Crime scene cleanup is a broad term applied generally to physical, forensic cleaning of blood, body fluids, and other potentially harmful materials from crime scenes. It's also known as biohazard cleanup, since crime scenes are often only part of the many conditions where biohazard cleanup is necessary. Crime scenes can be any location that has been disturbed by an unknown source of contamination, or that has been contaminated with the substances used in the commission of a crime. The contamination may be on the site before the investigation even begins, or on the actual site after an investigation has concluded. Regardless, of where it occurs, contamination often becomes a problem due to the relatively transient nature of crime scenes. Click here to learn more about Crime scene cleanup.
The crime scene cleanup process itself isn't too complicated. However, there are a variety of steps involved in cleaning up crime scenes. First, it's important to note that no crime scene cleaner is considered "clean" until they've actually cleaned up the site. Crime scene cleaners should be prepared to handle anything that might happen, so they always arrive prepared.
One issue that is frequently encountered is trauma. This term refers to any physical damage caused by either a bullet blast, fire, chemical agent, or biological agent. Although any of these items may cause trauma, the actual trauma often comes from blood or bodily fluid exposure, as the chemicals and agents used in the scene aren't always properly disposed of. For example, cleaning up chemical spills may leave some blood on the floor, but not enough to make it safe for someone walking in afterwards. If the spill originated from an accident scenes, any blood that doesn't end up being cleaned up can become a bio hazard, especially if the cleanup company uses unsterilized equipment.
Another important component to crime scene cleanup involves biohazard remediation. A person might initially be confused and grieving following an accident or traumatic event. This "post-trauma" experience can lead to feelings of anger and trauma. A crime scene cleaner must have compassion to help them work through their emotions in this area.
There's one aspect of crime scene cleanup that all crime scene cleanup companies should be familiar with: decontamination. This process occurs immediately after an incident, in order to remove any biohazard materials that remain on the site after cleanup has taken place. Some of the most common biohazards include sewage, blood, toxins and more. Depending on the type of contamination, decontamination solutions can be highly effective, but they can also be hazardous themselves. As a result, it's important that the crime scene cleaner has experience dealing with various biohazards, such as toxic tear gas.
Tear gas, as well as other hazardous chemicals, is highly flammable. It can easily seep into surrounding areas and start fires when it accidentally escapes from a crime scene cleaner's truck. There are many instances of wrongful death due to the escape of tear gas from a scene cleaner's truck, which has killed a number of innocent people. For this reason, it's imperative that crime scene cleanup companies have personal protective equipment on hand, in case of an accidental leakage from a scene cleaner's truck. Find out more details in relation to this topic here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_scene_cleanup.
