The aftermath of an unattended death claim: Part 2
In part two, get a thorough breakdown of the forensic restoration process and how the pandemic piled more complexity onto the job.
Editor’s Note: This is the second installment of a two-part series. Review part one of this series here.
From the initial contact, we began acquiring critical incident data: the who, what, when, where and how, which begins to lay the foundation of knowledge that helps forensic operators to prepare physically, mentally and even spiritually to perform at a top tier level.
From our incident site/ risk assessment, we determined the scope of work to include ATP readings, photos, measurements and developed a tactical approach to address structure, contents and indoor air quality while never forgetting the prime directive of forensic restoration, which is “safety” — for the team of forensic operators as well as all future occupants of the micro-environment.
After assembling a team of certified forensic operators, the operations zone became the entire interior of the home, the transition zone was the three-car garage, and the clear zone was anything outside of the garage.
The introduction of a known infectious agent is known as a Tier 4. Is it possible that in the middle of a global pandemic that the deceased had COVID-19? Yes.
For the safety of the team of forensic operators, we determined to conduct operations as if the answer to that question was “yes.” We operated at a Tier 4 Risk Level 3 to include MaxAir PAPRs, full microporous suits, to include two pairs of Nitrile medical grade gloves with a heaver mil exterior glove and protective booties.
The first phase of operations is to empty out and perform forensic cleaning of the three-car garage, including the use of disposable microfiber pads to dry clean the ceiling and the walls. Next, the above-mentioned surfaces were wet cleaned with an EPA-registered hospital-grade tuberculocidal disinfectant/ cleaner with a 6-log kill, dispensed through a foaming delivery system so that dwell time could be achieved on vertical surfaces and manipulated via mechanical action utilizing disposable microfiber pads. The garage floor was swept and wet washed utilizing a mobile cleaning plant at temperatures exceeding 200 degrees, then rapidly dried to prepare the garage for the “transition zone.”
The pre-disinfecting process
Utilizing ULV delivery systems and working in pairs, two teams of forensic operators made a tactical entry and began the application of an EPA-registered hospital-grade tuberculocidal disinfectant with a 6-log kill, proven to kill both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria and inactivate both enveloped and non-enveloped virus.
Moving to the floor in front of them, the two teams split off from each other, working their way to the HVAC returns, where they applied the EPA disinfectant while the fan was running for further dispensing of the disinfectant. Then, both teams, while still working the floor in front of them, continued to apply disinfectant until they reached the farthest point of the home from the point of entry.
Next, they began to apply the EPA-registered hospital-grade tuberculocidal disinfectant with a 6-log kill to vertical surfaces, and as they worked their way out of each microenvironment in the home (bedrooms, closets, bathrooms), they treated the air space, retracing their path back to the point of entry and completing pre-disinfecting operations for a pathogenic knockdown. This created a safer working environment for the team of certified forensic operators.
After exceeding the manufacturer’s recommended dwell time of the EPA-registered disinfectant, the home was burped with a fresh air exchange and the work of emptying out the home of all contents, including carpet and pad, began. Once all of the contents were removed, every bit of flooring was swept, vacuumed, and wet washed utilizing a mobile cleaning plant at temperatures exceeding 200 degrees to minimize tracking and transfer of both visible and invisible contaminants.
The next phase was the forensic cleaning of all vertical and horizontal surfaces. GBAC forensic cleaning is defined as the removal of biological contaminants to prepare surfaces, both vertical and horizontal, for professional disinfecting. This actually ran in two phases. First, all of the surfaces were dry cleaned with disposable microfiber pads to reduce both the bio load and the soil load to prepare them for wet cleaning. Next, wet cleaning involved the application of an EPA-registered hospital-grade disinfectant/cleaner dispensed through a foamer unit and manipulated via mechanical action using disposable microfiber pads.
When all surfaces were deemed clean to the eye, it was time for testing. There are two reasons to clean anything: health and appearance. You can clean for appearance and still have a biologically hostile environment. If you clean for health, appearance will take care of its self. ATP readings were taken again. We scored all zeroes, indicating a clean environment. That is what is accomplished through proper training and field experience.
Final steps
The home was ready for professional disinfecting utilizing both electrostatic delivery systems and binary ionization technology. The final phase of the project involved cleaning the HVAC system using the source removal method, followed by the application of an EPA-registered hospital-grade tuberculocidal disinfectant approved for that use and the replacement of new pleated media filters at the returns.
A comparison of the costs from the three different companies highlights the differences for the same loss of life incident site. The first company removed some carpet and pad in a hall, some tile, and sheetrock that can be measured in inches, and their cost was $26,500. The next company was a fire and water company that dabbles in forensic restoration. Their solution was to strip the house of all sheetrock down to the studs at a starting cost of $100,000. The third company used certified bio-forensic restoration specialists, followed the proper protocol and procedures for forensic cleaning and professional disinfecting at the cost of $57,000.
Knowledge is power, and the more insurers and adjusters understand the forensic restoration process, the less likely they will be to accept and pay the inflated invoices provided for less than professional work by some vendors.
Jeff Jones is a certified bio-forensic restoration specialist, as well as a certified forensic operator with 50 years of field experience in forensic restoration. He serves as director of forensic operations and as the Master Trainer for The Global BioRisk Advisory Council and has taught the protocols and procedures of forensic restoration in Europe, the Mediterranean, and Latin America. Future Forensic Files articles will cover handling suicides, accidental or natural deaths, trauma, and the introduction of a known infectious agent.
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