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You are here: Home / Blog

The Hazards of Hoarding

May 11, 2015 By Alan Cohen

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Hoarding is a psychological condition that results in a person accumulating an enormous amount of trash and things of little-to-no value, or worse, more animals than can be properly cared for. Hoarding of any kind can pose several dangers to the occupant and neighbors, and certainly to animals if they are involved. These hazards can be deadly, and all the more reason people with hoarding disorder should have professional help to restore them to healthy living conditions. If children and animals are in the home, exposed to these perilous dangers, hoarding is also a crime. Hoarders Hallway Before

Structural Integrity Loss

The weight of debris and hoarded items is often more than the floors are able to withhold. The sheer volume of debris in a room can push up against walls, not only damaging their integrity, but also putting the ceiling and roof at risk of collapse. Likewise, the collapse of walls, floors or ceilings can cause gas lines and water pipes to break, resulting in fire and flood damage.

Fire

Large amounts of paper, such as newspapers, books, boxes, and discarded food wrappers and packaging, or improperly stored combustibles can pose extreme fire dangers. If space heaters are used, close proximity to any debris can also cause fire.

Collapse of Debris

Often, hoarders will create precarious paths between large piles of debris, or will crawl over mountains of trash to get around in the house. If these trash piles collapse, they could trap the hoarder underneath, burying the person alive. This could result in death from suffocation or inability to notify anyone they need help.

Decay/Decomposition

As is often the case, hoarders not only collect relatively useless items, but they tend to not dispose of much of anything. The decay of spoiled food stuffs and waste can lead to terrible odors and airborne pathogens that can be harmful or even deadly. In a very unusual case in San Francisco, the mummified body of a 90 year old woman was found in an extreme hoarding case. Officials believe she died 5 years previously.

Harmful Biohazards

In almost all hoarding scenes, biohazards are present. Biohazards can be toxic or infectious, even deadly, and can lead to any range of illnesses and dangers to the resident or neighbors. Common biohazardous materials include spoiled food, feces and urine, blood, bodily fluids, pet waste and dead animals.

Infestations

The decay and decomposition of organic materials and biohazards, undoubtedly attract pests. Rodents will leave waste and very often get trapped and die within a hoarding residence. This further increases the potential harm to the hoarder, as well as neighbors. This is why hoarding goes beyond an individual and becomes a community problem.

Personal Hygiene and Nutritional Issues

A hoarding situation can become so extreme that debris blocks access to a kitchen and bathrooms. When the kitchen is blocked or is overwhelmed by harmful waste, proper food preparation becomes impossible. And when bathrooms become blocked, makeshift alternatives are used, with an absence of hygiene. In the extreme hoarding case in San Francisco, police found over 300 bottles of urine on the premises.

If a loved one or a neighbor is a hoarder and living in unsafe conditions, we can help with the cleanup and refer you to other helpful resources. If animals or children are at risk, we can also put you in touch with law enforcement agencies that can assist.

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Filed Under: Call for Answers, Hoarding Tagged With: animal abuse, animal hoarding, animal hoarding cleanup, biohazard cleanup, child abuse, hoarding cleanup

Insurance Coverage for Traumatic Scene Cleanups

May 7, 2015 By Alan Cohen

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Covered By Most Insurance

Biohazard Cleanup

Biohazard Cleanup is often very traumatic for the survivors. We strongly believe survivors should never be re-victimized or forced to clean up after a traumatic event themselves. In most cases we can work directly with insurance companies so survivors have minimal out-of-pocket expenses, and a few less things to deal with. Bottom line is there is Insurance Coverage for Traumatic Scene Cleanups.

The biohazard cleanup after a traumatic scene in a private residence is usually covered under a homeowner’s insurance policy. Policies typically cover cleanup, structural restoration, and even contaminated personal property that was removed and disposed of as regulated medical waste. Bio SoCal initiates the insurance claims for survivors, and we provide all the required, detailed information, directly to the adjuster. This includes full photographic documentation, upon arrival, during remediation, and final cleanup results. We inventory all items and structural elements requiring remediation, as well as all items disposed of due to contaminates. We will also work with the insurance adjuster directly, to answer any further questions.

For renters or people without homeowner’s insurance, there is the California Victim Compensation Program that may provide cleanup and remediation compensation reimbursement to survivors. This compensation is only applicable if the cleanup is done by an individual or company that is registered with the California Department of Health as a trauma scene waste management practitioner.

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Filed Under: Biohazards, Here to Help, Suicide Tagged With: biohazard cleanup, biohazard remediation, cleanup, homeowner's insurance, insurance, victim insurance

The Aftermath of a Traumatic Event – What to Expect

May 5, 2015 By Alan Cohen

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aftermath of a traumatic eventBiohazard cleanup companies clean up what you shouldn’t. We specialize in the safe and discreet cleanup and remediation of blood and bodily fluids, after attempted or successful suicides, crime scenes, undiscovered death and decomposition, and traumatic accidents. Blood and bodily fluids can contaminate floors, walls, ceilings, windows, light fixtures, furniture, clothing and personal items. If not cleaned and removed thoroughly and safely, the remains can be bio-hazardous and cause odors. Hiring a professional is important to avoid re-victimizing survivors, and to assure safe and secure cleanup of tragic scenes left behind.

You are likely left with many unanswered questions and the traumatic aftermath of the scene, which varies depending on what transpires. Here’s a step-by-step explanation of what you can expect when faced with the traumatic loss of a loved one.

Police Release the Scene

A traumatic death always involves the police, whose investigations can take a few hours or several days, depending on the situation. The coroner will remove the body but neither the police nor the coroner clean up or remove any contaminated matter. Once the police conclude their investigations, you will then be free to call in a professional biohazard cleanup service.

The First Phone Call

When you call us, you will speak to a person immediately, no matter when you call, any hour of any day (24 x 7 x 365). We will have some difficult questions to ask,to prepare us for the fastest and most effective cleanup. Here is what we’ll need to know:

  • Has the scene been released by the police and coroner?
  • What is the relationship is between you and the deceased?
  • Will you be our contact person upon arrival?
  • Is the scene a house, apartment, business, parking lot, backyard, public area, etc.
  • What type of incident caused the trauma: gun shot(what type of gun), stabbing, assault, slit wrists, hanging, unattended death, etc.
  • How many areas are effected?

Our Arrival

Unmarked VehiclesOur primary objective is to help spare you the trauma of having to deal with the physical aftermath of this tragic event. We arrive in an unmarked plain white truck, to assure discretion and confidentiality. We are here to listen and want you to be comfortable with us and our services. You will not have to re-enter the scene if you so choose, nor do you have to stay on the premises during the cleanup phase. We will evaluate the scene and situation, this can take up to an hour, then report back to you an assessment of what needs to be done and about how long it will take. Then you or a responsible party will review and sign the assessment, so we can commence the work.

We’re happy to locate anything at the scene that you’d like to find. We will also ask you to locate the homeowner’s insurance policy, because we most often can file a claim directly with the insurer, so you don’t have to. And if you are a renter, we can provide you information on assistance provided by the Victims Services Fund.

The Process

Biohazard Cleanup PPEAs a licensed biohazard cleanup professional we must adhere to strict safety regulations, as regulated by OSHA and the California Department of Health. For the protection of our staff, we typically wear protective hazmat suits for the duration of the cleanup. It usually takes between 15 and 30 minutes to suit up and prepare all the cleaning materials we’ll need at the scene.

It is quite typical for areas to be contaminated beyond what can be seen. We conduct a very detailed inspection of the room; we expose and remediate layer by layer to follow the path of blood (it finds its way to places one would not expect); we clean up all contaminates and disinfect the room; we dispose of all affected materials.

The process includes the following steps, using proprietary chemicals that are proven and environmentally friendly:

  1. Expose the biohazards.
  2. Kill the contaminates.
  3. Clean hard surface items and structures.
  4. Cut out and remove soft and porous surfaces and dispose as a regulated biohazard.
  5. Shine up the area and remove any chemical residue.
  6. Deodorize the room.
  7. Conduct two detailed independent inspections, to ensure we got everything.
  8. Take extensive photographic documentation: upon arrival, during remediation and documenting final cleanup results.
  9. Inventory all items and structural elements remediated and disposed of due to contaminates.
  10. Open insurance claim on behalf of survivors. We provide detailed information to the adjuster needed to open and pay the claim.

Rest assured, we work thoroughly and efficiently, with respect for you and the scene itself. We are happy to answer any questions, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.

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Filed Under: Articles about cleanup, Biohazards, Here to Help, Suicide Tagged With: biohazard cleanup, crime scene, suicide scene cleanup, traumatic scene cleanup

LA Times “The Homicide Report” – A Story for Every Victim

April 28, 2015 By Alan Cohen

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Since 2007, the Los Angeles Times has published The Homicide Report, an interactive blog that chronicles every “death of a human at the hand of another” and deemed a homicide by the coroner’s office. More than a collection of statistics, a story is told about each victim, whether implicated in the crime or not. The Chicago Sun Times similarly has Homicide Watch Chicago, “dedicated to the proposition that murder is never a run-of-the-mill story.” As we at Bio SoCal see in our business, homicide leaves behind a rippling, human devastation to family, neighborhoods and communities.

The Homicide Report interactive map and database provide some interesting general statistics. For example, Los Angeles County is responsible for 32% of all California homicides, and 4% of the murders in the country (in 2012). While Los Angeles County still has one of the highest murder rates in the country (7.7 per 100,000 people), the rate is down to almost half of what it was between 1992-1993.

But it is important to step aside from the numbers, and follow the site down to the stories of each of the victims and their families. For example, on April 6th, 2015, four men in one day were murdered, ranging in age from 18 to 48 years old, from all over the county: Tommie, Michael, Adam and Justin. And a few days earlier, on April 1st, four more people were shot to death: Denise, Ervin, Robert and Haroutoun. None of these murder victims had front-page stories attached to their deaths, but each of them likely left behind families and loved ones. These pictures and stories show that homicide is not just about rising or falling statistics; it’s about people.

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Filed Under: Crime Tagged With: California murder rate, crime scene cleanup, Los Angeles murder rate

The Devastation of Animal Hoarding

April 23, 2015 By Alan Cohen

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Animal hoarding is a psychological disorder resulting in the pathological accumulation of animals, and it is particularly disturbing, compared to hoarding of inanimate objects, because innocent animals become suffering, long-term, and often fatal victims of neglect. Worse, animal hoarders rarely recognize the harm and cruelty being inflicted on the animals they have collected. Because it is defined as animal abuse, animal hoarding is also a crime.

Animal hoarding is defined by the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, with the following criteria:

  • Having more than the typical number of companion animals.
  • Failing to provide even minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter, and veterinary care, with this neglect often resulting in illness and death from starvation, spread of infectious disease, and untreated injury or medical condition.
  • Denial of the inability to provide this minimum care and the impact of that failure on the animals, the household, and human occupants of the dwelling.
  • Persistence, despite this failure, in accumulating and controlling animals.

The psychological disorder can affect anyone, with any economic, professional, or cultural background, and is now believed to be an accumulation of several varying types of mental, physical and environmental factors.

animal hoarding traits and deficits

Animal hoarding is frequently noticeable by neighbors and community members. Here are some resources where you can report suspected cases of animal neglect, cruelty and hoarding:

Kern County

Kern County Animal Services: (661) 868-7100

Los Angeles County

Animal Cruelty Task Force: (213) 486-0450

Orange County

Animal Care Services at (714) 935-6848

Riverside County

Riverside County Animal Services: (951) 358-7387

San Bernardino County

San Bernardino Animal Cruelty Task Force: 1-800-78-CRIME

San Luis Obispo County

SLO County Animal Services: (805)781-4407

Santa Barbara County

Santa Barbara Humane Society:(805) 964-4777, ext. 18

Ventura County

Humane Society of Ventura County: 805-646-6505

 

Call Bio SoCal for help.

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Filed Under: Here to Help, Hoarding Tagged With: animal abuse, animal cruelty, animal hoarding, ASPCA, hoarding, Humane Society, OCD, Tufte University

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