What is Involved in Homicide Cleanup?

A homicide is the killing of a person by another in circumstances that are unfortunate and even though it could be related to murder, murder is considered a totally criminal act. After crime scene investigators have finished their work and they have left the scene, homicide cleanup is usually the last thing to be done. Many scenes where such killings have taken place are left with different amounts of blood, body fluids, brain tissue etc. and it is therefore a tricky situation for anyone to deal with. Depending on the nature of the crime, it normally takes from an hour to several days to do a complete death cleanup so that the scene will look like there was never a homicide that took place; this is a very complicated and time involving job.

People who work as technicians in death cleanup teams can find themselves dealing with extremely messy situations and one needs a tough stomach to do the tasks. In most cases, the team members undergo some level medical training so they can know how to handle blood and other related stuff. In addition to medical training, they will also need to undergo masonry and carpentry training because they sometimes have to do reconstruction jobs. There are many times when blood and other body fluids will penetrate underneath the wood, carpets or get into cracks on the floor or the wall without forgetting the ceiling. Once the carpet has been torn and removed the technicians will have to replace the floorboards, the ceiling and any part of the floor or wall they may have torn down in trying to ensure that no illness or blood borne viruses are left there after they are done cleaning.

Because of the potentially dangerous situation, the entire team involved in homicide cleaning wears protective clothing and they use specialized equipment so that they can remain protected themselves. They come equipped with disposable non-porous suits, gloves, goggles and respirators; all the safety equipment they use is usually disposed after they are through with a particular task. Any left-over bodily material such as skin, blood or brain tissue that they collect is put inside special containers and safely transported to an official site for incineration; the cleanup team is specially trained and certified to do such jobs.

Some of the special equipment that is used by homicide cleanup teams include numerous cleaners such as hospital strength bleaches, brooms, mops, putty knives that they use to clean up brain matter that hardens very quickly; when the putty knives can’t do the job there is special machinery that can melt down brain matter. Others include shovels they use for