Crime and Trauma Scene Decontamination – What You Should Know

When a violent crime or serious trauma takes place, decontamination is a priority. Evidence must be collected, the scene must be studied and photographed and the victim must be evaluated. But in order to keep police officers, paramedics, coroners, and crime scene investigators safe, the scene must be decontaminated. 

You have probably seen this scene before, at least on television. What TV crime dramas often don’t show, however, is what happens once the crime scene investigators collect their last piece of evidence, the police officers and paramedics leave, and the coroner drives away.

After a violent crime or trauma, what is left is often a bloody room, a grieving family, and the realization that someone is going to have to decontaminate the scene. Not only is this an unthinkable task for a family who has just lost someone, it is also a daunting and time consuming responsibility that often requires special tools, knowledge, and training.

Safely Decontaminating a Crime Scene

The scene of a crime or trauma contains potentially dangerous biological materials, including blood and bodily fluids that can pose serious health and safety hazards to humans. Some of these health hazards include HIV and hepatitis B and C.

Don’t attempt to do it on your own

Crime scene cleaners are trained to safely remove biohazardous waste from a crime or trauma scene. Aftermath, an industry leader in crime scene cleanup and bioremediation, uses proven decontamination procedures to ensure every site meets hospital-grade sanitization standards through extensive:

• Cleaning. Technicians remove all dirt, blood, chemicals, and biological materials and properly dispose of personal property that cannot be remediated.
• Sanitization. Once a site is thoroughly cleaned, our technicians treat it with proprietary disinfectants and test affected areas with adenosine triphosphate (ATP) fluorescence to verify sanitation level.
• Deodorization. The biological material left at a crime or trauma scene often produces lingering odors. Aftermath uses special deodorizer to eliminate these odors.

We are honored to take on this burden during your time of need.

Aftermath understands that losing someone is one of the hardest things for a family to face, especially when it involves a homicide, suicide, or traumatic accident. Our code of service, The Aftermath Way, is more than a cleaning regimen – it is a mindset instilled in all of our employees. We believe that our customers deserve the highest quality service while being treated with dignity and respect and that no one should have to suffer the process of cleaning and restoration after a traumatic event.

Though you may feel alone, it’s important to know that you are not – call us anytime, day or night, to speak with an Aftermath representative.

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Sources

U.S. National Library of Medicine: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000453.htm