---

The roots of crime- and trauma-scene cleaning companies can be traced to the 1990s, and at that time only a dozen or so companies existed. The industry was widely unregulated and awareness of contamination risks were relatively non-existant.

"I was young and dumb and saw something you only see in movies, so I quickly shut the door, took a deep breath, sat on the couch with the widow and told everyone else to get her out of here and take her to lunch, and we’ll clean this up for her," said Nick-Anthony Zamucen, Founder of Bio-One Inc. "We were just trying to help a lady in her greatest time of need, and that’s for me how I got into the crime scene and cleaning business."  Read Nick's story in Franchise Times. 

Today, there are hundreds of companies that advertise crime and trauma scene cleaning, and a simple Google search may prove overwhelming when you're experiencing one of the most traumatic moments in your life. To help, we've listed pre-qualifying questions to ask before choosing a crime and trauma scene company. 

Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Crime and Trauma Scene Cleaner

There are a number of key questions to ask crime and trauma scene cleaning technicians or business owners to properly root out which one is best for your goals and circumstances. 

• Are you local? When there's a blood spill, response time is key to prevent biohazards from spreading and to ensure quick remediation. Several businesses may pay for online advertising in your city, but their technicians could be 3 or more hours away. Furthermore, avoid calling toll free numbers. "These numbers often lead to call centers. We're local. They're not," said Ginger Akemon, owner of Bio-One in Jacksonville, FL. 
• Is your business certified and insured? Professional crime and trauma scene cleaning companies should have bloodborne pathogen certifications, they should follow OSHA personal protective equipment (PPE) guidelines and remediation processes, and they should have insurance for their business. 
• What is your process for disposing biohazardous waste? Once the remediation is complete, the accumulated waste will need to be disposed in accordance to local state guidelines. Make sure the business owner or technician is aware of these guidelines and has an appropriate plan for disposal.  
• What happens to valuable or personal items that are impacted? At Bio-One, we are trained to be mindful of valuable and perceived valuable items, such as pictures, wallets, or a baseball card collection. Professional crime and trauma scene cleaners should ask if there are valuable items to keep an eye out for, and they will keep the family informed if these items are found. 
• How will you charge for your services? In most cases, home insurance will cover the cost of biohazard remediation - less your deductible. Ask if they can open a claim on your behalf, taking this burden off your shoulders. If you don't have homeowners insurance, it's OK to ask for a free estimate so you can compare costs between other local companies. 
• Will you be discrete during and after the job? Michele Amoranto, Bio-One owner in Oceanside, CA, always assures her clients that discretion is top of mind while her team is onsite. Bio-One vehicles are unmarked and technicians will designate work areas to don and doff PPE out of view from neighbors. 
• Do you have a list of resources that can help after the cleanup? You may need flooring replaced or fresh drywall installed, which will also be covered under your home insurance claim, and a recommendation could help speed up the reconstruction process. Additionally, many crime and trauma scene cleaners have connections with local counselors and victim's advocates. In west Texas, Bio-One owner, Garrett Spooner, always offers a list of free mental health resources and states that, "Being volunteers of our local Crisis Intervention Unit, we consider our job incomplete without making sure our clients' mental health, grief process, and other issues our clients may have, are addressed."

Last but certainly most important, make sure the business you speak with shows care and compassion for your situation. They should want to do everything possible to support you and your loved ones.

If you are searching for a crime and trauma scene cleaner, Bio-One is here for you. All of our offices adhere to our business motto Help First, Business Second and are available 24/7. Click here to search for a Bio-One team near you.

---

Bio-One teams across the U.S. answer calls to help their communities and remediate a variety of scenes. In our new blog series, we'd like to bring you into the Bio-One world by sharing stories of the unique and important work we do for local communities.

Here is Week 7 of our Bio-One Weekly Wrap-Up. 

Thank You to the Thin Gold Line

The second week of April is a time to celebrate and thank telecommunications professionals who dedicate their lives to serving the public. Often called the thin gold line, 911 dispatchers are true heroes behind the scenes. 

Coast to coast, Bio-One teams found fun and unique ways to recognize the Thin Gold Line. 

Bio-One Helps Homeless Man with Vehicle Clean Up

This week, News San Diego reported "Homeless man's story inspires San Diego mom to enlist community's help", featuring Rene Flohr and Nicki Chipp-Flohr, owners of Bio-One. The Bio-One duo spotted a NextDoor post asking for anyone who could help 79 year-old, Les, who had been living out of his vehicle and was recently diagnosed with skin cancer. His vehicle was floor to ceiling full of items, and Bio-One was ready to help clean and cleanthe vehicle so it could be sold or donated. 

In a message to Bio-One owners, Nicki said, "I am very proud of what we are doing to help someone. I thought you’d all appreciate it, since we live the Bio-One motto of #helpfirstbusinesssecond." We couldn't agree more! 

Read the entire story on News San Diego. 

A "Week in the Life" at Bio-One

The Bio-One team in Tuscon, AZ had a busy week with work ranging from COVID-19 cleanings, mold remediations, bird dropping clean up, medical waste disposal, suicide remediation, and more. 

If you've ever wondered what it takes to be a crime and trauma scene cleaner, we recommend read through the Tuscon team's Weekly Wrap-Up! 

---

If selling or buying a home is in your future, you're likely well versed the entire process, from the initial offer to closing. But are you aware that disclosing a death in the home may be required? The rules vary by state. Here's what you need to know. 

Property Disclosure Documents

No matter how perfect a house looks on the outside, there is often property information a buyer needs to disclose before the sale can go through. Property disclosure documents reveal known structural issues, neighborhood nuisances, hazards, HOA details, water damage, notable repairs made to the home and death in the home. 

Rules for reporting a death in the home vary by state, and variations in rules may include:

• Timeframe: When the death occurred. 
• How the person passed away: If the death occurred naturally versus due to negligence on the property.
• Hauntings: If the seller has knowledge that the property is being haunted by the dead. 

To be more specific, here are three death disclosure examples as stated from experts or articles based in Texas, New Jersey, and California: 

• On Investopedia, Jim Olenbush, a Texas real estate broker said, “In Texas, for example, deaths from natural causes, suicides, or accidents unrelated to the property do not have to be disclosed." However, “a seller is required to disclose deaths related to the condition of the property or violent crimes." 
• Michele Messina, an agent with RE/MAX Villa Realtors in New Jersey, told Apartment Therapy, "If someone passed away after living a long, happy life, it’s not really something you have to disclose."
• The SFGate reported that in California, if someone dies on the property, it's a material defect – but only if the death occurred within three years of the date you make an offer to purchase or rent the home. 

For a state by state guide on disclosure laws we recommend visiting this resource on Nolo.com. 

How to Search Property Records

If you'd like to do your own sleuthing and search property records, look no further than DiedInHouse.com. Founded in 2013, this website promises to instantly search millions of records to determine if a death has occurred at any valid U.S. address. 

In a 2015 interview with Forbes.com, founder Roy Condrey stated, "I went online to find a ‘Carfax’ of sorts for deaths in homes and I didn’t find anything, but I did find pages and pages of people asking if there’s a way to find out if their house is haunted." 

The service isn't free, though. Once you enter an address, you're prompted to pay a minimum of $11.99 for a single search. The report will, however, provide a number of property records including meth labs, fire, death, and registered sex offender information. 

Remediating After a Death in a Home

If a death recently occurred in the home you're hoping to purchase, there may have been biohazards from bloodborne pathogens that required remediation. Consider asking the seller how the death was remediated to ensure proper steps were taken. Remediation processes may vary depending on the location of the death, how the death occurred, types of flooring, and if the death was undiscovered for days or weeks. 

Bio-One technicians are trained and equipped to properly cleanbiohazards from bloodborne pathogens, and we ensure safe biohazard material handling and disposal. Once the entire area is cleaned of blood and body fluids, we also help property owners restore the location to its pre-incident state. 

If you are selling a home and need a biohazard remediated or want to ensure remediation was done correctly, give Bio-One a call. Our experts not only contain and cleanthe dangerous biological materials, we carry out our work in a caring and private manner. Find a Bio-One team near you. 

Undiscovered Death Remediation

An unattended death occurs in solitude. It often takes several days before somebody suspects that something is wrong. Sometimes it takes weeks, months and even years. When phone calls, text messages and emails go unanswered, friends, family members and landlords check in on the person at home, only to find that they’ve passed. If you’ve been in this position, you’re not alone. It happens more often than you might think.

Discovering an unattended death can be an emotionally wrenching experience. It’s even more traumatic when the victim is a loved one. Although you may feel obligated to clean up the remains yourself, there are several reasons why you shouldn’t do that.

For one, it’s dangerous. Body fluids from corpses release dangerous pathogens into the immediate area, creating a hazard for anyone without personal protective gear. To understand why this happens, you need to know how the decomposition process of the human body works. When someone dies, bacteria in the body lose the nutrients that keep them sustained. They look for other food sources to nourish themselves, and end up settling on the organs. These organs, which include the liver, the pancreas and the intestinal tract, are broken down with remarkable speed. To put this feeding process into perspective, there are trillions of bacteria in our bodies. That averages to about four pounds of bacteria for a 200-pound adult. Operating all at once, bacteria remove all the organs from the body within a 48-hour window.

Depending on the temperature and humidity of the room, the skin will begin to tear within this timeframe, allowing biohazardous materials to seep from the body. Rising pressure from the body’s gasses will quicken the process, releasing a terrible odor that’s often referred to as the stench of death. Sometimes, these gases will even cause the body to explode. As harmful pathogens pool on the floor, they release noxious gasses into the air, which can be inhaled through the nose and mouth. People who haven’t been trained to deal with biohazard remediation should remove themselves from the scene to escape these fumes and other threats from the decomposing body. Although it may not be obvious, people who approach a body without safety equipment risk exposing themselves to disease. Proper precautions must be taken, which brings us to another reason you shouldn’t embark on this endeavor yourself.

You likely don’t have the training or equipment to safely dispose of human remains. Gloves, goggles, respirators and body suits are necessary to protect yourself against airborne and bloodborne pathogens. But they’re not enough to keep you safe. Biohazard remediation follows a regimented process to cleanthe area safely and effectively. The chemicals allotted to clean decomposing bodies are regulated by the state. Thus, over-the-counter solutions simply aren’t powerful enough to remove and decontaminate body fluids soaked into the floor. While a surface may look clean, harmful pathogens will linger behind and pose a threat to others if the proper chemicals haven’t been used. Bio-One hires certified technicians that have the training and materials to thoroughly cleanand cleanan area contaminated by biohazardous waste. Moreover, they carry chemicals that can effectively deodorize the scene, which often proves difficult to do for death odors.

You also don’t want to clean up human remains if you’re connected to the deceased. If you do so, you will only exacerbate your trauma and prolong your grief. Asking professionals to take care of the task will not only spare you additional anguish, it will leave you assured that the job is done right.

Bio-One is available 24 / 7 / 365 at 303-625-6543 to speak with you regarding services. We complete this work across the nation with compassion and confidentiality. Give us a call if you have any questions and we will help you. 

Contact Bio-One at 303-625-6543 for more information or for an estimate today.

Bio-One Inc. is the first crime and trauma scene cleaning franchise, operating in 35 States with over 90 locations. Bio-One is committed to providing excellent service in recovery and suicide cleanup, homicide cleanup, hoarding situations, junk removal, deceased animal recovery, feces removal, pest and rodent droppings and much more. Each office is independently owned and operated by a member of the local community. For more information about becoming a Bio-One franchisee, visit us at BioOneInc.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.