Cleaning Trauma Scenes – 7 Facts That May Surprise You!

Cleaning up after a trauma isn’t as simple as donning a pair of rubber gloves and using as much bleach as possible. It’s a skilled profession that takes patience, sensitivity and an eye for detail.

You may think you know what it involves from watching crime thrillers on the TV, but perhaps it’s time to reconsider…

1.  Trauma scene cleaning is NOT the responsibility of the police. It’s the last thing anybody wants to tackle, but organising the clean-up after a traumatic incident is in fact the responsibility of the business or individuals involved.
   Biohazards, such as bodily fluids, are not always visible and carry a high infection risk so it’s important that decontamination is carried out by experts.
2. In bio and trauma scene cleans, a body is considered hazardous. No matter what the fluid is, if it came from a body, it will be considered and handled as hazardous material because of the risks of germs and bacteria.
3. Like bodily fluids, hazardous substances can come from materials that, at first glance, look relatively harmless. Even a shoe within an infected area can be full of bacteria. Dead animals produce toxic fumes as well which can cause serious illness if inhaled.
4. As you’d imagine, bleach and elbow grease will not clean up the blood, fluids and tissue left after a violent death or decomposing body. Experts in trauma scene cleaning will first of all detect every spot, splatter or shard using a solution similar to hydrogen peroxide but which is much stronger. When it comes into contact with bodily fluids it foams and turns a very bright white colour.
5. Trauma scene cleaning experts use demolition tools like crowbars, circular saws and weighted hammers to get to brain tissue or fluid that has seeped through cracks in the floorboards.
6. Practice makes perfect in trauma scene cleans. Many cleaning companies recreate crime scenes for their trainee technicians using stage blood or pig’s blood.
7. Cat urine is the hardest odour to remove according to trauma scene cleaners, as it crystallises. Technicians often have to pull up floorboards and knock through walls to find the source of the odour.

With just one call to Rainbow you can arrange a trauma scene clean. Our experienced technical teams are fully qualified in the cleaning and disposal process for any eventuality, decontaminating the scene and returning it for general, public or private use.

We have a 24-hour helpline, so you can get help when you need it, and as we have more than 60 branches across the UK, it’s likely that there’s Rainbow International branch within just 23 miles of your postcode. Call us now on 01623 422488.