Falls, injuries, illness
Blood and bodily fluid cleanup
A fall in the bathroom, a bad cut, an illness that went on for days. When blood or other fluids have spread or soaked in, an independent cleanup company can handle it safely.
Picked up day and night, seven days a week
Why it is not ordinary cleaning
Blood can carry hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV (OSHA). Employers whose staff clean it up must give them a written plan, protective gear and training. At home nobody checks, which is why families often get hurt or sick doing it themselves.
Hard, sealed surfaces such as glazed tile can be cleaned. Fabric, mattresses, carpet and pad, and unsealed grout or wood, often cannot, because fluid sinks in further than the stain shows.
Florida homes: where fluid hides
Tile floors
The tiles clean easily but grout is porous. Ask the company how it treats grout lines and whether any tiles need lifting.
Floating vinyl or laminate
Fluid runs between planks and pools on the slab underneath. Boards often have to come up to check.
Baseboards and drywall
Fluid wicks up behind baseboards and into the bottom of drywall, where it cannot be seen.
Bathrooms
Gaps around the toilet base and tub edge collect fluid. Caulk may need to be cut out and redone.
Asking about products
Disinfectants only work if the surface stays wet for the time on the label, called the contact time (EPA). Ask the company which product it uses and how it makes sure surfaces stay wet long enough.
Read next
- Crime scene cleanupAfter a homicide, an assault or another violent crime, once police release the home.
- Infectious disease disinfectionDisinfecting rooms after an illness, with registered products used as the label says.
- Checking a cleanup companyWhat to ask before you sign, and the state list you can check.
- For landlords and managersA death or a biohazard in a rental unit in Florida.
Ready when you are
Call when the police and the medical examiner have finished and you are ready to talk about the cleanup. A company will ask what happened and where, then explain what it would do.
Talk to a cleanup company
An independent company that works in the Port St. Lucie area. You decide whether to hire it.
Call (772) 918-9847Picked up day and night, seven days a week
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