Understanding Cleanup Following a Serious Injury

Your first job is the person, not the room

If the injured person is still at the scene, call 911 and follow the dispatcher's instructions. Once they are in the care of paramedics or the hospital, the room can wait. Nothing in it is going to get worse in a way that matters more than being at the hospital with someone you love.

A few small actions before you leave can make the next few days easier:

• Close the door to the room where the injury happened.
• Put pets in another room or with a neighbor so they do not walk through the area.
• Grab the injured person's wallet, phone, ID and any medication list, if you can do so without going through the affected area.
• Lock the property.

That is all. The cleanup can be organized later today, tomorrow, or when you are ready. Many families call us from a hospital waiting room, and that is fine; much of the arrangement can be handled by phone.

What counts as a serious injury cleanup

We use the phrase for any situation where a living person was badly hurt and left blood or other bodily fluids in a home, vehicle or workplace. Common examples include:

• A fall at home, particularly involving an older relative who may have been on the floor for some time before being found.
• A deep cut from glass, tools or kitchen equipment.
• A medical event such as a severe nosebleed, internal bleeding or a dialysis or catheter problem.
• A workshop, warehouse or kitchen accident.
• A dog bite or other animal attack.
• A car crash in which the interior of a vehicle was affected.

The distinction from other kinds of cleanup is that nobody has died and, usually, no crime is involved. That changes some of the practical details. There is often no police release to wait for and no medical examiner. But the biology is the same: blood is blood, and the cleaning standard does not change because the person survived. If the injury was the result of an assault, our page on assault scene cleanup covers the extra considerations.

If you came into contact with blood while helping

People who help an injured family member or coworker very often get blood on their hands, clothes or skin. That is an act of care, and in most cases it does not lead to illness. It is still worth taking sensible steps. The CDC notes that bloodborne pathogens such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV can be spread through contact with infected blood.

Clinicians can also consult the CDC's Post-Exposure Prophylaxis hotline (PEPline) at 1-888-448-4911, which OSHA lists on its bloodborne pathogens page. Your own doctor is the right person to decide whether any testing or treatment makes sense for you.

Clothing with blood on it can be bagged and set aside for us to collect, rather than washed with other laundry. Tell us during the call and we will include it.

Injuries at home: what the family can expect

At home, the decision about cleanup usually falls to a spouse, adult child or whoever is closest. You are allowed to decide this without the injured person if they are not well enough to be asked. Most people just want the room put back to normal before their relative comes home.

Where contamination tends to be

After a home injury, contamination is often more spread out than people expect. The person may have moved from room to room, a helper may have walked through, and paramedics may have worked on the floor. A technician will typically check:

• The room where the injury happened and the path to the door.
• Bathrooms, where people often go first to try to stop bleeding.
• Door handles, light switches, railings and phones.
• Rugs, mats and stair carpet.
• Bedding and mattresses, if the person was lying down.

Paramedics sometimes leave behind medical packaging and dressings. These are part of the cleanup too.

Coming home from hospital

If you can, schedule the work so it is finished before the person is discharged. Coming home to an untouched room can be upsetting, and some patients feel responsible for the mess. A finished, ordinary-looking room removes that. If timing is tight, tell us the expected discharge date when you call and we will be honest about what is realistic given the distance and the size of the job.

Injuries at work: duties that come first

When the injury happens at a business, the employer has responsibilities that sit alongside cleanup.

Reporting to OSHA or TOSHA

Under federal recordkeeping rules (29 CFR 1904.39), employers must report a work-related in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye within a 24-hour window, and a work-related death within eight hours. Tennessee runs its own program, TOSHA, which states the same reporting deadlines. A hospital stay only for observation or diagnostic testing is not reportable under the federal rule. If you are not sure whether your incident qualifies, contact TOSHA or ask your own safety or legal adviser; we cannot advise on reporting decisions.

An inspector may want to see the area. Ask before cleanup starts whether anything should be left in place.

Who should not clean it

It is common for a supervisor to hand a coworker some paper towels and a bottle of cleaner. That puts the coworker in a difficult spot. OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (29 CFR 1910.1030) applies to employees with reasonably anticipated contact with blood as part of their duties, and it requires things like an exposure control plan, training and protective equipment. Most small employers do not have that in place for general staff. Bringing in an outside company keeps employees out of the situation.

Our pages on workplace biohazard cleanup and how businesses can plan for a traumatic incident go into more depth.

Talking to staff

Coworkers who saw the injury may be shaken. Keep the area closed, tell people plainly that a professional company is handling it, and give them a way to ask questions. If your business offers an employee assistance program, this is a good time to remind people of it.

When the injury involved a car

After a crash or a medical event in a vehicle, the car is often towed or left at a lot. Find out where it is and whether the insurer has declared it a total loss before arranging cleanup; there is no point cleaning a car that is going to be scrapped, though personal items inside may still need to be recovered safely.

If the car is being kept, the interior needs the same approach as a room: seats, carpet and headliner are porous and often have to be removed or replaced rather than cleaned. Our page on vehicle biohazard cleanup describes how that works.

How the cleanup is arranged and carried out

1. A short phone call

   Tell us where the property is, roughly which areas are affected, and how we can get in. You do not need to describe anything in detail. Call Nashville 24/7 Biohazard Disposals at (615) 513-5112 at any hour.

2. Access

   Families at the hospital often leave a key with a neighbor or share a door code. Businesses usually have a manager meet us. Our guide to how property access affects cleanup covers the options.

3. Assessment and written scope

   A technician inspects the affected areas and the surrounding materials, and you receive a written scope describing what will be cleaned, what will be removed and why.

4. The work

   Porous materials that cannot be made safe are removed and packaged for disposal in line with applicable Tennessee and federal requirements. Hard surfaces are cleaned and then disinfected with EPA-registered disinfectants used according to label directions.

5. Handoff

   You get photos and a summary of what was done. If flooring or drywall was removed, we tell you that a contractor will be needed to replace it.

Small spill or professional job: how to tell

Not every injury needs a professional. A small amount of blood on a hard, non-porous surface, such as a kitchen counter after a minor cut, can usually be handled by a household following CDC or local public-health guidance on cleaning and disinfecting. Professional help makes sense when:

• Blood has reached carpet, upholstery, a mattress or other soft material.
• The amount is more than a small, contained spot.
• It has run into gaps, under flooring or behind trim.
• Some time has passed before anyone found it.
• Cleaning it yourself would be emotionally hard, which is a perfectly good reason on its own.

Our guide on the limits of household cleaning after biological contamination explains why porous materials behave so differently from hard ones, and how professionals decide whether materials can be remediated goes into the decision itself.

Cost, insurance and the deposit

There is no flat price for injury cleanup, because two injuries in the same size of room can leave very different jobs. The things that affect scope are how far contamination spread, which materials are involved, how many rooms, access, and how much waste has to be removed. You receive a written scope after the assessment. Our guide on how biohazard cleanup pricing is determined lays out those factors.

Some homeowner's or business property policies may cover part of this kind of cleanup; whether yours does depends on the policy and the insurer. Call them before throwing away anything that may be part of a claim, and ask what documentation they want. We provide photos, a written scope and an itemized invoice that you can give to your insurer.

If the injury was caused by a crime in Tennessee and happened in the victim's home or an eligible relative's home, the state's Criminal Injuries Compensation program may cover up to $3,000 for cleaning and removal of materials, after insurance and other sources. It has its own reporting and filing deadlines, so check directly with the program.

If you book through our Order Online page, it involves a $2,000 initial deposit. That is not the final price, and it does not guarantee when work will begin.

Things people often assume after an injury

"The paramedics cleaned up"

Emergency crews focus on the patient. They may take some of their own packaging with them, but they do not clean or disinfect the property, and they are not expected to.

"Bleach will take care of it"

Bleach can lighten a stain on the surface while leaving material in the carpet pad, in grout lines or under a floor edge. Mixing cleaning products can also release harmful fumes. Disinfectants are designed for clean, hard surfaces and only when used according to their label, which is part of why professionals remove and clean before they disinfect.

"A carpet cleaning company can do it"

General carpet and upholstery cleaners are set up for everyday soiling, not blood that has soaked through to the backing and pad. Many will decline the job, and steam can push material further down. Our guide comparing biohazard cleanup and general cleaning covers the difference.

"Everything in the room has to go"

Usually not. Hard furniture, most electronics and many personal items can be cleaned. Removal is limited to porous materials that absorbed biological material and cannot be made safe.

Children, pets and others in the home

Children who saw a parent or grandparent get hurt may have questions about the room. Keeping the door closed until it is finished, and then letting them see that it looks normal again, can help. You do not need to explain the details of cleanup; saying that people came to make the room clean and safe is usually enough.

Pets are the household members most likely to walk through an affected area, lick surfaces or lie on a soiled rug. Keep them out of the area entirely, and if a pet did have contact with blood, ask your veterinarian whether any steps are needed.

If other adults live in the home, such as a roommate or another relative, let them know which room to avoid and that a cleanup company will be coming. If you share a building, a quiet word with a building manager can save confusion when a team arrives with equipment.

Caregivers, home health aides and visiting nurses who come to the house regularly should also be told, especially if the patient's usual room or bathroom is the affected area. They may need to set up somewhere else in the home for a few days.

How this fits with our other services

Serious injury cleanup sits within our wider blood cleanup and trauma scene cleanup services. Depending on what you are facing, these may be closer to your situation:

• Serious injury scene cleanupThe service page for this kind of job
• Blood cleanup after a traumatic injuryFocused on blood in homes and vehicles
• Dried blood cleanupWhen time passed before the area was found
• Blood in carpet and subfloorWhen contamination has gone below the surface

If the injured person later died, the situation is different again, and our guide on what to expect after a traumatic death in a property may help.

Areas we travel to

We are a single team working out of Nashville and travel to properties across Middle Tennessee, including Franklin, Hendersonville, Lebanon and the rest of the counties listed on our service areas page. We confirm timing by phone, as distance affects scheduling.

What to remember while someone you care about recovers

• The injured person comes first. The room can wait.
• Close the door, keep pets and children out, and leave the cleaning to someone equipped for it.
• If you had blood on your skin, wash it and speak with a doctor.
• At work, check your OSHA or TOSHA reporting duties and keep untrained staff away from the area.
• Call your insurer before throwing anything away.
• Try to have the work finished before the person comes home.

When you are ready, a short phone call is enough to get started.

Questions people ask