Death cleanup is never easy, but it can be even more challenging for family members to clean after an unattended death. Oftentimes, family members are seeking compassionate and knowledgeable advice to help them understand what happens during a decomposition cleanup. Hiring a qualified and professional biohazard cleaning company will ensure your loved one’s home is treated with respect, that any biohazards are removed, and all of your questions are answered.
What Is an Unattended Death?
An unattended death occurs when a person passes away and family members don’t find the individual after a few days, weeks, or even a couple of months. After an unattended death, there is usually a certain level of decomposition. The longer a death sits unattended, the more decomposition cleanup is typically required.
Cleaning up an unattended death by yourself can add an additional psychological toll on you or your family members for years to come. Working with a respectable biohazard cleaning company will make sure there is no additional psychological or physical risk for your family to worry about.
Cleanup Standards
There is an extensive cleanup process for an unattended death, especially in Minnesota where there’s cold and warm weather. Scene Clean performs an ATP test to determine what the level of microbial activity in the home is. The higher the ATP test results, the more microbial activity there is. While the ATP doesn’t identify what types of diseases are in the home, it does indicate what living organisms are on the surface and how many are present.
Once a complete remediation is completed, the Scene Clean team will come back and re-perform an ATP test. Scene Clean uses a threshold of 30 RLUs as the threshold to determine if a home has been properly decontaminated or not. If the second ATP test doesn’t hit 30 RLUs or less, Scene Clean continues with the process of cleaning and decontaminating until the results measure 30 RLUs or less
Our Remediation Process to Clean After an Unattended Death
When Scene Clean first arrives on scene, our team is careful to be compassionate and understanding of the circumstances. Building a bond with the families we help is one of the most rewarding parts of our jobs.
Once we are in the area where the unattended death occurred, we complete a full walk-through of the scene. We use OSHA-mandated employee-safety hazard assessment to identify possible risks in the room. After this, we follow OSHA’s cross-contamination process to control the area. Our team members work to secure the entire contaminated area and separate it from the rest of the building.
Next, we work to remove all traces of biological materials and blood from the area. Our team of experts will work to clean, disinfect, and deodorize any affected surfaces using our special disinfectant. Often with unexpected deaths, the decomposition may have soaked through sub-flooring, carpeting, mattresses, and walls. If the decomposition has soaked through anything, we will remove every layer of material to make sure there isn’t a possibility of bio-matter getting left behind.
In addition to cleaning up any bodily fluids or blood, we clean after an unattended death to prevent any mold and additional bacterial growth. In each step of the remediation, the Scene Clean team photographs for insurance purposes. Once the deodorizing is finished, we complete another round of ATP testing to ensure the entire area has been properly disinfected.
Make Sure Your Home Is Clean After an Unattended Death
Finding out about the loss of your family member or loved one is devastating enough. The last thing you should have to worry about is cleaning up the area where your loved one passed. Hiring a trusted biohazard cleanup crew like Scene Clean will ensure the area is properly cleaned, odors are removed, and the room is restored back to normal. Contact us today to learn how we can help you clean after an unattended death.
