Help! How Can I Clean Up Blood Safely?

When an accident or trauma occurs that requires blood cleanup, how can you clean up the blood safely? Any situation that involves blood or body fluids should be handled with extreme caution to reduce the risk of contact with bloodborne pathogens such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis. This article offers some tips on safe and thorough blood cleanup. Blood and body fluids are considered to be potentially infectious materials (PIM).

Materials Needed for Safe Blood Cleanup

Besides blood, some common PIMs include:

• Semen
• Vaginal secretions
• Cerebrospinal fluid
• Synovial fluid
• Pleural fluid
• Pericardial fluid
• Amniotic fluid
• Any body fluids that contain traces of blood

Having the following materials on hand for blood and other PIM cleanup will help ensure you do so safely.

• Personal protective equipment (PPE), including latex gloves, goggles, face shield, and coveralls
• Registered disinfectant product with a broad spectrum kill claim
• Labeled biohazard bags
• Disposable cloths or paper towels

How to Safely Clean Up Blood in 4 Steps

Once you have the required materials, blood cleanup can begin.

Step 1 – After putting on your gloves and other PPE, determine how large the blood spill is. If the spill is smaller than a dinner plate, continue to step 2. If the blood spill is larger than a dinner plate, call a professional bioremediation company like Aftermath.

Step 2 – Place paper towels over the spill to soak up most of the blood. Dispose of the paper towels in a biohazard bag.These steps can be complicated, and larger cleanups should be done only by a professional bioremediation company that knows proper disposal methods for biohazardous material.

Step 3 – Generously cover the area with registered disinfectant with broad spectrum kill claim and allow it to soak for 10 minutes. After soaking, scrub the area from the outside, working your way to the middle of the stain.  Dispose of the towels in a biohazard bag.

Step 4 – Continue step 3 until the area is thoroughly clean, being sure to use clean cloths or paper towels each time.

Call Aftermath for Safe Blood Cleanup

Aftermath’s bioremediation technicians are trained to handle a wide range of blood cleaning and trauma situations, such as homicides and suicides, industrial and transportation accidents, and mass trauma. Unlike a standard cleaning company, we approach blood cleanup with a scientific process to contain, sanitize, and fully remediate all potential blood-borne pathogens from homes and properties. Call us anytime for more information.

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Sources:

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/hospital/hazards/univprec/univ.html
http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/prevguid/p0000255/p0000255.asp
http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/prevguid/p0000255/p0000255.asp
http://www.aftermath.com/faqs-crime-scene-clean-up/