An unattended death is one in which the dead body of a person is not discovered after the person is dead, usually for hours, days, weeks, and even months. When faced with an unattended death scene, your best bet is to call for expert service to do an effective unattended death cleanup.
Why Should You Hire Professional Service?
After a person dies, the deceased body goes through a process of decay called decomposition. This process yields various toxic substances that can be very toxic to health. Some of these substances are extremely contagious and you can get contaminated at the slightest contact. If the dead body isn’t handled most appropriately, these substances can spread so fast and even contaminate nearby appliances, furniture, and other materials around it.
Because of these harmful substances, it is advised that when faced with a case of an unattended death, you should never attempt to do a cleanup yourself. Some experts are well trained and possess the right equipment to handle these tasks.
How Do the Death Cleanup Service Experts Work?
Death cleanup service experts have undergone extensive training to prepare them to effectively handle an unattended death cleanup. They have the appropriate equipment to protect them from exposure to the harmful biohazards associated with an unattended death. Sometimes, the cleanup might require that some of your furniture and appliances be disposed of.
Before they commence the cleanup process, they’ll protect themselves by putting on their personal protective equipment. They follow OSHA’s guidelines for handling biohazards and ensure your home or office is safe. Most times, especially if the unattended death scene involves a loved one, the experts, who are trained in the act of empathy, understand that this is a grieving process for the family and so will explain each step of the procedure and will empathize with the family.
When cleaning up the area of the unattended death, the surfaces that have been exposed are thoroughly disinfected and deodorized. Substances such as blood and body fluid spills are wiped off neatly and disposed of accordingly. When the cleanup has been done, you will be issued a certificate by the cleanup company which mainly serves as a guarantee that your furniture and appliances are safe in case you decide to sell them. Before leaving, the experts use fluorescence to determine if the disinfection has reached a satisfactory level.
Note that, an unattended death cleanup is not an easy process. Even at the professional level, an unattended death cleanup can still pose some challenges. Hence, if this is not handled right, it could lead to really serious health risks. That is why OSHA’s guidelines have recommended that any cleanup with involvement of substances that are potential biohazards, be handled by professional cleanup companies.
Sometimes though, if the risk of contamination is quite small, for example a traumatic scene with little blood or body fluid spill, you may handle this yourself with OSHA’s minimum recommended kits. However, for a case of unattended death, the unattended death cleanup has to be done by a professional.