Staci Giordullo, August 2009
Can you please provide a little background information on your company… how long you’ve been in business, etc?
USA Decon is a multi-city biological contamination, infection control, tear gas, gross filth, and methamphetamine residue emergency response remediation company.
Our service is delivered through branch offices that respond from the major metropolitan areas in Texas and nation-wide either first-hand or through other similar companies that we work with.
USA Decon’s genesis was through legacy companies that stretch back to 1999. The legacy companies that eventually coalesced into USA Decon provided remediation in other areas such as mold and other environmental contaminants and were combined with the primary mission of response to biological issues and trauma related remediation services.
What sort of certification/training is required to do your job?
At a bare minimum, for someone to work around Bloodborne pathogens there are training and certification requirements that are directly related to this type of contamination. The environments that we work in also include confined spaces and an array of exotic chemicals. These inputs require OSHA training for our technicians.
Our trauma scene decontamination technicians are compliant with the Engineering, Work Practice, and Administrative Controls required to perform this type of work. We are in compliance with Engineering Controls such as Personal Protective Equipment (OSHA 1910.132), Bloodborne Pathogens (OSHA 1910.1030), and Respiratory Protection (OSHA 1910.134).
In addition to the Engineering Controls, our trauma scene decontamination technicians are experts in Work Practice Controls such as Confined Space (OSHA 1910.146) and Hazard Communication (OSHA 1910.1200). We adhere to Administrative Controls, such as scheduling due to safety concerns, on a project-to-project basis.
In order to collect the contamination, you frequently have to remove material from a structure. You need to know how to peel back these layers of flooring, walls, and ceiling without creating a safety hazard by affecting the structural supports.
How often does your job entail cleaning up after a decomposed body – someone who’s died of natural causes? (not about murder or suicide)
These types of scenes, natural death human decomposition, are on average 1-4 per week across our service areas.
What’s the process – on your end? (you get a call from a family member or who…then what?)
We are contacted by, including but not limited to, family members, property management companies, hotels, funeral homes, etc…
Once upon arrival to the scene, we assess what the extent of the contamination is and develop a site-specific plan of action to address the hazards. We go over this plan, as well as pricing, with the contracting party. This of course can be with a property owner or a family member. So, sensitivity and discretion could not be more important.
There are ways to explain what we need to do without using terminology such as maggots, blood pools, and spray from the body popping due to compressed gas inside the body cavity due to decomposition.
You may be speaking to a mother of the deceased. This is a difficult component of the response to the scene. Every syllable must be measured.
We recover the contamination and restore the environment in order for third-party contractors and/or property owners to perform the aesthetic finishing tasks.
USA Decon uses hospital-grade disinfectants and exotic non-toxic chemicals to remove the inherent infection and odor. Once finished, third-parties may be introduced in a comfortable and safe environment.
Has there ever been a situation that you couldn’t clean up?
We have had to hand over a scene to another company due to cyanide contamination. They, the other company, specialize in hazardous chemical removal.
Scenes have been assigned to other companies due to scheduling conflicts. We were unable to respond because we were working on another priority scene.
How is it dealing with the family after something like that? (do you use a different set of tactics?)
We did not deal with the front end customer on that scene. We have never had to hand off a biologically contaminated scene due to increased scope.
Why shouldn’t the family try to clean up the mess themselves?
Not only would a family member untrained to respond to these hazards expose themselves to potentially fatal conditions, but also the emotional toll this would take on them would be enormous.
What are some of the “unknown” hazards? (that you, as a professional are aware of, but others may not be?)
Frequently, we see marks of contamination on other areas of the structure we’re working in that were affected during the removal of the body by the first responders. You may see horizontal marks of body fluid from the body-bag touching walls, furniture, or other items down the path of removal.
Light switches and door handles are usually directly affected and left unclean once the body is removed. The primary focus of the first responder is to remove the body and recognizable body parts.
They, the first responders, are not responsible for fluid or tissue. The body is always removed when we begin. We do find recognizable body parts quite often.
What happens to the waste after you’ve cleaned it up?
When cleaning a crime/trauma scene, the waste associated with a human decomposition, suicide, homicide, or accident falls under RCRA Subtitle C. Once we recover the waste, we are considered the generator under the regulations.
A third-party transportation and disposal company picks up this waste from our facility and provides us with a manifest, a RCRA requirement, which tracks the life-cycle of the waste to its ultimate incineration and disposal in a special landfill. (2010 Update: USA Decon has become a Regulated Waste Transporter the following year after this article was published.)
What’s the most disgusting part of your job?
Biological contamination can overwhelm your senses. Blood and body fluids are very difficult to deal with visually, physically due to the increased personal protective equipment required, and the odor. The most difficult type of contamination to work with is feces. That speaks for itself.
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