by Kent Berg
Like many people in the restoration industry considering expanding into crime and trauma scene bio-recovery, you may want to know about the trends in the marketplace and who your potential competitors are. However, before I tell you where the industry is and where it is going, let’s look at from where it came… In the mid-to-late 1990s, the crime and trauma bio-recovery industry was in its infancy. There were only a handful of companies providing service as full-time dedicated businesses. As these companies began to market themselves and the media began running articles and interviews, budding entrepreneurs took notice, and a small but steady stream of novices entered the industry. The insurance industry also began to recognize the capabilities of trained and certified companies. There were fewer complaints and callbacks from their insureds, and the frequency of “rip and tear” remediation dropped in favor of proper decontamination and disinfection practices.
Today, roughly 12 years into the life of this business, we are seeing families, businesses and industrial customers getting their scenes cleaned up without having to ask untrained and psychologically unprepared employees or family members to undertake these gruesome tasks. But with this influx of new companies has come problems. Since1996 the industry has watched as an incredible influx of new companies try their hand at this unique and macabre business. What was once an open market is rapidly changing. While many areas of the country are still in need of crime scene cleanup companies, many areas are saturated. States like Florida, California, Ohio and New Jersey, and cities like Phoenix, Atlanta, Seattle and Philadelphia are literally teeming with bio-recovery service providers. As more companies enter these markets, there results a dilution of the supply/demand ratio, and thus the newcomers are either going out of business shortly after start-up or they diminish the incomes of the established companies there before them, in turn forcing them to diversify or die. Why is this happening? As a niche market, there are a limited number of scenes that need to be cleaned. Unlike other industries that entice new potential clients to try their services, the bio-recovery industry has to wait for something horrible to happen and either make themselves available or hope for a referral from public safety officials. When there are more bio-recovery companies than horrible events, company owners have to look for other ways to supplement their income. Many companies have entered the fire/water/smoke remediation market, while others have expanded into the mold/lead/asbestos fields. Just as remediation companies have expanded into the crime scene markets, we are seeing many in the crime scene markets enter the traditional abatement/remediation fields in order to survive.
So what is the big attraction of crime scene bio-recovery? The lure of big money, no formal education and low start-up costs has attracted a broad variety of players. Like most industries, the quality of service varies widely. Although the American Bio-Recovery Association (www.americanbiorecovery.com) has gained significant recognition and credibility for many in the industry, there is still a disturbing number of companies who fail to comply with federal and state regulations, have received no formal training or industry certification, or have failed to embrace ethical business practices. Unlike many business owners who see crime scene cleanup as a moral calling to provide a service very similar to funeral homes, others see an opportunity to plunder the coffers of the dead and bereaved, often charging obscene fees for shoddy work. Unfortunately, the public is painfully unaware of what constitutes a good company and often believes that these services are regulated and certified by the government. The greatest problem we face with this industry is that it is unregulated in most states, counties, and municipalities. With the exception of Louisiana, New York City, Florida and California, there are no industry-specific regulations, nor am I currently aware of any government entities in that intend to propose legislation in the foreseeable future. With a lack of governmental oversight, it is often ABRA that gets phone calls from the public, insurance adjusters, lawyers, and state attorneys wishing to “report” unsatisfactory experiences with poor service providers. Some of the more unnerving complaints include such tales as: “When our family walked across the ‘professionally decontaminated’ vinyl tiled kitchen floor, blood spurted up between the tiles splattering our shoes” or “After the crew left, we went to remove a pot of chili from the stove and found a three-inch skull fragment floating on top.” There are also stories of scare tactics like, “They told us that due to the biological hazards of airborne contaminants, all of the home contents had to be disposed of including the china, silverware, appliances, everything, and then weeks later we found most of our belongings being sold at a flea market.” Training has also been a hot issue in the industry. Like the companies who make up the industry, the training offered varies widely. Although ABRA-approved training centers provide highly competent, in-depth training programs with ABRA certification, and a few independent for-profit entities reportedly have a good curriculum, many more companies have popped up offering less-than-stellar training. Many service providers say they are “certified” on their Web sites, but don’t say by whom. Many say they are “OSHA Certified,” but that is simply not true: OSHA does not certify companies to do this type of work, they only provide training in safety regulation compliance. On the bright side, the industry as a whole has established itself as a legitimate and needed service. More and more businesses, industries, public safety agencies and social assistance organizations are recognizing what scientists and psychologists have been saying for years, that qualified cleanup companies relieve families and the public from being exposed to disease hazards as well as the psychological trauma associated with these horrific scenes. In fact, government agencies are beginning to initiate contingency contracts in case something should happen on city, county, or federal property, and many are begin to recognize ABRA. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recognizes ABRA’s position in the industry and has sought its assistance regarding the distribution of OSHA compliance materials to the industry.
So where do we truly stand as an industry? I like to think we are in our adolescent stage, the rebellious, finding-our-own-way stage. As we mature we will see more professionalism, especially as a more savvy public begin to be more discriminating in seeking out a qualified service provider for their scene cleanup. Even as the economy continues its downturn, we know this is an industry that will not go away, and in all probability a recession will, sadly, generate more cleanups. On the other hand, as the U.S. job market becomes weaker and more people lose their jobs to downsizing, they will look for opportunities that appear lucrative, easy to get into, and don’t require a college education. Many will think that crime and trauma scene bio-recovery is the answer. Where they are geographically, ethically, and educationally will determine if they are right.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Old and new viruses spread by air travel, crowding
By Maggie Fox,
Health and Science Editor Maggie Fox, Health And Science Editor
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tourists traveling by plane and the growth of cities are combining to help new and old infections spread around the world, experts said on Monday.
Health and Science Editor Maggie Fox, Health And Science Editor
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tourists traveling by plane and the growth of cities are combining to help new and old infections spread around the world, experts said on Monday.
Viruses such as Chikungunya and dengue fever are finding new homes or returning to places where they were eradicated, the researchers told an infectious diseases meeting.
And new methods of diagnosing infections have led to the discovery of dozens of viruses causing often-serious disease.
"As urbanization spread, so did the mosquito," Duane Gubler of the University of Hawaii told a news conference at a joint meeting of the American Society of Microbiology and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
Researchers at the Pan American Health Organization told the meeting that dengue fever, which can cause mild illness or deadly hemorrhagic disease, has come back after decades of eradication successes in Latin America.
They said 1.03 million cases of dengue were reported in the 1980s and 2.7 million in the 1990s, but 4.6 million were reported from 2000 to 2007.
The "re-emergence of epidemic dengue is closely associated with global urbanization and global transportation," Gubler said. "Pathogens of all kinds -- many of them actually move in infected people but they also move in infected animals and mosquitoes."
New infections are a threat, as well.
Dr. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University in New York said his lab, using new genetic sequencing techniques, has identified 75 new pathogens -- including a new rhinovirus that has caused serious disease in "scores of children" around the world.
UNDER OUR NOSES
Rhinoviruses are spread person-to-person only and usually cause common colds but this version appears more like severe influenza, Lipkin told the news conference.
"It was literally under our noses and in our noses for a long time," Lipkin said. "It has been found in Asia, Africa, Oceania, North America and Europe," he added. "It clearly is an important pathogen."
Chikungunya virus, which causes painful and sometimes crippling or deadly symptoms, has spread to several new countries in the past two years. One traveler brought it to Italy last year, Gubler noted.
"The same virus was introduced into India and into Sri Lanka, most likely via infected travelers," Gubler said.
Outbreaks of Chikungunya, which originated in Tanzania in 1952 but did not spread much outside of Africa until 2005, have been helped by mutations that let it travel via the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus.
In 2005 on tiny Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, it infected more than a third of the population -- 266,000 people -- and killed 260 of them.
The virus has spread to Singapore and people who go to neighboring Malaysia to buy durian fruit may be helping to carry it, said Dr. Harold Townson of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in Britain.
"Aedes albopictus is very common in the United States and Caribbean," Townson said. "There are risks it could be introduced here."
And Gubler noted that another species of mosquito, the dengue-carrying Aedes aegypti, is re-emerging in Latin America.
Aedes aegypti is the original carrier of Chikungunya -- whose name comes from a word in the Makonde language of Tanzania describing the stooped stance of victims.
And new methods of diagnosing infections have led to the discovery of dozens of viruses causing often-serious disease.
"As urbanization spread, so did the mosquito," Duane Gubler of the University of Hawaii told a news conference at a joint meeting of the American Society of Microbiology and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
Researchers at the Pan American Health Organization told the meeting that dengue fever, which can cause mild illness or deadly hemorrhagic disease, has come back after decades of eradication successes in Latin America.
They said 1.03 million cases of dengue were reported in the 1980s and 2.7 million in the 1990s, but 4.6 million were reported from 2000 to 2007.
The "re-emergence of epidemic dengue is closely associated with global urbanization and global transportation," Gubler said. "Pathogens of all kinds -- many of them actually move in infected people but they also move in infected animals and mosquitoes."
New infections are a threat, as well.
Dr. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University in New York said his lab, using new genetic sequencing techniques, has identified 75 new pathogens -- including a new rhinovirus that has caused serious disease in "scores of children" around the world.
UNDER OUR NOSES
Rhinoviruses are spread person-to-person only and usually cause common colds but this version appears more like severe influenza, Lipkin told the news conference.
"It was literally under our noses and in our noses for a long time," Lipkin said. "It has been found in Asia, Africa, Oceania, North America and Europe," he added. "It clearly is an important pathogen."
Chikungunya virus, which causes painful and sometimes crippling or deadly symptoms, has spread to several new countries in the past two years. One traveler brought it to Italy last year, Gubler noted.
"The same virus was introduced into India and into Sri Lanka, most likely via infected travelers," Gubler said.
Outbreaks of Chikungunya, which originated in Tanzania in 1952 but did not spread much outside of Africa until 2005, have been helped by mutations that let it travel via the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus.
In 2005 on tiny Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, it infected more than a third of the population -- 266,000 people -- and killed 260 of them.
The virus has spread to Singapore and people who go to neighboring Malaysia to buy durian fruit may be helping to carry it, said Dr. Harold Townson of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in Britain.
"Aedes albopictus is very common in the United States and Caribbean," Townson said. "There are risks it could be introduced here."
And Gubler noted that another species of mosquito, the dengue-carrying Aedes aegypti, is re-emerging in Latin America.
Aedes aegypti is the original carrier of Chikungunya -- whose name comes from a word in the Makonde language of Tanzania describing the stooped stance of victims.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Climate change seen aiding spread of deadly diseases
Tue Oct 7, 3:23 PM ET
BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - A "deadly dozen" diseases ranging from avian flu to yellow fever are likely to spread more because of climate change, the Wildlife Conservation Society said on Tuesday.
The society, based in the Bronx Zoo in the United States and which works in 60 nations, urged better monitoring of wildlife health to help give an early warning of how pathogens might spread with global warming.
It listed the "deadly dozen" as avian flu, tick-borne babesia, cholera, ebola, parasites, plague, lyme disease, red tides of algal blooms, Rift Valley fever, sleeping sickness, tuberculosis and yellow fever.
"Even minor disturbances can have far reaching consequences on what diseases (wild animals) might encounter and transmit as climate changes," said Steven Sanderson, head of the society.
"The term 'climate change' conjures images of melting ice caps and rising sea levels that threaten coastal cities and nations, but just as important is how increasing temperatures and fluctuating precipitation levels will change the distribution of dangerous pathogens," he said.
"Monitoring wildlife health will help us predict where those trouble spots will occur and plan how to prepare," he said in a statement.
The U.N. Climate Panel says that greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from human use of fossil fuels, are raising temperatures and will disrupt rainfall patterns and have impacts ranging from heatwaves to melting glaciers.
"For thousands of years people have known of a relationship between health and climate," William Karesh of the society told a news conference in Barcelona to launch the report at an International Union for Conservation of Nature congress.
Among phrases, people said they were "under the weather" when ill, he noted.
He said that the report was not an exhaustive list but an illustration of the range of infectious diseases that may threaten humans and animals.
BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - A "deadly dozen" diseases ranging from avian flu to yellow fever are likely to spread more because of climate change, the Wildlife Conservation Society said on Tuesday.
The society, based in the Bronx Zoo in the United States and which works in 60 nations, urged better monitoring of wildlife health to help give an early warning of how pathogens might spread with global warming.
It listed the "deadly dozen" as avian flu, tick-borne babesia, cholera, ebola, parasites, plague, lyme disease, red tides of algal blooms, Rift Valley fever, sleeping sickness, tuberculosis and yellow fever.
"Even minor disturbances can have far reaching consequences on what diseases (wild animals) might encounter and transmit as climate changes," said Steven Sanderson, head of the society.
"The term 'climate change' conjures images of melting ice caps and rising sea levels that threaten coastal cities and nations, but just as important is how increasing temperatures and fluctuating precipitation levels will change the distribution of dangerous pathogens," he said.
"Monitoring wildlife health will help us predict where those trouble spots will occur and plan how to prepare," he said in a statement.
The U.N. Climate Panel says that greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from human use of fossil fuels, are raising temperatures and will disrupt rainfall patterns and have impacts ranging from heatwaves to melting glaciers.
"For thousands of years people have known of a relationship between health and climate," William Karesh of the society told a news conference in Barcelona to launch the report at an International Union for Conservation of Nature congress.
Among phrases, people said they were "under the weather" when ill, he noted.
He said that the report was not an exhaustive list but an illustration of the range of infectious diseases that may threaten humans and animals.
2 officers at Union County jail diagnosed with MRSA
by Robert E. Misseck/The Star-Ledger
Monday October 06, 2008
Precautionary measures are being implemented at the Union County jail in Elizabeth after two corrections officers were diagnosed with staph infections, authorities said today.
One corrections officer was diagnosed with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on Sept. 26. Jail administrators were notified of his illness on Sept. 29. The jail was informed of the second infection on Friday, officials said.
The source of the infection is not known, according to county officials, but Brian P. Riordan, director of the Department of Correctional Services, said steps were taken immediately to prevent anyone else at the jail from being infected.
"We are vigilant as always in ensuring that our jail population and our staff are fully protected," he said.
Measures that were undertaken including the reintroduction of the use of bleach, which had been banned by a previous jail administrator, for general cleaning and laundry.
Custodial staff is also washing down and sanitizing all common areas in the non-secure area of the jail and disinfectants are also being used.
Riordan said all staff is being updated on universal precautionary steps, in addition to prior training provided to staff, which have now been instructed to use protective gloves.
The jail administration is also instituting an operational custodial policy to address living area issues and decrease the spread of infections if an inmate is diagnosed with an infectious ailment.
Efforts will also be made to provide "universal precaution education" to all inmates, Riordan said.
He said general operations at the jail are continuing normally while these precautions are undertaken.
According to the New Jersey Department of Health, many staph infections, including MRSA, are mild and do not require treatment with an antibiotic, but some do, jail officials said.
Monday October 06, 2008
Precautionary measures are being implemented at the Union County jail in Elizabeth after two corrections officers were diagnosed with staph infections, authorities said today.
One corrections officer was diagnosed with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on Sept. 26. Jail administrators were notified of his illness on Sept. 29. The jail was informed of the second infection on Friday, officials said.
The source of the infection is not known, according to county officials, but Brian P. Riordan, director of the Department of Correctional Services, said steps were taken immediately to prevent anyone else at the jail from being infected.
"We are vigilant as always in ensuring that our jail population and our staff are fully protected," he said.
Measures that were undertaken including the reintroduction of the use of bleach, which had been banned by a previous jail administrator, for general cleaning and laundry.
Custodial staff is also washing down and sanitizing all common areas in the non-secure area of the jail and disinfectants are also being used.
Riordan said all staff is being updated on universal precautionary steps, in addition to prior training provided to staff, which have now been instructed to use protective gloves.
The jail administration is also instituting an operational custodial policy to address living area issues and decrease the spread of infections if an inmate is diagnosed with an infectious ailment.
Efforts will also be made to provide "universal precaution education" to all inmates, Riordan said.
He said general operations at the jail are continuing normally while these precautions are undertaken.
According to the New Jersey Department of Health, many staph infections, including MRSA, are mild and do not require treatment with an antibiotic, but some do, jail officials said.
Disinfectants Can Make Bacteria Resistant To Treatment
ScienceDaily (2008-10-06) -- Chemicals used in the environment to kill bacteria could be making them stronger, according to a paper published in the journal Microbiology. Low levels of these chemicals, called biocides, can make the potentially lethal bacterium Staphylococcus aureus remove toxic chemicals from the cell even more efficiently, potentially making it resistant to being killed by some antibiotics.
To read the entire article go to http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081005203059.htm
To read the entire article go to http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081005203059.htm
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