Crime and Trauma Scene Management

Every claim and restoration professional knows that no two projects are the same — some are more complicated than others, especially those involving crime and trauma scenes. These jobs require a more thorough approach than most restoration projects. With that in mind, let’s compare how two different companies responded to the same gruesome situation.

A 20-year-old son was to house sit after his parents left the country for a long-planned world tour. But the joy of vacation soon faded when, three weeks after mom and dad departed, a neighbor smelled a terrible odor and called the police. When authorities arrived, they found that the apparently angst-ridden son had decided to take his own life in a room on the top floor of the two-story house.

The scene that they found was beyond comprehension. Blood and bodily fluids had seeped from the second floor to the first floor via the kitchen and then down into the basement. The odor was so severe that when police arrived, they immediately turned on an attic fan situated just above the body to evacuate the odors so they could continue working. To make matters even worse, the son was HIV+.