crime wreaks as it stampedes through our daily lives can be overwhelming, and oftentimes traumatic, to have to clean up ourselves. So who do people turn to? Who can help them in this precarious moment? Who cleans up crime scenes?

Who Cleans Up Crime Scenes?

As we already mentioned, the usual suspects on the scene don’t clean up after crimes. Police and investigators come in, document and collect the evidence as needed, fire and emergency services get in and do what must be done. Afterward, it was usually left up to the victim to clean up. Nowadays that doesn’t have to be the case, with companies like The BIOClean Team coming in and helping victims of crimes get their lives back in order.

The job can be intense. Cleaning up hazardous materials safely requires an amount of experience, knowledge, and proper equipment that most don’t have on hand. It can also be emotionally taxing for those who are faint of heart and sometimes requires an iron gut.

What They Clean

‘Crime scene cleanup’ covers a lot of ground. The aforementioned glass, debris, blood, bodily fluids, and other potentially biohazardous materials. Meth labs, animal hoarding sites, tear-gas clean up, all can require serious cleanup processes before the buildings become safely habitable again. Anything that is left in the wake of a crime will be attended to when you hire a trusted crime scene cleanup company.

And yes, they also clean up following a death. It bears mentioning, not all deaths are because of a crime, but depending on the state, cause, and level of decomposition, hiring a professional who cleans up crime scenes as well can help you be sure you are getting the best, comprehensive service available.

How They Do It

Crime scene cleaners will use a wide range of equipment and tools to ensure that they leave the scene clean. Things like:

•        Protective Gear- one-time use suits, respirators, gloves, chemical spill boots
•        Traditional cleaning supplies like mops, buckets, sponges, brushes, etc.
•        Hospital grade disinfectants, deodorizers, and solvents
•        Chemical foggers
•        Shovels, sledgehammers, saws
•        Razor blades, putty knives
•        Sprayers, scrubbing brushes, wet vacuums.

All of these different tools, from the general household mops to the industrial grade cleaners to the construction site standards all see use depending on the job. For crime scenes that involve blood, body fluids, it goes beyond simple cosmetic cleanings. Each particle has a chance to spread infectious diseases and so the cleaning can go deeper than you might expect. A small spot of blood on the carpet can require the whole floor to be stripped down, as blood can seep through the carpet, then spread in the foam padding below.

Who Cleans Up Crime Scenes

The job is equal parts cleaner, waste management, and construction. In addition to being able to handle these duties, a prospective crime scene cleaner also needs to walk the line between detachment and sympathy.

Workers in the field find that having a level of detachment keeps them from feeling too affected by the process, which can in turn negatively affect the work. And yet, a level of sympathy is required as you are stepping into another person’s life at one of the lowest moments and helping them put it back together. A sympathetic, sensitive approach can help put the client at ease.

Do you know what a crime scene cleaner doesn’t need? A college degree! This is a field where the experience, training, and the right attitude is enough to do the job correctly and succeed! Crime scene cleaners will receive OSHA certification, become trained to meet IICRC standards and more. The BIOClean Team ourselves adhere to OSHA, EPA, and the California Department of Public Health

Should you ever find yourself the victim of a crime and need help putting things back in order – don’t hesitate to call The BIOClean Team. We are a professional team, led by a nurse with over 10 years of experience. That bedside manner is brought to bear here. When dealing with the fallout of a horrible event, the last thing on your mind should be needing to clean, call us and let us help!