California Blood Cleanup
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Biohazards may be infected blood or tissue from crime scenes, suicides, and unattended deaths. Such infectious environments must be isolated until all cleaning, disinfecting, and removal is carried out. Extreme hygienic exaggeration should be used by the novice as well as the professional. Always clean biohazardous environments as if cleaning for a toddler's use.
Never remove biohazardous material without wearing gloves. "For cleaning blood or bloody fluids from floors, bed, etc., you can use household rubber gloves." Wear protection over eyes, nose, and mouth. Have a safe means of exit and a place to decontaminate yourself and clothing.
Dried blood that flakes may easily become aerosolized if mishandled. Contact with airborne blood places the cleaner at risk of infectious disease.
Before removing, moisten flaking (scabbing) blood. Cause it not to become airborne. Cover flaked blood with paper towels and lightly mosten with a disinfectant (bleach) from afar. Use a spray bottle while making wide, misting applications to the paper towels' surface. Before removing blood, ensure that it is moist enough not to flake, but not dripping.
Dry paper towels may be used to contain wet blood. Allow towels to dwell until dry. Flush in small quantities, or gently place inside two thick plastic bags. Seal tightly with duct tape. Directly dispose of in a landfill.
Dripping wet blood is considered biohazardous and universally considered infectious until proven otherwise. Contain blood from afar; disinfect it. Pour blood down the sanitary sewer if you are not going to seal it for transfer.
Thoroughly wash hands.
See Blood Cleanup 1, blood cleanup 2, and blood cleanup 3.
OSHA 1910.1030(d)(1)
General. Universal precautions shall be observed to prevent contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials. Under circumstances in which differentiation between body fluid types is difficult or impossible, all body fluids shall be considered potentially infectious materials. (return)
Useful disinfectants may be found here:
Blood Spills: see index at http://www.bccdc.org/downloads/pdf/epid/reports/CDManual_
Vinegar: http://www.apple-cider-vinegar-benefits.com/vinegar-as-a-disinfectant.html
Household bleach is a wonderful, but very corrosive disinfectant. It is a "midrange disinfectant." Bleach has a wide bacterial killing spectrum. It is inexpensive and found on most market shelves. However, bleach is extremely dangerous in the presence of acids, including urine. Open bleach bottles lose their strength; it loses strength when applied to organic material, like blood and decomposing matter. Bleach must be used cautiously, wisely. (return)
Eddie Evans
I have cleaned throughout California for about eight years. I have cleaned hundreds of death and trauma scenes. I know about odors from death.
Violent deaths usually involve a great loss of blood and tissue, OPIM (Other Potentially Infectious Materials). The loss of blood and tissue, the environmental conditions, and other circumstances will aid in the production of offensive death scene odors, miasma.
Sometimes miasma lingers because of poor ventilation, Sometimes miasma will linger because it has permeated porous materials: fabrics, paper, wood, and more.
We do our best to remove the odors associated with crime scenes and other death scenes. However, removing the source material will not always return the scene to its pre-incident condition for some time. Time and heavy ventilation, and removal of miasma permeated materials will help return the scene to a more "normal" condition.
We can apply chemicals to help increase miasma's departure from the scene, but even chemicals have their limits. Ask about our odor control policies and methods if this is a concern.
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Narrative on Trauma and Emotinal Influences - Odors
Emotional trauma may arise with exposure to a violent crime scene, suicide, or human decomposition.
In general, decomposition should be handled professionally because of its tendency to cause emotional trauma; not unlike a violent crime scene.
An unattended death with decomposition demands professional attention because of its horrific nature, its unforeseen hazards, and its emotional issues. Whether a crime scene cleanup, a suicide cleanup, or death by natural causes, a decomposed body will leave an extrodinary amount of fluid, tissue, and damage.
The material left behind has its own odors and appearances. It is difficult to explain the awkward cleaning tasks set by an unattended death.
An unattended death's appearance is usually quite horrifying when first seen by the unsuspecting. The odors associated with a death scene strike one as nauseating. On a crime scene, odors add to the horrific appearance as the two become associated with one another.
For a while, many people recall a death scene whenever a loose association is made to it. A male urinating while standing may associate the urine odor with the death scene. The acrid, acidic odors of urine resemble death scene odors because urine is contained in the death scene fluids. Entering a butcher shop will do the same, both visually and by olfaction.
Parosmia is the result, a distorted peception arising from real, airborne molecules triggering unpleasant memories.
As a psycho-somatic cue for the death scene's trauma inducing responses, the subject may easily recall the traumatic scene with a tightening of muscles and restricted vascular flow. This is in essence the fight-or-flight response of any animal when confronted by a threat, real or imagined.
It becomes obvious that children and others exposed to a death scene created by violence or decomposition may suffer emotionally later, which may be framed as Post Traumatic Stress Syndrone (PTS). Any decomposition death scene has the potential to do the same. Emotional cues are instilled by traumatic scenes, whatever their cause.
Social workers and others involved with victims of crime and other traumatic evens would do well to consider the victims of crime links above.
Besides homicides, suicides, and death by natural causes, any decomposition of the human body requires special consideration, special handling. TOP
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