Someone's got to do it

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

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

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

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

US Army suicides hit grim record for 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

When Bodies Go Unnoticed

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

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

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.