NY Crime & Trauma Scene Cleanup 877-246-2532

Passing The Buck On Crime Scene Cleanup

2011-03-26T12:18:00.002-04:00

Another Shooting on Parade Place
Thursday, March 24th, 2011

Police are investigating the shooting death of a 23 year old man on Parade Place last night.

The NYPD responded to a report of shots fired outside 45 Parade Place, near the corner of Crooke Avenue, an NYPD spokesman, Officer James Duffy, told me.

They found Julio Locarno, 23, lying in a pathway leading into the Parade Grounds with “several gunshot wounds to his head and torso,” Duffy said. Locarno was pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital.

There have been no arrests, and the investigation is ongoing, Duffy said.

A livery cab driver was shot dead in almost exactly the same spot last June, and neighbors have been loudly requesting police presence, signage, lights, or anything else that could deter crime there for many months.
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NOTE-The owners of Bio-Recovery Corporation have reached out to these people and have offered to clean this scene for no cost.

Bio-Tec Emergency Services

2010-09-17T20:13:00.001-04:00

I found a national Crime Scene Clean up company online that appeared to be legitimate last year. I paid over 1,200 dollars for supplies and Crime Scene Tech,"Certification."Once this was done I was called out to a home in Griffin, Ga. for a clean up a trailer. The job lasted about six hours. I made sure all the required paperwork was completed and sent to BIO TEC after the job. I never met anyone in person and spoke to several people on the phone. After the job I was told it could take up to two months to be paid. The agreement was $50 dollars an hour. My phone calls were repeatedly ignored after the two month mark.

I decided to call from a different phone number and someone answered. A female answered and refused to give an explanation for lack of payment and extended time frame. She was rude and made it clear I would not get paid. I realized at that point what I was dealing with. I also took pictures of a home in Douglas ville Ga. that had water damage and sent the pictures on disc to BIO TEC with my own money and received nothing for that as well. BIO TEC is parading around as a legitimate company that helps people in need and could be deceiving not only the customers but employees as well and must be investigated. It is my responsibility to at least stop them from taking advantage of customers whom are already dealing with traumatic situations.

Andrea of acworth, GA
Read more: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/business/bio_tec_emergency_services.html#ixzz0zprTwozd

Cleaning the Scene

2010-07-30T18:54:00.000-04:00

After crimes, local business moves in to help restore people’s homes
As a longtime police detective, Virgil Hutchinson has spent countless hours investigating crime scenes. While his current police work keeps him confined to his desk for most of the day, Hutchinson spends even more time at crime scenes handling his second job: trauma scene cleanup.

“You wouldn’t believe the scenes we go through. I mean the scenes that happen,” Hutchinson said as his eyes widened to recount the memories. “It’s tough on the family so you need someone that could first of all know how to deal with stressful situations like this.”

Hutchinson is very cautious when speaking about his experiences cleaning up crime scenes because he said privacy is the most important thing he can provide to the people he helps. A 23-year veteran of the Syracuse Police Department, he often sounds like a psychologist when speaking of the effects a crime scene can have on victims’ families.
He remembers a time when he responded to a family who had just experienced a violent crime in the home. The family wanted Hutchinson to clean up the blood.

“That’s where we came in,” said Hutchinson, CEO of B-D Trauma Scene Clean, Inc. “We disposed of everything the right way and gave them their privacy.”

Inspiration for the name of Hutchinson’s business comes from his father’s nickname, B-D. The name has special meaning to Hutchinson, whose father died of lung disease. The idea to start a company came through his police work before he became a detective.
“I would often hear people say, ‘so when do you come back and clean this place up?’” Hutchinson said. “And so I did some research.”

Hutchinson was the first tenant to house his business in the South Side Innovation Center. He said he chose the space on South Salina Street because of his concern for the city in which he was raised.

Cleaning crime scenes is something that Hutchinson takes seriously and personally. That’s one reason he is hesitant to divulge too many details of his experiences.

“We don’t come to the house with this big van that says, ‘We clean crime scenes’ or anything of that sort,” Hutchinson said. “There’s psychological effects that go with that.”

Hutchinson said the sight of some crime scenes is sometimes hard to grasp and often takes a toll on him mentally. For that reason, he said finding people to employ is often difficult. He said he must be very selective and can tell within a few minutes during an interview whether a person has the stomach for the job.

Crime scene cleaning is just one of the jobs he and his employees provide. Some other features of B-D Trauma Scene Clean are biohazard cleaning, floor care, restoration after mold damage, and selling supplies to other companies.

Hutchinson remembers when he and his crew had to restore a house because water damage led to mold spreading throughout the whole property.

“We gutted the whole thing,” Hutchinson said. “We disinfected, sterilized and placed antimicrobial agents in the house.”

Whatever the situation, Hutchinson and his employees must dispose of materials “the right way,” he said.

“It needs to be autoclaved,” Hutchinson said, which means disposing of any remnants through a machine rather than in a large trash bin. Otherwise, he said, there is a risk of mold, hepatitis, or pathogens traveling through the air and infecting people.

“You really have to want to feel good about helping people, and that’s a lot of where my background in police work comes in,” Hutchinson said. “It’s that good feeling you get at the end of the day.”

Bio-Recovery: The R&R Interview

2010-07-28T15:35:00.002-04:00

by Jeffrey Stouffer editor
July 19, 2010

A continually evolving and expanding segment of the remediation industry, bio-recovery – better known as “crime scene cleanup” or “trauma cleaning” – has made great strides since it first came into being as an organized segment of the business almost two decades ago. Recently, R&R spoke with Kent Berg, director of the National Institute of Decontamination Specialists and founder of the American Bio-Recovery Association, to get his take on where the industry stands today and where it’s headed in the future.

Restoration & Remediation: Briefly, what falls under the scope of work when people talk about “bio-recovery”?

Kent Berg: Bio-recovery is actually a term that was derived from the words BioHazard Cleanup and Scene Recovery. We chose that term because our industry’s scope of work is actually much broader than cleaning crime scenes. We are often thought of as the guys that will clean up anything that is nasty, repulsive, or gross, so people naturally call us to clean up human feces, animal feces, dead animals – usually rotten ones – and gross filth, as in rotting food, poor hygiene, and piles and piles of garbage. Then there’s the decomposed human body scenes, meth labs, the occasional disease outbreak, and anything else that would cause a normal person to stay a hundred feet away to keep from puking.

R&R: You’ve been part of the bio-recovery profession pretty much since before it became a profession. Since that time, what are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen, both positive and negative?

KB: When I first started, very few people in this business knew anything about cleaning and disinfecting. They just wanted to make the visible contamination go away. No one in the insurance industry had ever heard of a crime scene cleanup company, and many adjusters argued that our services were not covered. Today, the biggest changes have been in our profile. What I mean by that is the public, who had never heard of our services, now see us in TV shows, documentaries, movies, magazines, and newspaper articles. We have recognition now, and families are more aware that these services exist.

Another change has been in the performance of the cleanup itself. We as an industry are much more aware of the antimicrobials we are using, the techniques and knowledge related to home construction, vehicle dismantling, and being able to actually render a property safe on a microscopic level.

R&R: From a purely objective point of view, bio-recovery would seem to be about as “recession-proof” as any remediation specialty out there. There will always be accidents, suicides and other traumas that require a professional remediator. What are some of the pros and cons that come along with that?

KB: We know that our services will always be needed, but with a higher profile, we are seeing more and more companies starting up, and more and more fire/water restoration companies adding this service to their menus. Although the demand for our services is increasing, the individual companies’ call volumes aren’t growing as fast because there is more competition for that finite number of incidents.

The pros are that the public will have resources to respond if they need them, and that companies will have to step up their game in service quality and marketing. The cons are that the majority of these new companies are not attending training, not getting any type of certification beyond a half-day OSHA bloodborne pathogen course. It’s these companies that are dragging the good companies down when the public hears about a company throwing a bloody mattress in a dumpster, etc.

R&R: Since hindsight is 20/20, if there was one thing you would go back and change, as far as how you operated your business, what is it, and what would you do differently?

KB: I would have marketed harder. I assumed that people would need my service and seek me out. That was true for a while, but when competitors popped up with their marketing programs, the public chose who was freshest in their minds. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but one I will never forget.

R&R: Technologically speaking, what areas have seen the greatest advances? Chemicals? PPE? Containment?

KB: One of the advancements has been our recognition as a legitimate industry. Today, vendors of specialty restoration products are targeting our industry. Kimberly-Clark markets their suits with the “Recommended by the American Bio-Recovery Association” seal on them. Other products used in our industry have similar tie-ins with our trade association or at the very least mention in their advertising that their product is great for cleaning crime and trauma scenes. Even the insurance industry no longer recognizes us under their “janitorial service” heading, opting now for a “crime scene cleanup” designation for insurance coverage.

We are also seeing new technology in the form of new disinfectants, odor-remediation technology, and devices to actually measure how clean a surface really is. The National Organization for Victim Assistance is putting on a training program this fall for teaching all interested bio-recovery technicians how to better interact with victims and their families. Meanwhile, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has sought out input so they may better understand our industry.

However, I believe the most important advancement for the industry has been the formation of training centers. Legitimate training programs help make sure that any technician who wants to be the best at their profession can attend a school that specializes in that field. By establishing a standard training and certification program, students graduate far ahead of their competitors and benefit from years of experience from seasoned industry professionals, scientists, chemists, and pathologists that helped to design the curriculum.

Jeffrey Stouffer editor
stoufferj@bnpmedia.com

Jeffrey Stouffer is editor of Restoration & Remediation magazine

Murder-Suicide on the rise nationwide

2010-07-22T09:38:00.002-04:00

In less than a week there has been a rise in cases of murder suicide. Nationwide there's reports of murder suicides, where the people had either made an attempt to kill their family then themselves, or successfully committed the act.

What drives a person to want to kill themselves and their family?

Is it the stress from the plummeted economy?

Whatever the case may be, in the pass four-days this has been the case. In Michigan alone there's been three cases involving people that killed their family and then themselves. The most recent killing involved a South Lyon mother who gave her 13- year-old daughter prescription drugs, killing the child and then the mother tried to kill herself. The mother survived and is in critical condition at a local hospital.
Questions surfaced whether the mother was stressed about caring for the girl because the teenager suffered from mental disabilities and health problems. Police say on two recent occasions the teen became violent, by assaulted her mother.

Michigan
In another Michigan story, a mother shot her 14 year-old daughter in the back, then turned the gun on herself. In this case the mother didn't survive, but the child did.

Texas
In Texas, a mayor of a Dallas suburb killed her teen daughter before turning the gun on herself, according to the county medical examiner. Police found the bodies of Jayne Peters, 55, and her 19-year-old daughter Corrine at their home after being sent to investigate the Coppell mayor's absence from a council meeting. Police found notes throughout the house, none of the notes explained what led to the shootings – only instructions about the care of the family pets. Two dogs were also found in the house.

California
In California, a horrific scene was discovered when a co-worker of a man went to his house only to find that the man had shot his wife and 3 year-old son. The child hid himself inside a trash dumpster for 12 hours until police discovered him there. The police found the boy bleeding from 3 gunshot wounds to his shoulder, stomach and chest. His parents were found dead on lawn chairs outside the Anaheim home, and his uninjured 5-year-old brother was hiding elsewhere in the house. The older boy told police he could hear his baby brother "screaming and hollering," but didn't know where he was.
A friend said the family had financial problems. Police are continuing to investigate. "It's very difficult to determine a motive for killing your own kids," the police spokesman said. In another case, a 58-year-old woman and 81-year-old man were found dead in a San Rafael hotel Saturday afternoon in an apparent murder-suicide.

Chicago
A man identified as Eugene Robertson, 27, walked into a Old Navy store and shot and killed, Tranesha Palms in her 20s. According to reports from the Chicago Tribune, the couple lived together in an apartment in the 10200 block of South Walden Parkway in the Beverly neighborhood on the South Side.
A police said that the two arrived at the store at the same time, the gunman followed his girlfriend through a State Street door that led to the restricted area for employees. Once inside, the shooting happened quickly, with no signs of a prolonged fight or struggle.

Connecticut
A man and a women were shot to death in a car late Sunday morning in what police believe is a murder-suicide. The shooting happened in the Rite Aid parking lot on Hazard Avenue. When police arrived they found the two slumped over in the car, both people suffering from bullet wounds.The pair was rushed to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield by ambulance, and later died. The couple drove in separate cars and met in the parking lot. Police are still investigating to find out what led to the killing.

Georgia
Matthew Justice, 37, his wife Amy, 36, two children ages 14 and 11 years-old were discovered shot. The man apparently shot his family and turned the gun on himself. The 14-year-old male was transported to Southeast Alabama Medical Center in Dothan where he remains in critical condition, the 11 year-old female who was also taken to the same medical center, got treated and released.

A shooting in Augusta, Georgia left one dead and one injured.

GROWING OLD ALONE Cleanup after unnoticed death now a growing industry

2010-07-20T23:26:00.001-04:00

By MIZUHO AOKI

Yoshinori Ishimi could hear a high-pitched whine coming from the apartment in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, he was about to enter. When he went inside, he saw black "mini-twister" clouds of flies.

The last tenant had been a 60-year-old divorced man whose body was not found until a month after he had died.

"Every time I encounter such scenes, I hesitate to step inside. But someone has to clean up these flats . . . and be professional about it," said Ishimi of Anshin Net, a cleaning service that is part of R-Cube Co. in Ota Ward, Tokyo.

The Nerima man's case was not unique, and such unnoticed departures are only expected to increase.

According to a report by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, the number of single-person households is expected to rise from 14.46 million in 2005 to 18.24 million in 2030, or nearly 40 percent of all households.

With the growing number of single households in this graying nation, businesses specializing in dealing in what has been dubbed "lonely death" have become a fixture.

Anshin Net is one such example.

Founded in 2004, the company handles about 450 requests a year, about half of them dealing with cleaning out dwellings after the occupant has died.

The requests generally come from close relatives. But when people die alone and their corpses are not discovered for weeks or even months — the requests may also come from landlords, as well as more distant kin, because many people die childless and without a partner, Ishimi said.

"We receive about four to eight requests a month asking us to clean dwellings where the residents were found a week, a month, or, in extreme cases, a year after they passed away," Ishimi said.

Police process solitary deaths by carrying out autopsies and, if relatives can't be traced, municipalities cremate the body and inter the ashes in a shared grave, Ishimi said.

Ishimi and other specialist cleaners come in afterward and make dwellings clean again.

Although no figures are available, with the increasing media coverage about people dying lonely deaths, both the number of people engaged in this business and job requests have surged in the past two or three years, said Atsushi Takaesu, 38, an Okinawan who has run a special cleaning business in Kanagawa Prefecture since 2003.

"I had only about 10 cases a year about seven years ago. But this year, the number is likely to surpass 400. I received about 40 requests this June alone," said Takaesu, who recently published "Jiken Genba Seisonin ga Iku ("Here Comes a Crime Scene Cleaner"), a nonfiction book on his specialty of cleaning housing where people died lonely deaths, including suicides.

Takaesu said he is proud of his job but admits that at times it is heart-wrenching.

Pointing to a picture of a bathtub one-third full of a dark reddish liquid, Takaesu explained: "This is not ramen. This is a dead lady's body fluid and skin. I actually had to step into the bath to clean it."

Apart from the flies, maggots and pupae, crawling, sticking to windows and flying around, there is the hair of the dead, looking like a wig.

Also, bodily fluids and blood soak into tatami mats, and there is the stench of death that many in the business find difficult to totally remove, according to Takaesu.

"It is hard to pick up someone's hair with my own hands, but if you ask me whether I can do it, I can. But the appreciation I get after I clean up those rooms, totally removing the lingering smell of death, is the biggest thing that keeps me going," he said.

Ishimi of Anshin Net said people who die alone often share the same circumstances, and he strongly believes many can avoid this fate by changing their lifestyles.

"Many were men in their 50s or 60s, divorced, and with no job. They had not been in contact with their friends or families and they often were diabetic," Ishimi said, adding that when he goes inside their dwellings he often finds the curtains drawn and piles of empty food boxes from convenience stores, cans or bottles of alcohol, and insulin vials.

"It's sad. And to be honest with you, I ask them (the deceased), 'Why?' Because (in many cases) if they had changed their lifestyle, they could have avoided dying (in the way they did). They shut out the sunlight and fresh air with curtains, and isolated themselves from everyone," Ishimi said.

After seeing so many residences long after the occupant's death, Anshin Net is now shifting its focus on what it calls "welfare cleaning."

About half of the requests the company receives today are from care managers, helpers or sometimes municipalities asking for help cleaning the dwellings of elderly people who live alone and have huge garbage accumulations.

These people call first because they can't enter the elderly person's house unless the waste is removed, or, in some cases, following complaints made to municipalities from neighbors, Ishimi noted.

"In recent years, the number of elderly who live alone buried under a mountain of garbage has surged. Some have dementia and some are physically unable to take out the garbage. It is these people who are the ones most likely to die alone," Ishimi said.

"We want to minimize cases in which elderly people die alone. I believe cleaning their housing will act as a deterrence."

6 reasons why people commit suicide

2010-06-03T13:29:00.001-04:00

by Alex Lickerman, MD

Though I’ve never lost a friend or family member to suicide, I have lost a patient.

I have known a number of people left behind by the suicide of people close to them, however. Given how much losing my patient affected me, I’ve only been able to guess at the devastation these people have experienced. Pain mixed with guilt, anger, and regret makes for a bitter drink, the taste of which I’ve seen take many months or even years to wash out of some mouths.

The one question everyone has asked without exception, that they ache to have answered more than any other, is simply, why?

Why did their friend, child, parent, spouse, or sibling take their own life? Even when a note explaining the reasons is found, lingering questions usually remain: yes, they felt enough despair to want to die, but why did they feel that? A person’s suicide often takes the people it leaves behind by surprise (only accentuating survivor’s guilt for failing to see it coming).

People who’ve survived suicide attempts have reported wanting not so much to die as to stop living, a strange dichotomy but a valid one nevertheless. If some in-between state existed, some other alternative to death, I suspect many suicidal people would take it. For the sake of all those reading this who might have been left behind by someone’s suicide, I wanted to describe how I was trained to think about the reasons people kill themselves. They’re not as intuitive as most think.

In general, people try to kill themselves for six reasons:

1. They’re depressed. This is without question the most common reason people commit suicide. Severe depression is always accompanied by a pervasive sense of suffering as well as the belief that escape from it is hopeless. The pain of existence often becomes too much for severely depressed people to bear. The state of depression warps their thinking, allowing ideas like “Everyone would all be better off without me” to make rational sense. They shouldn’t be blamed for falling prey to such distorted thoughts any more than a heart patient should be blamed for experiencing chest pain: it’s simply the nature of their disease.

Because depression, as we all know, is almost always treatable, we should all seek to recognize its presence in our close friends and loved ones. Often people suffer with it silently, planning suicide without anyone ever knowing. Despite making both parties uncomfortable, inquiring directly about suicidal thoughts in my experience almost always yields an honest response. If you suspect someone might be depressed, don’t allow your tendency to deny the possibility of suicidal ideation prevent you from asking about it.

2. They’re psychotic. Malevolent inner voices often command self-destruction for unintelligible reasons. Psychosis is much harder to mask than depression — and arguably even more tragic. The worldwide incidence of schizophrenia is 1% and often strikes otherwise healthy, high-performing individuals, whose lives, though manageable with medication, never fulfill their original promise.

Schizophrenics are just as likely to talk freely about the voices commanding them to kill themselves as not, and also, in my experience, give honest answers about thoughts of suicide when asked directly. Psychosis, too, is treatable, and usually must be for a schizophrenic to be able to function at all. Untreated or poorly treated psychosis almost always requires hospital admission to a locked ward until the voices lose their commanding power.

3. They’re impulsive. Often related to drugs and alcohol, some people become maudlin and impulsively attempt to end their own lives. Once sobered and calmed, these people usually feel emphatically ashamed. The remorse is usually genuine, and whether or not they’ll ever attempt suicide again is unpredictable. They may try it again the very next time they become drunk or high, or never again in their lifetime. Hospital admission is therefore not usually indicated. Substance abuse and the underlying reasons for it are generally a greater concern in these people and should be addressed as aggressively as possible.

4. They’re crying out for help, and don’t know how else to get it. These people don’t usually want to die but do want to alert those around them that something is seriously wrong. They often don’t believe they will die, frequently choosing methods they don’t think can kill them in order to strike out at someone who’s hurt them—but are sometimes tragically misinformed. The prototypical example of this is a young teenage girl suffering genuine angst because of a relationship, either with a friend, boyfriend, or parent who swallows a bottle of Tylenol—not realizing that in high enough doses Tylenol causes irreversible liver damage.

I’ve watched more than one teenager die a horrible death in an ICU days after such an ingestion when remorse has already cured them of their desire to die and their true goal of alerting those close to them of their distress has been achieved.

5. They have a philosophical desire to die. The decision to commit suicide for some is based on a reasoned decision often motivated by the presence of a painful terminal illness from which little to no hope of reprieve exists. These people aren’t depressed, psychotic, maudlin, or crying out for help. They’re trying to take control of their destiny and alleviate their own suffering, which usually can only be done in death. They often look at their choice to commit suicide as a way to shorten a dying that will happen regardless. In my personal view, if such people are evaluated by a qualified professional who can reliably exclude the other possibilities for why suicide is desired, these people should be allowed to die at their own hands.

6. They’ve made a mistake. This is a recent, tragic phenomenon in which typically young people flirt with oxygen deprivation for the high it brings and simply go too far. The only defense against this, it seems to me, is education.

The wounds suicide leaves in the lives of those left behind by it are often deep and long lasting. The apparent senselessness of suicide often fuels the most significant pain survivors feel. Thinking we all deal better with tragedy when we understand its underpinnings, I’ve offered the preceding paragraphs in hopes that anyone reading this who’s been left behind by a suicide might be able to more easily find a way to move on, to relinquish their guilt and anger, and find closure. Despite the abrupt way you may have been left, those don’t have to be the only two emotions you’re doomed to feel about the one who left you.

Alex Lickerman is an internal medicine physician at the University of Chicago who blogs at Happiness in this World.

Determine the Quickest, Most Effective, and Least Costly Way to Clean Up

2010-05-05T22:29:00.003-04:00

If you have had a suicide, homicide, or death of any sort in which blood or bodily fluids are lost you are now in need a biohazard clean up company. Another term used to describe a biohazard cleaner is described by many to be crime scene clean up or biorecovery technician. This type of service is not commonly used but is very necessary. The harmful elements of a death scene or trauma scene are typically traumatic and gruesome in nature but in addition to this element their is an issue of health problems that can come from some of the toxins released in the scene. These toxins may be blood borne pathogens, other viruses and disease, many unknowns, as well as odor releasing elements that can cause a home to be almost uninhabitable. In addition to this whatever has been cleaned or removed by the biohazard clean up crew must then be disposed of in a safe and lawful manner, meeting any EPA and other federal and state regulations.

Our crime scene clean up experts are fully licensed in each state and meet all legal requirements, but in addition to this they are highly trained and qualified and have hundred of clean up hours under their belt. A death clean up crew will arrive at your home within an hour of your call if you request. They will begin a remediation inspections and then determine the quickest, most effective, and least costly way to clean up the home and remove any of the remains from the dead body as well as remove the odor. Our biorecovery clean up company will also assist in any billing questions and assist with proper insurance claim filing where appropriate.

The end result is your home getting back to a safe condition, our biorecovery clean up crews always use care and are discreet. Unlike most dead body clean up services, that can take days to complete jobs because they are one man outfits or have to drive from many states over, our crime scene clean up crew will be able to bring as many people as the call requires to get the property cleaned and remove any blood, bodily fluids, brain fragments and more.Contact our 24hrs dispatch center at 877-246-2532

Police Seeking Donnell Logan in Connection with 118th St. Homicide

2010-04-27T21:39:00.001-04:00

On Saturday, April 24, at 1:25 a.m., police responded to a call of a male shot in front of 357 West 118th Street. Upon arrival, he was discovered lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the back of his head. EMS responded and transported the victim to St. Luke's Hospital, where he was pronounced DOA.

The DOA has been identified as James Williams, 31, of 894 Rogers Ave., Brooklyn, New York.

The NYPD is now seeking the public's assistance in locating Donnell Logan, aka "Nelly," aka "Lefty" (pictured), wanted for questioning in the homicide. Logan is a black male, 21, and at the time of the incident was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and dark jeans.

Anyone with information on Logan's whereabouts is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit tips by logging onto NYPDcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES); enter TIP577.

This job is murder

2010-04-25T11:37:00.002-04:00

NYPD solved 59% of 2009 slayings
By REUVEN BLAU and BRAD HAMILTON

What are the chances of getting away with murder in New York City?

About 41 percent.

The NYPD solved 59 percent of homicides last year -- down 8 percentage points from the year before, and about 5 points less than the national average in 2008, according to data obtained under a Freedom of Information request.

The "clearance rate" -- cases where arrests are made -- plummeted despite detectives having to investigate a near-record low 471 slayings, police records show.

"All the cases on TV are solved with evidence," said Vernon Geberth, a famed detective and former commander of the Bronx homicide task force. "People start to think we can solve all these crimes."

The data came out during an alarming uptick in murders. There were 139 homicides so far this year as of April 18, a 27 percent jump over the 109 killings in the same period last year.

In 2009, cops solved 75 percent of rapes, 42 percent of robberies, 18 percent of burglaries and 25 percent of grand larcenies -- all higher than the national average the year before. About 54 percent of felony assaults were cleared; the national average in 2008 was 55 percent.

The easiest crime to get away with was car theft -- just 9 percent were solved in the city and only 12 percent nationally. And auto thieves are not slowing down. They swiped 2,869 vehicles in the Big Apple this year, up from 2,852 over the same period in 2009.

The NYPD closely guards its performance figures, unlike crime stats, which cops are required to turn over to the FBI.

For years, the department voluntarily gave the feds its clearance rates, but Police Commissioner Ray Kelly ended the practice in 2002, claiming that computer problems got in the way -- though detectives still get the information, police spokesman Paul Browne said.

"Clearance rates for the NYPD have been consistent over the years, and usually higher than the national average," said Browne, pointing out the department's 67 percent murder clearance rate in 2008 was 3 percentage points higher than the national figure. "I expect the actual clearance rate for 2009 murders will improve as arrests in 2010 for 2009 murders are made and recorded."

Veteran detectives say they're working harder than ever to crack cases but are hampered by dwindling ranks and a bigger workload. They now must handle misdemeanor cases that once went to beat cops.

Investigators say the diminished clearance rates could be a result of them taking longer to solve cases, which are increasingly dependent on high-tech evidence like DNA that takes time to collect and analyze.

Hiring A Pro For A Crime/Biohazard Cleanup

2010-04-18T11:23:00.005-04:00

Unbeknownst to most, crime scenes, biohazard scenes or death scene in general should not be cleaned by property owners/management companies where crime or death scenes have occured. In addition, police and municipal workers do not clean crime/death scenes in the private sector.

The term crime scene technically refers to any area where a crime has taken place. Having a crime committed on your property can be traumatic and psychologically damaging. If this occurs in a property you own or rent, you may be surprised to know that the onus of cleanup belongs to you. Cleaning up after a crime yourself can make the trauma much worse, as well as physically dangerous to future residents of the home. In order to be assured a safe, clean property going forward, it is always recommended to leave the cleanup to the pros.

A lot of people don't really understand what constitutes a crime scene until they themselves step into one. Whenever such an event occurs, the police, ambulance services or fire departments are called first. Emergency services do the most important work in these situations, but one aspect of the job they do not handle: the cleanup. So crime scene cleanup professionals are the second call you should always make after a crime has taken place.

Psychological Trauma
It's true that the owner of a residence is actually responsible for its cleanup. Still, no one should ever be forced to do so. The trauma of performing such a cleanup can be devastating, and the impact of engaging in such an act can scar a person for life. The best crime scene cleanup crews are given special sensitivity training, so they can tactfully interact with a bereaved family while not falling apart at the same time.

Biohazard Dangers
Federal regulations assert that all body fluids are considered biohazards. As such, only a person trained in removing biohazard materials should clean a crime scene contaminated by bodily matter. This isn't merely an overly cautious suggestion; blood and tissue are truly dangerous substances that can easily lead to infection. Often, a small splatter or stain on a wall or floor only indicates that what lies beneath is a much larger pool of human detritus. Only someone equipped with the tools (such as biohazard suits, nonporous gloves, and breathing apparatus) and training should attempt to clean up this kind of mess. Sometimes, a crime scene that even appears relatively clean can hide an invisible mess of bacteria and other dangerous pathogens. Only someone with the proper apparatus to completely disinfect the domicile should be called in to clean it up.

Disposing of Waste
Anyone transporting biohazard or human remains requires special permits and equipment to do so. In addition to transporting issues, crime scene cleaners have to pay a medical disposal company to dispose of human waste by burning it in a special incinerator. The medical waste companies generally charge by the pound and will only burn a minimum amount of waste. Therefore, crime scene cleanup companies will often store biohazard waste until they have enough to dispose of. Here in NY City it is illedale to dispose and any material that contains blood or body fluids into the City Sanitation stream. Mattresses, chairs, linens, ect. can only be disposed by a company that has a permit to dispose of these items as regulated waste or red bag waste. Any management company that has there employee perform this work without the proper training, medical followup and disposal is at risk of receiving fines from OSHA, DEC, and Sanitation.

There are many good reasons not to attempt a crime scene cleanup on your own. Crime scene cleanup organizations regulate and set certain standards for the industry. So, if a crime has been committed on your property, the best thing you can do is to contact these institutions for a recommendation.

The Clean Team

2010-04-15T22:21:00.009-04:00

As bio-recovery experts, this Ulster County couple spends their days decontaminating crime scenes

By: Nina Flanagan

Ever wonder who cleans up crime scenes, traffic accidents, or decomposing bodies discovered days or weeks after death? How about houses piled floor-to-ceiling with garbage? Although breezily depicted in the recent film Sunshine Cleaning, this work is no walk in the (Hollywood) park. It requires the fortitude of an EMS worker and the tact of a funeral director. Fortunately, West Saugerties resident Raquel Steinlage-Pallak and her husband/partner-in-crime-cleanup, Ian, have experience being both.

Beginning in high school as a volunteer for the Miami-Dade Crime Scene Unit, Raquel’s journey into this enigmatic world took several turns. She was a mortician, funeral director, and a death investigator; she also graduated with a degree in social work/criminal justice. “It’s difficult dealing with relatives of people who die suddenly or violently,” she says. “They want answers right away, and contrary to popular TV shows, results for some tests can take months.”

While in Florida, she became aware of several crime-scene cleaning companies, and it seemed a viable career option. When she realized that no one was offering bio-recovery (as the process is called) in Ulster County, she began thinking about starting her own company. “Many people thought it was ghoulish,” she remembers. “But from our perspective, it’s a service.” She and Ian decided to move forward, and created Ulster Biorecovery, LLC in 2008.

“You can’t just call a housecleaning service to clean up crime scenes,” states Raquel. Unfortunately, it turns out you probably can, but shouldn’t — due to federal, state, and local guidelines for handling medical waste. As a homeowner, landlord, or employer, you’re responsible for any pathogens left behind which can cause sickness months or even years later.

“Upon arrival, it’s critical to establish when the incident occurred, other hazards at the site, items of sentimental or financial value that need to be salvaged, and the presence of free roaming pets that may have spread contamination,” Raquel summarizes. After suiting up in protective gear, the couple documents the scene with photos, sketches, and video. A staging area for equipment is set up just beyond the area to be cleaned. Work progresses from the most contaminated area to the least. Vomit in a police car takes a couple of hours to clean; a decomposed body can take up to two weeks or more to disinfect and deodorize; the process often entails almost complete inside demolition, right down to the wall studs and trusses.

Raquel recalls their first job was a “trash” house, which was occupied by a family. It was filled with garbage and had no working bathroom, which she says is often more psychologically upsetting than an actual crime scene. Ian agrees: “You’d never think in a million years that parents could treat their own kids that way.” Yet, they have to remain neutral. “You’re not there to judge a situation, you’re there to do your job and clean it up,” he explains. Other jobs have included a fire in a house where an elderly woman had hoarded everything (including trash) and owned about 50 feral cats. Garbage was literally piled up to the ceiling. Ian says a “viscerally shocking” job involved the suicide of a young man, who shot himself in the shower. A decomposed body in the Bronx wasn’t discovered for two weeks. “This man lived in this boarding house for 10 years and died in his room. The landlord couldn’t even remember his first name.” Raquel shakes her head. “That’s what we encounter.”

The work is both emotionally and physically demanding. Donning Tyvek coveralls, gloves, boots, and respirators slows them down. Special equipment — ozone generators (for big stinks), ultra low volume foggers (to dispense disinfectants in tiny particles), and an automatic pressure washer — is used to tackle tough jobs. There’s some low-tech stuff, too. “Our handy-dandy blood detector, like on CSI, is just hydrogen peroxide that bubbles on contact with blood,” laughs Raquel. Paper towels and shovels are often used to clean up large amounts of blood.

Raquel has some advice for those considering bio-recovery as a career. “Have a passion for it because it’s a lot of work. The key is to restore the environment and make it safe. And remember, you’re also emotionally restoring it, too.”

Spike in killings and shootings around the city has New Yorkers worried

2010-03-26T15:53:00.003-04:00

BY Jonathan Lemire
DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU

Murders are up sharply in the city this year, with startling increases in gunplay across the five boroughs, a Daily News study of NYPD statistics shows.

The citywide murder rate has increased 22.8% in the first 11 weeks of the year over the same period in 2009, from 79 homicides to 97 as of Sunday, the most recent day for which statistics are available.

Shootings in general are also up citywide, with 293 people hit by bullets this year, a 16.3% change from the total of 252 recorded by March 21 last year.

Coming after a year in which New York saw the fewest number of homicides on record, the spike in crime rattled residents trying to go about their lives.

"There's always new problems," said Shirley Mercedes, 15, who lives in the South Bronx's gang-riddled 40th precinct, where the crime rise has been steepest.

Seventeen people have been shot in the precinct this year, compared with five over the same period last year.

"[It] is getting worse," Shirley said. "I shouldn't be used to it, but it's where I live."

There were 466 slayings in New York in 2009, the lowest year-end total since the NYPD started its tracking method in 1963.

"The NYPD is fighting its own success," said Paul Browne, the Police Department's top spokesman.

Browne pointed out that this year's murder rate is still 14% lower than 2008 and 39% lower than the murder rate in 2001.

The dramatic 2009 drop came despite harder economic times and a smaller police force stretched thin by counter-terrorism operations.

That big success is losing some ground, the statistics show.

Murders in Manhattan have risen from 9 to 16, a 77.8% increase, and they are up 28.6% in Queens, from 14 to 18.

Brooklyn and the Bronx have also suffered an increase in the murder rate - both at about 15%. Only Staten Island has seen another decrease in the homicide rate.

The overall city crime rate, comprised of seven major felonies, dropped 2% in the first three months of the year. And even among the increases, the raw numbers are still very low.

Some neighborhoods feel under siege.

"It's like war [and] it's getting worse every day," said Joel Araujo, 19, who works at a clothing store in Port Morris, Bronx.

In tree-lined Queens Village, murders have gone from 1 to 5 through Sunday - and the medical examiner confirmed a sixth yesterday - while shootings in the neighborhood have increased from 2 to 9, a 450% jump.

The 88th Precinct in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, has already had six shootings this year, after having none in the first months of 2009.

Police officials have long credited the dramatic recent drop in crime to Operation Impact, which floods felony-prone areas with uniformed rookies.

Proposed budget cuts could further imperil its effectiveness by reducing NYPD manpower, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has warned.

Browne partially attributed the increase in murders to a rise in arson deaths, from zero to six, and in homicides among family members, from 12 to 14.

Long Island teen's suicide linked to cruel cyberbullies, formspring.me site: police

2010-03-25T10:29:00.004-04:00

BY Oren Yaniv
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Cops are investigating whether cyberbullies contributed to the suicide of a Long Island teen with nasty messages posted online after her death.

Alexis Pilkington, 17, a West Islip soccer star, took her own life Sunday following
vicious taunts on social networking sites - which persisted postmortem on Internet
tribute pages, worsening the grief of her family and friends.

"Investigators are monitoring the postings and will take action if any communication is determined to be of a criminal nature,"Suffolk County Deputy Chief of Detectives
Frank Stallone said yesterday.

Alexis' parents downplayed the Internet role, saying their daughter was in
counseling before she ever signed up with formspring.me, a new social site, where
many of the attacks appeared.

"I believe in my heart that cyberbullying wasn't the cause of Lexi's death," said her mother, Paula Pilkington. "This is a mistake."

Alexis' father, Tom Pilkington, who serves in the NYPD, has said they will cooperate
with the police probe.

Despite the negativity online, Paula Pilkington said the family is getting plenty of support in the real world.

"The outpouring of children coming to my house is amazing," she said. "There has to be some positive coming out of this."

Woman Sues NYPD For Leaving Crime Scene A Bloody Mess - New York Post

2010-03-21T13:35:00.000-04:00

It is bad enough when a man is murdered in your backyard - but it is worse when the city leaves you to mop up the mess, the New York Post reported Sunday.

That was the lament of three Queens, N.Y., women suing the city for failing to clean up a crime scene or keep a promise to advise them on how to safely scrub bodily fluids from their driveways and walkways.

Grace Scott, 56, was in her home with a friend when shots rang out Nov. 28, 2008.

Police told Scott and her family to stay inside as they investigated the murder of Sheldon Francis, 31.

Authorities said at the time that they would go back to talk to the homeowners about the cleanup.

No one ever did.

"I don't know how to clean up blood," said Scott, shuddering at the memory of being unable to remove the stains. "It was embedded."

Scott tried using peroxide and bleach before finally paying $4,000 to replace the concrete.

The NYPD, which is being sued for $120,000, said it does not clean up crime scenes.

Qns. murder-scene lawsuit is a bloody mess

2010-03-21T10:05:00.002-04:00

By KATHIANNE BONIELLO

It's bad enough when a man is murdered in your backyard. It's worse when the city leaves you to mop up the mess.

That's the lament of three Queens women suing the city for failing to clean up a crime scene or keeping a promise to advise them on how to safely scrub their driveways and walkways of bodily fluids.

Grace Scott, 56, was sitting in her St. Albans home with a friend when the shots rang out on Nov. 28, 2008.

Police told Scott and her family to stay inside as they investigated the murder of Sheldon Francis, 31.

Authorities at the time said they would go back to talk to the homeowners about the cleanup. No one ever did.

"I don't know how to clean up blood," said Scott, who shudders at the memory of being unable to remove the stains. "It was embedded."

Scott tried peroxiding and bleaching before finally paying $4,000 to replace the concrete.

The NYPD, which is being sued for $120,000, said it does not clean up crime scenes.

After 3 Suspected Suicides, Cornell Reaches Out

2010-03-17T08:42:00.001-04:00

By TRIP GABRIEL
ITHACA, N.Y. — All weekend, Cornell University’s residential advisers knocked on dorm rooms to inquire how students were coping.

On Monday and Tuesday, the start of a stressful exam week before spring break, professors interrupted classes to tell students they cared for them not just academically, but personally. Both days, the university president, Dr. David J. Skorton, took out a full-page ad in the campus paper, The Cornell Daily Sun, saying: “Your well-being is the foundation on which your success is built. If you learn anything at Cornell, please learn to ask for help.”

The university is on high alert about the mental health of its students after the apparent suicides of three of them in less than a month in the deep gorges rending the campus. The deaths, two on successive days last week, have cast a pall over the university and revived talk of Cornell’s reputation — unsupported, say officials — as a high-stress “suicide school.”

“I think everybody’s kind of shaken. I know I am,” said Nicole Wagner, a 19-year-old freshman from Newport Beach, Calif. “I wanted to go home.”

She was crossing the Thurston Avenue Bridge, which was strewn with red carnations and affixed with fresh stickers for a suicide prevention telephone line.

On Thursday, the body of a sophomore engineering student, William Sinclair, of Chevy Chase, Md., was recovered from the rugged gorge more than 70 feet below the bridge, where the fierce waters of Fall Creek sluice through a narrow corridor. The body of Bradley Ginsburg, a freshman from Boca Raton, Fla., was found in the same vicinity on Feb. 17.

Then on Friday, Matthew Zika, a junior engineering student from Lafayette, Ind., died when he dropped from a suspension foot bridge a short distance downstream, according to the university. Rescue workers have yet to recover his body in the rain-swollen creek.

The Ithaca Police Department is investigating both of last week’s deaths, but the university is responding as if they were suicides. Besides aggressive mental health outreach, Cornell has stationed guards on the bridges through the end of the week.

“While we know that our gorges are beautiful features of our campus, they can be scary places at times like this,” Susan Murphy, the vice president for student and academic services, said in a video message posted on a new Web site,caringcommunity.cornell.edu.

As disturbing as the recent deaths are, they are just the latest of 10 by enrolled students this academic year, including deaths from illness, accident and no fewer than six ruled as suicides by the county medical examiner or still under investigation, according to campus officials.

Last Thursday, e-mail blasts went out to 35,000 students and faculty and staff members acknowledging Mr. Sinclair’s death, followed by a message to parents and one from the college president.

“Unbelievably, shockingly, we had to do the same thing the next day,” said Thomas Bruce, the vice president for communications.

Despite the half-dozen known or suspected suicides this year, Timothy Marchell, a clinical psychologist in Cornell’s campus health services whose specialties include suicide, said that, historically, Cornell suicides have not been higher than what national statistics predict for a university population of 20,000 students: about two per year.

Between 2000 and 2005, there were 10 confirmed suicides, Dr. Marchell said, and from the beginning of 2006 through the beginning of this academic year, there were none.

Dr. Marchell said he was “well acquainted with the perception of Cornell as a suicide school,” having grown up in Ithaca and graduated from Cornell. But it is an urban legend, he said, largely fueled by the fact that suicides there are often shockingly public.

“When someone dies by suicide in a gorge, it’s a very visible public act,” he said.

Cornell’s mental health outreach in recent years, which has attracted national attention, is intended to bring students who are at risk, and who might not seek help, into counseling. Custodians are trained to look for signs of emotional trouble when cleaning out dorms; therapists hold open-door hours at 10 campus locations; and a faculty handbook advises professors about how to spot students’ distress in its many contemporary forms, from disturbing artwork to clothes that disguise self-mutilation.

Despite these efforts, Dr. Skorton said in an interview, “We are not getting the job done,” adding that suicide among young people is a national health crisis and is not specific to one campus. Administrators at Cornell have been “very intensively reassessing” existing programs in recent weeks, he said.

Around campus, students and staff wondered whether some combination of familiar stresses — the long upstate New York winter, classroom demands of an Ivy League university — and new factors, like the evaporation of internships and jobs for graduates during a bleak recession, had provoked the recent deaths.

Dr. Marchell cautioned that it is almost impossible to link broad causes to suicide rates, that “the psychology of suicide can be very individual.”

He and others, however, are concerned that students’ deaths may lower barriers for others who are contemplating it. “We have to be thinking about the potential influence on the collective psychology,” he said.

Mr. Zika, the most recent to die, was remembered by friends not as lonely and stressed-out, but as quick to laugh and a caring friend — he drove for hours during the recent winter break from New York to Indiana visiting friends, recalled Deirdre Mulligan, one of those he dropped in on.

Mr. Zika, who had been a star baseball player in high school, played Ultimate Frisbee with Cornell friends, wrote poetry on his Facebook page and had a tattoo with a lyric from the rock band Incubus: “If the wind blew me in the right direction, would I even care? I would.”

Nicole Huynh, a freshman who began dating Mr. Zika last semester, said in an e-mail message: “During this current semester, some who knew him more than others could see he was having a rough time. He’d talk, but it wasn’t as much. He slept more than usual. Didn’t feel motivated about some things. Tried distancing himself, little by little.”

She does not think the stress of studies pushed him to the edge, but rather troubles he carried from early in life. She suspected he was having suicidal thoughts, and both she and Ms. Mulligan said close friends had urged him to seek counseling, but they did not know if he did. The university declined to comment, citing privacy laws.

Ms. Huynh said she and Mr. Zika agreed to suspend their relationship a few weeks ago as he pushed her away.

“Many people listened and cared a lot about him,” Ms. Huynh said. “But no matter how great his support system was, his mind was set, and he was going to do whatever he wanted to do.”

An insight into crime scenes clean up services

2010-03-16T11:04:00.002-04:00

Crime scene cleanup companies also clean unattended deaths, damaged environments due to tear gas, and other crime and distress scenes. The larger crime scenes that involve mass murder scenes, terrorist attacks and anthrax and other biochemical damage is also taken care by these companies. Crime Scene Cleanup services may also include bird and rodent infested areas. The cleaners in this case require special experience and equipment than a typical cleaning company’s experience and equipment.

Typically, crime scene cleanups start taking place only after the coroner’s office and other government bodies releases the “scene” back to the owner or some other responsible person concerned with it. The cleaning task can not begin till the police investigation is completely finished on the contaminated scene.

In most cases crime scene cleanup is a small business activity. Mostly, small cleaning services like carpet cleaning or water damage companies add services for Crime Scene Cleanup for diversifying their activities. The prominent and recognized organizations in this field of cleaning consist of the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification (IICRC) and the American Bio-recovery Association (ABRA).

Earlier crime scene cleanup was a loathsome job but today it has become a lucrative business. Crime scene cleanup companies can charge anywhere between $100 to $600 per hour depending on the “level of trauma” and the quantity of hazardous material that the cleaners have to deal with and dispose of.

While a crime clean up service is ultimately a business like any other, advertising and marketing your services can be tricky. In a job that involves tragic death; most companies avoid mainstream methods of advertisement. Some choose the standard phone-book route while many others advertise on the side of their vans. Most of these companies largely depend on discreet options like passing out their business cards at service-industry gatherings, police stations and funeral homes.

An important requirement for success in this industry involves being considerate towards the sensitive nature of the work. There are certain crime scene clean-up companies that provide a grief counselor to the families at no cost while others offer discount to needy people. There are many countries where this type of service is funded by government or by religious organizations.

While some people call this emerging field a social trend of commercializing death, others call it plain capitalism. But for many others it still remains an essential service, a godsend. The fact is that whether you like it or loathe it but if you ever end up with blood and brains splashed all over your bedroom walls, you will definitely be relieved that there is someone you can call to clean it up.

Trauma Cleaning: Without Standards, The Pain Can Keep Coming

2010-03-12T16:27:00.002-05:00

by Kent Berg

As an instructor in crime and trauma-scene recovery and a board member of the American Bio-Recovery Association, I am often approached by attorneys, the public and insurance adjusters to evaluate the service they or their clients received from other crime-scene cleanup companies.

For the most part, these are just routine questions from people who want to make sure that the service they received was within the normal parameters of good practice. But a few times each month I receive calls that just cause my stomach to knot up and my blood to boil.

With the bio-recovery industry in its 14th year, it is mind-boggling to find individuals who still decide that they are going to start-up a new company and declare themselves “experts” in crime and trauma scene cleanup without any research or training.

It is even more outrageous to find that, although they know almost nothing about the science, chemistry, biology or laws of our industry, they are charging fees that are often four or five times the industry average.

The majority of those operating in the industry today are honest, ethical professionals. It’s the few bad apples in the bio-recovery barrel, so to speak, that amplify the problems tainting our industry.

Example 1: The Hit-and-Run Guys
A husband argues with his wife in their kitchen. As she prepares supper, he grabs a shotgun and, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, blows his head off.

It is still daylight when the police arrive. In order to see better, they open the brain-splattered dining room drapes. Splatter is on the dining room and kitchen walls, but since the body fell onto the vinyl tile floor of the kitchen, the largest amount of blood pooled there.

The family asks the police about scene cleanup, and is directed to a local company. The company tells the family that payment will have to be made in cash prior to starting the job, and that the family will not be allowed inside of the house while the cleaning process takes place.

The family agrees and stays with relatives until they get the call that the job is complete and they can return. The company is long gone, and upon cursory inspection, the rooms look contaminant-free.

It is now night and, in an effort to keep neighbors from seeing into the dining room, the wife pulls the drapes closed. To the horror of the family, the drapes had apparently never been checked and still have blood and brain matter clinging to the material.

The kitchen floor appears to be clean but, when the wife walks across the floor, bright red blood spurts up between the tiles, making little puddles and polka-dotting her shoes.

If this isn’t enough to re-traumatize the family, the wife goes to remove the now-cold pot of chili from the stove and promptly throws up when she sees a 3-inch piece of her husband’s skull nestled neatly atop the pot.

The family contacted the attorney general for their state, who then called me to review the family’s statements prior to a decision on prosecution.

Example 2: The Little-Extra-on-the-Side Guys
A man who lived alone died in his bed of natural causes, but wasn’t found for several weeks. When the authorities were finally called, the decomposition could be smelled from the street.

When a crime-scene-cleanup company was called in, the man’s relatives were told that the odor had permeated everything in the house with disease. Their recommendation was that everything in the house should be removed and destroyed.

The family, already nauseated from the smell, relied on the “professional opinion” of the technicians and agreed to let them remove everything from the good silver and china to the appliances.

In short, every piece of furniture, appliance, electronic component and fixture was removed because they were declared “not salvageable.”

The relatives were then presented with a bill for approximately $40,000! If this wasn’t obscene enough, a few weeks later the family found many of the home’s contents that were supposedly “not salvageable” being sold at a local flea market.

Example 3: The Cutting-Down-on-Overhead Guys
It is standard practice for crime and trauma-scene cleanup companies to dispose of human-blood-contaminated items that can’t be salvaged. They do this by red-bagging and boxing these items and sending them to a medical waste processing facility. This includes dismantling recliners, mattresses, and other large items to fit in these containers.

In this case, a company responded to a gunshot suicide in an apartment. The victim had sat in his favorite recliner and put a pistol in his mouth. The subsequent wound bled profusely until there was no more blood for the heart to pump. This resulted in the complete saturation of the recliner.

In an apparent effort to save on labor and disposal fees, the crew decided that they would dispose of the recliner by wrapping it in plastic, putting it in the back of their truck and then dumping it in the woods of a neighboring county.

All seemed to go well until a few days later, when hunters found the chair and called police. Thinking that they had stumbled upon evidence of a homicide, the police launched a full-scale investigation that lasted for weeks and logged many detective hours before they were actually able to review the crime scene photos of every police department in the surrounding counties.

When the mystery was finally attributed to this particular crime-scene-cleanup company, not only were they slapped with fines for littering, they were saddled with reimbursing the cost of the investigation. Every law enforcement agency that heard about this dropped the company like a hot potato, and the subsequent media attention tarnished the reputation of crime-scene-cleanup companies everywhere.

I would like to emphasize the fact that these complaints are not clients disappointed with a poorly painted wall or an out-of-true vanity top. These are abuses by unscrupulous companies that are subjecting their clients to financial greed, improper disinfection, and re-traumatizing that no one should have to endure.

Could training and certification eliminate these types of abuse? Perhaps a good portion of them, but in the end, it is the honesty and character of the companies themselves that should be monitored. I believe the way to do that is to pursue standards, as well as meeting with our state legislators to create specific regulations for our industry.

Someone's got to do it

2010-01-29T09:10:00.002-05:00

By Zohra Mohamed

It's rated online as the most mentally disturbing and among the 10 worst jobs in the world. But that did not deter former graphic designer Warren Roberts from giving up his IT job to become a crime scene cleaner.

The 26-year-old credits his bizarre choice to years of fascination with crime scenes, and decided to take the plunge after contacting a company in New York. Following intense correspondence and training, he started his own company in Johannesburg last year, Alpha Crime Scene Cleaning, which operates 24 hours a day.

Complete with the masks, chemicals and comprehensive safety gear such as gloves and overalls, Roberts spent months on his own, mopping up crime scenes before expanding to include three full-time "technicians".

Warren Roberts and employee Penny Rostron

With SA crime rates among the highest in the world, Roberts explains that it is a lucrative, if gruesome job, and not a career of choice for the average Joe. "The technicians must be psychologically prepared to brave blood, decomposition and the loose remains of human bodies once the police have left the scene. They all have to undergo regular psychological evaluation and ongoing training - even if they have come from a military or police background."

Roberts says it is the law in most countries to have a crime scene professionally cleaned because of health risks, but there is no law in SA as to who is responsible for cleaning a scene. "There's a great difference between a scene looking clean and being truly clean. Our clients can rest assured the unseen risks have been taken care of."

His company is often called out by emergency or police services and referred to the people concerned, who are liable for the cleaning costs. These range from R900 to R1 600/ hour, depending on the crime and the nature of clean-up. Roberts is usually called out about 12 times a month, but says the recession has resulted in an increase in the demand for his services, partly as a result of increased suicides.

Despite the shocking nature of the job and the risks of contracting deadly viruses during the cleaning up of a crime scene, there is competition. However, most other companies operate with only an individual, while his company is manned by three experienced technicians.

"We are constantly updated with the risks of BPB (blood-borne pathogens) and HIV and have a good understanding of the risks as well as the precautions we have to take to avoid contamination. The police are not responsible for the cleaning and we always have access to a counsellor for staff and the families we deal with to help them cope with the situation."

He admits that despite all the training, the emotional impact is a constant challenge that is difficult to come to terms with.

"It can become very depressing and for this reason we have a close support network within the company as well as regular sessions with a psychologist. If there are the slightest signs that someone is becoming too emotionally affected they are taken off, given a break and receive support from everyone in the team."

On a lighter note, I ask Roberts if he is single because women are put off by his profession and fear he knows exactly how to get rid of them if things go wrong. He laughs and replies: "I'd like to believe it's more my 24 hours on call that is a factor."

Appeals panel agrees that failure to read document doesn't null contract

2010-01-27T11:10:00.000-05:00

KEITH ARNOLD, Daily Reporter Staff Writer
A Franklin County appellate panel was unable to conclude that the Franklin County Municipal Court's determination in a breach of contract suit between a specialty home-cleaning service and the next of kin of a Grove City man who died in his home was against the manifest weight of the evidence in a recent decision.

"Upon our review of the record, we find no error in the trial court's determination that an enforceable contract existed between the parties," 10th District Court of Appeals Judge Patrick McGrath wrote for the 3-0 court.

The appellate court's holding overruled Nancy Buffington's claim that the trial court was mistaken to find that the contract between her and the cleaning service was enforceable and, therefore, obligated the woman to utilize the company's services per the agreed terms.

Buffington's father died in his home on Nov. 10, 2005, case summary provided. The man's body was discovered one-and-a-half to two days after his death. Approximately one week later, the personal belongings were removed from the home and it was listed for sale.

On Jan. 14, 2006, Buffington contracted for the services of Aftermath Inc., which provides biological remediation and cleanup services. According to the contract, the woman agreed to pay for cleanup services concerning an unattended death in the Grove City home.

Aftermath's complaint alleged that after the firm rendered services, appellant refused to pay the amount due under the contract. After a trial to the bench, the trial court concluded that a valid written contract existed between the parties and that the company was entitled to payment for the services rendered in accordance with the contract. The court awarded damages in the amount of $6,189.36 to Aftermath.

The panel noted Buffington signed both a site cleanup agreement and a fee agreement for non-insurance-related jobs. Additionally, the court rejected the woman's claim there existed no evidence that she understood or agreed to biological remediation of her father's home.

"... As noted by the trial court, appellant's stated failure to read the documents prior to signing them is of no consequence as it is well-established that the failure to read the terms of a contract is not a valid defense to enforcement of the contract," as in Haller v. Borror Corp. (1990), 50 Ohio St.3d 10, 14.

"Further, appellant's argument that she was 'mistaken' equally fails because 'relief for a unilateral mistake of material fact will not be provided where such mistake is the result of the negligence of the party seeking relief,'" as in Hikmet v. Turkoglu, 10th Dist. No. 08AP-1021, 2009-Ohio-6477, and Marshall v. Beach (2001), 143 Ohio App.3d 432, 437.

Fellow 10th District Judge Susan Brown and John Connor joined McGrath to form the majority.

The case is cited as Aftermath Inc. v. Buffington, 2010-Ohio-19.

Date Published: January 19, 2010

Haiti Relief Mission - Update 01-18-2010

2010-01-19T09:57:00.002-05:00

A team of twenty from H.E.A.R.T. 9/11 will be responding to take part in the relief effort in earthquake-ravaged Haiti on Wednesday, January 20, 2010. They will land in Santo Domingo and use that as a jumping off point to Haiti. Our members will join in the herculean task of helping that devastated country. They have medical supplies and expertise that are so badly needed in this decimated area.

We have received a tremendous response from our members to our request for participation in a relief mission. The first deployment will see a team of twenty volunteers from H.E.A.R.T. 9/11 evaluate the situation and, if need be, more relief missions will be planned.

Our thanks go out to all and we ask for your continued support and prayers. H.E.A.R.T. 9/11 will be able to help those in need because we have received tremendous support and funding from the benevolence of Jefferies & Company (Jefferies is an independent, full-service securities and investment banking firm serving companies and their investors globally. Check out this article from their website at: Jefferies - Haiti Relief News Story). We thank them as well.
Hopefully, there will be updates from wherever the team is and we ask that you will go to our website at: www.HEART911.org

The owner of Bio-Recovery Corporation, Ron Gospodarski will be amongest this group of twenty police, firefighter and paramedics. We wish them Godspeed in there endeavors.

Haiti Earthquake Relief

2010-01-16T12:18:00.001-05:00

Won't you please help in the relief effots in Haiti

US Army suicides hit grim record for 2009

2010-01-15T20:29:00.000-05:00

WASHINGTON — Suicides in the US Army rose to a new record in 2009, with 160 soldiers taking their lives, the military said Friday, calling it a "painful year."

Army leaders had warned that the suicide rate was on track to surpass last year's toll of 140, but said the causes of the spike remain unclear.

"There's no question that 2009 was a painful year for the army when it came to suicides," said Colonel Christopher Philbrick, deputy director of an army suicide prevention task force.

Ten suspected cases of suicide in December for active-duty soldiers brought the total number for last year to 160, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The army has come under severe strain from years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, with officers citing repeated deployments and the stress of combat as fuelling an increase in depression and marital problems.

But the grim toll of suicides was not necessarily triggered by repeated combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the military's own research.

The causes appeared to vary from base to base and about one-third of the soldiers who committed suicide had not yet deployed to combat missions in Afghanistan or Iraq, officials say.

Top military leaders, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, have appealed to officers to ensure soldiers who need psychological help do not face ridicule or risk to their careers.

The army has adopted a range of initiatives to try to contain the problem, hiring hundreds of mental health specialists and launching an elaborate scientific research project to try to understand the trend.

Officials have also expressed concern about suicides among veterans and among military spouses and family members.

Admiral Mullen's wife, Deborah Mullen, told a conference this week that more needed to be done to monitor suicides of spouses and members of military families, something the Pentagon does not track precisely.

Often the spouses of service members are reluctant to seek help as they fear it could damage their loved one's career prospects, she said.

Teen Suicide Risk Factors: Parents Are Too Often Clueless

2010-01-12T21:05:00.000-05:00

By Nancy Shute

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers, and it's a tragedy that can be prevented. Given that almost 15 percent of high school students say they've seriously considered suicide in the past year, parents and friends need to know how to recognize when a teenager is in trouble and how to help.

Parents can be clueless when it comes to recognizing suicide risk factors, or at least more clueless than teens. In a new survey of teenagers and parents in Chicago and in the Kansas City, Kan., area, which appears online in Pediatrics, both parents and teenagers said that teen suicide was a problem, but not in their community. Alas, teen suicide is a universal problem; no area is immune.

The teenagers correctly said that drug and alcohol use was a big risk factor for suicide, with some even noting that drinking and drug use could be a form of self-medication or self-harm. By contrast, many of the parents shrugged off substance abuse as acceptable adolescent behavior. As one parent told the researchers: "Some parents smoke pot with their kids or allow their kids to drink."

Both teenagers and parents said that guns should be kept away from a suicidal teen. But since parents said they didn't think they could determine when a teenager was suicidal, parents should routinely lock up firearms, the researchers suggest. That makes sense. Firearms are used in 43.1 percent of teen suicides, according to 2006 data, while suffocation or hanging accounts for 44.9 percent.

The good news: Both parents and teenagers in this small survey (66 teenagers and 30 parents) said they'd like more help learning how to know when someone is at risk of committing suicide and what to do. Schools and pediatricians should be able to help, but we can all become better educated through reliable resources on the Web. These authoritative sites list typical signs of suicide risk, and they also provide questions a parent or a friend can ask a teenager to find out if he is considering killing himself. Here are good places to start:

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry lists signs and symptoms of suicidal thinking, such as saying things like "I won't be a problem for you much longer."

The American Academy of Pediatrics urges parents to ask the child directly about suicide. "Getting the word out in the open may help your teenager think someone has heard his cries for help."

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides free advice to someone considering suicide, as well as to friends and relatives, at 800-273-TALK.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness's teenage suicide page makes the point that talking with someone about suicide will not "give them the idea." "Bringing up the question of suicide and discussing it without showing shock or disapproval is one of the most helpful things you can do," the NAMI site says. "This openness shows that you are taking the individual seriously and responding to the severity of his or her distress."

Teen depression and suicide risk linked to late bedtimes and chronic sleep deprivation

2010-01-01T11:55:00.001-05:00

A report from the Jan. 1, 2010 issue of the journal Sleep found a surprising link between the typically late bedtimes of teenagers and teen depression and suicide.

Parent-set bedtimes affect teen's mental state

Adolescents with parent-set bedtimes after midnight had a 24% increased incidence of depression and a 20% increase in suicidal thoughts compared to teens with a bedtime before 10 pm.

Most of the teens in the study reported adhering to the bedtimes their parents set for them, showing that it's up to parents to give appropriate guidelines for avoiding sleep deprivation.

Length of Sleep Matters for Adolescents

The length of sleep matters, too, according to the researchers. Teenagers who reported getting less than five hours of sleep a night had a 71% higher risk of depression and a 48% higher risk of suicidal thoughts than adolescents who got 8 hours or more of sleep.

The AASM (The American Academy of Sleep Medicine) recommends nine or more hours of sleep a night for adolescents.

The study was conducted by James E. Gangwisch, PhD, assistant professor at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, N.Y and colleagues and looked at over 15,000 teenagers' sleep habits and mental states. The teens in the study ranged from 12-17 years old.

Other studies indicate more benefits from increased teen sleep.

In previous studies, shorter sleep durations in children and teens have been linked to higher rates of obesity, school performance and general social well-being. And adolescents who don't get enough sleep due to insomnia are far more likely to develop mental health problems, including substance abuse.

How Suicide Cleanup is Taken Up

2009-12-31T13:59:00.002-05:00

Suicide cleanup is a part of the broad based service of Crime Scene Cleanup which involves crime and trauma decontamination and restoring it to its previous state. It is a a niche market in the cleaning industry and involves cleaning the biologically contaminated scene of ones death like suicide, homicide or accidental death. or a scene of a methamphetamine lab.

Broadly speaking, crime scene cleanup and suicide cleanup is almost same but there are few exeptions to this rule. Suicide cleanup requires some extra physical effort and psychological sensitivity that the technicians should be able to handle.

Following are some examples illustrating this. A suicide generally involves close range of weapon to body and so in-depth decontamination and thorough cleaning is required. The cleaners also have to handle family members who might be present at the scene searching for answers that why their beloved person decided to end his/her life. The technicians need to remove all traces of any evidence of a suicide so that no remains are present for family members and friends that might remind them of the tragedy.

Restoring of a suicide scene also means clean and restore sentimental items that mean the lot to the family of the deceased and requires additional time and effort.

On a visual inspection of any suicide scene you will generally find a lot of blood and bodily fluids, but invisible to the eye, a great amount of biohazard contamination is also bound to be there. The suicide cleanup technicians have to search thoroughly in all areas, even those that can not be seen or accessed easily and remove all traces of them from the scene. Most suicide cleanup services have their staff trained in not only dealing up with decontaminating and cleaning up issues but also about dealing with family and friends with sensitivity and compassion. Since most of such companies work in association with leading insurance companies so they can even help you to bill the insurance company directly thus saving you all the hassles.

A suicide cleanup consists of the following steps.
Firstly the scene should be evaluated. Next all contaminates should be located and decontaminated. A thorough search should me made again to decontaminate any traces of contaminates that might have been left out. All types of bio hazardous agents should be properly disposed of. Any microscopic remains should be treated with chemicals and the environment should be treated for odors. Last but not the least all tools and equipments should be disinfected. But before you attempt to clean a suicide scene on your own it is always better to consult a trained professional first.

Cleaning Up Gory Scenes

2009-11-29T19:20:00.005-05:00

Urbanite
Cleaning up gory scenes
15 m ago By V.L. Hendrickson

Ron Gospodarski and his team handle real-life CSI-like crime scenes. (Michael Kirby)

A mail-room worker jumped from the top of a staircase, dying instantly in the lobby. Another man was discovered six weeks after his natural death – on the toilet. A third man was decapitated by a flying blade in a downtown factory.

After these tragedies, someone has to clean up the harrowing aftermath.

Companies that specialize in this kind of clean-up save inexperienced workers — not to mention friends and families of the deceased— from having to do this difficult work themselves, said Dale Cillian, president of the American Bio-Recovery Association, or ABRA.

“If someone has to clean up after a homicide or suicide, they can be traumatized a second time, and it may be worse than the initial shock,” he said. Unsafe toxins also require removal by an experienced professional.

Clean-up guy
Ron Gospodarski has been cleaning up these scenes in New York for more than a decade. During his 23 years as a paramedic, he saw every imaginable kind of gruesome accident and death. When he realized New York lacked a company that specialized in such clean-ups, he founded Bio-Recovery Corp. in 1998, after earning certifications from ABRA and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Bio-Recovery, based in Long Island City, employs about 12 people on an on-call basis (Gospodarski runs day-to-day operations with another full-time employee). All of his workers have experience in law enforcement or emergency services. “They’ve seen it all, and that’s half the battle,” Gospodarski said.

The work
Gospodarski and his team get calls for “decomps – naturally occurring deaths, suicides and crime scenes, though those are the least of jobs,” he said.

“Sometimes we go out there, mop up a puddle of blood and go. Other jobs involve taking out walls and floors.”

Calls come in at any time and from as far away as Albany. When he is called to a scene, Gospodarski surveys it and decides how to approach the job. He doesn’t wear his respirator when evaluating — the smell helps him access the severity of the job.

After accessing the situation, the team pulls on disposable suits that protect them from possible pathogens. They start with the “gross decomposition,” said Gospodarski. In some cases, blood will have seeped into the floors or other surfaces.

The team makes every effort to remove all traces of the incident. They use some industrial-strength products, but mostly rely on household cleaners, such as Mr. Clean and Formula 49.

The pay
A typical job costs the client between $2,500-$3,000. A member of the Bio-Recovery team earns $25 per hour to start.

Business is not always steady, Gospodarski said, but there are patterns. The holiday season is particularly busy. Suicides increase, but a lot of elderly people also die during this season. “They get depressed and lonely and they just sort of die,” Gospodarski said.

Gospodarski is quick to point out that New York is the safest large city in the world, with the homicide rate down drastically in recent years. Most of the jobs he is called in on are accidents and natural deaths

Often Bio-Recovery will go days and weeks without stopping, followed by no work at all. “When you watch the news and it’s busy, we’re going to be busy. If it’s quiet, we are quiet.”

Companies tackle mess a corpse can leave behind

2009-10-01T19:57:00.002-04:00

Published on October 1, 2009
Angie's List
by Staci Giordullo

What happens to those who die alone — and no one notices? Welcome to the business of biohazard remediation. Originally limited to crime and trauma scene cleaning, the industry's scope has grown to include decontamination of homes soiled by human waste, tissue and body fluids, and other toxins associated with a decomposing body.

Ronald Gospodarski, owner of Bio-Recovery Corp. in New York City, started his business in 1988 after spending years as a paramedic and realizing no company was offering these types of services.

"No one is prepared for this type of thing," he says. "I come in and solve the problem."

According to Gospodarski, approximately 75 percent of his business is cleaning up after decompositions.

"I get calls from family, police, landlords — a lot of times it's the property manager," he says.

Stacie Salerno of Bradford, Pa., recently hired Gospodarski to clean her brother's apartment after he was stabbed to death, reportedly by a stranger police believe he likely met online. "I never knew this kind of company even existed," Salerno says. "But they took care of everything. You never would know there was a murder in that apartment."

Like many other industries, the prerequisites to be a bio-recovery technician vary greatly by state. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires proper training in order to handle blood-borne pathogens. In addition, companies should hold the proper permits for biohazard waste disposal as well as general liability and pollution liability insurance.

What happens to those who die alone? Welcome to the business of biohazard remediation. See examples of biohazard remediation >>Dale Cillian, president of the American Bio-Recovery Association, says the lack of a nationwide standard is unnerving because there are companies that grossly overcharge customers and don't thoroughly clean or properly dispose of the waste.

"Some of these companies will rob people blind," Cillian says. "They're hurting families at the worst time of their lives." Gospodarski, who's certified with the ABRA, agrees and says his average job costs between $1,500 and $3,500. "Customers need to do their due diligence before hiring a company like mine," he says.

Industry experts recommend verifying companies with ABRA — which has 80 members — Angie's List and the BBB.

While a coroner typically removes the body before the biohazard remediation team arrives, there are a number of threats left behind — many of which go unnoticed by the untrained eye.

"We see marks of contamination affected during the removal of the body such as fluid from the body bag touching walls and furniture," says John DiGulio, co-founder of USA Decon in Houston. "Light switches and door handles are usually left unclean."

Hiring a professional to clean up such a mess can lift an emotional burden from grieving family members. "There aren't many jobs in which you can provide unimaginable relief for someone," DiGulio says.

Originally limited to crime and trauma scene cleaning, the scope of biohazard remediation has grown to include the cleanup and decontamination associated with mold, human waste, tissue and body fluids, animal waste and other toxins.

If a body is left undiscovered in a home for any period of time, a bio-recovery technician is needed to remove the unpleasant consequences of that decomposition.

Bedbugs Close Building at John Jay College

2009-09-30T21:47:00.001-04:00

By Joel Stonington AND Jennifer 8. Lee
Updated, 4:05 p.m. | John Jay College of Criminal Justice is shutting down one of its buildings because of bedbugs. The college hopes to reopen the building, at 445 West 59th Street, by Monday morning after it is treated by an extermination service. Meanwhile, all the classes in the building, North Hall, are being postponed and rescheduled. On Thursday afternoon, a worker used a bullhorn to inform groups of students approaching the building that classes were canceled. Other classes will continue as scheduled.

“The college is taking it seriously and moving as quickly as possible to treat the building,” said Jim Grossman, a spokesman for John Jay. John Jay is calling it a bedbug “condition.” Mr. Grossman said, “Infestation is when you can see them swarming.”

At an information session Thursday afternoon, college officials said that rashes among staff members were first reported in mid-August and grew in numbers as time went on. Most of the staff members affected with skin rashes were from the financial aid and registrar’s office. A deep cleaning was ordered on Sept. 14, and one bedbug was found. Soon after, a second bedbug was caught. The college brought in an inspection team with bug-sniffing dogs on Tuesday that confirmed the bedbug problem on the first floor of North Hall.

The crowd of about 200 faculty and staff members and students let out a gasp when school officials showed a map of affected areas. Evidence of bedbugs was found in roughly half of the rooms on the second floor, and the inspection had not been completed on the third or fourth floors of North Hall, though evidence was found on the third floor. Officials said that other buildings would also be inspected.

The president of the college, Jeremy Travis, said no bites had been reported, only skin rashes. A forensic psychology student said she and a co-worker both were bitten during the last two weeks. The student, Deirdra Assey, 24, of Brooklyn, said both she and the co-worker checked their homes and spoke with landlords about bedbugs, but she said they eventually concluded that the bites were happening during the day.

“As soon as I figured out that campus had been infected it all made sense,” Ms. Assey, a second year master’s degree student, said. “I had no idea they could be infecting offices.”

Indeed, despite the “bed” descriptor, bedbugs can in fact survive in many locations, such as buses, trains and movie theaters. Last year, they were reported at Fox offices.

Bedbugs, once nearly eradicated, have spread all across New York City, in part because of the decline in use of DDT. In March, the city set up a bedbug advisory board.

Meanwhile, students expressed glee at the interruption in classes, giving them a break. Rudy Pamphile, 18, a freshman, walked past the yellow tape blocking the entrance to the building laughing and joking with a friend, saying, “No test today!”

Though Mr. Pamphile said he had stayed up until midnight the night before studying, he was not unhappy to be relieved of the burden, adding he would probably just hang out with friends until his next class.

2009-09-05T20:06:00.005-04:00

When Bodies Go Unnoticed

2009-07-27T14:56:00.002-04:00

Tuesday, July 28, 2009
By Sewell Chan

The discovery of the body of James Gales — a Vietnam War veteran whose remains were found on Saturday in a housing project in Canarsie, Brooklyn, evidently months after he had died — was reminiscent of past episodes in which the bodily remnants of humans were uncovered long after they had died. It is an occasional event in the life of the city that prompts wonder: how, in a place so crowded, with so many daily human interactions in the hallway, on the sidewalk, on the subway, in the store and elsewhere, can someone die without notice? (This is not counting the remains of victims of mob hits and other crimes.)

Last October, the police discovered the decomposing bodies of Albertina Rambla, 91, and her son, Hector, 61, in their home in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, after a neighbor called 911 three times in nine days. It was not immediately clear which of the two died first or when each died, but neighbors had reported a foul odor coming from the apartment.

In December 2007, the authorities found the skeletal remains of Christina Copeman, a Trinidadian immigrant, in her East Flatbush house, more than a year after she had died of heart disease. Con Edison had canceled Ms. Copeman’s account but left her power on. A pile of unclaimed mail had accumulated. The roof of her house had started leaking, causing a neighbor to call 911. A City Buildings Department inspector came and issued a violation.

In March 2007, the authorities found the bones of a frail, elderly woman in her two-story house on Perry Avenue in the Norwood section of the Bronx. She had lived alone, though her neighbors said they had started calling the police two years earlier when they realized that they had not seen her in a while.

In the spring of 2005, City Housing Authority officials found the body of an 86-year-old retired transit worker in the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City, months after he had died of natural causes. The cleanup of the body was left to Ronald Gospodarski, a paramedic and a bio-recovery technician who specializes in cleaning up after suicides, murders and other crime scenes, along with natural deaths.

Occasionally, human remains are found outdoors. In December 2004, a worker cleaning a remote corner of the Highland Boulevard overpass crossing the Jackie Robinson Parkway in Brooklyn came across the skeletal remains of a person in a seated position, leaning against a wall, in a wooded area where homeless people sometimes slept. There was no evidence of foul play.

Mary Roach, the author of “Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers” (Norton, 2003), noted in a telephone interview that the smell of a body, however unforgettable, eventually does go away.

Exposed to the elements, bodies first pass the “fresh stage,” when the body is still fairly intact. As bacteria consume flesh, the body essentially passes from a solid to a liquid. Eventually all that is left is connective tissues and bones, “and then it stops smelling.”

Dying indoors prolongs the process, Ms. Roach said. “You die on a bed or carpet, it lingers,” she said. “It’s not like the great outdoors where you get broken quickly and return to soil. You become a cleaning issue. In nature, you don’t, because there are creatures — everybody from bacteria to insect life to the wolf – who are happy. It’s a big feast, and there’s not much left. If you die in New York City, you’re left to the guys in the haz-mat suits.”

Ms. Roach, who lives in Oakland, Calif., recalled a recent smell in her own house.

“We had a possum that died in the far reaches of our basement,” she said. “We didn’t realize what was going on. It’s difficult to get back there. For about two weeks there was a hideous smell and then it went away; basically there was nothing left for the bacteria to eat.”

Crime Scene Leftovers Pose Problem For Sanitation

2009-06-28T17:35:00.003-04:00

Call it the Case of the Bloody Mattress.

City sanitation workers were recently left with the problem of how to dispose of a bloody mattress put out with the trash.

The mattress came from a home where police say a 37-year-old man appears to have died from self-inflicted stab wounds. The problem came when trash collectors realized they couldn't pick up a potential biohazard, but didn't want to leave it by the side of the road in a residential neighborhood.

"This was an area of concern for us because blood is considered a biohazard and not only can our trash trucks not pick it up, but it could be dangerous for people in the community," said George Hampton, a route supervisor for Hopkinsville Solid Waste Authority.

The mattress disappeared by midweek, but sanitation officials didn't take it and were still trying to make sure it was properly disposed of. The location of the mattress remained a mystery at week's end.

Sanitation workers received an anonymous call reporting a mattress, possibly covered in blood, that had been set on a curb outside of a home. That was the concern of the anonymous caller, Hampton said, who said children in the neighborhood could start to play on the mattress and come into contact with the dried blood that might have diseases.

Because there was blood on the mattress, sanitation workers couldn't haul it off with the rest of the trash.

"It raises a question for us about where we take it from here," Hampton said. "Someone has to clean up messes like these and we can't do it."

Solid Waste Superintendent Bill Bailey said sanitation workers aren't allowed to pick up possible biohazards, including blood, from the side of the road. Instead, Bailey said, the department needs to call other landfills to see who will pick up and take the items.

"Sometimes we can process and wrap it in plastic and dispose of it that way. But other times we have to contact a company that deals with disposing of medical waste."

Charlotte Write, a spokeswoman for Stericycle, a national company that specializes in medical waste disposal, said medical waste is generally burned to kill pathogens that can live in dried blood.

"It is important to dispose of all medical waste, especially waste that comes from the body, so as not to spread diseases," Write said.

Police said the families must clean up the scene of a murder or suicide or pay to have it done by private biorecovery companies.

"It doesn't sound very friendly, I know, but that's just how it has to be handled," Howie said. "Someone has to clean it up and someone has to dispose of all of this, it's just a matter of figuring out who. It's amazing that just one mattress on a curb can raise so many questions."

Someone solved sanitation's problem by taking the mattress from in front of the home. Bailey said sanitation workers didn't remove it, but finding out what became of the mattress is important. It had to be properly sterilized and disposed of.

"We can't just stick it in our landfill and be done with it," Bailey said. "Whether it's on that curb or not, it's still hazardous material."

Behind Yellow Tape: New York City Crime Scene Cleaners

2009-06-13T09:50:00.002-04:00

By Peter O'Dowd.

RON Gos-po-dar-ski works in a Queens industrial neighborhood. Across the street from the front door of the Bio Recovery Corporation, graying tombstones rise up behind the gates of an old cemetery. It's only a coincidence, of course, but the connection is almost impossible to ignore…because inside the office, Gospodarski waits patiently for New Yorkers to die.

AX (Gospodarski 0:07)
We're sitting here hoping that something happens to somebody and we're hoping is something we can clean up. In reality it's a little weird. It's strange.

AMBI OF PRINTER PEELING OFF

NARR
His aging dot matrix printer spits out a feed from the police department. It reveals the stabbings and homicides in progress throughout the city. Today, there isn't much…just a Bank Robbery on Hill Street.

POST PRINTER AMBI

NARR
Nine years ago, Gospodarski saw an opportunity to make money from tragedy. When the police leave the scene of a murder or suicide, the body is gone, but the evidence of violence often remains.

AX (Gospodarski 0:21)
We had on in a few years back, it was in Lower Manhattan in China town where a noodle-making machine have these big blades on it, went flying. Cut the arm off another, decapitated another, cut another one to pieces. It just went flying this blade. And you know the amount of blood that's there, you walk in to these places and its like now what do we do, you know?

NARR
Families and business owners are often left to clean up. It's a trauma that no one wants to relive. And they don't have to if they hire someone else to do it.

GARAGE DOOR AMBI and RAIN

Today, Gospodarski and his partner Manny Sosa have a job lined up for 10 am.

The door to his garage creaks open. Light floods in and the cemetery slowly unveils itself behind a sheet of rain.

ENGINE STARTS CAR AMBI ROLLS UNDERNEATH THROUGHOUT

Today's job is a suicide attempt. A man in his 60s depressed over losing his job as a lawyer stabbed himself repeatedly. The result, of course, was blood. Lots of it.

AX (Gospodarski 0:09)
Blood everywhere to somebody could mean a few drops of blood to us versus you walk in and the whole place is covered and we're not prepared for it. So it goes from one extreme to the other.

NARR
The victim didn't die, but that's about all the men know of his condition. It's been almost two weeks since the accident.

LET CAR AMBI POST FOR 4 SECONDS

27-year-old Many Sosa tries not to let the gore that permeates his workdays bother him. But he says it's difficult because he sees parts of living and dying that almost no one else does. He knows, for instance, that many people spend their final moments clutching to life in the privacy of their bathrooms.

AX (Sosa 0:20)
The messiest thing I ever saw was a 300-pound guy who died in his toilet. His body fluids went through the wall and ended up on someone else's bathroom. The floor from his body fat was so greasy that I almost fell that day.

NARR
As unsettling as it may be, both men say the work also fascinates them. When Gospodarski started his business in 1998, he says he was the only company of its kind in New York City. For referrals he relies on the Medical Examiner and victim advocacy groups. It's not exactly the type of business that can depend on repeat customers. And Gospodarski says marketing is a nightmare.

AX (Gospodarski 0:12)
You can't take a billboard and put it up on he side of he road and say hey, call me when my son dies. We're the type of business where people only want to know about us when something happens. But the problem is, how do you market for that?

NARR
Still, the industry has exploded in recent years. Gospodarski credits misinformed media reports claiming unrealistic $400 dollar an hour paydays.

Dale Cillian, heads a national organization called the American Bio Recovery Association. He says making money isn't as easy as it sounds.

AX (Cillian 0:09)
You may have a few jobs that pay pretty well, but you got to remember you're not doing these jobs everyday. We're talking about something that may come once every couple of months or every couple of weeks as far as large jobs go.

NARR
Cillian says carpet cleaners or maid services go into crime scene clean up without proper training, equipment, or insurance. All these Johnny-Come-Latelys have Cillian worried. Many states don't require mandatory blood-born pathogen or hazardous material training. Dead bodies are havens for bacteria. Cillian sees start-ups dumping bloodied mattresses in city landfills. And that puts everyone at risk.

AX (Cillian 0:25)
If you want to go to extremes, there are people who use like a minivan that they put their kids in and they will transport their kids in. And they will go ahead and transport these bags of medical waste. And sometimes, they leak. So now you have these infectious bodily fluids or leaking in the back of your pickup truck that you use around your house. There is a lot of problems.

NARR
Cillian actually wants the government to impose federal regulations on the industry.

AMBI STAIR CLIMBING

On West 87th Street in Manhattan, Manny Sosa climbs the steps to a tiny forth-floor apartment.

AX (Sosa 0:03)
It's in here.

He enters a cluttered bedroom and finds a blood-stained mattress beneath a dusty canopy. At his feet, he sees more blood, spread out like an inkblot on the carpet. He starts to work. He sprays down a rocking chair with disinfectant and wipes away the blood. The soiled carpet must go, so he rips it up from the floor.

AMBI OF SPRAYING, SCRUBBING, BANGING THROUGHOUT

More than the blood, today it's the atmosphere that bothers Sosa. Inside the shadows of the canopy, a portrait of John F. Kennedy hangs above the bed. Elsewhere, every inch of wall space in the apartment is covered by photographs of old movie stars and fading prints of Van Goh. Paint hangs from the ceiling in long, thin sheets. There's a pornographic CD atop the television.

In the kitchen the man's nephew makes tea and smokes a cigarette.

His name is Cory Brackett, and he remembers the night he found his uncle nearly two weeks before.

AX (Brackett 0:42)
-He stabbed himself 30 times

-With what?

-A kitchen knife. 20 in the base of the neck, 5-7 in the stomach.

NARR
Brackett says his uncle is in psychiatric hospital. Considering his family history, none of this surprises him.

AX (Brackett)
His brother the painter starved himself. His sister was caught in a love triangle and drove her car into a wall. To quote Carey Grant, insanity doesn't run in my family, it practically gallops.

NARR
Sosa is folding up the carpet and stuffing it into a red biohazard bag. Gospodarski comes in to help fold up and duct tape the mattress.

In the next room, Brackett sits on the couch and turns on a French film.

AMBI FRENCH FLIM

He starts playing a guitar.

AMBI GUITAR MUSIC

Brackett says music helps him deal with the chaos.

AX (Brackett TK)
-Music is life….

-OK, Corey?

-Yes, sir.

-Can you come here and see?

NARR
Sosa shoulders the uncle's mattress down the stairs himself while Brackett writes a check. If his family had been victims of a crime, the state would have paid up to $2,500 for the clean up. In some cases, homeowners insurance might also foot the bill. Today, Brackett pays Gospodarski $850.

As he leaves the apartment, Gosparski explains that not every job is gruesome. Sometimes, the men are voyeurs, drawn into lives that few people were ever meant to see.

AX (Gospodarski 0:20)
OK. Professional face. See this is how it happens. At lot of times we'll get jobs where it's different and strange, spooky and freaky, whatever. Weird and when you're in there you have to maintain a professional face. But when you come out, you have to talk about it. Joke around about it.

NARR
Sosa says he lives differently as a result of his work. He has become, he says, an amateur philosopher.

AX (Sosa :16)
I don't really listen to people who complain, my life is messed up because of this. Well, go speak to that guy who is dead right now. I'm mean, that's how I see it. I mean, why complain so much about your life? Do something. I'm not saying go kill yourself, but make it better.

NARR
Of If everyone heeded Sosas advice, he'd be out of a job. So far this year, more than 100 people have been murdered in New York City. Many more killed themselves. Or tried to at least. Each of these sad realities provides Sosa and his parntner with one more chance to make a living.

Trash bin mess was man's remains

2009-05-22T17:33:00.001-04:00

Clean-up crew accused of tossing blood-soak truck interiors in trash
Staff writer Tim O'Brien

CLIFTON PARK - Two men hired to strip the interior of a pickup truck where a man killed himself are accused of illegally dumping the bloodied seat cushions behind a CVS Pharmacy.

Police called to the scene Tuesday first thought they had a fresh crime to investigate.

"It certainly looked like someone was covering up a homicide scene and disposing of it," said State Trooper Maureen Tuffey.

But an investigation revealed that the blood and gore they found came from the suicide of Evan Schwarz, 20. Schwarz killed Anthony Marko, 21, on April 16 and then turned a shotgun on himself in front of police while cruising in his pickup truck through the parking lot of the Niskayuna housing complex where he lived.

Tuffey said Schwarz's vehicle reverted to the ownership of the State and Federal Employees Credit Union because he had had an outstanding loan on it. The bank hired TCar Recovery of Burnt Hills to retrieve the car, and that firm in turn hired Action Bio-Care Inc. of Aurora, Ill. to clean it before it could be refurbished and resold.

"They hired two people from this area to clean the car and properly dispose of the waste," Tuffey said.

The men ripped out the seat cushions and other material from the car. Rather than properly disposing of the biohazard, she said, the men threw several plastic bags' worth of material into the dumpster behind the CVS on Route 146.

The two men face citations from the state Department of Environmental Conservation for illegal dumping, she said, but they do not face criminal charges.

Maureen Wren, a spokeswoman for DEC, said she could not yet identify the men. Tuffey also did not have their names.

"Our investigation is still ongoing," Wren said. "There will likely be charges filed upon completion of the investigation. It might not be individuals. It might be a company."

The material was found by a construction crew, Tuffey said.

"There were doing construction work right there, and they were dismayed to learn the dumpster they were going to use was already full of big bags," she said. After they checked the bag's contents to try to find out where the debris came from, they called police.

Tuffey said the two firms hired for the work will not face charges because they appeared to have no knowledge of what the men had done. Tuffey could not provide the names of the two men.

Calls to the two companies Friday were not returned.

Rod Gospodarski, owner of Bio-Recovery Corp. in New York City, said he was called to properly dispose of the material.

"We were called in by the DEC police and State Police to clean up the biohazard scene," he said. He didn't know the circumstances of the death but remembers thinking, "This was someone's Mom, Dad, brother and sister who ended up in a dumpster at the side of the road."

Why you need crime scene cleanup services

2009-05-16T16:31:00.000-04:00

By Alex Thomson

Crime scene cleanup or trauma scene cleanup after the death of someone either violently or naturally is by and large the responsibility of the victim’s family. Even till few years ago, there were a handful of cleaning companies that specialized in trauma cleaning service. But today this niche service has emerged as a lucrative business and there are many companies who provide this service.

Trauma cleaning service requires special experience, skills, equipment and expertise to deal with different types of bio-hazardous waste and dispose them efficiently with the minimum possible emotional stress to the victim’s family.

The most traumatic form of death is violent death and leaves the victim’s family feeling both victimized and traumatized. Coming to terms with the unnatural death of a loved one is in itself an uphill task for the bereaved family, and to top it they have to deal with other practical matters like making funeral arrangements, dealing with insurance issues, contacting surviving family and friends and locating wills. Furthermore, in case of violent crimes the police and the media are also involved. This can really overwhelm any family. Here is where trauma cleaning service comes to your rescue. They lighten one of the heaviest burdens, that is of dealing with the horrid murder cleanup. They will take care of the crime scene cleanup, ensuring that the scene is restored to its pre-incidental state as far as possible and in the most quick and efficient manner thus allowing you to deal with other important matters. Most service providers work discreetly and protect the confidentiality of the sufferer and family.

Most of the times, the crime scenes are so ghastly that they can induce additional emotional trauma in victim’s friends and family. By hiring professionals for cleanup, you can reduce this emotional stress. Immediately after death the nature begins its process of breaking down the body. Unattended death scene and dead bodies can be dangerous as it gives rise to blood borne pathogens, mold spores and bacteria. You may try to clean the area by yourself but the exposure may result in flu-like diseases or direct attack on the respiratory system. So it is advisable to leave this job to professionals who specialize in bio fluid and blood remediation.

The total cost involving a trauma scene cleanup will depend on a number of factors. One of the most major factors is that how many technicians will be needed for the job, how long will the job take and the quantity of hazardous material that needs to be treated and disposed of. It can range anywhere in the range of $100 to $1000 per hour. Some people might call this business as capitalizing on death but it is still essential and indispensable in case of a death.

Crime Scene Cleanup: What It Involves

2009-05-13T23:46:00.000-04:00

A crime scene cleanup service is not without its complications. Crime scene cleaning encompasses restoring the crime scene to its original state. When a crime is usually discovered, crime scene cleaners are not called until after officers of the law, like the crime scene investigators, have done their jobs first and have given the go ahead for the cleaners to come in. If you intend to hire a crime scene cleanup company, you must make sure that they are well equipped and fit right to get the job done. A crime scene presents challenging conditions.

The Use Of Protective Gears:
Crime scenes can very well involve the use of hazardous or deadly substances. For safety reasons then, it has become imperative that crime scene cleaners use protective clothing, in addition to protective tools and gadgets. You must see to it that they have all the necessary protective gears and gadgets. The protective clothing can consist of disposable gloves and suits. A disposable gear is preferred nowadays since it offers the best protection against contamination. You use it one time and get rid of it. That way, the dangers of contamination is virtually brought down to zero percent. Protective clothing extends to respirators and the use of heavy-duty industrial or chemical-spill protective boots.

Among the gadgets that a crime scene cleaning company must have are special brushes, special sprayers, and wet vacuum. These special tools ensure added protection against getting into contact with the hazard could very well be present in the crime scene. There is large, special equipment such as a mounted steam injection tool that is designed to sanitize dried up biohazard materials such as scattered flesh and brain. You would also need to check if they have the specialized tank for chemical treatments and industrial strength waste containers to collect biohazard waste.

Of course, any crime scene clean up must have the usual cleaning supplies common to all cleaning service companies. There are the buckets, mops, brushes and spray bottles. For cleaning products, you should check if they use industrial cleaning products. A crime scene cleaning company must have these on their lists:

1 - Disinfectants including hydrogen peroxide and bleaches - The kinds that the hospitals used are commonly acceptable.

2 - Enzyme solvers for cleaning blood stains. It also kills viruses and bacteria.

3 - Odor removers such as foggers, ozone machines, and deodorizers

4 - Handy tools for breaking and extending such as saws, sledgehammers, and ladders

Established crime scene operators also equip themselves with cameras and take pictures of the crime scene before commencing work which. The pictures taken may prove useful for legal matters and insurance purposes. You never know which.

Needless to say, a specially fitted form of transportation and proper waste disposal is also needed. These requirements are specific. As you can imagine, crime scene cleaning is in a different category on its own. A home cleaning or janitorial service company may not be able to cope up with the demands of a crime scene. A crime scene cleanup service requires many special gears and tools that a home cleaning or a janitorial service company does not usually have or does not require. Crime scene cleaning if not done correctly can expose the public to untold hazards.

What Else To Look For In A Crime Scene Cleanup Company
You may also want to hire a company that has established itself. An experienced company with a strong reputation is always a plus but it could be expensive too. You will do well to balance your needs with what is your budget. There are several companies that offer specific prices such as for death scene clean up categories and suicide clean up categories. Most companies own a website and have round the clock customer service as receptionists.

When looking for a suitable crime scene cleaning service, among the first things you need to do is to scout for price quotes. Crime scene cleanup services usually provide quote after they have examined the crime scene and then they give you a definite quote. Factors that are usually considered include the number of personnel that will be needed to get the job done. It also includes the amount of time that might be needed. The nature and amount of the waste materials that need to be disposed will also be factored in. You can be sure that the more sophisticated equipments needed the more expensive it will get.

Crime Scene Cleanup And Your Insurance
For homeowners, the best approach is always to make sure that crime scene cleanup services clauses and provisions are written down on the contracts or policies. The inclusion of crime cleanup services clauses is very common and has become standard clause in most homeowner’s policy. Make sure that you are covered for this unforeseen event. Make sure that your policy directs the crime scene cleaning company to transact directly with the homeowner insurance company. A crime scene cleaning service is usually a standard clause in many homeowners’ insurance clause. These companies often do the paperwork in behalf of clients.

If for some reason you do not have such coverage by any policies relating to crime scene cleanup on your home, there are ways to keep your expenses controlled.

Finding the right company can be very taxing, especially that you have to deal with the emotional stress stemming from the crime itself, especially with a crime scene involving death.

There are many crime scene cleanup companies in operation nowadays. There are reliable professionals that you can hire and prices are relatively competitive. As of recently, crime-scene cleanup services can cost up to $600 for an hour of their service. A homicide case alone involving a single room and a huge amount of blood can cost about $1,000 to $3,000.

In recent years, crime scene cleaning has come to be known as, "Crime and Trauma Scene Decontamination or CTS. Basically, CTS is a special form of crime scene cleaning focusing on decontamination of the crime scene from hazardous substances such as those resulting from violent crimes or those involving chemical contaminations such as methamphetamine labs or anthrax production. This type of service is particularly common when violent crimes are committed in a home. It is rare that the residents move out of the home after it has become a scene of a crime. Most often, the residents just opt to have it cleaned up. That is why, it is very important to hire the best crime scene cleaning company out there. The place needs to be totally free from contamination of any kind. You have to make sure that the company is able to remove all traces of the violent crime that took place. This includes cleaning biohazards that are sometimes invisible to the untrained eye.

Legally speaking, federal laws state that all bodily fluids are deemed biohazards and you should make sure that the cleanup service company you hire understands this and includes it in the cleanup. These things appear as blood or tissue splattered on a crime scene. You must be able to hire a company that is equipped with special knowledge to safely handle biohazard materials. The company must have the knowledge what to search for in any give biohazard crime scene. For instance, the company should be able to tell clues such that if there is a bloodstain the size of a thumbnail on a carpet, you can bet that there is about a huge bloodstain underneath. Federal and State laws have their own laws in terms of transport and disposal of biohazard waste. Make sure that the company you hire has all the permits necessary.

It will also be a huge plus if you could hire people who not only has the special trainings but also who have the nature to be sympathetic. If you are close to the victim and have the cleaning done at the behest of the victim’s relatives, it would matter that the cleaners tread the site with some level of respect. It is a common site that family members and loved ones are often there at scene. In general, when looking for a suitable crime scene cleaners, you would take into considerations the kind of situation that the crimes scene presents and the demands that it require. Crime scene cleaning companies handle a wide variety of crime scenes and prices may vary from one to the other crime scene and one to the other company.

Each type of scene requires its own particular demands not only to make the crime scene look clean and neat on the surface but to make it germ free, and clean inside and to make it free from all deadly and infectious substances. The cleanup cost for biohazards may vary depending on degree of the bio hazard(s) on the scene. There may even be a category that changes the cleanup pricing which usually involves decomposing bodies and carcasses. Likewise, a cleanup of chemical hazards vary, depending on the amount of chemical hazards as well as the grades i.e. how hazardous the substance is in terms of human contact. Prices are also determined by the number of hours and personnel that it would to get the crime scene cleaned. In addition, the "gross factor" from crime scene involving death and gore needs to be taken under consideration regarding the chemicals that will be used as opposed to those crimes' that do not have gore involved.

Traumatic Grief

2009-05-06T10:08:00.003-04:00

By Nancy Crump

Since the late 1980’s, we have seen an increase in interest and research on the effects of trauma on the grief process. We have learned that the grief process from the sudden, unexpected, and often violent deaths of suicide, homicide, auto accidents, natural disasters, and other types of deaths, is very different from the grief process of those who have died from natural causes, old age, or long-termed illness. Many, if not all, of the deaths faced by Bio Technicians fall into the category of traumatic. Those family members who hire you have usually been touched by the trauma of the death. Understanding the traumatic grief process and its differences from other types of grief may be of some help to you as you deal with these family members.

There are several key elements that make the responses by family members to a traumatic death difficult. First is the suddenness of the death. Family members usually did not have time to prepare themselves for the death and to make the psychological adjustments to cope with the news of the death. Also, the suddenness of the death does not give the family an opportunity to say goodbye to the victim before their death. Second, the violence of the death may leave the family with horrific memories and nightmares that often interfere with the grief process. Third, many of these types of deaths require police intervention and the family is often not given the support, information, and compassion they need at the time. Another element can be the presence of the media at the time of the death, as well as weeks and months later if legal issues follow the death. Most traumatic deaths involve young people who’s parents, grandparents, and siblings may still live. Certainly, the death of a child or young person is very difficult to cope with.

Reactions to a traumatic death can be very different, more intense, and longer lasting than other types of death. The emotions following a traumatic death are often conflicting and intense. There is a tendency to relive the death event over and over in an attempt to make it real. Intrusive thoughts and nightmares are very common. Intense physical responses such as inability to eat or sleep, stomach aches and headaches, muscle tension, high blood pressure and a decrease in the autoimmune system are also common. Many times, the survivors must deal with intense feelings of guilt or remorse, feeling that they were somehow responsible or could have prevented the death “if only”. Family members have the need to tell the story of the death over and over again in an attempt to gain a sense of the reality of the death. They often have an overwhelming need to learn all they can about the circumstances of the death - how the person died, whether they were in pain, did they know they were dying, what were their last words, who saw what happened, and in cases of homicide, who committed the murder. All of these reactions are ways the survivors use to grasp the reality of the death and to begin the grief process.

As Bio Technicians, you are often called by family members or meet them upon arrival to the scene. Understanding some of the dynamics of trauma on the grief process may help as you help the family. Understanding the “normalcy” of the reactions you may see can help you feel more competent and assured to speak with family members without wondering whether or not you are saying the “right” thing. Some suggestions are listed below, but the most important thing is to convey sincerity and compassion to the family. They are very vulnerable and sensitive to words, expressions, and body language. Just make sure that what you say and do is congruent with how you feel or you will come across as insincere and uncaring.

Soon after a traumatic death, most survivors simply need to tell the story to anyone who will listen. It is important for their recovery to be able to do this. If you have time to listen, do so. They are not necessarily looking for any input from you; they just need someone to listen.

Remember that there are two basic rules for grieving people – you don’t hurt yourself or someone else. If, during the conversation, you hear comments that indicate the person is thinking of either, you might suggest they go talk to someone else before making a decision to do something like this. Create a list of counselors, therapists, or mental health centers to hand out at times like these. Take comments about thoughts of suicide seriously and offer to call a friend or family member to be with the person and get them help. Suicide rates often increase after a sudden, traumatic death of a loved one. These are very difficult situations for you as a caregiver, but you need to set limits as to what you can and cannot do. Listening and having resources available are all you need. The survivor needs to take some responsibility for them, and others who are better trained to handle these situations need to be contacted.

Although many reactions may look and feel “crazy”, most are normal reactions to the situation. Again, as long as they don’t hurt themselves or someone else, they are probably reacting normally to an abnormal situation. Helping normalize these reactions is very helpful to the survivor. Encouraging the survivor to talk and to express what they are experiencing is also helpful. Making a simple statement such as, “I think I’d feel the same way if this happened to me”, helps the survivor feel less out of control.

There are many support groups available to survivors that would make a good resource for them. Creating a list of those in your community or in nearby communities is a great gift for survivors. They may not want to attend a support group, but usually someone from the group is always willing to talk to them by telephone or offer assistance.

In the work you do, you may find yourself in situations of dealing with survivors who have needs you do not feel comfortable or competent in dealing with. That’s okay as it is not your responsibility to be all things to all people. However, there are these simple steps you can take to help your families in a meaningful way. You can listen. You can refer. You can offer resources. Having some general knowledge of the traumatic grief process may make you feel more competent in dealing with your families and knowing that you are being supportive and helpful in a meaningful way.

Below are some national organizations that offer support groups in almost every locality. They are specific to either the type of death or the relationship to the person who died and are more appropriate to traumatic deaths. They all have web sites or central telephone numbers that can be contacted for local information.

The Compassionate Friends – for parents’ whose child has died of any cause.
MADD – Mothers Against Drunk Drivers offer support for parents who a drunk driver killed child
Widowed Persons Service – sponsored by AARP for spousal death
SOS – Survivors of Suicide support groups
POMC – Parents of Murdered Children and other victims of homicide.

These and many other groups may be listed at your county’s Victim Assistance Office usually located in the office of the District Attorney. Also, check with your local hospices or hospitals. They offer support groups that are open to the public. Some local churches may also host support groups. As you create your list, don’t try to keep up with the dates and times of group meetings as they change frequently. All you need is the name of the group, a telephone number, and possibly a contact person. Leave it to the survivors to take the responsibility to make the calls on their own behalf.

Medical waste found dumped in Colonie NY

2009-04-30T17:19:00.001-04:00

April 30, 2009
Town officials eye illegal dumping

By ROBERT GAVIN, Staff writer

ALBANY - Piles of dumped garbage — including apparent medical waste — is taking up a large swath of land in the Town of Colonie near Watervliet.
The Times Union has discovered mountains of trash, including what appear to be medical tubing and possible needle containers, in a barren area off Watervliet Shaker Road around the Adirondack Industrial Park.

The area is accessible from the end of 14th Street in Watervliet. Signs on the outskirts of the area state "No Dumping."

Despite the warning, several large piles of garbage were on the property when the Times Union, acting on a tip, visited the property on Wednesday. Among the discarded items were tires, bottles, clothes, computers, vacuum cleaners and cans. The refuse included what appeared to be many recyclables, including a large number of laundry detergent bottles.

Pete Gannon, director of operations for the Town of Colonie, when contacted today, said the dumping in the vicinity did not appear to be legal.

"I can't imagine," he said. "It's not a landfill."

He said town police were headed to the area.

The area, surrounded by some woods, is near railroad tracks on the border of Colonie and Watervliet. Private homes are not far from the refuse, which is not visible from the street.

The industrial park was most recently in the news in December when two teenagers were charged with starting a fire at an abandoned building.

Robert Gavin can be reached at 434-2403 or rgavin@timesunion.com

PRESS RELEASE: Statement from Town and Gown Players

2009-04-26T18:29:00.001-04:00

ATHENS (MyFOX ATLANTA) - The three people we lost yesterday were a part of the rich 50-year history of this theater and, more than that, were vital members of the Town and Gown family.

Ben Teague, loving husband of UGA's Dr. Fran Teague for more than 40 years, was not only a friend but also a father figure to all at the theater. One would be hard pressed to find a Town and Gowner who had not learned at least one life lesson from this wise and kind hearted man. His wife wishes to say, "Yesterday Ben was murdered, which is hard to comprehend and impossible to accept. It was a beautiful day, however, and he was in his favorite place with the people he loved." Ben was a translator of German, Russian and English.

Marie Bruce was the binding force that held the Town and Gown community together. Having worked with Town and Gown for over 20 years, at one time or another she served in every capacity at the theater, artistically and administratively, from leading lady to president of the board to chief cook and bottle washer. A local attorney, Marie was the mother of two young children.

A gentle presence, Tom Tanner breathed life into every corner of Town and Gown through his quiet diligence and astounding creativity - most would call him genius. Father of an equally amazing daughter, Tom would tell you that while he enjoyed his work as director of the Regional Dynamics Economic Modeling Laboratory at Clemson University, his heart lived and thrived in the theater.

Ben, Marie and Tom were a part of our family, and as painful as their loss is for us, we know it is even more painful for their families. We want to extend our deepest sympathy to their immediate family and close friends outside the theater community. There are no words we can use to adequately express our grief.

We would like to thank the Athens Police department and the media for their respectful treatment of this tragedy. We want to thank the American Bio Recovery Association and A1 BIO-Clean Service for the generous donation of their services in our time of need. We also want to thank the Athens Community for their support. This tragedy effects everyone in the community in some way, and we know you share in our loss. We ask that the media continue to be respectful of our privacy during this difficult time.

CDC confirms Queens high school students have swine flu

2009-04-26T14:04:00.001-04:00

BY Erin Einhorn and Tina Mooore
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

It's confirmed: it's swine flu.

Mayor Bloomberg said Sunday federal health officials have found that eight prep school students in Queens have the dreaded illness.

He urged New Yorkers to stay home from work if they have any symptoms of the flu - but also urged people not to panic or flood hospital emergency rooms.

"If you have a cough or a sore throat stay home," Bloomberg said at a morning news conference. "Do not go to work or school and if you're not very sick don't go to the hospital."

The warning came afte U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tests confirmed that human swine flu has infected eight students at St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens.

About 100 students - many of whom recently took a trip to Mexico - have flu symptoms.

The students have mild symptoms and many are improving, Bloomberg said.

But it has been linked to 81 deaths more than 1,000 illnesses in Mexico - and CDC officvials expect more illnesses around the nation. So far there six cases in California, two more in Texas and two in Kansas.

The World Health Organization has warned the virus threatens to become a global pandemic.

Eight of the students tested positive for Influenza A but did match any of the known human variants of that virus - the H1 and H3 human subtypes - by available testing methods.

That led health officials to fear a new strain of the quickly evolving virus.

"We are concerned that we may have a new strain," Health Commissioner Tom Freiden said at a morning news conference. "But we have not identified an increase of influenza."

The Queens investigation began last week, when students at the prep school developed flu-like symptoms, including fever and sore throat. The Health Department's Public Health Laboratory tested nine nose and throat swabs.

The CDC also reported today that an investigation of sickness at a Bronx daycare facility has so far not identified any confirmed or probable cases.

Sen. Chuck Schumer said he spoke with the CDC and was informed that New York City was "better prepared than just abut anyone else."

Swine flu is a respiratory infection caused by influenza type A viruses that regularly cause outbreaks of influenza in pigs. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can occur.

Human cases typically involve people who have had direct contact with pigs, but the CDC said likely person-to-person transmission has now been reported in California, Texas, Mexico and New York City.

While the cases in Mexico have had a high fatality rate, but the confirmed cases in the U.S. have been mild and all patients have recovered without treatment.

The symptoms of swine flu in people appear to be similar to the symptoms of regular seasonal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.

Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting as well.

hkennedy@nydailynews.com

Possible Swine Flu Outbreak At NYC Prep School

2009-04-24T21:41:00.001-04:00

Department Of Health Officials Testing 75 Students At St. Francis Preparatory School In Queens

NEW YORK (CBS) ―
New York City health officials say that about 75 students at a Queens high school have fallen ill with flu-like symptoms and testing is under way to rule out the strain of swine flu that has killed dozens in Mexico.

The Health Department's Dr. Don Weiss said Friday that a team of agency doctors and investigators were dispatched to the private St. Francis Preparatory School the previous day after students reported fever, sore throat, cough, aches and pains. No one has been hospitalized.

The handful of sick students who remained at the school were tested for a variety of flu strains. If they're found to have a known human strain that would rule out swine flu.

Results could take several days. In the meantime, the school says it's postponing an evening event and sanitizing the building over the weekend.

Mexican authorities said 60 people may have died from a swine flu virus in Mexico, and world health officials worry it could unleash a global flu epidemic.

Mexico City closed schools, museums, libraries and state-run theaters across the metropolis Friday in hopes of containing the outbreak that has sickened more than 900.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said tests show some of the Mexico victims died from the same new strain of swine flu that sickened eight people in Texas and California. It's a frightening new strain that combines genetic material from pigs, birds and humans.

The World Health Organization was looking closely at the 60 deaths - most of them in or near Mexico's capital. It wasn't yet clear what flu they died from, but spokesman Thomas Abraham said "We are very, very concerned."

"We have what appears to be a novel virus and it has spread from human to human," he said. "It's all hands on deck at the moment."

WHO raised its internal alert system Friday, preparing to divert more money and personnel to dealing with the outbreak.

President Felipe Calderon cancelled a trip and met with his Cabinet to coordinate Mexico's response. The government has 500,000 flu vaccines and planned to administer them to health workers, the highest risk group.

There are no vaccines available for the general public in Mexico, and authorities urged people to avoid hospitals unless they had a medical emergency, since hospitals are centers of infection.

Some Mexican residents have started wearing blue surgical masks for extra protection, reports CBS News correspondent Adrienne Bard. The federal health minister has warned people not to go near anyone with a respiratory infection and to avoid kissing - traditional Mexican greeting.

Slaying Victim in Brooklyn Is Said to Have Been Part of Genovese Mob

2009-04-24T21:38:00.000-04:00

By CHRISTINE HAUSER
A 70-year-old Brooklyn man who was found dead in his duplex apartment on Thursday was a longtime mob figure, the authorities said Friday.

The man, William Romano, was found submerged in a bathtub upstairs, and his companion, Elviza Aronova, 36, was found partially clad in a bedroom on the lower floor, the police said. She had apparently been beaten and stabbed to death, and Mr. Romano apparently died of head injuries, the medical examiner’s office said.

The bodies were found in the apartment Mr. Romano shared with Ms. Aronova at 8020 Bay Parkway in Bensonhurst, the police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, said at a news conference.

Both suffered head injuries, Mr. Kelly said. Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the city medical examiner’s office, said Ms. Aronova also had stab wounds to the torso. The authorities were investigating whether Ms. Aronova had been sexually assaulted.

Mr. Romano had owned the 54-unit apartment building where he lived until he sold it in 2006, retaining two apartments there, Mr. Kelly said. A man who lived in Mr. Romano’s second apartment often visited him and Ms. Aronova and had a key to their apartment, the police said. The tenant discovered Ms. Aronova’s body and called the police, who found Mr. Romano’s body when they arrived shortly after 5 p.m.

Mr. Romano kept an office in the second apartment, and the police found two shotguns, a .45-caliber handgun and a live hand grenade there, Mr. Kelly said. The police questioned the tenant but did not detain him, a law enforcement official said.

The official said the first apartment was in disarray, the electricity had been turned off and it appeared that someone had tried to clean up the crime scene with bleach.

Ms. Aronova’s mother had gone to the apartment, No. 7, on Thursday after her daughter said she needed food, but there was no reply, Mr. Kelly said. The door was ajar, and a neighbor called the police for the mother, the police said.

It was not clear how long the bodies had been there. Mr. Kelly said. Mr. Romano was last seen at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

State and federal law enforcement officials said Mr. Romano had long been associated with the Genovese crime family, in particular with the capo Salvatore Lombardi, known as Sally Dogs, who was heavily involved in narcotics trafficking.

Nearly two decades ago, Mr. Romano was arrested at Kennedy International Airport after customs inspectors found about two pounds of heroin taped to his shins and midsection, the officials said. He denied the charges, saying the drugs had been planted on him by the authorities. He was tried twice in Federal District Court in Brooklyn; the first case ended in a hung jury and the second in his acquittal.

His lawyer at both trials, Gerald L. Shargel, said Friday, “He was a longtime client, and I was saddened to hear of his death.”

William K. Rashbaum contributed reporting.

Custodian’s stress-disorder suit restored

2009-04-22T09:29:00.001-04:00

Meghann M. Cuniff / Staff writer

A custodian who sued her school district after being forced to clean up the bloody scene of a student’s suicide had her lawsuit reinstated Tuesday by the Washington Court of Appeals.

Debbie Rothwell, who still works at Lakeside High School in Nine Mile Falls, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a lawsuit filed in May 2007 by her lawyer, William Powell, of Spokane. The 16-year-old student shot himself in the head inside the school’s main entrance in 2004. The lawsuit was dismissed in January 2008 by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Greg Sypolt, who ruled the incident was covered by the Industrial Insurance Act.

But the Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling, disagreed and reinstated the suit.

“There are people who do clean up the mess after one of these horrible murders or suicides happen,” Powell said Tuesday, referring to private professionals. “But the superintendent in this case chose not to do that. He should have known better.”

Along with former Superintendent Michael Green, now superintendent of the Woodland School District in Western Washington, the lawsuit names the Nine Miles Falls School District, Stevens County Sheriff Craig Thayer, two sheriff’s detectives and an unidentified man as defendants.

None was available for comment. Like most civil suits in Washington, the complaint seeks unspecified damages.

Rothwell’s complaints center around her task of cleaning up the suicide scene, then being asked to move a backpack she later learned belonged to the victim and contained a suspicious device that authorities detonated using a robot.

She stayed at work until after 4 a.m., cleaning the mess of blood, brain and bone alone, becoming “emotionally distraught and physically ill” before returning to the school less than four hours later at Green’s orders to serve cookies and coffee to grieving students and keep the media from the school, according to the suit.

At issue in the court decisions was whether Rothwell’s claim of post-traumatic stress disorder fell under the industrial injury act, which prohibits lawsuits based on industry injury or occupational disease.

Judges John A. Schultheis and Dennis J. Sweeney ruled it didn’t because it wasn’t the result of one work order. Her trauma grew over several days, according to their written opinion. Judge Teresa C. Kulik dissented.

Cleanup part of healing process at ACA

2009-04-13T20:48:00.002-04:00

By: Neil St. Clair

ENDWELL, N.Y. -- It's the kind of job nobody wants to get called to do, but it must be done so life can move on.

"We've been involved in triple homicides, but never the amount of people involved in this. All these cases are tough, but this may have been the worst one," said Jim Coyle, owner of Disaster Clean-Up service in Endwell.

Coyle is a lifelong Broome County resident and a veteran of crime scene biohazard removal. He was charged with the cleanup last Sunday after the 13 senseless murders at the American Civic Association.

It's a scene that affected him as it affected many people in the area.

"I wouldn't wish this on anybody to walk in and see this, even the first responders."

The grisly job took Coyle and his crew around six hours, but helped the ACA reopen its doors and get back to its business of helping immigrants become Americans.

Cleanup part of healing process at ACA
After all the pain surrounding the shootings at the American Civic Association, the community has begun to heal. As our Neil St. Clair explains, several local businesses have donated their time and services to help everyone in that process.

What would normally have cost thousands of dollars, Coyle did for free, a service to help his community heal.

"We wanted to do something. There was enough suffering involved here. It just didn't seem right to profit from something like this."

Coyle was one of the first non-emergency personnel to enter the building.

His job is normally thankless, evaporating the tangible memories of some horrible moment. But this one was different, and several people have offered praise for the work he's done.

"You don't really take pride in something like this, but after you see the look on people's faces after you do this, that's what keeps you going back, somebody has to do this."

And though it's tough to wipe away the horror he's witnessed, he, like this community, is trying to push ahead. "Just go on with my life...nothing out of the ordinary...just another day."

Coyle teamed up with BioRecovery Corporation based in New York City as part of a collaboration with the nonprofit American Bio-Recovery Association.

ACA cleaned, but no decision yet on when center will reopen

2009-04-08T13:53:00.002-04:00

By My-Ly Nguyen
mnguyen@gannett.com

BINGHAMTON - Four days after the massacre at the American Civic Association, the center is ready to open its doors. But it's unclear whether the staff, students and community are ready to have classes and other activities resume inside.

Mayor Matthew T. Ryan said the association wants to reopen as soon as possible.

Cleanup crews in the building over the weekend have made that possible.

State funding, allocated by Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, also will help: $100,000 to help the civic association get back on its feet and another $100,000 to provide counseling services and implement protective measures at the center, said Tina Ruocco, a spokeswoman for Sen. Thomas W. Libous, R-Binghamton.

It will take at least a few days for the related paperwork and other administrative procedures to be completed, she said.

Priscilla Pease, a teacher who was in the civic association basement during the shootings Friday, said staff would meet with students "at a neutral site" today "to talk about what we're going to do next."

Through the front windows of the American Civic Association, a man could be seen mopping the lobby floor late Monday morning.

A co-owner of Disaster Clean Up and two of the Endwell business' technicians spent about six hours Sunday conducting more extensive cleanup at the facility. They donned Tyvek white suits and other protective gear, and disinfected the space inside.

"You'd never know it happened other than some telltale signs of some bullet holes," said Jim Coyle, who owns Disaster Clean Up with his wife, Debby.

It takes a certain kind of person to do this job, he said.

"You kind of have to put it out of your mind," he said. "You have to understand that you're doing a valuable service. That's the attitude we have."

Bio-Recovery Corp. of New York City sent two workers to the site to help with the cleanup, Coyle said.

Both companies are members of the nonprofit American Bio-Recovery Association of crime and trauma scene workers. The businesses donated their labor and supplies to the City of Binghamton and the civic association. Coyle said he'd normally charge about $12,000 for a similar job. Insurance almost always covers the cost.

Outside the civic association, flower bouquets, balloons and even a line of 14 pennies - presumably to mark the 14 who died Friday during the shootings in the association's building on Front Street - were placed on the front steps. A light rain fell from the dark gray sky late Monday morning.

Casey Chandler, 26, of Endicott, stopped to drop off a bouquet of flowers and pay her respects to those killed and their families. She said she feels for the gunman's family, too, and wonders how they're coping with what happened.

"I cried when I heard it," she said. "When something this tragic happens ... it affects everybody."

Two doors down at HCA Respite Home & Residential Services, staff members have fielded calls from concerned families, some of whom asked if the HCA is taking any special precautions in light of the shootings, said Mike Reed, a registered nurse.

The facility provides services for families and children with disabilities. All doors in the building have keypad systems to provide security, Reed said.

On Friday, about 30 new staff members were participating in a training class at the HCA, he said. None of the children were present because they were in school or at work.

"Everything is quiet today, even Wal-Mart," said Mary Catherine Allison, a residential counselor. "It was just like a calm. Normally, it's hectic on Mondays. There were lots of parking spaces. It was really weird. It felt like the city was mourning."

Across the street, Envy You Salon-Boutique remained closed Monday, after being closed Saturday and Sunday "due to the recent events," according to a sign posted in the shop's window.

Pedestrian traffic on the sidewalks near the American Civic Association was sparse late Monday morning.

"Everyone who survived this incident is a hero," Chandler said.

She wants outsiders to know this: "We've always been a tight-knit community. ... We're not just a small, rundown little town. I just can't believe this happened."

Industry donates resources in NY massacre cleanup

2009-04-08T13:26:00.005-04:00

BINGHAMTON, NY — Following the horrific events that unfolded last Friday at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, NY, the American Bio-Recovery Association (ABRA) has completed the cleanup, according to a press release.

The ABRA, a non-profit international association of crime and trauma scene professionals sought help from two local companies to assist in the biorecovery cleanup efforts, the release stated.

Disaster Cleanup of Endwell, NY, and Bio-Recovery Corporation of New York, NY, donated their labor and supplies to professionally and legally remediate the scene with a crew of six highly skilled biorecovery technicians, the release noted.

As a community service, the ABRA provided no cost biohazard cleanup services to the non-profit American Civic Association in hopes of helping the community heal from the loss of 13 innocent would-be American citizens and the wounding of four others, the release added.

The thoughts and prayers of the CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management® and CM/Cleanfax® staff go out to all of the friends and families affected by this tragedy.

Cleanup completed at Civic Association

2009-04-05T21:12:00.008-04:00

April 5, 2009

Cleanup has been completed at the American Civic Association building in Binghamton, where a gunman killed 13 people and injured four before taking his own life Friday.

The American Bio-Recovery Association, a non-profit international association of crime and trauma scene professionals, said Sunday that the bio-recovery cleaning was complete. The Ipswich, Mass.-based group provided the service at no cost.

Two member companies, Disaster Clean Up of Endwell and the Bio-Recovery Corporation of New York City, donated labor and supplies to remediate the scene with a crew of six technicians.

MAYOR BLOOMBERG SIGNS LEGISLATION ESTABLISHING GUIDELINES FOR SAFE CLEANING OF TRAUMA SCENES

2009-04-03T14:46:00.001-04:00

Remarks by Mayor Bloomberg at a Public Hearing on Local Laws

"The next bill before me is Introductory Number 123-A, sponsored by Council Members Nelson, Gentile, Liu, Sanders, Vallone, Katz, Weprin and Mealy. Introductory Number 123-A requires the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to establish guidelines for the uniform and safe cleaning of trauma scenes on both public and private property and to provide important information on resources related to trauma scene clean-up.

"Presently, there are no available written guidelines that integrate both worker protection requirements and medical waste handling. The guidelines established under this bill will provide agencies, private employers, and the public with clear and important information on protecting workers and the public.

"The guidelines for trauma scene management - to be followed by all City agencies - would include the immediate restriction of access to the trauma scene, the cleaning and decontamination of the trauma scene, and the removal of any waste in accordance with applicable laws and guidelines. These guidelines will be modified for trauma-scene management on private property and will be available through 311 and on NYC.GOV along with helpful information for property owners and crime victims.

"I would like to thank the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Thomas Frieden and his staff for working on this bill. I would also like to thank the Council for approving this legislation."

Canarsie station would be hazard, residents say

2009-03-30T12:33:00.000-04:00

BY Erin Durkin
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Monday, March 30th 2009, 4:00 AM

Canarsie residents are fighting a plan to build a medical waste facility they charge could be hazardous to their health.

CMW Industries is planning to build a medical waste transfer station on Farragut Road, to move waste such as mercury and formaldehyde between hospitals and labs and out of state disposal facilities. Waste could be stored at the site for as long as 10 days.

Residents worry that an accident could expose them to dangerous chemicals, and that 35 daily truck trips will add to air pollution.

CMW officials insist their concerns are unfounded.

"I think it's horrendous," said Sylvia Jones, who lives four blocks from the project site. "It will jeopardize everyone's health within this area, and my health too, as a 76-year-old woman."

CMW is waiting for a permit from the state Department of Environmental Conservation that both sides agree is likely to be granted.

An administrative law judge threw out a bid by Assemblyman Nick Perry and Councilman Charles Barron to block the application.

"It's just an inappropriate place," Perry said, noting there are homes a block from the site and a school a block and a half away.

Opponents say their neighborhood is already burdened with too many polluting facilities.

"This smacks of environmental racism," Barron said. "We have bus depots, we have transfer stations, we have so many environmentally hazardous facilities in our community. We don't need another one."

"One accident on one of those trucks and all that medical waste will be spilled in our community."

But owners said the station would pose no danger.

"They're literally taking boxes from one truck that have been fully sealed at a doctor's office and moving them to another truck," said Jeff Baker, a lawyer for CMW. "

"The concept that there's any kind of a risk to the community is ridiculous," he said, adding truck traffic to the facility would not be enough to significantly add to air pollution.

That's little comfort to Jewel Brown, 47.

"I'm an asthmatic," she said. "I'm very concerned about my health ... the traffic, the pollution - it's going to be very heavy."

Perry said if the DEC approves the permit, he will ask for an injunction to stop the facility because it violates zoning law.

"We are prepared to go to court," he said.

Queens’ own crime-scene cleanup crew

2009-03-26T15:58:00.002-04:00

by Lee Landor , Editor

Ron Gospodarski, left, founder of Bio-Recovery Corp., and employee Manny Sosa clean up after a natural death in the Bronx. (photo by Lee Landor)

Death is a dirty job. No one knows that better than Ron Gospodarski, a volunteer paramedic and founder of Bio-Recovery Corp., a trauma- and crime-scene cleanup company that deals with the gruesome grime that most people never get — and usually don’t want — to see.

The 47-year-old Woodside resident started his company in 1998 after realizing there was a gaping void in the area of bio-hazard abatement. At the time, Gospodarski was working as a paramedic and as operations manager at the Queens District Attorney’s Office.

“I never knew who cleaned stuff up,” Gospodarski said, noting that emergency medical personnel and police officers often leave a crime or trauma scene even messier than it was when they arrived. Curious and concerned, the microbiologist did some research and found there was no one responsible for cleaning things up.

Seeing the opportunity to provide a much-needed service and to start his own business, the Buffalo native opened the first bio-recovery company in the New York City. His primary aim: offer help to victims and families who have suffered a loss and can’t bear to deal with cleaning up remains. Another important goal he aims to achieve is increasing awareness about the presence of companies such as his.

“I feel bad for these people,” Gospodarski said. “I really, truly do.” The city does not provide services in this area, he noted. What’s worse is that it doesn’t even inform those who need cleanup services that they have options, that companies like Bio-Recovery exist. According to Gospodarski, the Police Department and offices of the medical examiner and district attorney said it would be a “conflict of interest” to refer such companies.

Spokespeople for both the Queens District Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said crime-scene cleanup does not fall under their jurisdiction. A spokesman from the NYPD said referring businesses would be a conflict of interest. “We’re not in the business of promoting other businesses,” he said.

“Is that really caring about people?” Gospodarski asked. Without the help of city agencies, how exactly does one go about advertising death-scene cleanup services? The truth is, “Nobody wants to know about you until they need you,” Gospodarski said. “People just don’t want to deal with reality,” but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be informed, he added.

But sometimes reality is harsh. That Bio-Recovery technicians know well. They were called in to clean the aftermath of the May 2000 Wendy’s Massacre in Flushing. Five employees were killed and two were seriously wounded during a robbery planned by a former employee of the fast food restaurant and its manager.

Gospodarski, along with 65 certified bio-recovery technicians, finished the $30,000 cleanup two weeks after it began; the entire restaurant was contaminated with bio-hazardous chemicals.

Typically, cleanups range from one to three hours, utilize one to three technicians and cost between $600 and $2,000. Bio-Recovery can get up to 10 jobs some weeks, and none others, according to Gospodarski.

Bio-Recovery has cleaned everything from accident, suicide and homicide scenes, to hoarder houses, anthrax outbreaks and sewage backflows. The company specializes in the cleanup of microbial contamination and other bio-hazards.

In addition to the Wendy’s Massacre, Bio-Recovery was responsible for cleaning up after several other high-profile Queens crimes, including two in Howard Beach: the June 2005 beating of Glenn Moore by Nicholas “Fat Nick” Minucci and the February 2008alleged murder of ex-cop Raymond Sheehan by his wife, Barbara Sheehan.

In January, Gospodarski and his crew went to clean up the bloodied Springfield Gardens home of 86-year-old Vivian Squires, who was slashed across the neck while fighting off an intruder who tried to smother her to death.

“You’re sort of like a voyeur,” Gospodarski said. “You get to see what others want to see, but don’t get to.” Crime scenes are only fascinating until they become a reality: people think they want to see the gruesome aftermath of an unbelievable crime, but once that actually becomes a possibility, they shy away from it, according to Manny Sosa, a 29-year-old technician who has worked with Bio-Recovery for nearly 10 years.

While he and his fellow technicians — all certified by the American Bio-Recovery Association — view the cleanups simply as their jobs, they fully acknowledge that they’re dealing with human life. At a recent cleanup in the Bronx, where a woman died of natural causes and was found five days later, Sosa was emptying drawers filled with contaminated clothing and other items. “You’re throwing someone’s life away,” he said as he filled a large black garbage bag. “It’s pretty sad.”

Still, overall, “We’re more pragmatic about it. We take it ... for what it is,” Gospodarski said. “To us, it’s really just a job again.”

The Bio-Recovery technicians must detach themselves while they work. That way, they’re able to remain focused and judgement-free. “It doesn’t matter to us who they were, where they came from,” Sosa said. “We just do our job.” This is a job he does not talk about outside of work: “I try not to attach myself to any of this. Work is work — when I leave here, I don’t want to discuss people’s personal privacy. I’m invading people’s space just by being here,” he said.

One of the most important and difficult things about this job, according to Gospodarski, is interacting with those who hire him. “You have to build a rapport and friendship” to earn their trust, he said. Acknowledging that they’ve been through a trauma and treating them, and the victim, with respect is key.

In this job, it’s not enough to have a tough stomach: “You have to be a people person,” according to Gospodarski. “If you put the people factor first, you can’t go wrong.” Because he’s done just that, Gospodarski has earned Bio-Recovery its good reputation, he noted. And that, he said, “is more important than any dollar sign.”

According to a spokeswoman from the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New Yorkers can call 311 for information on safe clean-up or access detailed guidelines on the department’s website, nyc.gov/health.

Bio-Recovery Corp. technicians are available 24 hours a day in New York, New Jersey and Southern Connecticut and can be reached at (877) 246-2532, (718) 729-2600 or (516) 766-3366. For more information about the company, email info@biorecovery.com or visit biorecovery.com, where Gospodarski’s crime-scene cleanup blog can be accessed.

New Yorker finds niche cleaning up grisly scenes

2009-03-23T22:45:00.003-04:00

Shanghai Star.
RON Gospodarski has made a career cleaning up after other people ?their blood, brain matter and body parts.

Gospodarski owns Bio-Recovery, a business that cleans crime, trauma and biohazard scenes in New York City and surrounding areas.

An emergency medical technician in the city for more than two decades, Gospodarski established Bio-Recovery nine years ago as an outgrowth of his old job, in which he would be among the first to arrive at a messy scene of tragedy.

“People would ask us who we could get to clean this up and we never knew anyone,?said Gospodarski, 43. “I did some research and found out no one was doing this here so I figured, let’s do something.?

His company, based in Long Island City, New York, charges customers US$600 and up, depending on the job. Families and property owners find him through funeral directors, the telephone book and the Internet. The police are forbidden to make such referrals.

Gospodarski and more than a dozen employees ?all with backgrounds as firefighters, police officers or in other emergency services ?arrive at a scene after the police finish collecting evidence.

Dressed in chemical-resistant blue suits, full-face respirators, gloves and boots, they meticulously scrub away blood, brain matter and other body fluids and parts following suicides, homicides and other traumatic events.

Tough task

“We’re helping people during a tragic time when they’re left with something like this,?said Gospodarski, who has a master’s degree in biology. “We’re there to do a job and we can’t get too emotional, because that gets in the way.?

Gospodarski, who says he works 10 to 15 hours a day, has cleaned up after stabbings, hangings and fatal work accidents.

Toughest to take, he says, are suicides of young people.

“You’re usually in their bedrooms and you’re looking at pictures of them and you see how they live and you think: ‘What would make someone go this far to do this?”’

Bio-Recovery has cleaned up after some of New York’s most sensational and headline-grabbing murder cases.

In 2000, the company cleaned a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant in Flushing, Queens, where seven people were shot execution-style inside the walk-in refrigerator. Five died.

Human nature

By the time Gospodarski’s group arrived, the entrance to the restaurant had been transformed into a shrine, adorned with votive candles, flower bouquets and sympathy notes.

Inside, the food contents of the walk-in had been left to spoil and the walls and floor were splattered with blood.

Bio-Recovery scrubbed and disinfected the apartment above the Carnegie Deli in New York’s theatre district following a highly publicized triple homicide in 2001.

Gospodarski’s group also helped clean up after letters containing anthrax were received at the New York offices of ABC News and the New York Post.

“We’ve run the gamut and we’ve seen everything,?he said. “I wouldn’t say I’m desensitized to this, but you do get used to it.?

The grim and gruesome job has its rewards, he says.

“The greatest satisfaction of the job is when the families call up and say thank you and that we really made a difference,?he said. “We get calls from the poorest to the richest who say that we’ve done a wonderful job and we appreciate it. That means a lot.?

The job also gives some insights into human nature.

He recalled being stopped by an onlooker as he cleaned up a building in Manhattan’s East Village where an elderly person had died of natural causes and body fluids dripped through six apartments before the corpse was discovered.

“It’s inevitable; someone will stick their head in and say, ‘Are they going to rent this?”’ he said. “It’s amazing.?

Norovirus sickens 59 at assisted-living facility

2009-03-18T13:54:00.003-04:00

LYNBROOK, NY — An outbreak of norovirus, a highly contagious gastrointestinal infection whose eradication requires extensive cleaning of surfaces, sickened 59 individuals at the Atria Tanglewood assisted-living facility, according to WCBS-TV.

Due to the nature of the virus to easily spread, the facility imposed a three-week quarantine on itself to ensure its containment, the story stated.

It is not uncommon for such illnesses as norovirus to sicken people living in close proximity, especially those susceptible to illness like the elderly, the story noted.

Noroviruses are also sometimes known as "winter vomiting viruses" or "Norwalk-like viruses," and symptoms include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, the story added.

Behind the scenes as a crew takes on the city's dirtiest job

2009-03-10T16:10:00.004-04:00

BY Robert Dominguez
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Manny Sosa has already spent a good hour on his hands and knees, steaming and scrubbing and finally getting the best of a stubborn stain on a kitchen floor, when he calls out to his supervisor.

“I got the blood up,” says Sosa, his voice muffled through a hazmat helmet and respirator. “But the skin’s not coming off the tiles.”

“Waddya expect?” answers Ron Gospodarski. “The body was decomposing for a week.”

This is clearly no ordinary cleaning job, and the men spending a sunny day in a Manhattan apartment casually getting rid of a horrific mess are not your average custodial workers.

Like the characters in the movie “Sunshine Cleaning,” opening Friday, Gospodarski’s Queens-based company, Bio-Recovery Corp., specializes in cleaning up the grim and gory aftermath of crime and trauma scenes — everything from murder to suicide to a bloody home accident.

Or, as they’ve been hired to do on this day, tidying, straightening and ultimately sanitizing a one-bedroom rental in Chelsea where the tenant keeled over, died in the kitchen — and was found seven days later after neighbors complained of the smell.

The body of the tenant, a single man in his 40s, was removed days earlier. But the stench of death lingers, thanks to a huge and unsightly stain — a crusty, dark-brown puddle of blood mixed with other bodily fluids on the floor where the man was found.

“You can see the outline of the body,” said Sosa before the cleanup. “He was there so long, some of his hair and skin is stuck in it.”

“This is nothing,” says Gospodarski. “I’ve had jobs where the body fluids seeped through the floorboards and walls of a building for six stories, and then they had an insect infestation. And the suicides are the worst, especially when they use a shotgun.The blood splatters all over, and you’ll find pieces of brain and skull on the other side of the room.”

It may be a dirty job, but Gospodarski and Sosa are glad to do it. Bio-Recovery Corp. is one of only a handful of such companies in the New York area, and the pay is good — not surprising, given the morbid nature of the business.

Gospodarski, 47, is a former New York City paramedic who founded the company in 1998 after realizing there was money to be made in cleaning up the crime and trauma scenes he covered.

“A business owner who had a shooting or stabbing in front of his place would ask who was going to clean up the mess,” says Gospodarski. “The city is supposed to do it when it’s on public property, but they don’t.”

He says he can earn anywhere from $650 to $2,000 for a day’s work, depending on the complexity of the job and how much waste has to be disposed of.

A bag of medical waste, for example, costs $75 to throw away at a dump, while an old mattress soaked with body fluids can cost several hundred dollars to get rid of properly.

“We never turn away business,” says Gospodarski, noting that things have slowed down during these rough economic times.

“In a city like New York, you’d think there’d be no shortage of jobs for companies like us. But the problem is that families or landlords can’t afford to pay for a service like ours.”

Even during boom times, there are the potential health hazards. Bent over the stain and brandishing a high-pressure steam machine, Sosa has to wear a hazmat suit, helmet and respirator to protect himself from inhaling dangerous microbes released into the air by the steam.

“You have to assume that every body had a disease like HIV, TB or hepatitis,” says Gospodarski. “But the biggest danger, of course, is getting a puncture wound from a needle whenever we clean up a drug den.”

Bio-Recovery was involved in cleaning up buildings and offices in New York and Florida exposed to anthrax soon after the 9/11 attacks. But a typical job consists of being hired by a building to clean and sanitize an apartment where someone has died, or by a family that wants to clean out the room of a recently deceased relative.

Other times, they’re paid to remove the immense clutter of junk and garbage left behind by a pack rat who’s been evicted from an apartment.

But that’s tame stuff compared to the job a couple of years ago that left even these seasoned pros gagging in disgust.

“A guy died sitting on a toilet,” recalls Gospodarski, who clearly enjoys telling war stories “He had been there for days, and the toilet was clogged. When Manny reached in to clean out the mess, he came up holding the guy’s intestines. Even I couldn’t take the smell.”

“Yeah, once you bring something up out of the water that’s been there a while, it can smell pretty bad,” adds Sosa.

There are occasions, says Gospodarski, when the job can be emotionally draining. He and Sosa, 29, who joined the company four years ago, have cleaned up after several high-profile crimes, including the multiple murders in a marijuana den above the Carnegie Deli and the shootings in the basement freezer of a Wendy’s restaurant in Queens.

“You definitely need a strong stomach for this line of work,” says Gospodarski. “But you also need to be compassionate and a good listener. We’ve been in homes where a teenager killed himself and the family is devastated, and they reach out to us just to talk.”

It’s also important to be respectful of the dead and nonjudgmental, especially in a city like New York, inhabited by all kinds of people — with all types of lifestyles.

“Sometimes you uncover secrets of how people lived — really crazy stuff no one would believe — but you need to overlook that and just do your job,” says Gospodarski.

“It’s bad enough for a family when someone dies. But they shouldn’t have to find out something they don’t need to know about.”
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When the Worst Happens, He Cleans Up

2009-03-03T20:58:00.002-05:00

Today's NY Times answered a question I've often asked myself. Who cleans up after gruesome murders and grisly deaths? The answer in Andrews Jacob's piece is Ronald Gospodarski, a former paramedic who runs a company called Bio-Recovery Corp, in Long Island City.

"I've had guys left dead for months where fluid seeped down six floors and everything had to be torn out...you can't leave one drop of blood or body fluid or the place will stink." He went on, explaining a $3000 technique used on the most dreadful of deathscenes, where superheating an entire apartment kills every odor producing microbe. But mostly they just use industrial strength cleansers and wear protective gear.

One of the hardest crime scenes Gospodarski had to clean up was a house in the Bronx used for Santeria, the South American religion that involves ritual slaughter of animals. Amid razor blades, animal hoofs, bottles of poison they unearthed what looked like a clump of human hair. "I'd rather be dealing with a gunshot victim," said one worker, "I don't like this one bit."

The Top 13 Worst Jobs with the Best Pay

2009-02-28T14:33:00.001-05:00

These are dirty jobs and somebody has to do them. At least they get paid well for their efforts
Think you have a lousy job? You're not alone. So do about half of your fellow workers—and about a quarter of them are only showing up to collect a paycheck, according to a survey conducted by London-based market information company TNS. Grumbling over the size of that check is common, too. About two-thirds of workers believe they don't get paid enough, says TNS—even though many of them may actually be overpaid, compared to average compensation data

Crime-Scene Cleaner
Average pay: $50,400
If crime-scene cleanup was just wiping blood off the floors—well, that would be easy. But CSI fans with get-rich-quick dreams should note the job involves more than handiness with a mop and a tolerance for the smell of decomposing flesh. Getting rid of bodily fluids typically calls for more rough-and-ready methods, such as ripping up carpet, tile, and baseboards. It also sometimes means working in confined spaces (if someone was electrocuted in an attic, for example). And when tearing up old houses, workers face exposure to hazards such as lead paint and asbestos—not to mention the combustible chemicals involved in drug-lab abatement.

A Mystery Vigilante Paints Dog Waste-It really is a Crime Scene

2009-02-25T17:12:00.001-05:00

There is a vigilante dog-waste graffiti painter on the Upper East Side, according to a new YouTube video put up by Stan O’Connor, a local tour guide. The vigilante is apparently going around after hours spray-painting dog droppings that are being left on the sidewalk, apparently in violation of New York’s strict scooper laws.

After the dog waste is finally removed, the bright rings of orange and green spray paint remain, reminding passers-by of what used to be there. Mr. O’Connor’s video takes viewers on a tour of the colorful splotches.

They are oddly reminiscent of the chalk body outlines from homicides — only more blob-shaped.

Crime Scene Cleanup: What It Involves

2009-02-21T01:38:00.001-05:00

The Restoration Resource

A crime scene cleanup service is not without its complications. Crime scene cleaning encompasses restoring the crime scene to its original state. When a crime is usually discovered, crime scene cleaners are not called until after officers of the law, like the crime scene investigators, have done their jobs first and have given the go ahead for the cleaners to come in. If you intend to hire a crime scene cleanup company, you must make sure that they are well equipped and fit right to get the job done. A crime scene presents challenging conditions.

The Use Of Protective Gears:
Crime scenes can very well involve the use of hazardous or deadly substances. For safety reasons then, it has become imperative that crime scene cleaners use protective clothing, in addition to protective tools and gadgets. You must see to it that they have all the necessary protective gears and gadgets. The protective clothing can consist of disposable gloves and suits. A disposable gear is preferred nowadays since it offers the best protection against contamination. You use it one time and get rid of it. That way, the dangers of contamination is virtually brought down to zero percent. Protective clothing extends to respirators and the use of heavy-duty industrial or chemical-spill protective boots.

Among the gadgets that a crime scene cleaning company must have are special brushes, special sprayers, and wet vacuum. These special tools ensure added protection against getting into contact with the hazard could very well be present in the crime scene. There is large, special equipment such as a mounted steam injection tool that is designed to sanitize dried up biohazard materials such as scattered flesh and brain. You would also need to check if they have the specialized tank for chemical treatments and industrial strength waste containers to collect biohazard waste.

Of course, any crime scene clean up must have the usual cleaning supplies common to all cleaning service companies. There are the buckets, mops, brushes and spray bottles. For cleaning products, you should check if they use industrial cleaning products. A crime scene cleaning company must have these on their lists:

1 - Disinfectants including hydrogen peroxide and bleaches - The kinds that the hospitals used are commonly acceptable.

2 - Enzyme solvers for cleaning blood stains. It also kills viruses and bacteria.

3 - Odor removers such as foggers, ozone machines, and deodorizers

4 - Handy tools for breaking and extending such as saws, sledgehammers, and ladders

Established crime scene operators also equip themselves with cameras and take pictures of the crime scene before commencing work which. The pictures taken may prove useful for legal matters and insurance purposes. You never know which.

Needless to say, a specially fitted form of transportation and proper waste disposal is also needed. These requirements are specific. As you can imagine, crime scene cleaning is in a different category on its own. A home cleaning or janitorial service company may not be able to cope up with the demands of a crime scene. A crime scene cleanup service requires many special gears and tools that a home cleaning or a janitorial service company does not usually have or does not require. Crime scene cleaning if not done correctly can expose the public to untold hazards.

What Else To Look For In A Crime Scene Cleanup Company
You may also want to hire a company that has established itself. An experienced company with a strong reputation is always a plus but it could be expensive too. You will do well to balance your needs with what is your budget. There are several companies that offer specific prices such as for death scene clean up categories and suicide clean up categories. Most companies own a website and have round the clock customer service as receptionists.

When looking for a suitable crime scene cleaning service, among the first things you need to do is to scout for price quotes. Crime scene cleanup services usually provide quote after they have examined the crime scene and then they give you a definite quote. Factors that are usually considered include the number of personnel that will be needed to get the job done. It also includes the amount of time that might be needed. The nature and amount of the waste materials that need to be disposed will also be factored in. You can be sure that the more sophisticated equipments needed the more expensive it will get.

Crime Scene Cleanup And Your Insurance
For homeowners, the best approach is always to make sure that crime scene cleanup services clauses and provisions are written down on the contracts or policies. The inclusion of crime cleanup services clauses is very common and has become standard clause in most homeowner’s policy. Make sure that you are covered for this unforeseen event. Make sure that your policy directs the crime scene cleaning company to transact directly with the homeowner insurance company. A crime scene cleaning service is usually a standard clause in many homeowners’ insurance clause. These companies often do the paperwork in behalf of clients.

If for some reason you do not have such coverage by any policies relating to crime scene cleanup on your home, there are ways to keep your expenses controlled.

Finding the right company can be very taxing, especially that you have to deal with the emotional stress stemming from the crime itself, especially with a crime scene involving death.

There are many crime scene cleanup companies in operation nowadays. There are reliable professionals that you can hire and prices are relatively competitive. As of recently, crime-scene cleanup services can cost up to $600 for an hour of their service. A homicide case alone involving a single room and a huge amount of blood can cost about $1,000 to $3,000.

In recent years, crime scene cleaning has come to be known as, "Crime and Trauma Scene Decontamination or CTS. Basically, CTS is a special form of crime scene cleaning focusing on decontamination of the crime scene from hazardous substances such as those resulting from violent crimes or those involving chemical contaminations such as methamphetamine labs or anthrax production. This type of service is particularly common when violent crimes are committed in a home. It is rare that the residents move out of the home after it has become a scene of a crime. Most often, the residents just opt to have it cleaned up. That is why, it is very important to hire the best crime scene cleaning company out there. The place needs to be totally free from contamination of any kind. You have to make sure that the company is able to remove all traces of the violent crime that took place. This includes cleaning biohazards that are sometimes invisible to the untrained eye.

Legally speaking, federal laws state that all bodily fluids are deemed biohazards and you should make sure that the cleanup service company you hire understands this and includes it in the cleanup. These things appear as blood or tissue splattered on a crime scene. You must be able to hire a company that is equipped with special knowledge to safely handle biohazard materials. The company must have the knowledge what to search for in any give biohazard crime scene. For instance, the company should be able to tell clues such that if there is a bloodstain the size of a thumbnail on a carpet, you can bet that there is about a huge bloodstain underneath. Federal and State laws have their own laws in terms of transport and disposal of biohazard waste. Make sure that the company you hire has all the permits necessary.

It will also be a huge plus if you could hire people who not only has the special trainings but also who have the nature to be sympathetic. If you are close to the victim and have the cleaning done at the behest of the victim’s relatives, it would matter that the cleaners tread the site with some level of respect. It is a common site that family members and loved ones are often there at scene. In general, when looking for a suitable crime scene cleaners, you would take into considerations the kind of situation that the crimes scene presents and the demands that it require. Crime scene cleaning companies handle a wide variety of crime scenes and prices may vary from one to the other crime scene and one to the other company.

Each type of scene requires its own particular demands not only to make the crime scene look clean and neat on the surface but to make it germ free, and clean inside and to make it free from all deadly and infectious substances. The cleanup cost for biohazards may vary depending on degree of the bio hazard(s) on the scene. There may even be a category that changes the cleanup pricing which usually involves decomposing bodies and carcasses. Likewise, a cleanup of chemical hazards vary, depending on the amount of chemical hazards as well as the grades i.e. how hazardous the substance is in terms of human contact. Prices are also determined by the number of hours and personnel that it would to get the crime scene cleaned. In addition, the "gross factor" from crime scene involving death and gore needs to be taken under consideration regarding the chemicals that will be used as opposed to those crimes' that do not have gore involved.

Risks of Using In-house Employees for Environmental Cleanups

2009-02-19T16:52:00.001-05:00

By Gerard M. Giordano, Esq.

In an attempt to save money, property owners may be tempted to use their own Employees to clean up contamination at their facilities in order to comply with state or federal environmental laws. However, there may not be any real savings because when property owners (as employers)do commit to such a venture,they must comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA)regulations that may be applicable. These are designed to protect employees from occupational injuries and illnesses,and failure to comply with these regulations could result in fines that may offset any savings.

A property owner who orders his employees to clean up or work with hazardous substances must comply with a number of precautionary regulations. The most comprehensive is 29 CFR 1910.120, which deals with hazardous waste operations and emergency response. An employer is required to develop and put into writing a safety and health program for any employees engaged in hazardous waste cleanup operations.

The elements of an effective program include requiring an employer to identify and evaluate specific hazards and to determine the appropriate safety and health control procedures to protect employees before any work is initiated. Likewise, protective equipment must be utilized by employees during the initial site entry and, if required,during subsequent work at the site. The employer must also periodically monitor employees who may be exposed to hazardous substances in excess of OSHA ’s regulations.

Once the presence and concentration of specific hazardous substances and health hazards have been established, employees involved in the cleanup operations must be informed of any risks associated with their work. Under certain ircumstances,regular ongoing medical surveillance of employees by a licensed physician, and without cost to the employees or lost pay, may be required.

Numerous other safeguards are also required by OSHA. For example, OSHA’s hazardous communications program, 29 CFR 1910.120, requires an employer to establish and implement a hazard communication program if, during the course of the cleanup, employees may be exposed to hazardous chemicals.

The requirements are essentially the same as those in workplaces where employees are routinely exposed to hazardous chemicals. The program must include container labeling, production of material safety data sheets and employee training. The employer must also provide a full description of the OSHA compliance program to employees, contractors and subcontractors involved with the cleanup operations as well as OSHA,and to any other federal,state or local agency with regulatory authority over the cleanup.

Regulation 29 CFR 1910.120 also requires an employer that retains the services of a contractor or subcontractor to inform them of any identified potential hazards of the cleanup operations. Generally, it is the involvement of employees that triggers an employer’s obligations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. If contractors were retained, it would be the contractors’ responsibility to comply with these OSHA requirements on behalf of their employees, assuming that the employer
retaining the contractor has neither employees involved in the cleanup nor employees potentially exposed to health hazards arising from the cleanup.

In addition to the contractor’s required compliance with OSHA regulations, it is imperative that a property owner include in any agreement with the contractor that the contractor must comply with all pertinent OSHA regulations. If possible,the agreement should also provide for indemnifications from the contractor to the property owner for claims arising from the cleanup. These indemnifications will be important if the employees of the contractor are injured or subsequently become ill because of such work. The indemnifications should survive the completion of the work. These precautions will help insulate the property owner from both governmental actions and potential third-party claims.

Failure to comply with OSHA regulations on the part of the property owner who uses his own employees to perform a cleanup or work with hazardous substances may result in substantial penalties. Under OSHA, fines can be levied for each violation found by an inspector. These violations can result in non-serious, serious or willful violations with penalties as high as $70,000 for each violation. If a subsequent inspection is performed and violations are found which have not been corrected from an original inspection,daily penalties could be levied resulting in substantial fines.

Compliance with OSHA regulations should be a factor when a property owner decides to use in-house employees for cleanups. In the long run, there may not be any savings to the employer. Furthermore, because of the employer’s lack of familiarity with the OSHA regulations governing the cleanup of hazardous sites,the employer could be subject to fines as a result of its failure to comply with the OSHA regulations.

Therefore, it may be prudent in the long run to retain a company whose business is devoted to doing only cleanups. This company will have the expertise and continuing obligations to protect its employees.

Gerard Giordano is special counsel at the law firm of Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard, P.A., based in Hackensack, NJ. He is a member of the firm’s Environmental Department, and his practice focuses particularly on OSHA matters. Prior to practicing law, Mr. Giordano worked at the U.S. Department of Labor – Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as an industrial hygiene compliance officer.

Restoring Buildings After Emergencies

2009-02-17T01:32:00.002-05:00

By Greg Olear

Apartment buildings, whether cooperatives or condos, are inherently fragile. When that many units share the same plot of land, and the same walls, the same floors, the same elevators and stairways, standpipes and boilers, lobbies and roofs, disasters—whether broken water pipes or the tragic in the case of decomposing bodies, fatal fires or building explosions—have the potential to spread quickly. Thus, when something nasty befalls a building, the first order of business is to contain the problem.

Once the situation has been contained, however, then the hard part begins: the cleanup. How do buildings get back on their proverbial feet after a major maintenance meltdown? What should a board or property manager know about dealing with disasters? And is there a way to prevent bad things from happening in the first place? Let's take a look.

Water, Water Everywhere
When contemplating disasters, the first example that comes to mind is usually fire. Fire, after all, can spread quickly and devastate an entire city, and do so in spectacular fashion. Much of Lower Manhattan was burned to the ground by the British in the War of 1812, and, while our ability to prevent and combat fires is far superior to what it was two hundred years ago, fire remains a big fear.

But it's not fire, but the element that puts it out, that causes most of the damage to New York residential buildings.

"Look around, and see how many buildings are burning right now," says Ron Alford, the founder and president of Disaster Masters Inc. in Queens. "None. On the other hand, water damage is going on right now, as we're talking," or as you're reading this.

Water damage can happen in many ways. In the winter, Alford says, if it's nine degrees outside for a few days, and the right combination of doors are left open accidentally, the standpipe—the central conduit for water in the building—can break. In the summer, condensation from air conditioning units can wreak havoc on hardwood floors, especially in apartments that have been vacated for the season.

Leaky pipes can drip into the apartment downstairs, and then the apartment two floors down, and then the one floor below that. And busted standpipes can do much more extensive damage. Remedying this kind of problem can escalate to the total replacement cost of the entire building, says Alford, if the damage is extensive.

Floods of this nature are seldom the result of negligence, Alford says.

"These are not caused by shoddy maintenance," he explains. "Because of the local laws, the buildings are all well-maintained. The things we do tend to be sudden and insured."

Insurance can be its own headache. Insurance companies can send the wrong personnel to handle a problem, or, worse, deny a claim. Getting money from insurance companies can be such a tricky process, in fact, that Alford has a side business that deals solely with getting claims paid by insurance companies, and has authored a book on the subject.

Handling the Unexpected
Property managers have to be adept at dealing with acts of God or natural disasters that you have no preparation or training for. One such scenario involved Donna Ross, the director of management at Andrea Bunis Management Inc. in Manhattan. Ross, a 30-year veteran in property management, has been with Andrea Bunis for the past 15 years. Back in August 1989, she was called to the scene of a Con Edison steam pipe explosion reminiscent of the one that recently shut down blocks around Lexington Avenue and Grand Central Terminal this summer.

The 1989 pipe explosion killed three people, injured 24, and caused evacuation of about 200 residents of the 185-unit cooperative at 32 Gramercy Park South. What the managers and residents did not know then was that the pipe contained asbestos and it would be months before the cleanup and restoration brought things back to normal.

"Saturday night was the explosion and Sunday morning I and other agents were at the site to see what we could do to help the residents of the building," says Ross. "Since we did not know at that time that the building was contaminated with asbestos, we were helping people clean up sweeping the asbestos in the air and our lungs.

"Days after the cleanup started, it was determined that there was asbestos found throughout the building and the DEP [Department of Environmental Protection] evacuated the building. Residents were given very little time to take some belongings and leave. Police were stationed on each of the floors to guard the apartments until the decontamination started. Residents were put up in nearby hotels at first and as time went on, it was determined that this was not going to take a few days. They were then moved to apartment efficiencies or given money to go elsewhere. Management set up trailers near the building so that residents would have access to management to help in their daily needs," Ross explains. Some people were allowed back inside to retrieve belongings or medication, she says, and others to pack things for a much-needed vacation away from the city. "We had no idea that it would be eight months later before all was said and done."

Ross was enlisted to serve as a liaison and coordinate management tasks between different city agencies, including Con Ed, the NYPD, the FDNY, asbestos removal specialists and various contractors. The building had to be decontaminated and completely cleaned, blown-out windows had to be replaced, the water tower had to be cleaned and repaired, and day-to-day questions and concerns taken care of, she adds.

"Residents still needed information about what was happening with their homes. I was answering their questions as to reimbursement for their food, and housing and clothes. The explosion happened in August, and a few seasons had passed, so residents needed different seasons of clothes. Remember most of them left that day in August with what was on their back. Basically, the building was completely cleaned inside and out before residents would be allowed to move back in."

Remains of the Day
Then there is the other potential disaster—the decomposing body. Sometimes there is violence involved—suicides or homicides, for example—but usually, the decomposing body problem occurs when a single, typically elderly person dies, and no one realizes it until the smell trails into the hallway.

"Let's say an elderly person dies of natural causes," says Ron Gospodarski, president of Bio-Recovery Corp. in Long Island City. "New York being transient as it is, usually the kids are elsewhere. It goes undetected for days or weeks until someone smells it and calls 911."

The police then come and seal off the area while they conduct an investigation. "Nobody can go in there," Gospodarski says. "And you have this nasty odor coming out."

The more the body decomposes, the worse the odor gets. "The odor will infiltrate everywhere," says Ron Vogel, president of Emergi-Clean Inc. in Linden, New Jersey.

Meanwhile, the police yield to the public administrator, who is in charge of locating and contacting the next of kin. Once it is determined that the death was not a homicide, the body is taken away. But some of the remains remain—and those remains reek. Until the police or the public administrator grants access to the apartment, there isn't much the board can do about it.

"Sometimes we'll go with" the public administrator, says Gospodarski. "But most of the time, they don't let us in."

This can be extremely unpleasant—and dangerous.

In one case, Gospodarski says the liquefied remains had eaten through the hardwood floors—it was a brownstone, so there was no concrete between the floors.

"Bodily fluids were dripping into the apartment below, where there was a newborn baby," he recalls.

This is, needless to say, not the most healthful situation.

Cleaning up human remains is not generally something that's covered at board meetings. Many property managers are probably at a loss as to what exactly the next step should be. There is no subheading for this kind of thing in the Yellow Pages—and that's not the most effective disaster preparedness anyway.

"The worst thing you can do is use a phone directory for a disaster," Alford says.

Many boards or property managers will ask the super to handle the mess. Not only does this put the health of the super at risk, and subject the building to major liability, it's also illegal.

"Supers are often forced to do it, which is illegal," says Gospodarski. "Who can clean it up legally? Fifty percent are cleaned up by managers or supers. Is that legal? No."

To legally handle human remains, one requires yearly shots for hepatitis B, as well as special training and certification from the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) and the Department of Environmental Protection or Conservation, which is prohibitively expensive for most buildings.

"The cost would be unbelievable," says Vogel. The total cost to meet all of the requirements would be in the thousands of dollars for each individual certified, he says.

Then there's the matter of disposal. Let's say someone dies in bed, and bodily wastes infiltrate the mattress.

"Where do they dispose of it? You can't put it in the sanitation system," says Gospodarski. "It has to go by red bag. You have to be licensed to pick it up."

This doesn't stop bloody mattresses from finding their way into the regular trash, of course. This is New York, after all. But that is illegal, too.

Finally, there's the bottom line. Who pays for the mess? The estate of the deceased? The co-op, because the liquefied remains oozed between floors? The deceased's insurance company? The co-op's insurance company? Often, the co-op ends up with the tab - and a cleanup of this sort can cost anywhere from $450-$2,000.

"They say, 'Let's pay to get it fixed first,' and then they'll worry," Vogel says.

"Often, the management company will pay, and then get the money from the board," says Gospodarski.

What should a building do to prepare for such a catastrophe?

"You need to know who to call," says Alford. Managers and boards should have an emergency or restoration company in mind before a disaster strikes.

Some companies even offer "pre-disaster audits," where teams would inspect the premises for potential problems.

What It Teaches You
Surviving an emergency takes patience and understanding, Ross says.

"As a property manager, the job itself teaches you to juggle many things at once so that you are able to accomplish your goal—add a lot of patience and consideration to the mix and you can survive a crisis like this one or this job in general."

Residents need to trust the board, management and the hired professionals to maintain the public safety and health and well-being of the residents they're entrusted to care for.

"In order to be an effective property manager you need to wear many hats," says Ross. "You need to be able to be calm under pressure, caring and considerate, understanding that you're dealing with people's homes, a very sensitive subject. In an agent's day, very few people are calling to thank you for something you may have done, most calls are complaints. You need to take the call, solve the problem and move on," she says, adding that you need to also manage the stress that comes with the job.

Greg Olear is a freelance writer, editor, web designer, astrologer and stay-at-home dad living in Highland, New York.

The Corpse Is Gone; Enter Quietly the Cleaners

2009-02-16T21:41:00.000-05:00

By FRANCIS X. CLINES
The New York Times

Once cadavers and evidence are removed from a typical crime scene, the police and paramedics drive away, leaving a traumatized family and an opportunity for a delicate enterprise now quietly evident across the land.

''The family just went through this horrific event and now they have to clean up, too?'' Becky Della-Rodolfa said, describing the rationale of her private Philadelphia business that specializes in the cleaning and repairing of the aftermath of homicides, suicides and other mayhem.

More than 200 such companies have been started in urban areas in recent years, according to a Washington lobbying association that is seeking government standards for an industry that practitioners find fraught with public health and professional concerns.

''We need standard ethics and procedural rules for a business that is growing by leaps and bounds,'' said Ron Gospodarski, president of the lobbying group, the American Bio-Recovery Association. The three-year-old association serves an industry that is thriving on the fact that government agencies generally make no provision to clean up the scenes of traumatic deaths.

An exception is Phoenix, where the municipal government has contracted with Dale Cillian, an industry pioneer with 15 years' experience, to clean up after biohazardous crimes and accidents, from homicides to car crashes.

''We should be under the same standards as the funeral industry,'' Mr. Cillian said, warning that fly-by-night operators have been appearing more frequently.

His business, Biopro LLC, has cleaned more than 5,000 crime and accident scenes using high-tech equipment and medical-waste-disposal techniques that the national association wants established as a government requirement.

''I was a paramedic for 18 years,'' Mr. Gospodarski said. He runs a cleanup company in the New York City area that routinely deals with blood-borne and airborne contaminants at scenes of violent deaths or deaths that are not immediately discovered. His workers, wearing protective gear, move in after the police and rip out floorboards and wall panels in tracking the flow of wastes.

''A lot of us got into it from public safety jobs because we got tired of seeing families shocked in the midst of tragedy as they watched cops and medics just strip off their gloves and walk away,'' Mr. Gospodarski said.

He noted the premium on speed in his business, citing one overnight cleanup at a New York restaurant where four people were shot to death. ''An eight-hour job, very messy, blood trails on the walls through the place, and the manager was very, very grateful we could be there within 30 minutes,'' Mr. Gospodarski said of his company, the Bio-Recovery Corporation.

Ms. Della-Rodolfa started her business, Trauma Scene Restoration, when she heard a friend who was a police officer talk of the frustration of leaving shocked families behind after a death. ''I don't think society knows this type of industry exists,'' she said, describing the largely unadvertised manner of the business in which a funeral director, medical examiner or sympathetic ambulance driver might inform a family of a local specialist.

''Restoring the scene and peace of mind'' is the motto of Ms. Della-Rodolfa's small company, as printed in an advertisement in the local yellow pages under House Cleaning. It is embossed as well on packets of golf tees that she distributes at police and medical examiners' conventions. ''They love golf,'' she said.

''We can't call up troubled families -- that would be unethical ambulance chasing,'' Ms. Della-Rodolfa declared as she dealt with a new job. It involved cleaning the home of an elderly recluse who had died alone in a house knee-deep in trash, with 12 cats left unattended for six weeks.

This job will cost $30 an hour and require some messy labor, she estimated. Other jobs at scenes of violence or extended decomposition, with potentially infectious blood and other waste, cost $100 an hour.

She has a staff of three full-time workers with others on call. They use an array of disposable clothing and respirators, and subcontract with a medical-waste company to burn all corpse-related residue.

This precaution is something that Mr. Gospodarski would like to see made a government regulation.

He described a job in the Bronx involving a man whose body was found two weeks after death and who turned out to have had hepatitis and been H.I.V.-positive. Effluvia had seeped into the apartment below, creating a potentially nightmarish situation that local health officials knew nothing about, Mr. Gospodarski said.

Beyond violent deaths, decomposition cases involving people who died alone and neglected make up half of his business, Mr. Gospodarski said.

In Phoenix, Mr. Cillian, who is a firefighter, obtained a general contractor's license to qualify for the dismantling and repairing that can be required at a noisome crime scene. Jobs average about $350, but chaotic crime scenes can cost thousands, he said, noting that he does pro bono work in cases of hardship.

''There's a lot of shootings out here, and the scene at one of them looked like a war zone,'' he said of a recent shootout between a police officer and his killer. ''A hundred rounds were fired; the place was pocked like a movie set.'' When he heard that the police officer's grieving family members wanted to see the scene, Mr. Cillian said, he had all the bullet-torn doors and blood-stained surfaces removed or covered to spare them extra trauma.

Some states, including New York, offer crime victims up to $2,500 for their expenses, and lately trauma cleanup costs have been accepted, Mr. Gospodarski said. But home insurance claims are more open to dispute, as in instances of suicide, Ms. Della-Rodolfa said.

''That can mean the second trauma,'' she said. ''This is when a family must relive the first one all over again by cleaning it up.''

About Crime Scene Cleaners

2009-02-16T01:47:00.001-05:00

by Dayna Noffke

Introduction
No one is prepared to deal with the aftermath of a suicide, homicide or violent crime. One aspect that very few people consider, however, is how the home will be returned to its present state. Not only is it emotionally distressing to have to clean up human remains, blood or other bodily fluids, it can be dangerous as well. Crime-scene cleaners are professionals who are trained in dealing with the legal, emotional and practical aspects of crime-scene cleanup.

Instructions
Difficulty: Easy
Function
Until very recent times, when a violent or messy death occurred in the home, it was the family members who were left to deal with cleaning up the aftermath. This is not only extremely emotionally difficult for family members or friends to do, but exposure to the biohazardous waste that is often present can present health hazards. Crime-scene cleaners come in after a body has been removed and work to return the property to its original condition. This can involve removing or replacing carpet or parts of walls or other surfaces, as well as heavy cleaning and decontamination of whole rooms. Crime-scene cleaners are also trained in how to properly dispose of biohazards.

Features
People who choose crime-scene cleanup as a career must possess a very unique set of characteristics to be successful in the field. Obviously, a strong stomach is an absolute necessity. Cleaners deal with gore, blood, body parts and unpleasant smells as a part of their everyday routine. At the same time, they must be discreet and sensitive to a grieving family's needs.

Benefits
Crime-scene cleaning presents growing business opportunities for people who are interested in the field. In large cities, business owners may make six-figure incomes. However, many people who work in this field cite helping the survivors of violent crime as one of the best parts of the job. Ron Gospodarski, president of Bio-Recovery Corporation in New York City, states, ""I like to make a difference. We spare (the survivors) the hurt and pain of cleaning up those atrocities."
Considerations

Because crime does not occur at conveniently scheduled times, crime-scene cleaners have to be on call for emergencies, and work days can be long for large jobs. Although there is no specific educational requirement for obtaining employment as a crime-scene cleaner, it is helpful to have work experience in similar fields. Many people come to this career from jobs that have prepared them for some of the more stomach-churning aspects of the job, such as work as paramedics, nurses or morticians. Beginning a crime-scene cleaning business can be an expensive venture because of all the training and licensing that is required to obtain permits for properly disposing of biohazardous waste.

Misconceptions
Despite what many people think, crime-scene cleaners are not involved in any way in the legal or investigative process. They are allowed access only after investigators have collected evidence and processed the crime scene. Cleaners also do not deal with dead bodies, which are typically picked up by the local coroner or medical examiner's office. They may, however, have to clean up the products of decomposition where a body remained undiscovered for an extended period of time.

Murder clean-up fund announced

2009-02-08T19:59:00.000-05:00

Families of people murdered in their homes will no longer have to pay for clean-up costs, the Scottish Government has said.

The families of murder victims killed in the home will no longer have to meet the cost of cleaning up afterwards, the Scottish Government has announced.

Police will now pay for decontamination and cleaning if the cost is not met by landlords or insurers. The Scottish Government set up a working group to look at the issue last year.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said on Sunday that the move would spare families extra stress after the death of a loved one.

He said: "The murder of a family member would be traumatic and distressing for anybody, but for the family to then have to meet the costs of cleaning the home is simply wrong.

"That's why we set up a working group to look at the issue. I am pleased that they've now come up with a solution, and that the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland have agreed to meet the cost in the absence of other provision.

"This will ensure families no longer have the added stress and cost of cleaning the home."

Mr MacAskill said it is important that organisations are sensitive to the needs of families of homicide victims, and said that the Scottish Government has been working with the Association of British Insurers and the Chartered Institute of Housing to ensure that appropriate guidance is provided to insurers and housing providers.

Strathclyde Police's Assistant Chief Constable Campbell Corrigan - secretary of the Acpos crime business area - said: "Ultimately, a small number of cases will fall outwith the responsibility of the various landlords or insurance companies.

"In these exceptional cases, Acpos will meet the costs in respect of decontamination and cleaning services of dwelling houses."

Margaret Smith, Liberal Democrat MSP for Edinburgh West, ran a campaign last year for a murder clean up fund.

She said: "I am delighted that, following my campaign, the Scottish Government has finally confirmed that families will no longer have to meet the cost of clearing up the aftermath if a murder takes place in their home.

"It seemed crazy to add to this burden by forcing families to pay for the cost of cleaning up the murder scene if it occurs in their own home.

"A murder clear-up fund will be relatively inexpensive and a real help to families who are still coming to terms with the grief of losing a loved one in such traumatic circumstances."

The economic cost of methamphetamine use in the United States

2009-02-07T01:44:00.002-05:00

Medical Research News

The economic cost of methamphetamine use in the United States reached $23.4 billion in 2005, including the burden of addiction, premature death, drug treatment and many other aspects of the drug, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
The RAND study is the first effort to construct a comprehensive national assessment of the costs of the methamphetamine problem in the United States.

"Our findings show that the economic burden of methamphetamine abuse is substantial," said Nancy Nicosia, the study's lead author and an economist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.

Although methamphetamine causes some unique harms, the study finds that many of the primary issues that account for the burden of methamphetamine use are similar to those identified in economic assessments of other illicit drugs.

Given the uncertainty in estimating the costs of methamphetamine use, researchers created a range of estimates. The lowest estimate for the cost of methamphetamine use in 2005 was $16.2 billion, while $48.3 billion was the highest estimate. Researchers' best estimate of the overall economic burden of methamphetamine use is $23.4 billion

The study was sponsored by the Meth Project Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to reducing first-time methamphetamine use. Additional support was provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

"We commissioned this study to provide decision makers with the best possible estimate of the financial burden that methamphetamine use places on the American public," said Tom Siebel, founder and chairman of the Meth Project. "This is the first comprehensive economic impact study ever to be conducted with the rigor of a traditional cost of illness study, applied specifically to methamphetamine. It provides a conservative estimate of the total cost of meth, and it reinforces the need to invest in serious prevention programs that work."

The RAND analysis found that nearly two-thirds of the economic costs caused by methamphetamine use resulted from the burden of addiction and an estimated 900 premature deaths among users in 2005. The burden of addiction was measured by quantifying the impact of the lower quality of life experienced by those addicted to the drug.

Crime and criminal justice expenses account for the second-largest category of economic costs, according to researchers. These costs include the burden of arresting and incarcerating drug offenders, as well as the costs of additional non-drug crimes caused by methamphetamine use, such as thefts committed to support a drug habit.

Other costs that significantly contribute to the RAND estimate include lost productivity, the expense of removing children from their parents' homes because of methamphetamine use and spending for drug treatment.

One new category of cost captured in the analysis is the expense associated with the production of methamphetamine. Producing methamphetamine requires toxic chemicals that can result in fire, explosions and other events. The resulting costs include the injuries suffered by emergency personnel and other victims, and efforts to clean up the hazardous waste generated by the production process.

Researchers caution that their estimates are in some cases based on an emerging understanding of methamphetamine's role in these harms and should be further refined as understanding of these issues matures. The RAND report also identifies costs that cannot yet be adequately quantified.

"Estimates of the economic costs of illicit drug use can highlight the consequences of illegal drug use on our society and focus attention on the primary drivers of those costs," Nicosia said. "But more work is needed to identify areas where interventions to reduce these harms could prove most effective."

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive substance that can be taken orally, injected, snorted or smoked. While national surveys suggest that methamphetamine use is far from common, there is evidence that the harms of methamphetamine may be concentrated in certain regions. One indicator of the problem locally is treatment admissions. Methamphetamine was the primary drug of abuse in 59 percent of the treatment admissions in Hawaii in 2004 and accounted for 38 percent of such admissions in Arizona in 2004.

Sunshine Cleaning (Release Date March 13th 2009)

2009-02-04T10:51:00.002-05:00

Sunshine Cleaning is a comedy-drama starring Amy Adams and Emily Blunt.

Sunshine Cleaning follows an average family that finds the path to its dreams in an unlikely setting. A single mom and her slacker sister find an unexpected way to turn their lives around - once the high school cheerleading captain who dated the quarterback, Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) now finds herself a thirty something single mother working as a maid. Her sister Norah (Emily Blunt) is still living at home with their dad Joe (Alan Arkin), a salesman with a lifelong history of ill-fated get rich quick schemes. Desperate to get her son into a better school, Rose persuades Norah to go into the crime scene clean-up business with her to make some quick cash. In no time, the girls are up to their elbows in murders, suicides and other…specialized situations. As they climb the ranks in a very dirty job, the sisters find a true respect for one another and the closeness they have always craved finally blossoms. By building their own improbable business, Rose and Norah open the door to the joys and challenges of being there for one another—no matter what—while creating a brighter future for the entire Lorkowski family.

Here’s the Sunshine Cleaning Trailer, hit HQ in the menu bottom right for improved quality. The movie is due out March 13, 2009.

Pasco County Man Arrested for Illegally Dumping Biomedical Waste

2009-02-02T19:37:00.001-05:00

PORT RICHEY–
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) law enforcement officers today arrested Andrew Tierney Froelich, age 54, owner of ServPro in Port Richey, for illegally dumping biomedical waste.During a six week investigation, in partnership with the Pasco County Health Department and the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, DEP law enforcement officers observed Froelich illegally disposing biomedical waste into a commercial dumpster.Froelich is charged with 3rd degree felony commercial dumping. Charges are pending for transportation of bio-medical waste without a permit and causing a public nuisance. If found guilty, Froelich could face up to five years in jail and a fine of $5,000. No court date has been set

Who Do You Call to Clean Up the Shooting Down the Street?

2009-01-31T18:20:00.003-05:00

Question:
A reader sent us this email about a shooting that occurred around midnight in Brooklyn:
Just wanted to point out that there was a shooting last night at the bus depot at Broadway and Havemeyer in Williamsburg, -and that the investigation seems to be over, but the guy's hat, a big puddle of blood and teeth, many rubber gloves, gauze, a sterile water container, et cetera are still down there, for people to step in. I called the 90th Precinct but they said "maybe it's sanitation's job". Aren't these things usually cleaned up?"

Answer:
In New York City, if a crime or trauma scene happens outside on public property, the City of New York (by local law) is responsible to have these sites cleaned up. The reality is there is no city agency that will perform these services and the city has not contracted with an outside service to perform these cleanups.

If this happens on your property/sidewalk, yard etc. You can call Bio-Recovery Corporation at 718-729-2600 and we will clean this site up.

You can call 311 or if it's a hazard which blood or pathologial waste is call 911. File a complaint and get the complaint number.

Ten Big Concerns in the Bio-Recovery Industry

2009-01-31T18:12:00.004-05:00

by Kent Berg

If you are in, or are contemplating entering, the bio-recovery industry, it’s important to remember this goal: the complete clean up of blood, tissue and other potentially infectious materials. Problem is, many people think that’s the only goal, and so all that is needed is a strong stomach and a mop. In fact, there are companies out there cleaning up scenes with that approach in mind. What we as technicians have to remember, however, is that in order to accomplish our task, there are a number of concerns we must address in order to do the job safely, effectively, and in compliance with the law. Ignoring any of these 10 concerns can cause employees to get sick (potentially with a lifetime of medical bills you will have to pay); lead to lawsuits from employees as well as customers; result in a bad reputation for poor performance; raise the ire of law enforcement agencies, and even lead to government fines.

Pathogenic Microbes These harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi can be present in spilled blood and body fluids as well as in the air. Splashes of blood or body fluids and inhalation of aerosolized blood or fungal spores from the gastrointestinal tract can cause illness. Some viruses, like Hepatitis, can even cause death. Most people are under the impression that these pathogens die when blood dries, but this is not the case. In fact, scientists have found live Hepatitis virus in blood that has been dried for over a month, and they believe it can actually live substantially longer. Protection against these invisible germs is paramount, and requires suits, gloves, face shields and respirators, regardless of how old the blood is. Not just any glove or suit will do, either. To assure that maximum protection is attained, seek out PPE that is specifically rated by the manufacturer or a testing organization like ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) for the job you are performing.

Psychological Trauma Just because someone has gutted a deer, worked in a nursing home or cleaned up after a nosebleed doesn’t mean they are psychologically prepared to clean a trauma scene. These scenes can be horrific: pieces of scalp hanging from the ceiling fan; brain matter splattered on the oil painting of the smiling family; bloody handprints sliding down the wall of a stabbing victim’s apartment; the crying and wailing of the family in the next room as you wipe away the remnants of their loved-one’s last moments. Turnover in this business is usually because of nightmares, inability to sleep, and depression. Staying mentally healthy is an important part of protecting yourself on the job.

Disinfectant Efficacy
Although there are more than 100 antimicrobial products that claim to kill germs, it is imperative to select the right one for the target pathogens you may encounter. Among the those rated to do the job, their true efficacy varies considerably and is subject to surface conditions, temperature, organic load, and even the material the contaminant is on. Disinfectant efficacy is also heavily influenced by the presence of biofilm. Biofilm is produced when bacteria colonize and collectively produce a coating that envelops the entire colony. This coating provides a protective layer under which the bacteria can thrive unaffected by many disinfectants.
Overlooked Contamination You just spent 50 hours cleaning up a bedroom where a father took his own life with a 12-guage shotgun. There was blood, tissue, brain matter and skull fragments covering nearly every square foot of the room and its contents. You were extremely cordial and sympathetic to the family. You used the right equipment and disinfectants. The room now looks great and the family is pleased. But if you have overlooked just one drop of blood, one piece of tissue or small skull fragment (perhaps a tooth behind the dresser), prepare to get a very angry phone call. You may as well not have done anything at all because, although you worked until you nearly dropped, that one overlooked piece of carnage has re-traumatized the family, and they are thinking of calling a lawyer.

Interaction With the Distressed Family Like funeral directors, we often have to interact with the immediate family of the deceased just a few hours after the event. These husbands, wives, parents and children are grieving and trying to cope with the emotional upheaval of an unexpected traumatic loss. Knowing what to say as well as what not to say is critical in establishing a rapport and conveying your sympathy, yet still obtaining the information necessary to do your job. Saying the wrong thing can at the very least get you off on the wrong foot, and possibly get you kicked off the property. Sensitivity and a caring attitude are essential in this business.

Recognizing Evidence
From time to time, technicians will discover evidence at a crime scene. Since we spend a great deal of time scouring the scene from top to bottom, moving furniture, opening drawers and so on, we come across things that may be important to investigators. The key is recognizing what might be related to the case. Obviously, guns, bloody knives and bullets should be reported, but it is with the more subtle things that you have to ask yourself, “Could this be important?” A roll of duct tape on the scene of a stabbing may have no significance, but what if you found one at the scene of an abduction? Knowing what the crime was can help you “tune-in” on items that may be crucial to an investigation.

Unreleased Scenes You get a phone call from an apartment complex manager who wants you to clean up a shooting scene in apartment 2-C. You rush over and the manager signs your contract. Hours later you pack up your truck, confident that you have cleaned and disinfected every square inch of the apartment. The next day you get a call from an irate police investigator who says the scene had not been released yet, and you have destroyed his crime scene. He is threatening to charge you with obstruction of justice! Make absolutely sure that crime scenes have been reported, investigated and released before doing the job.
Legal Issues As employers, we must adhere to the many OSHA regulations that apply to our trade. The most obvious is 29CFR1910.1030 the Bloodborne Pathogen Regulation, but there are many, many more, including the Respiratory Protection Regulations; Lockout-Tagout; Confined Space; Ladders; General Safety; and Personal Protective Equipment. These regulations were designed to protect our employees and violations can result in stiff penalties, lawsuits and damage to our credibility. In addition, we must employ contracts that provide protection to the property owner as well as the company and technicians. We must know who can sign our contracts, and we must have the appropriate insurance to protect us if anything goes wrong.

Migration of Liquids
Blood travels like water, but many people, including some technicians, tend to clean up only what they see (“If the red is gone, I’ve done my job.”). Unfortunately, blood runs under vinyl tile, under baseboards, down the seams of hardwood flooring, through OSB, and wicks up into drywall and down into concrete. Wiping blood off a surface is only the beginning of the remediation process. Most jobs are more complicated than they initially seem because most of the contamination is hidden. Just a few ounces of blood can penetrate a carpet, go through the pad onto the underlayment, find a seam and seep down the seam into the plywood subfloor. More than a few ounces can travel from an attic to a basement if the conditions are right. Knowing what to look for is the key to combating liquid migration.

Decomposition and Odors
Understanding the nature of human body decomposition and the liquids and odors produced is key to our business. Putricine and cadaverine are composed of a variety of chemicals, fats, bacteria and minerals that pose challenges for the bio-recovery technician. Understanding what chemicals to use, what home contents can be saved, and what the true hazards of the contamination are goes a long way in restoring the property quickly and economically.
As with any industry, there are always critical concerns that must be addressed in order to provide the best service possible. For the bio-recovery technician, failing to address any of these concerns can result in a very poor outcome, both for the family and your business. Proper training is of paramount importance, and certification from a nationally recognized organization will help assure that every scene is handled properly.

Kent Berg is the Director of the National Institute of Decontamination Specialists, an international crime and trauma scene cleanup training center certified by the American BioRecovery Association (ABRA). He is also a consultant and expert witness in the field of crime and trauma scene biorecovery. Kent can be reached at (864) 855-3400 or at www.NIDStraining.com

When the Police Call 911

2009-01-31T16:51:00.004-05:00

by Andrew Yurchuck Posted: January 27, 2009

Police officers work in a hostile environment. Danger lurks with every car stop and around every corner. Every modern police department issues its officers bullet-resistant vests to help keep them safe. Departments are very good at being proactive with immediate dangers. Many times, though, they overlook the threats that can affect their officers’ lives over the long haul, such as bloodborne pathogens.

Just one workman’s compensation claim for a police officer can cost a department millions of dollars in claims. Most departments are self-insured, or are part of a joint insurance fund that pays medical and general liability losses. The medical costs can be catastrophic for small departments.According to the United States Centers for Disease Control, in the general population, one in 300 people are HIV positive; one in 20 have Hepatitis, one in five have herpes and one in three have some type of bloodborne disease. If the statistics aren’t scary enough, keep in mind that police officers work every day around populations with an increased risk of carrying bloodborne pathogens, such as intravenous drug users, prostitutes and habitual offenders that have been incarcerated in close quarters for the long term. To complicate matters further, many of the people these officers deal with don’t even know they are sick or infectious.
Several lawsuits have been filed by present and former prisoners that have been exposed to bloodborne pathogens due to lack of cleanliness or being forced to occupy or clean up a space that had been contaminated with known body fluids. OSHA mandates police officers receive annual bloodborne pathogens training. However, this training is often inadequate for them to properly decontaminate the eventualities they may encounter on the job. Herein lies the opportunity for the bio-recovery specialist.

Different companies will operate in different ways, depending on location, department size, budget and time constraints, and other factors. For example, we service 70 contracts to clean patrol cars and jail cells, operating with round-the-clock service to get the police department cars and cells back into service fast (95 percent of calls for service are after hours and on weekends).

Bio-recovery companies that decide to offer these services must respond as rapidly as possible. Jobs like this can’t wait until Monday morning (or even until the next morning, for that matter). The service is most valuable to small departments, those that may operate with fewer than four holding cells and 10 patrol cars. For these departments it’s critical to be up and operating as soon as possible because of limited resources; daytime, weekday cleanups are often provided by public works departments.

Properly equipped and trained bio-recovery firms may also find themselves presented with a related opportunity: providing ongoing maintenance service for patrol cars and cells. Holding cells can be deep cleaned using specialized equipment the municipalities don’t have access to or else do not know how to properly use. Cells can often be power washed, with the wastewater recovered for sanitary disposal. Pest control can also be a lucrative offering, especially when department heads see the problem firsthand. Firms performing patrol car and cell decontamination also have a built-in opportunity to reach new markets: the same departments and officers you are taking care of will turn into some of your greatest champions when it comes to restoration jobs in their communities. Put another way, patrol car and jail cell cleaning is an easy, powerful way to keep your company in front of your current customers and future referrals.

Paying for the Service
It would be great if all police departments included emergency service decontamination in their annual budgets, but that’s not always the case. In situations where funds may be otherwise unavailable, explore having the police department recover the cost of your services from the offender. For example, if the police pick up a drunk driver and he vomits in the patrol car on the way to the station (this happens more than you think) the department calls in your decontamination team and they go to work.

Have the billing office send the invoice to the department before the offender is released, and have them attach the invoice to the offenders arrest jacket for remuneration. Just like a fine, the offender doesn’t get their driver’s license back until the department gets reimbursed. This is a win-win situation for all parties involved. Hiring a contractor for cleaning out the cars and cells improves department morale, eliminates occupational exposure for the under-trained, under-equipped police officer and provides proper disposal and remediation outlet for medical waste and other contaminants being removed from department property. Costs for cleanups vary wildly depending on the severity; some companies use police decontaminations as loss leaders, but informal polls show companies typically charge between $150 and $700 a car.

The business of bio-recovery should not be entered into lightly. The same risks that you are protecting the police officers from are dangers that you will face on the job. Proper training and equipment is critical to staying safe on the job. The American Bio-Recovery Association, as well as various for-profit companies, can take your training in the right direction.

Norovirus Outbreak on Hawaiian Waters

2009-01-31T16:39:00.003-05:00

By Ron Mizutani
Jan 27, 2009

A highly contagious virus sickened dozens of passengers during a recent cruise aboard the "Pride of America."
The United States Food and Drug Administration confirms Norwegian Cruise Lines reported a Norovirus outbreak on a cruise in Hawaiian Waters. Sources tell KHON more than 67 of the 1,837 passengers aboard the "Pride of America" between January 17th and the 24th were stricken by the virus.
"Norovirus is something that is always a problem in a confined environment where there are multiple different people coming together," said Dr. Alan Tice, infectious disease consultant. "Sometimes the diarrhea can be so bad that it is serious and occassionally people have to be hospitalized for it and it can be very miserable."
The Norovirus is a short-lived infection but the virus has shown up in stool samples taken eight weeks after an outbreak. State health officials could not comment on the case because it is a federal investigation but acknowledged it is assisting the F-D-A. They add all islands are on alert.
"And I think that's an error on the part of the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration -- these matters are serious they should be taken care of -- they should be addressed to the public in a timely fashion," said Carroll Cox of Envirowatch. "Things fall through he cracks because of bureaucracy."
The Pride of America is currently on another inter-island cruise. N-C-L did not return our calls.
"The procedures for Norovirus are pretty clear in terms of cleaning they have special cleaning agents in general that they use," said Tice. "They go around and general do an extraordinary job cleaning anywhere from door knobs, to carpets, to whatever that may be affected pools etc. where this virus can persist for a matter of often days."
In November 2007, about 400 out of 25-hundred passengers were stricken with Norovirus aboard the Pride Of Hawaii, the largest epidemic on a cruise ship of that size in '07. State health officials encourage anyone diagnosed with the virus to wash their hands after using the bathroom. Critics say that's not enough.
"This incident occurs and no transparency -- the public is not informed," said Cox. "If the state health department is involved -- than the state health department has a responsibility to inform the public."
In addition to the 67 passengers, 14 employees were also sickened by the virus.

Don't catch those cold germs in the air

2009-01-31T16:21:00.003-05:00

Julie Johnsson
January 29, 2009

Touch tray table. Touch mouth or eyes. Repeat.Those simple actions are a great way to pick up cold and flu viruses onboard an airplane, particularly this time of year when respiratory infections run rampant, said Dr. Michael Smith, chief medical editor with WebMD.com.Airplanes teem with common germs and bacteria found anywhere large numbers of people crowd into small places.But contrary to popular belief, germs at 40,000 feet are most frequently transmitted by touch rather than through the heating and cooling systems that circulate air through the cabin.A fellow passenger with a respiratory virus "touches something with their contaminated hand, you come along behind them and touch it," Smith said. While cold and flu viruses are airborne, "unless someone is sneezing or coughing in your face, that's not how most people contract these infections."It follows that airplane surfaces most frequently touched by passengers—tray tables, armrests, lavatory interiors—are the areas where microbes are likeliest to thrive. Some germs survive for several hours or longer on surfaces.By following a few simple steps, passengers can reduce common health risks on airplane flights, Smith said.•Don't touch your mouth or your eyes. "The germ is just not going to jump up from the countertop into your nose," Smith said. "It's the person putting it there."•Use a paper towel to open a lavatory door after you've washed your hands. It's the best way to avoid the unsavory tidbits lingering on bathroom door handles used by scores of people.•Stay hydrated. Humidity in an airplane cabin is typically very low, from 10 percent to 20 percent, drying out nasal passages and increasing the risk of respiratory infection.•Don't be shy. If you're seated next to someone with a raging cold, ask to move to an empty seat, if there is one. "If you're near somebody coughing and sneezing, moving only a couple of rows away makes a difference," Smith said.
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune

CRIME-SCENE CLEANUP HELP

2009-01-29T23:52:00.002-05:00

By FRANKIE EDOZIEN

It took six years, but the City Council finally passed a bill that established guidelines for the cleanup of grisly crimes scenes.
City Councilman Mike Nelson was stunned some years ago when a shootout on a south Brooklyn street left blood and guts spattered on a sidewalk and the stairs of a constituent's home.
The owner simply hosed it down but the stain remained.
"There were no rules. It was biohazardous and I was surprised to find out it just could stay there forever," said Nelson (D-Brooklyn).
Once Mayor Bloomberg signs the bill, homeowners in that situation will be able to call 311 to get information on how to clean up their property or recommendations on which companies can do it.

New York City "Crime Scene Cleanup" Legislation

2009-01-26T19:40:00.004-05:00

THE COUNCILBRIEFING PAPER AND REPORT OF THE GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS DIVISIONCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY PETER F। VALLONE JR।, CHAIR

April 25, 2006

OVERSIGHT: NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT’S CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATIONINT. NO. 123:

By Council Members Nelson, Gentile and LiuTITLE:

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to providing for the cleaning and restoration of crime scenes, on both public and private property.

The Committee on Public Safety, chaired by Council Member Peter F. Vallone Jr., met at 10:00 a.m. on April 25, 2006, to conduct a hearing on the New York City Police Department’s (“NYPD’s”) crime scene investigation (“CSI”). In addition, the Committee will solicit testimony regarding Int. No. 123, a local law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to providing for the cleaning and restoration of crime scenes, on both public and private property. The Committee expects testimony from the NYPD, as well as several companies that provide crime scene clean up services.I. NYPD CRIME SCENE UNIT PROCEDURES AND NEW INITIATIVESThe New York City Police Department’s Forensic Investigative Division encompasses the Crime Scene Unit (“CSU”), which is responsible for collecting and analyzing evidence obtained at crime scenes and providing expert court testimony. [1] CSU is dispatched for the following crimes: homicide, forcible rape, robbery or hijacking with injury caused by a firearm, aggravated assault with a dangerous instrument where the victim is likely to die, burglaries involving forced safes or circumvented alarms or any other crime for which CSU’s services are needed to assist in the investigation. [2]In September 2003, the Police Laboratory, in conjunction with Orchid Biosciences, Inc., launched the Biotracks program, a pilot project to solve burglaries committed in Queens using DNA evidence. CSU provided training to the Queens Evidence Collection Teams for the recognition, documentation, collection, and submission of potential DNA evidence from burglary crime scenes. The evidence was submitted to the Police Laboratory where it was categorized, evaluated for trace evidence, and subsequently forwarded to private labs for DNA analysis using funding from the National Institute of Justice (“NIJ”). [3] The DNA profiles that resulted from the analyses were forwarded to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (“OCME”), where they were technically reviewed and then uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System [4] (“CODIS”). The OCME and the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services notified the Police Laboratory of all the “hits” received from CODIS, which had resulted from burglary evidence submitted. The Police Laboratory then notified various detective squads, who conducted follow-up investigations to find and arrest the suspects. The Police Laboratory also notified the Queens District Attorney’s Office, which followed up with prosecution. As of July 2005, the Biotracks project has managed 311 burglary cases involving 537 samples. [5] One of the early cases involving the Biotracks program was the burglary of Nick Haralampopoulos’s house in Queens in January 2004. [6] The burglar left a scarf at the scene, which the police sent to the lab for DNA testing. [7] The DNA in the discarded scarf matched a defendant with prior felony convictions and DNA found at four other burglaries. [8] The defendant, 26-year-old Robert Medina, subsequently pleaded guilty in all five cases. [9] The Biotracks project later expanded into all five boroughs. [10] In March 2006, Biotracks helped solve a burglary in the Bronx where four men kicked in an elderly woman’s front door and proceeded to threaten her with a gun and steal $6,000 in cash. [11] II. HIGH PROFILE CASES INVOLVING DNA EVIDENCEForensic evidence has proved crucial in several recent high profile cases, including the investigation into the murder of Imette St. Guillen, a graduate student at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. After the arrest of Darryl Littlejohn, a bouncer at The Falls bar in Manhattan where Ms. St. Guillen was last seen, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes remarked, “It’s almost impossible now for criminals to hide their presence at the scene of a crime. They always leave something behind. It could be as small as a spot on a sweater. It could be a piece of evidence smaller than the head of a pin. It’ll be something, whatever it is.” [12] The forensic evidence implicating Mr. Littlejohn includes a blood match, fingerprints and traces of fur from a rabbit and mink coat. [13]Another case where DNA evidence was featured prominently was the case of Hunter College student Romona Moore in 2003. Ms. Moore was kidnapped, tortured, sexually assaulted and murdered by two men, Troy Hendrix, 19, and Kayson Pearson, 21. A judge-ordered DNA test helped link the defendants to the crime scene. [14] A jury convicted both men of kidnapping, rape, torture and first-degree murder on March 23, 2006. [15]III. NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATION CONCERNING DNA EVIDENCENew York State is also considering ways to further utilize DNA evidence. A State Investigation Commission report, released on March 20, 2006, recommended collecting DNA evidence from anyone convicted of a crime. [16] The bill, [17] passed in the New York State Senate but stalled in the New York State Assembly, would require DNA to be collected from anyone of a felony or a misdemeanor. [18] Currently New York State collects DNA from fewer than half of those convicted of felonies in the state, [19] and is only one of seven states that do not catalogue DNA profiles for all convicted felons. [20]IV. BACKGROUND ON CRIME SCENE CLEAN-UPA. Basic ProceduresThough every crime scene is unique, basic procedures are followed for the clean-up of any scene. [21] First, the immediate surrounding area is contained. Simple biohazard tape can be used to seal off a crime scene if it is indoors, and tarps are typically used to shield the viewing of a crime scene clean-up occurring outdoors. [22] A topical barrier, such as hospital-grade germicides, is then applied, generally by spraying. [23] This procedure prevents airborne dispersion of pathogens, and in crime scenes that have remained untouched for a period of time, serves to liquefy dried blood. [24] Anything that cannot be absorbed by a sponge is frequently packaged and removed after the germicide application. [25] Commonly clothing, shoes and other personal belongings are taken away, but furniture, mattresses, carpeting, flooring and entire sections of walls are sometimes removed as well. [26]After the initial removal, the exhaustive clean-up begins, using sponges, towels and mops, which may be supplemented by vacuums, shovels or even toothbrushes. [27] All supplies are only used once and then discarded; germicides are thoroughly applied during clean-up as well. [28] A last layer of antimicrobial agents is sprayed before a final wipedown of the scene. [29] Cleaning supplies and all materials removed from the scene is destroyed in a medical waste incinerator.B. Roles of Private Firms and City AgenciesThe task of cleaning up crime scenes often falls on grieving families who may lack the emotional and technical wherewithal to handle the job, but increasingly the job of crime scene clean-up in apartments or other private property is done by companies specializing in biohazardous waste. [30] As crime scene clean up is a niche industry, there are only a handful of firms serving New York City that focus on such matters. When crime scenes are in public housing, the New York City Housing Authority becomes involved, employing its own trained workers or hiring private contractors to clean up the remnants of a tragedy. [31]Clean-up responsibilities are more vague when a crime occurs on a public street. The New York City Police Department bears no responsibility for cleaning up a crime scene, and if the scene is on the street, the clean-up responsibility falls on the New York City Department of Sanitation or other appropriate agencies. [32] Even the role of the Department of Sanitation is limited, since it does not handle the removal of blood or human remains. [33] An engine truck from the New York City Fire Department frequently washes down the area with water to clear the remaining debris, although this does not always happen. [34] The few biohazard clean-up companies rarely work on asphalt or concrete. [35]C. Cost of Crime Scene Clean-UpThe New York State Crime Victims Board reimburses up to $2,500 towards the cost of crime scene clean-up, [36] but depending on the circumstances of the crime, the total clean-up cost may exceed that amount. Services at some biohazard clean-up firms start at $600 for cases of minimal decomposition, and the cost can escalate into the thousands for more extensive jobs. [37] The latest clean-up procedures are costly, such as the service of superheating an entire apartment to eradicate microbes. [38] This procedure eliminates the need to dispose of every personal item, and the minimum cost for this process is $3,000. [39]V. INTRODUCTION 123Introduction 123 makes the city responsible for cleaning a crime scene that “occurs on or within any portion of publicly owned property.” [40] If the crime scene occurs on private property, the NYPD will be required to provide the property owner with “a list of all known companies specializing in the cleanup of bio-hazardous materials,” or to clean the property if the owner cannot pay for cleaning services. [41] Bio-recovery technicians are cross-trained in a multitude of biohazard clean-up techniques, and are equipped to professionally clean crime scenes that property owners and anguished relatives cannot due to physical constraints and emotional trauma.Int. No. 123By Council Members Nelson, Gentile and LiuA Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to providing for the cleaning and restoration of crime scenes, on both public and private property. Be it enacted by the Council as follows:Section 1. Declaration of Legislative Findings and Intent. The task of cleaning the city’s gruesome and contaminated crime scenes often falls on citizens who are traumatized by the events that produced such scenes. Not only are these citizens emotionally and often times physically unprepared to deal with this job, they also lack the appropriate knowledge and/or supplies to safely discard hazardous materials found on site or the ability to effectively decontaminate the premises. It is apparent that serious health and safety issues arise when citizens, and not city agencies and/or private crime scene clean up companies, perform this undertaking. Professionals who specialize in hazardous waste cleanup should bear this responsibility, so as to ensure the safe restoration of crime scenes, and to relieve property owners of the psychological and physical burden associated with the obligation. §2. Chapter 1 of title 14 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended to add a new section 14-152, to read as follows:§14-152. Crime Scene Clean Upa. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the term “crime scene” means a) a) the site at which an illegal act took place, and b) b) a site which contains any of the following types of evidence: (i) (i) impressions such as fingerprints, tool marks, footwear, fabric impressions, tire marks and bite marks;(ii) forensic biology including either blood, semen, body fluids, hair, nail scrapings or blood stain patterns; (iii) trace evidence including gun shot residues, arson accelerant, paint, glass and fibers; or(iv) firearms, including weapons, gun powder patterns, casings, projectiles, fragments, pellets, wadding or cartridges. b. Public Property. If a crime scene occurs on or within any portion of publicly owned property, the city shall clean the affected area. Such cleaning shall involve any or all of the following procedures: (i) (i) the immediate containment of the affected area(s), involving either biohazard tape when indoors, or the usage of tarps when outdoors;(ii) (ii) the application of hospital-grade germicides to the affected area(s) throughout the cleanup;(iii) (iii) the initial removal of all materials that cannot be cleaned, including, but not limited to, clothing, shoes, eyeglasses, mattresses, carpeting, and flooring; (iv) (iv) the detailed cleaning of the affected area(s), by means of a variety of tools and appliances, to be used only once before being discarded; (v) (v) the application of anti-microbial agents, sprayed on the affected area(s); and (vi) (vi) a final wipe-down of the premises. c. Private Property. If a crime scene occurs on or within any portion of privately owned property, the police department shall: (i) provide the owner of such property a list of all known companies specializing in the cleanup of bio-hazardous materials so as to enable the owner to employ such services; or(ii) (ii) Clean the property, as described in subdivision b, in the event that the owner can not afford to pay for such services, or chooses not to seek out such services. §3. This local law shall take effect immediately.TBInt 770/2005

Crime & Trauma Scene Bio-Recovery – Growing Pains in a Niche Industry

2008-10-29T23:54:00.002-04:00

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.

Old and new viruses spread by air travel, crowding

2008-10-27T23:34:00.001-04:00

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.

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.

Climate change seen aiding spread of deadly diseases

2008-10-07T18:44:00.000-04:00

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.

2 officers at Union County jail diagnosed with MRSA

2008-10-07T16:35:00.001-04:00

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.

Disinfectants Can Make Bacteria Resistant To Treatment

2008-10-07T16:30:00.000-04:00

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

New Needle Disposal Law

2008-09-06T18:40:00.000-04:00

New law may jeopardize used needle and syringe drop boxes
By Ellie Oleson CORRESPONDENT

Trash hauling can be hazardous, particularly for those at risk of being stuck with a used hypodermic needle. To try to prevent such incidents, the Massachusetts Public Health Council approved regulations banning needles from the residential trash stream as of 2010, but related laws already in effect have some health officials concerned. Several communities have established medical “sharps” collection programs for safe disposal, but one state law could undermine these programs and lead to more carelessly disposed of needles in parks and playgrounds, according to Dr. Leonard E. Morse, health commissioner in Worcester.

The city launched Operation Yellow Box on May 12. Four U.S. Postal Service-grade, heavy metal, securely locked drop boxes painted glossy yellow and funded through the Hoche-Scofield Foundation, are scattered throughout the city: at AIDS Project Worcester on Green Street, the Family Health Center on Queen Street, the Senior Center on Providence Street and Great Brook Valley Health Center on Tacoma Street. Each is identified in English, Spanish and Vietnamese as a needle and syringe drop box. The boxes are emptied weekly by licensed medical waste disposal specialists. “There has been no vandalism or abuse. They are pristine,” said Dr. Morse, after checking the boxes recently. “Since May, we have collected 80 gallons of used syringes that are not on our streets and in our parks in the city,” Dr. Morse said. But the program is in jeopardy, he said. “Unbeknownst to me, the state Legislature issued new laws that require that sharps users put their needles in leak-proof, rigid, puncture-resistant and shatterproof containers. One-third of the 3 billion sharps used outside medical facilities in the United States are used by injection drug abusers. They are not going to put their needles in containers. The Worcester Department of Public Health is concerned about careless disposal of needles in our parks, playgrounds and streets.” Dr. Morse said that “many loose syringes and needles have been deposited” in the yellow boxes. “This law defeats the purpose of our collection. If that law is upheld, the program will be a complete failure. We will continue to collect used needles and will seek an amendment to the law. The next generation should not see hypodermic needles on the streets and parks as part of their normal habitat.” “If used syringes and needles were packaged as the new law requires, it would be perfectly safe to dispose of them in the municipal waste stream,” he said. Massachusetts Department of Public Health spokeswoman Donna E. Rheaume said no comment was received at the public hearing or during the comment period on the law or regulations placing restrictions on the types of containers that may be used for sharps. “We are aware of concerns expressed subsequent to the public hearing by Project Yellow Box,” she said. “Millions of needles end up in the trash every week” in Massachusetts, said Ms. Rheaume. Hopefully, soon most sharps will end up in safety kiosks instead of household trash, she said. The Massachusetts Public Health Council approved regulations in June 2008 which ban the disposal of sharps in household waste as of July 1, 2010, said Ms. Rheaume. The DPH encourages communities to set up sharps collection programs and has purchased 30 kiosks for placement in HIV-AIDS prevention, education and treatment centers to help encourage safe disposal of sharps in cities. DPH has offered three of its funded syringe disposal kiosks to Worcester and is waiting to hear from the city, Ms. Rheaume said. Dr. Morse said the first of the new kiosks just arrived in the city and will be used. He said he would like to place additional yellow boxes at the Willis Center on Chandler Street, the Division of Public Health office on Meade Street and at two retail pharmacies. Auburn just launched its sharps collection program last week, when it opened a sharps kiosk in Town Hall. The kiosk was to move to its permanent location in the CVS pharmacy at 676 Southbridge St. on Aug. 26. Andrew R. Pelletier, director of public health in Auburn, said he “fully supported Dr. Morse’s beneficial service to Worcester,” but that in Auburn, the problem is more with legally used medical sharps than with drug abusers’ needles. “I don’t want to take anything away from the Worcester program, and I would stand with Dr. Morse in his attempts to protect the citizens of Worcester. In Auburn, we have the ability to tell everyone to put the needles in the individual containers we will supply before disposing of them in our kiosk,” Mr. Pelletier said. Amy M. Urevich, health inspector in Auburn, said that as more medical procedures require at-home injections and tests, the number of syringes, lancets and hypodermic needles in the trash “can be alarming.” She said that those living with diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, fertility problems or other health issues might require several injections or blood tests per day, each time with a new needle or lancet. “We don’t want people putting their sharps in coffee cans or laundry detergent bottles that can end up in the recycling. We have free individual one-quart or one-gallon sharps containers people can take home, use, then dispose of in the kiosk when full and take home a new container,” Ms. Urevich said. “The containers are not childproof and should be kept out of reach of children. They are not for knives or razor blades.” The cost of the Auburn program is being funded by the Auburn trash and recycling company Casella Waste Services, which hired Aftermath Cleaning Co., a licensed crime-scene cleaner, to empty the kiosk. The Auburn Chamber of Commerce, Lions Club of Auburn and Harmon Home Health of Worcester donated 600 individual sharps containers for the program. “Instead of telling people what they can’t do, we want to tell them what they can do, safely and legally,” Mr. Pelletier said. Nancy E. Allen, director of public health in Shrewsbury, said her community has had a sharps disposal program in place for several years. The large sharps container is in the Health Department’s Town Hall office. Medical Waste Disposal Co. regularly removes the sharps from the container. All sharps must be in individual containers, which the health department will provide, if necessary. “The program costs the town about $400 per year. It’s worth it to protect people on the trash trucks from hazardous exposure,” Ms. Allen said. Robert M. Stodolski, municipal account manager for Central Mass Disposal Inc. in Auburn, said his trash haulers are told to “be aware” while working. “People are stuck on rare occasions. I worked on the back of a truck and I have the scars to prove it. It’s like driving down the road in a car. It can be hazardous.” Dr. Morse said one custodian in the city was clearing a trash chute in a multistory housing complex when he was stuck by a needle. “He was treated against HIV-AIDS for six months and was very frightened.” If a trash hauler, custodian or anyone is stuck, the source of the needle is found and the person responsible for putting it in the trash or the municipality responsible for the trash is contacted, if possible. There can be serious consequences. According to state law, “improper disposal of infectious or physically dangerous medical or biological waste may result in penalties of up to $25,000 or two years in a correction facility.”

Cleaning Up After Violent Deaths in Florida

2008-09-03T23:26:00.001-04:00

By JILL SHATZEN Special to The Sun
BRANDON KRUSE/The Gainesville Sun

Crystal Pinkston and her husband Dan Pinkston own Accident Cleaners Inc., a business that specializes in cleaning up after a death — the blood, fluids, etc. — so that grieving families don’t have to.

Dan and Crystal Pinkston say they lead as normal a life as they can, given their occupation. But when their business gets the call to clean up a mess, we’re not talking an ordinary mess.
Their business is Accident Cleaners Inc., a trauma and crime scene cleanup service that Dan, 37, has owned and operated since 2001 and now shares with his wife, Crystal, 25.

Their job is to clean up the aftermath of a death — the blood, fluids, etc. — so that grieving family members don’t have to. The glossy brochure they place into the hands of their heartbroken clients displays photos of sad faces and words like, “Compassion in Crisis” and “You repair your heart, let us repair your home.” And that’s what they do.

“You’ve got to be careful,” Dan said. “You don’t want to use the word ‘understand’ because you don’t understand. So we try to be as polite as we can be and get the job done fast and quick so they can get on with their healing.”

The unusual business idea was the brainchild of Dan Pinkston, who, after working as a firefighter with the Ocala Fire Department for more than a decade, said he began to see a trend. He said many times he would be on a job where casualties occurred and the family members would look to the firemen to clean up the mess.

“The thing is, the fire department doesn’t do it, the police department doesn’t do it, so the family members were left to clean it up,” he said, before Crystal added, “They really had no choice.”
That’s when Dan Pinkston said he realized that there was a demand for a business that would do the job that no one wanted to do, and do it in a sensitive, compassionate way. He traveled to Boston in 2001 to take a week-long class to become certified by the American Bio-Recovery Association but found he had already fulfilled many of the requirements through the fire department.

After being in business for about four years, Dan met Crystal through a set-up by a mutual friend, and the two were married in October 2007. For Crystal Pinkston, taking on the business wasn’t as big of a shock as it could have been.

“I was in the janitorial services business before we met,” she said. “I started my own business and had it for about five years or so, and he was in this business already, so it was just kind of transferring over to a different kind of cleaning.”

The Pinkstons said that while business has steadily increased since they began in 2001, there are limits to the number of calls they receive. On average, they said they receive about two calls per month, and added that several have been high-profile crimes.

“We’re not living in Miami or New York,” Dan said. “We don’t have the crime that those areas have. We stay busy, but it’s not going off the charts and we’re happy about that.” Crystal agreed, saying, “You don’t just sit around and pray for business by any means. Business is good, but we don’t want to encourage anyone.”

Both said that sometimes it’s hard not to take the job home with them. Dan said the hardest job he has ever had to do was clean up after the suicide of a 12-year-old boy. For Crystal, it’s the homicides that hit her the hardest.

“In a homicide you have to think about the fact that someone was murdered,” she said. “They were taken by surprise; it was not their free will to come in and have this happen to them. It’s difficult for me just seeing how someone struggled trying to stay alive in these cases.”
Still, they maintain that being in it together is what helps them through.

“It just all goes back to helping people,” Dan said. “That’s why you do it.”

Experts say anthrax buildings can be cleaned, but will people go back?

2008-08-28T21:33:00.000-04:00

Though anthrax has turned American Media Inc.'s Florida headquarters into a 70,000-square-foot white elephant and workers are reluctant to return, experts in decontamination say there are new products that can make such buildings safe again.

"I, personally, would go into the building," says general counsel Mike Kahane, whose office was located in the three-story Boca Raton center that housed six of the nation's largest tabloids. "But I know many people don't feel the same way I do."

American Media is looking for new quarters while company officials consider putting the building up for sale. But experts say they can deal with anthrax-contaminated buildings, noting that no one would dream of abandoning such landmarks as the U.S. Senate office building and NBC headquarters at New York's 30 Rockefeller Plaza just because traces of the deadly bacteria were found there.

"You can't walk away from these buildings all over the United States," says Joan Dougherty, president of AA Trauma Cleanup in Pompano, Fla., an environmental cleanup company.
If the old reliable bleach and water method were the only thing available, it would be nearly impossible to clean up all the anthrax without gutting the affected areas. But people in the decontamination business are pinning their hopes on a new product developed at a government laboratory with congressional backing.

Officials are conducting tests on a bacteria-killing agent developed by Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., which is run by Lockheed Martin Corp. for the Department of Energy. The product, known in the industry as the "SNL formulation," can be used as a liquid, gel, foam, aerosol or fog.
Anthrax spores are 1-5 microns in size and act like a hard shell for the bacteria. They are resistant to heat, cold, drought and radiation exposure, and can persist for decades or longer in soil.

The Sandia product is designed to break down the protective coating and attack the DNA. Ron Gospodarski, president of Bio-Recovery Corp. in New York City, says anthrax spores tend to clump and settle on surfaces, where this decontamination agent can reach them.
"These spores can't burrow themselves into walls and can't burrow themselves into the flooring or the ceiling or anything like that," he says. "So when we come in and fog or we come in and foam or we come in and put topical applications of the SNL formulation, it's going to kill everything that's there."

AMI employees are worried about anthrax in the air ducts and on computer keyboards, like the one used by deceased photo editor Robert Stevens. Gospodarski says the fog particles are smaller than the spores and can go anyplace anthrax can.
"We're pushing that into all the little crevices that even the micron spores of anthrax couldn't fit," he says.

EnviroFoam Technologies Inc. of Huntsville, Ala., one of two companies licensed to market the product, is consulting with officials in New York, Washington and Florida. Kevin Irvine, the company's manager of technical sales, says the product is being tested on the anthrax strain recovered from Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office.

Irvine says he's seen the product work in laboratories, and he's confident it can make workplaces safe. "I'd stake my life on it -- and I may have to," says Irvine, an Army chemical corps veteran.
The trouble is, there is no government protocol for certifying a building, once decontaminated, as 100 percent safe.
"You would actually have to almost verify every centimeter of that office, and that's virtually impossible," says Brian Kalamanka, president and CEO of Modec Inc., a Denver company also licensed by Sandia. "It's identifying it, treating it and then verifying. And there is nothing available today on a widescale basis."

Kalamanka says it could be costly to treat these buildings. But not reoccupying them would be like letting the perpetrators "accomplish their goal."
In the end, it's going to take a cost/benefit analysis to determine which buildings are reoccupied, and which are torn down, says Dr. Arnold Schecter, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Dallas.
Schecter was commissioner of public health for Broome County, N.Y., in 1981, when a transformer fire contaminated an 18-story state office building with deadly dioxin and PCBs. The state decided it would be cheaper to clean up than tear down; it took 13 years and $53 million, and trace amounts of the chemicals still turn up in tests.
While dioxins are a chemical contaminant and anthrax is a biological one, Schecter says the same principles apply.
"They can be cleaned up sufficiently for reuse," he says. "There's also the economic and the emotional side of the equation. ... I mean, the $53 million for one 18-story building in Binghamton, N.Y., many years ago is a rather staggering amount of money."
Cleanup at AMI in Florida is a moot point for now; the building is still an active crime scene.
Even if the $4.6 million structure could be fogged, Kahane says a "significant number of employees don't want to go back."
Others may soon be facing these same questions. Three Florida post offices have shown traces of anthrax, and there have been several other exposures -- including the 7-month-old son of an ABC News producer in New York.
Gospodarski and a team were planning to enter the ABC News offices at Central Park West to do some precautionary cleanup. They were armed with the old standard -- 10 percent bleach solution.
Despite his confidence in the emerging technology, Gospodarski says he can understand why people would be afraid.
"That's like saying, 'OK, let's rebuild the World Trade Center towers,'" he says.
"But does anybody want to have that office on the 102nd floor? I don't think many hands would go up."

The Corpse Is Gone; Enter Quietly the Cleaners

2008-08-28T21:22:00.000-04:00

By FRANCIS X. CLINES
Published: November 23, 1999

Once cadavers and evidence are removed from a typical crime scene, the police and paramedics drive away, leaving a traumatized family and an opportunity for a delicate enterprise now quietly evident across the land.
''The family just went through this horrific event and now they have to clean up, too?'' Becky Della-Rodolfa said, describing the rationale of her private Philadelphia business that specializes in the cleaning and repairing of the aftermath of homicides, suicides and other mayhem.
More than 200 such companies have been started in urban areas in recent years, according to a Washington lobbying association that is seeking government standards for an industry that practitioners find fraught with public health and professional concerns.
''We need standard ethics and procedural rules for a business that is growing by leaps and bounds,'' said Ron Gospodarski, president of the lobbying group, the American Bio-Recovery Association. The three-year-old association serves an industry that is thriving on the fact that government agencies generally make no provision to clean up the scenes of traumatic deaths.
An exception is Phoenix, where the municipal government has contracted with Dale Cillian, an industry pioneer with 15 years' experience, to clean up after biohazardous crimes and accidents, from homicides to car crashes.
''We should be under the same standards as the funeral industry,'' Mr. Cillian said, warning that fly-by-night operators have been appearing more frequently.
His business, Biopro LLC, has cleaned more than 5,000 crime and accident scenes using high-tech equipment and medical-waste-disposal techniques that the national association wants established as a government requirement.
''I was a paramedic for 18 years,'' Mr. Gospodarski said. He runs a cleanup company in the New York City area that routinely deals with blood-borne and airborne contaminants at scenes of violent deaths or deaths that are not immediately discovered. His workers, wearing protective gear, move in after the police and rip out floorboards and wall panels in tracking the flow of wastes.
''A lot of us got into it from public safety jobs because we got tired of seeing families shocked in the midst of tragedy as they watched cops and medics just strip off their gloves and walk away,'' Mr. Gospodarski said.
He noted the premium on speed in his business, citing one overnight cleanup at a New York restaurant where four people were shot to death. ''An eight-hour job, very messy, blood trails on the walls through the place, and the manager was very, very grateful we could be there within 30 minutes,'' Mr. Gospodarski said of his company, the Bio-Recovery Corporation.
Ms. Della-Rodolfa started her business, Trauma Scene Restoration, when she heard a friend who was a police officer talk of the frustration of leaving shocked families behind after a death. ''I don't think society knows this type of industry exists,'' she said, describing the largely unadvertised manner of the business in which a funeral director, medical examiner or sympathetic ambulance driver might inform a family of a local specialist.
''Restoring the scene and peace of mind'' is the motto of Ms. Della-Rodolfa's small company, as printed in an advertisement in the local yellow pages under House Cleaning. It is embossed as well on packets of golf tees that she distributes at police and medical examiners' conventions. ''They love golf,'' she said.
''We can't call up troubled families -- that would be unethical ambulance chasing,'' Ms. Della-Rodolfa declared as she dealt with a new job. It involved cleaning the home of an elderly recluse who had died alone in a house knee-deep in trash, with 12 cats left unattended for six weeks.
This job will cost $30 an hour and require some messy labor, she estimated. Other jobs at scenes of violence or extended decomposition, with potentially infectious blood and other waste, cost $100 an hour.
She has a staff of three full-time workers with others on call. They use an array of disposable clothing and respirators, and subcontract with a medical-waste company to burn all corpse-related residue.
This precaution is something that Mr. Gospodarski would like to see made a government regulation.
He described a job in the Bronx involving a man whose body was found two weeks after death and who turned out to have had hepatitis and been H.I.V.-positive. Effluvia had seeped into the apartment below, creating a potentially nightmarish situation that local health officials knew nothing about, Mr. Gospodarski said.
Beyond violent deaths, decomposition cases involving people who died alone and neglected make up half of his business, Mr. Gospodarski said.
In Phoenix, Mr. Cillian, who is a firefighter, obtained a general contractor's license to qualify for the dismantling and repairing that can be required at a noisome crime scene. Jobs average about $350, but chaotic crime scenes can cost thousands, he said, noting that he does pro bono work in cases of hardship.
''There's a lot of shootings out here, and the scene at one of them looked like a war zone,'' he said of a recent shootout between a police officer and his killer. ''A hundred rounds were fired; the place was pocked like a movie set.'' When he heard that the police officer's grieving family members wanted to see the scene, Mr. Cillian said, he had all the bullet-torn doors and blood-stained surfaces removed or covered to spare them extra trauma.
Some states, including New York, offer crime victims up to $2,500 for their expenses, and lately trauma cleanup costs have been accepted, Mr. Gospodarski said. But home insurance claims are more open to dispute, as in instances of suicide, Ms. Della-Rodolfa said.
''That can mean the second trauma,'' she said. ''This is when a family must relive the first one all over again by cleaning it up.''

Local Bio-Recovery Firm Cleans Up Anthrax In Manhattan

2008-08-28T21:15:00.001-04:00

Toledo, OH.
November 8, 2001:

It started with crime and trauma scene remediation, bird and rodent droppings, uninhabitable dwellings and toxic mold abatement. Now you can add anthrax to the list. Bio-Recovery Services' owner, Fred Schutt, returned from Manhattan last Monday after a grueling three-day and night stretch of decontaminating anthrax spores. The building, in midtown Manhattan, is part of Rockefeller Center on the Avenue of Americas. It is home to the New York Post and Fox News, among others. Bio-Recovery Services provided labor and additional equipment, such as HEPA filtered negative pressure air scrubbers, HEPA vacuums, respirators, cyclone foggers, and decontamination foam licensed by the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico.
Mr. Schutt worked closely with Ron Gospodarski of Bio-Recovery Corporation of Woodside, NY, who also performed the decontamination work for ABC Studios in Manhattan. Both are members of the American Bio-Recovery Association. Gospodarski is a Past President and Schutt holds a chair on the Board of Directors. Mr. Schutt also received a Proclamation for Citizen of the Month from the City of Toledo's Mayor, Carty Finkbeiner and gratitude from New York City Mayor, Rudy Gulliani.

CLEAN SWEEP

2008-08-28T21:11:00.000-04:00

Clean Sweep
09/ 27/ 2005
by Jodie Davis

Most entrepreneurs don’t think it’s good for business to hear reports of anthrax, terrorism and rising crime. Unless, that is, you’re Ron Gospodarski, a licensed paramedic and owner of Bio-Recovery Corporation, a professional crime-scene cleaner in Woodside, N.Y.While working as the operations manager for the New York City district attorney’s office, Gospodarski started researching potential businesses. "I remembered going to these crime scenes and seeing the paramedics throw their dirty gloves on the street after responding to an accident, and I thought, 'Somebody has to clean this up."Working out of an office in his bedroom, Gospodarski started Bio-Recovery Corp. in 1996 with less than a $10,000 investment. Today, he owns several cleaning trucks and has six full-time employees and a slew of part-time and on-call workers.So what’s a day in the life of a professional cleaner like? "We deal with a lot of gory stuff, from blood and body fluids to anthrax, bio-virus cleanups and mold remediation," says Gospodarski, whose revenues have risen by 450% since starting nine years ago.But cleaning isn’t limited to crime scenes anymore. Bio-Recovery Corp. also performs routine clean-room sanitation for surgical centers and does structural drying and mold remediation for flood-damaged buildings. He even cleans cruise ships contaminated with the Norwalk virus, a foodborne disease that can spread quickly on ships."We’ve expanded into markets we never thought we’d get involved in," Gospodarski says. “Our customers know we have the best knowledge base to handle almost any hazardous clean-up--so they use us instead of traditional remediation companies.“The best thing about this business is that it’s sort of recession proof,” Gospodarski says. “Whether the economy is up or down, there are always situations that involve dangerous bodily fluids, viruses and biohazards. And, there’s a sense of fulfillment that comes from the work. Someone’s got to snuff out nasty organisms that threaten the public.”