Arizona Blood Cleanup - Why a Biohazard Cleanup Company is Often Necessary
After an accident or an incident occurs resulting in a blood spill, property owners often consider whether professional biohazard cleanup is necessary, and what type of company to call. It is understandable that property owners will want to save money and think about whether the blood cleanup can be carried out themselves, which is sometimes plausible under certain conditions. Others will think about limiting the amount of work needed and opt for a restoration or carpet cleaning company to attempt to clean what is visible. While this could be safe and acceptable in some situations, in others it is not, and should be handled by a professional crime scene cleanup company. An attempt to categorize these situations below will aim to help clients avoid wasting money while maintaining safety at their home or place of business.
Acceptable Self-Clean Situations:
As one may expect, not every accident or blood cleanup needs a biohazard cleanup company or other cleanup professional to respond.
Smaller accidents happen in homes and places of business regularly and may usually be cleaned by the owner or resident. This would typically be something like a person having a small cut or abrasion resulting in small drops of blood or other contaminants landing on surfaces as the person attempts to reach the bathroom or somewhere first aid can be applied. The small drops will typically dry quite quickly and are unlikely to saturate grout between tile or travel between gaps in wood flooring to the underlayment or sub-flooring. This rule can typically be followed with hard surfaces and is more difficult to determine with porous surfaces like mattresses, carpet, or upholstered items like sofas. Hard surfaces should be cleaned with a multi surface cleaner, degreaser, or surfactant, then a disinfectant applied according to the instructions on its label to sanitize the area.
Commercial Space Blood Cleanup
Places of business or commercial spaces may wish to exercise additional caution in blood cleanup situations. Asking staff to clean potentially
infectious materials can place them at risk and improper decontamination can become a liability issue if staff or customers return to the area after cleanup. Calling in a blood cleanup company can help reduce these liabilities and help businesses reopen quickly.
Acceptable Carpet Cleaning / Restoration Company Blood Cleaning Situations
Arizona Carpet cleaning companies and restoration companies normally have a truck mount carpet cleaning/hard surface cleaning machine or portable unit available. Some will accept potential clients needing biohazard cleanup services normally carried out by crime scene cleanup companies licensed to transport medical waste and trained trauma cleanup technicians on staff. This can be an unsafe and inefficient in circumstances where excessive amounts of contaminants are present. It is possible however, that one could save money if there is blood spatter or very small amounts of contaminants that sit at the top of carpet fibers. When this occurs and a carpet cleaning company is called, carpeting can often be saved. If the company has a heated machine and is familiar with effective equipment decontamination practices, very small amounts of dried contaminants can be removed safely. More excessive blood spills that saturate carpet through to the padding or sub floor or other areas where waste is produced should be handled safely by a blood cleanup company.
There are three main reasons here. The first is that without a license to transport medical waste, it may not be disposed of safely at a medical waste facility and waste water tanks should not simply be emptied where uncontaminated fresh water is discarded. Another is cross-contamination, if a carpet cleaning machine removes excessive amounts of blood and other contaminants, the machine containing the contaminants can be spread throughout your home and other customers. If the machine has been used previously for the same type of work, contaminants from other homes may transfer to your property. Lastly, padding and sub flooring is porous and while the surface of a carpet may appear clean, the padding and the sub-floor beneath is likely to still contain contaminants. This space between the carpet and pad and the space between the pad and sub-floor is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria and other contaminants that will often become malodorous and unsafe.
Situations Requiring a Certified Biohazard Cleanup Company
As mentioned above, a blood cleanup company is best prepared with certified trauma cleanup technicians and a license to transport medical waste to appropriately decontaminate properties and dispose of medical waste properly. Although relatively minor blood spills without saturation or the need to dispose of medical waste can sometimes be cleaned more cheaply using a restoration or carpet cleaning company. Anything more than small drops of blood or spatter on the surface of carpeting or other flooring should be handled by a trauma cleanup company. These are usually situations where heavy bleeding has taken place or a person has fell or injured themselves and not received help right away.
A certified trauma cleanup company can help with removing blood, feces, and other bodily fluid from walls, furniture, and structural items. When some items are affected, such as carpet that has been saturated, tile where blood may have pooled over compromised grout, or kick plates at the bottom of cabinetry are affected, they should be removed. These items must be disposed of at a medical waste facility and replaced. Dismantling and disposing of contaminated items by a trauma cleanup company may appear to be quite costly, especially considering the replacement of the items. One positive aspect is that home owners’ insurance often covers blood cleanup services after an accident or health issue leading to a hospital stay. Crime scene cleanup companies like Affinity Bio Solutions AZ work with these insurance companies regularly and are trusted to decontaminate homes correctly while providing all necessary documentation. Many insurances policies will have content coverage, meaning that not only is the biohazard cleanup covered, but property owners are provided a replacement value for any items that needed to be removed.
Blood Cleanup Conclusion
When a blood cleanup is needed in a property, it is important to consider how unseen damage to structural items like sub-flooring, cabinetry, and furniture can lead to further problems.
Arizona Biohazard Cleanup
When considering the level of service needed for a blood cleanup, it is important to think about immediate cost savings versus the need to call out a crime scene cleanup company at a later date to deal with odor issues and possible cross contamination. When saturation of any item in the home occurs, it is best practice to call a trauma scene cleanup company like Affinity Bio Solutions AZ to work with one’s homeowners’ insurance company to restore the home to safe and livable conditions.
Contact our office for all biohazard, blood & crime-scene clean-up
More Biohazard & Crime Scene Cleanup Articles:
- How Much Does a Hoarder House Cleanup Cost?
- What is a hazmat cleanup?
- How to Save Money on a Hoarder House Cleanup
- How are Toxic Chemicals are Disposed
- When to Call a Professional
- 5 Questions to Ask a Medical Pickup Company
- When to Hire an Odor Removal Professional
- What is Required for Crime Scene Clean-up
- What Does a Crime Scene Cleaner Do?
- What happens if you clean up hazardous material yourself?
