Blog Archives - Page 4 of 5 - Crime Scene Cleanup

Oct 11

I’ve heard about PTSD — But What is Moral Injury?

By CSC Blog

We Handle Insurance for You – Crime Scene Cleaners works directly with insurance providers to ease the financial burden, allowing families to focus on healing rather than paperwork.
The Weight of Unseen Pain – Like physical pain, trauma can consume a person’s focus, making it difficult to see beyond their suffering and recognize available support.
26 Years of Trusted Service – With over two decades of experience, we have provided professional, compassionate, and thorough cleanup services to help families in their most difficult moments.

As a Bio-technician in the Crime and Trauma Scene Industry, I suffered from PTSD like many first responders and those in the medical field. I thought if I studied everything I could to understand my condition, I would affect a better recovery and help me manage it. Unfortunately, I believe one never heals from PTSD, but we learn to manage it into remission.

While attending a Chaplaincy Conference here in Missouri, we had a quick session on Moral Injury. I had never encountered that term in my research, so it got my attention. However, as I spoke with others who have continued to suffer for years from PTSD, they had never heard of the term. Knowing those who continue to suffer from PTSD made me wonder how I learned to place mine into remission, and they hadn’t been able to get to any higher level of healing. Until now, I concluded that most of those I spoke to were active in combat, where I’d never been.

So today, with this writing, I’m presenting perhaps another avenue for victims of this disorder to seek more information to reach a healing place.

What is Moral Injury?

“Moral injury can occur when someone engages in, fails to prevent, or witnesses acts that conflict with their values or beliefs. Examples of events that may lead to moral injury include:

Having to make decisions that affect the survival of others or where all options will lead to a negative outcome
Doing something that goes against your beliefs (referred to as an act of commission)
Failing to do something in line with your beliefs (referred to as an act of omission)
Witnessing or learning about such an act
Experiencing betrayal by trusted others.”

The National Center for PTSD provides the above definition of Moral Injury.

Moral injury and PTSD are very different but have similarities, often causing confusion between the two disorders. PTSD is a mental health condition caused by exposure to a traumatic event. This event can be anything from combat to sexual assault. On the other hand, moral injury results from one violating their moral code, which could be as simple as lying to someone you love or as serious as committing a war crime or violating a religious-based moral code.

Moral injury can be incredibly damaging, leading to guilt, shame, and self-loathing. These feelings can be perplexing and hard to cope with, often leading to substance abuse and suicide. PTSD, while also incredibly damaging, is more focused on the symptoms caused by the traumatic event itself. These symptoms can include flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive thoughts.

People with these disorders may avoid discussing or taking part in activities that remind them of the traumatic event, such as Group Therapy. People with Moral Injury may also feel like they can’t talk about it because they feel intense shame. Both victims feel no one will understand what they’re going through.

The symptoms of moral injury and post-traumatic stress disorder can be relieved with different treatments. For those suffering from PTSD, treatment should focus on relieving the physical effects caused by traumatic events, like therapy or medication. For people who have experienced a more profound hurt, such as an act of morality offense, this may take longer because they need to come to terms first before moving forward into talking about what happened, which is an often-difficult process.

Understanding the differences between moral injury and PTSD is vital to get the right help for yourself or someone you love.
If you think you may suffer from moral injury rather than PTSD, please seek help immediately and have that discussion with a qualified professional.

Why have I not heard of Moral Injury?

Moral Injury is a term that has been gaining traction in recent years to describe the unique damage caused by war and other traumatic experiences, as stated above. Jonathan Shay, a doctor who has worked extensively with veterans, coined the term in his book “Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming.”

PTSD is a well-known and well-studied condition caused by exposure to traumatic events. Intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, nightmares, and hypervigilance characterize PTSD. However, there are many symptoms, and no two people experience PTSD in precisely the same way.
We treat PTSD and moral injuries in different ways. Treatment for moral injury should focus on helping the person come to terms with what they have done. Therapy can be a long and challenging process, but it is necessary to move on.

The significant difference between PTSD and Moral Injury

PTSD is a registered mental health condition we treat with therapy and medication. It results from seeing a traumatic event outside of ourselves.

Currently, the Medical Psychiatric Community does not consider Moral Injury a mental health condition. Moral injury results from someone committing an act that violates their inner morality. However, there is growing evidence we should treat Moral Injury as its own category of trauma.

If you or someone you know is struggling with Moral Injury, you can take steps to get help. You can find resources at the websites for Veterans Affairs in the U.S. and Canada if they were part of the military, and others can find help with The National Center of PTSD.

Both PTSD and Moral Injury involve therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy or exposure therapy. However, treating Moral Injury also often involves soul-searching, reflection on the event, and its impact on your life.

Have you known people suffering who won’t get help?

I’ve heard about PTSD — But What is Moral Injury?

Both disorders frequently will cause their victims not to seek the help they need. They mistakenly believe if they try harder, they can learn to manage its effects, which rarely works.

Knowing this is an emotional and psychological problem they are experiencing, they also erroneously believe there is a stigma from society attached, and it would follow them throughout the rest of their lives. They are so focused on the pain that everything else is black.

I liken it to a person who slams a hammer down on their finger; all that matters now is the pain. I could place a dancing bear before them, and they would not realize it. Why? Because their entire focus is on the pain they are feeling, and nothing else matters.

I’ll close with a YouTube video showing a person’s awareness when focused on a task. You can find it at the following link.

https://youtu.be/KB_lTKZm1Ts

Crime Scene Cleaners, LLC endeavors to bring you relevant information to help you deal with the stresses of life and work. We serve the States of Missouri and Kansas, if there is anything we can help anyone in your community please contact us at 1-800-808-7642 or www.crimescenecleanerskc.com

I’ve heard about PTSD — But What is Moral Injury?
-By Don M. McNulty

Jul 22

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Toilet Plumes — Do Bioaerosols Represent a Danger to Your Health?

By CSC Blog

We Handle Insurance for You – Crime Scene Cleaners works directly with insurance providers to ease the financial burden, allowing families to focus on healing rather than paperwork.
Professional Cleaning You Can Trust – Our expert team follows strict industry protocols to ensure thorough biohazard removal, decontamination, and restoration, leaving no trace behind.
26 Years of Trusted Service – With over two decades of experience, we have provided professional, compassionate, and thorough cleanup services to help families in their most difficult moments.

Toilet Plumes — Do Bioaerosols Represent a Danger to Your Health?

Toilet plumes or the spray coming up out of the toilet have been a concern to many people. Although, I don’t think I heard of the concern per se until I was well into adulthood.

I found by testing there is a plume. I have used my particulate counter to measure the number of particles during a flush cycle. The numbers at my home range in the thousands of particles. Measuring the plume in a public restroom with a commercial style toilet the counts run into the tens of thousands of particles.

According to research the number of particles depends on the style of the toilet and the amount of water pressure used to flush, and if the toilet lid is closed before the flush.

According to one such study I found on WebMD to support my own findings with details is curated here below.

Aerosolized Droplets’ Hang in the Air After Toilet Flush

FROM THE WEBMD ARCHIVES

By Cara Murez

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, April 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) — If you’re in a public restroom, you may not want to hang around too long, because lots of airborne pathogens are hanging around, too.

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science conducted flush tests in a public restroom with both a toilet and a urinal.

“After about three hours of tests involving more than 100 flushes, we found a substantial increase in the measured aerosol levels … with the total number of droplets generated in each flushing test ranging up to the tens of thousands,” said study co-author Siddhartha Verma. He is an assistant professor of ocean and mechanical engineering at the university.

Pathogens that can cause Ebola, norovirus and even COVID-19 can be found in stagnant water, as well as in urine, feces, and vomit. According to the research team, flushing can generate large amounts of airborne germs, depending on flushing power, toilet design and water pressure.

For the study, the researchers placed a particle counter at various heights of the toilet and urinal to capture the size and number of droplets generated by flushing. They did the same with a covered toilet. (Few public restrooms in the United States have lids, and urinals are not covered.)

Droplets were detected at heights of up to 5 feet for 20 seconds or longer after initiating a flush, the findings showed.
The investigators detected fewer droplets when the lid was closed before flushing, but the number wasn’t much less. This suggests that aerosol droplets escaped through small gaps between the cover and the seat.

Verma noted that both the toilet and urinal generated large quantities of droplets under 3 micrometers in size, posing a significant transmission risk if they contain infectious microorganisms.

“Due to their small size, these droplets can remain suspended for a long time,” Verma explained in a university news release.
The researchers reported a 69.5% increase in measured levels of particles between 0.3 and 0.5 micrometers in size; a 209% increase for particles sized 0.5 to 1 micrometer; and a 50% increase for particles between 1 and 3 micrometers.

According to study co-author Masoud Jahandar Lashaki, “The significant accumulation of flush-generated aerosolized droplets over time suggests that the ventilation system was not effective in removing them from the enclosed space even though there was no perceptible lack of airflow within the restroom.” Lashaki is an assistant professor of civil, environmental and geomatics engineering.

“Over the long-term, these aerosols could rise up with updrafts created by the ventilation system or by people moving around in the restroom,” he explained.

Even larger aerosols can add risk, the study authors noted.

Co-author Manhar Dhanak, chairman of ocean and mechanical engineering, pointed out that the study suggests that “incorporation of adequate ventilation in the design and operation of public spaces would help prevent aerosol accumulation in high-occupancy areas such as public restrooms.”

The restroom was deep cleaned and closed 24 hours before conducting the experiments, and the ventilation system was operating normally.

The report was published recently in the journal Physics of Fluids.

Stella Batalama is dean of engineering and computer science at the college. She concluded that “aerosolized droplets play a central role in the transmission of various infectious diseases including COVID-19, and this latest research by our team of scientists provides additional evidence to support the risk of infection transmission in confined and poorly ventilated spaces.”
More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on COVID-19.

SOURCE: Florida Atlantic University, news release, April 20, 2021

-By Don M. McNulty

Jul 16

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Suicide and Its Warning Signs of Risk

By CSC Blog

Suicide is such a dirty word to most people; they won’t even utter the word. But, the other day, an acquaintance of mine here in Kansas City, let me know that his son decided to check out of this world earlier this year. Like most people I know, when they receive news such as this, they say how sorry they are for the loss and quickly change the subject because it is very uncomfortable to have a conversation.

It’s just one of the reasons we have survivor support groups. No one wants to talk about it because they don’t understand it. Frankly, I doubt I could find experts who study in this field of psychology who would say they fully understand it.

When I first met my friend well over a year ago and learned of my work, we had a long conversation about my work in trauma and death scene remediation — what most people call Crime and Trauma Scene Cleanup — including suicide.

During this meeting a year later, he acknowledged that as he was going through this with his family, he turned his thoughts to our previous conversation and drew strength on some of what we discussed that day.

One of the biggest lessons I learned over the years is not struggling to comprehend

why someone would commit suicide?

Imagine if you had a chance to speak with those who commit suicide, they might tell you why they did this to themselves. Then, being a loving relative, friend, or concerned individual, every excuse they may present to you as the driving force behind that act, you would be able to counter it with a way out or an answer to the problem. The trouble is that most of these victims won’t hear you, and they won’t or can’t hear you because they are too focused on their perceived pain.

In my class, I show a video on YouTube called “An Awareness Test,” using basketball players passing a basketball between each player wear white —the audience is instructed to count how many passes occurred. So, the audience focuses on the task and comes up with the correct answer. Then the voice-over answers the initial question and adds, “but did you see the moon-walking bear?” Next, they fast rewind the video and play it forward in slow-motion. Indeed, there is a Moon-walking bear who strolls through the players on the video, and my audience is always astounded.

Then I tell my students why many times, no one pays attention to the logic you might present. They are too focused on the pain to hear what is being said to them.

Think back to a time when you slammed your fingers in a door or hit your thumb with a hammer. You probably danced around the room, otherwise known as writhing in pain, cussing, or yelling; you have not focused on anything else but the point of physical pain. But, honestly, I could put a Moon-walking bear strolling through the room, and you wouldn’t even know it.

I’ll give one more example. A middle-aged wife and mother came home to find her husband had committed suicide in their bedroom while she was away grocery shopping. According to her friend at the home when I arrived, she had no inkling those thoughts ever came to his mind. To say she was devastated would be an understatement. When I arrived with my crew, all this poor woman could do was cry. There were only a few moments of silence between her sobbing as she tried to catch her breath. It was one of the most challenging meetings I have been through in my career. She was so hurt she really wasn’t present to what was going on around her. Fast-forward about nine months later, and while I was out shopping, she and her friend came up to me. Her friend introduced me to this wife, explaining that I was the one who came to the residence that day to clean up the bedroom.

Now, why am I telling you this story? Although this woman thanked me for being there in her time of need, she has zero recollection of that day or the following two weeks after — her friend added and several more weeks, her memory is sketchy at best. My point being — mental pain and anguish can override any sanity or logic you would expect an individual to have.

It would be best if you recognized in this whole situation — Suicide is an irrational act, and you and I are trying to understand it with a rational mind. However, a rational mind cannot understand an irrational act.

Those of us who can grasp this concept find mental relief while processing our grief and moving forward.

As stated above, there is an entire industry built around trying to understand suicide fully, its causation, warning signs, and hopefully, one day, finding the elusive magic that would prevent and solve the issue. I doubt it exists, but one can dream of it.

The following is curated from the American Association of Suicidology. You can locate them at suicidology.org
If you need help or know someone who does, you can call 1-800-356-5395 to get in touch with counselors 24/7.

Here are the Warning Signs of Acute Suicide Risk

The following are not always communicated directly or outwardly:

-Threatening to hurt or kill themselves, or talking of wanting to hurt or kill themselves; or
– Looking for ways to kill themselves by seeking access to firearms, available pills, or other means; or
– Talking or writing about death, dying or suicide, when their actions are out of the ordinary.

Additional Warning Signs:

Increased substance (alcohol or drug) use
No reason for living; no sense of purpose in life
Anxiety, agitation, unable to sleep or sleeping all the time
Feeling trapped — like there’s no way out
Hopelessness
Withdrawal from friends, family, and society
Rage, uncontrol anger, seeking revenge
Acting reckless or engaging in risky activities, seemingly without thinking
Dramatic mood changes
Giving away prized possessions or seeking long-term care for pets

Crime Scene Cleaners Kansas City coverage area includes the States of Missouri and Kansas. Although others may see this article outside our coverage area, I will only provide the rate of Suicides. The information below is based on the latest information compiled by the US Federal Government and Prepared by Christopher W. Drapeau, Ph.D., and John L. McIntosh, Ph.D. for AAS, and covers the years up to 2019 and 2020. All rates are stated as Suicides Deaths per 100,000 in population. Please note that these figures include the entire State. Therefore, when investigating a small, more rural area, the number may be skewed and inappropriate for those areas.

The Overall National Suicide Rate is 14.5/100,000. This number represents 47,511 per year.

Missouri Suicide Rate is 18.6/100,000 — representing 1,141 deaths per year — and ranks 15th in the nation.

Kansas Suicide Rate is 18.0/100,000 — representing 523 deaths per year — and ranks 18^th in the nation.

For the complete list, Facts and Statistics – American Association of Suicidology

Crime Scene Cleaners of Kansas City www.crimescenecleanerskc.com is a company that helps families and businesses by remediating traumatic death scenes and also offers services for Hoarding Houses, Unsaniatary Dwellings, and Infection control services.

If anyone you know needs our services in Missouri or Kansas, we stand ready to help restore the structure. We service residential, apartments, commercial, industrial, and construction industries 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Aug 01

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Surviving Suicide

By CSC Blog

Jul 30

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How to Choose the Best Crime Scene Clean Up Company

By CSC Blog

Feb 26

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“No One Should Be Victimized Twice” – The Motto We Live By

By CSC Blog

Many years ago now, people didn’t have companies who specialized in Trauma Remediation of structures. Families were left to beg, borrow, or steal anyone they could get to help clean up from suicide, homicide, or an unattended death scene. It didn’t matter to the families then who came out to help, they just couldn’t find it within themselves to enter those scenes and do what seemed an impossible task, as it would be for any of us.

That’s why companies like Crime Scene Cleaners KC exist. To provide a trained but detached resource who is properly trained, and yet has the compassion to give of themselves, in helping families and businesses recover from these losses. We called it bio-cleaning, bioremediation, bio-recovery, crime and trauma scene clean up, even forensic restoration but, what it really means to those who are in need of the service, is compassionate help.

I can’t image what it would take to walk into a room where my loved one died in traumatic ways and have the strength and fortitude to start and finish the task at hand and I’ve been doing this work for over 25 years. In the early days, as I look back through my mind’s eye and memories the work we did was so elementary to how we perform today. The processes have evolved, the chemicals have changed and this has now grown into a fulltime career for many people.

But the mission has ALWAYS been a constant.
“No One Should Be Victimized Twice.”

When our company grew large enough to start hiring and training technicians we found we have to hire certain kinds of people. This work is not for everyone. First of all they have to be mentally stable. Another is they have to show they have a servants heart, as we put it, someone who wants to serve people and help families who are hurting. Not all people who apply for this work can meet that criterion. Some who apply are folks who want to be involved in sensationalized work; they want to see a real crime scene up close and personal. Some people apply who want to satisfy some macabre itch; they want to see real blood and gore. Most of those we are able to weed out of our hiring process but what aren’t as easy is the “empathetic” person. You see there is a fine line between Sympathetic and Empathetic or Sympathy to Empathy.

A sympathetic person can show compassion for others going through stressful horrid times in their lives. They do this by sharing feelings of pity and compassion, but they are able to carry on their work in behalf of the hurting individual or family members. Whereby, an empathetic person is one who transfers someone’s feeling and emotion onto themselves; this state of mind cripples that person’s ability to do the work as needed.

Here’s an example we’ve all seen. Picture a women is in heavy labor having a baby. She cries out in pain and her body writhes with pain. In the movies the husband is not by her side coaching her through this hard time but rather shown crumpled in a corner of the room holding his own stomach and perhaps even crying out in pain. In the movies this is funny and they call it incorrectly “sympathy pains,” when in fact, by real definition it should be called empathy pains.

What kind of husband then provides help to his wife having that baby? The Sympathetic husband who can mentally understand his wife is hurting but that he can help through his coaching and hand-holding or the Empathetic husband who is completely useless crumpled in the corner focusing totally on himself and his own supposed pain. Does this make sense to you?

It’s important we hire people who have a servant’s heart with the great capacity of being sympathetic as it is for us to reject the empathetic applicant. It is just as important to the empathetic applicant we reject them, as it is for them to find the right type of job. The reason being…an empathetic technician can end up with PTSD after months of struggling to get
through their work and this serves no one. If hired the empathetic technician would end up being hurt through the work. We’ve seen what PTSD can do to people over the years, many of the homeless veterans suffering from PTSD because it prevents them from properly engaging their loved ones and society in general.

So, through our hiring practices, we are also living up to our motto, “No one should be victimized
twice.”

Oct 16

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Not Too Late To Get Vaccinated This Flu Season

By CSC Blog

Stay Healthy This Flu Season: Get Vaccinated!

Flu season is here, and by now, you’ve likely heard public safety announcements encouraging everyone to get their flu vaccinations. Hopefully, you’ve already received yours. If not, don’t delay—your health depends on it.

A few years ago, I learned this the hard way. My busy schedule kept me from prioritizing my flu shot. I tried to get vaccinated once, but the pharmacy had run out of doses, and I never found the time to return. I thought I had dodged the flu bullet when January rolled around, but soon after, I felt a cold coming on—and it turned into something much worse.

The flu is no ordinary cold. Many people mistake one for the other, but if you truly catch the flu, you’ll know the difference. I was so ill that I was bedridden for a week, unable to work or manage my responsibilities. It was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life and a mistake I’ll never repeat.

Why You Should Get Vaccinated:

Reduced Symptoms and Duration: While no vaccine is 100% effective, if you do contract the flu after vaccination, your symptoms are likely to be less severe and resolve more quickly.
Decreased Risk of Severe Illness: Vaccination can significantly lower the chances of developing complications from the flu, such as pneumonia or hospitalization.
Community Protection: Vaccines help protect vulnerable populations, including the elderly, children, and those with weakened immune systems.
Cost Savings for Businesses: Research shows that vaccinated employees take fewer sick days, which benefits both businesses and families.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), flu vaccinations prevented an estimated 7.5 million illnesses and 6,300 deaths in the U.S. during the 2019-2020 flu season. This data underscores the vaccine’s critical role in reducing the flu’s impact. (Source: CDC, 2023)

At Crime Scene Cleaners of Kansas City, LLC, we know the importance of maintaining a safe and sanitary environment. If your home or workplace has been affected by a flu outbreak, call us at 1-800-909-2939 for professional cleaning and disinfection services.

Don’t let the flu catch you off guard. Get vaccinated today—it could save your life.

Oct 02

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Crime Scene Cleaners, LLC Has Evolved To Service Those In Need

By CSC Blog

Helping You in the Aftermath – We work directly with insurers to ease the financial burden, ensuring you receive the coverage you’re entitled to while focusing on recovery.
A Legacy of Specialized Service – Since its founding, Crime Scene Cleaners, LLC of Kansas City has led the way in biohazard remediation, ensuring safety and dignity in the aftermath of trauma.
More Than Just Cleaning – Our expertise extends beyond crime scenes to include biohazard management, forensic restoration, infection control, and hoarding cleanup.

The Evolution of an Industry: Crime Scene Cleaners, LLC

When Crime Scene Cleaners, LLC of Kansas City was founded, the name represented a new era of specialized services for handling the aftermath of trauma and tragedy. Our mission is clear: to restore safety and dignity to spaces while helping people, families, and communities heal.

Society has long grappled with the task of cleaning up after death and trauma, but the modern biohazard remediation industry began to take shape in the 1990s. In 1993, a small company in Blue Springs, MO, was among the first to specialize in what they called “Bio Cleaning.” Over the years, other companies introduced terms like “Crime and Trauma Scene Cleanup” in 1995 and “Bio Recovery” in 1996. More recently, the industry has seen the emergence of “Biohazard Management” and “Forensic Restoration,” reflecting its ever-expanding scope.

The diversity of terminology mirrors the breadth of services provided by companies in this field. These services intersect with law enforcement, the funeral industry, structural restoration, infection control, and public safety. The work involves remediating scenes of homicides, suicides, unattended deaths, altercations, and break-ins, as well as addressing contamination from tear gas, meth labs, and drug houses. Crime scene cleaning also includes sanitizing spaces exposed to infectious diseases like C. diff, MRSA, HIV, Hepatitis, and Norovirus, as well as providing critical support for hoarding cleanup.

We’re guided by our motto: “No one should be victimized twice.” Every day, we see our work as an opportunity to make a difference.

If you need assistance with biohazard remediation, hoarding cleanup, or any challenging cleanup task, call Crime Scene Cleaners, LLC of Kansas City at 1-800-909-2939. We stand ready to help when it matters most.

Sep 26

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Biofilm the Beginning of ALL Soiling and Contamination

By CSC Blog

Most people outside the professional cleaning and infection control industries and the adjunct industries haven’t heard the term “biofilm.” But, this film is the basis for all soiling and contamination within the living and work environment. Where does this biofilm come from? This is a question we at Crime Scene Cleaners KC have had to ask and learn the lessons in order to properly clean and sanitize the affected areas in our crime and trauma scene cleanup work or what we call forensic restoration.

Biofilm comes from two main sources, human activity and bacterial activity. Combined they form on a surface and continue to build into soiling you can see.

Here is how this works. Humans are fat. I’m not necessarily speaking to people who are overweight but rather the substance that makes us overweight, namely lipids and no matter how much you weigh, us all have lipids. Most of us know of lipo-suction where they literally suck the fat cells out of a person. Those lipids run through every part of the body. They are in your hair, skin, tears, nasal secretions, breath, saliva, blood and our waste. If you place your hand down on a surface and raise it up and look at the surface you will see an outline of your hand. You have just placed what most call hand-oil on to the surface. That hand-oil called, esters, a liquid form of lipids. That’s what you wash off your face and hair. We also place lipids on each surface with our breath. As we breathe, the air leaving our body is laden with lipids. Now that the lipids are on our surfaces and the moisture begins to evaporate the lipids become sticky. (Ever had blood between your fingers and as it dries you feel the stickiness?)

Being sticky on a molecular level it begins to attract micro-pollutants and bacteria floating through the air. Here is where the bacteria come into play. Once the bacteria is on the surface it begins to replicate producing a very sticky substance of a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substances, meaning goo in laymen. A bacterium grows at an exponential rate. One bacterium on the surface continually divides to 2,097,152 in just seven hours. In twenty-four hours it divides to 4.7 sextillion, that’s 4.7 with 17 zeros behind it.

These two substances are continually growing through the human and bacterial activity attracting more and more micro-pollutants. The longer the biofilm lays on the surface it begins to harden into layers. Also, this bacteria laden biofilm is continually spread through our touching the surface and then touching yet another surface depositing the biofilm from one area to the next.

We start to see biofilm as our surfaces start to dull, or you see a dingy dark substance around cabinet handles, door knobs or light switches. I clean my kitchen counter tops at least twice a day…it takes just a few minutes. Yet, I’ve cleaned counter tops in a hoarder house roughly the same area and it has taken me several hours, why? The biofilm was deep and extremely hard and you have to work through those hardened layers. Here’s one more example; tooth plaque is biofilm on your teeth. The longer you wait between dental visits the harder the plaque is to remove and the more damage it generates.

The technicians at Crime Scene Cleaners, LLC in the Greater Kansas City Area are routinely trained in the science of cleaning and restoration. Our goal is to create sanitary surfaces within the built environment whether we are remediating are as affected by suicide, homicide, unattended death or performing infection control services in homes and businesses.

If you have an incident requiring a high level of expertise we have the training experience and equipment to properly perform the work; please call Crime Scene Cleaners at (816 or 913)-808-7642 or find us on the net at www.crimescenecleanerskc.com

Sep 20

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Sudden Elderly Death Syndrome (SEDS) and How It Creates Unattended Deaths

By CSC Blog

Most of us have heard of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and SEDS (Sudden Elderly Death Syndrome) is a twist on that terminology. Have you heard, the “The new 50 is 70?” This means people in the industrially developed world are living longer and are stronger than ever before. Today people who reach 70 and beyond are usually much more active, ambulatory and look much younger than their fathers and mothers, and certainly their grandparents at the same age. The average age expectancy for men and women in the United States is 78.6 for men and women being 81.1 according to data published by the US Census Bureau. And, on many occasions a person can be relatively healthy and active right up and to the end of life.

An unattended death is someone who dies alone and isn’t discovered for three or more days with the average unattended being 10 to 14 days. It only takes three days before the body begins to breakdown, which can cause structure damage and extreme odors.

Keep reading to see how these two events create a need for a professional remediation and cleaning company like Crime Scene Cleaners, Inc. of Kansas City to be engaged for repairs.

We are a very mobile society with people and families moving from one end of the country to other. Older people nowadays move away from their family and close friends to enjoy warmer or exotic climates. Other times it’s the exact opposite; close family moves away from older relatives to pursue work and career choices. For those of us who are blessed to live longer we may even outlive our close friends and family leaving us pretty much alone. Other times we choose to be alone. No matter how it happens some end up in a situation where they’re somewhat alone or secluded and when death does strike, there’s no one around to know.

In these cases families, and/or landlords are left to repair the structure. The longer a death goes undiscovered the greater the damage to the structure. They will need a company like Crime Scene Cleaners, Inc. of Kansas City to remediate the structure and perform special deodorization to abate the extreme odors left behind. These events present specific problems for remediation companies, since pathogens and other biohazards will be present.

That’s why Crime Scene Cleaners, Inc. specializes in biohazard remediation and infection control. They are a step above normal restoration companies as this is the only thing they do.

If you are in the Greater Kansas City Area, from Topeka, KS to Columbia, MO from Bethany, MO to Pittsburg, KS and find yourself in need of a specialized company for a traumatic death scene such as; an unattended death, suicide, or homicide please call Crime Scene Cleaner, Inc. at (816) or (913) 808-7642

Blog

What is Moral Injury?

Why have I not heard of Moral Injury?

The significant difference between PTSD and Moral Injury

Have you known people suffering who won’t get help?

why someone would commit suicide?

Here are the Warning Signs of Acute Suicide Risk

The Evolution of an Industry: Crime Scene Cleaners, LLC

Only a fully trained professional who has the experience should handle this type of incident.