Category Blog: Chicago Hoarder Cleanup
What Does Biohazard Mean?
When you hear the word "Biohazard", what comes to mind? You may think of situations like the current COVID-19 pandemic. However, biohazards also emanate from traumatic events where blood, human or animal residues, chemical spills, and more are involved.
Biohazard Scenarios:
Crime or homicide scenes
Suicide or death
Blood and bodily fluid residues
Hoarding scenes
Animal waste or remains
Chemical/drug hazards
Virus contamination
Biohazard cleanup involves cleaning, sanitizing, and deodorizing areas where such traumatic events have occurred. Cleanup after these events is a serious business that not just anyone can handle. So, the threats involved posed by bacteria, viruses, and infectious diseases can put your health and safety at risk. Oftentimes, these pathogens are invisible, making cleanup an even more difficult task for the inexperienced.
You may think that if the police are involved, someone else will clean up the aftereffects. But the state of Illinois isn't responsible for cleaning up crime scenes. After police investigators collect evidence from the scene, it's up to the property owner to hire a biohazard remediation company. In any case, a professional cleanup team can arrive onsite only after the police have gathered enough evidence related to the crime.
ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons is trained in the cleanup and remediation of all types of trauma situations. We have a team of highly professional experts in the Chicagoland area who have experience in these matters who follow proper training and safety procedures. We specialize in fast and thorough cleanup work to ensure the safety and security of everyone involved.
Does Biohazard Cleanup Require Certification?
To become a biohazard technician, obtaining certification is not required. However, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does require biohazard technicians to properly wear personal protective equipment (PPE) when dealing with bloodborne pathogens, because every time technicians handle potentially hazardous materials they're put at significant risk.
The ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons team employs state-of-the-art protective equipment, along with cleanup and COVID-19 disinfection processes that follow strict safety protocols outlined by OSHA and EPA. Furthermore, we provide up-to-date bioremediation training for technicians that includes best practices, proprietary methods, and safety compliance.
The ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons Biohazard Cleanup Process
We start cleanup efforts as quickly as possible.
We remove all potentially infectious materials from the site.
Hazardous medical waste is handled in compliance with OSHA regulations. It's then processed and sent to a licensed hazardous medical waste incinerator.
Technicians remove porous materials like fabric and carpeting following industry standards and Illinois state regulations.
Non-hazardous materials are either removed or decontaminated and sanitized if they are considered salvageable.
After cleanup and sanitization, affected areas are deodorized, and walls and flooring may be sealed to cover any remaining stains from the incident.
As with any type of property damage, the professionals at ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons ensure that our actions don't worsen the sense of loss of a property owner. We strive to be exceptionally sensitive to these situations by showing extra care and compassion and do our best to understand that those involved may be emotionally vulnerable, and so treat grieving family members and other loved ones with respect and empathy.
ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons, the 2020 recipient of the Better Business Bureau's Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics, is MBE/WBE certified, and family-operated. We are an IICRC Certified and OSHA Certified company serving Chicago, Oak Park, River Forest, and the North Shore. ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons provides commercial disaster restoration services including Water & Flood Damage Restoration, Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration, Mold Remediation and a wide range of interior specialty cleaning including COVID-19 Cleaning Services, Hoarder & Clutter Cleaning, Post-Construction Cleaning, Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning to residential and commercial customers. For more information, call 773-376-1110 or visit www.servicemasterbysimons.com.
Not very long ago, a couple made love in their car that was parked in their garage. Meanwhile, they not only left the vehicle running but were also operating a kerosene heater due to the extreme cold. Needless to say, they died due to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.
Although that sounds like a sad and silly way to go, every year at least 430 people die in the U.S. from accidental CO poisoning and approximately 50,000 others are forced to visit the emergency room because of it. CO deaths regularly occur in Chicago and the stories are heartbreaking.
Why CO Is Dangerous
The reason why CO is dangerous is because it interferes with the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood. Being colorless, odorless and tasteless, people can be overcome without any warning. So, symptoms caused by exposure to CO include low energy, headaches, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain, confusion, visual impairment, and (obviously) death.
CO is found in fumes produced by furnaces, kerosene heaters, vehicles "warmed up" in garages, stoves, lanterns, gas ranges, portable generators, or by burning charcoal and wood. CO from these sources can build up in enclosed or partially enclosed spaces, poisoning people and animals.
When a storm knocks out power, many rely on portable generators to keep the lights on until electricity is restored. Fred Henretig, a senior toxicologist at the Poison Control Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, says he and his colleagues have been attempting to raise awareness about proper portable generator use for years, but carbon monoxide poisoning cases unfailingly surge after each big storm.
"So what people tend to do — not always but it's not unheard of — is just set it up like right next to the open garage door and they think, 'OK, that's going to work fine, it will blow out,' " Henretig explained. "The exhaust will blow out, but the trouble is, you can't always account for different drafts and how things get vented around."
Check The Facts
Research suggests that in natural disasters, carbon monoxide poisoning from portable generators has the potential to take more lives than the disasters themselves. A study tracking confirmed deaths related to Hurricane Irma in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina in 2017 attributed 16 fatalities to carbon monoxide poisoning and 11 to the storm itself.
Here are ways you can you protect yourself from CO poisoning, whether a disaster has occurred or not:
Purchase and install at least one carbon monoxide detector on each floor of your home, including the basement.
Change the batteries in your CO detector every six months.
Have gas, oil, or coal burning appliances serviced by a qualified technician every year.
Keep vents and flues free of debris so as not to block ventilation lines.
Never leave a vehicle's motor running while parked in an enclosed or partially enclosed space, such as a garage.
Never run any gasoline-powered engine within 20 feet of an open window, door, or vent where exhaust can seep into an enclosed area, or inside a basement, garage, or other enclosed structure, even if the doors or windows are open.
Never use a charcoal grill, hibachi, lantern, or portable camping stove inside a home, tent, or camper.
If your CO detector goes off during or right after a disaster, leave your residence immediately and call 911. If you feel light-headed, dizzy, or nauseated and suspect you may have CO poisoning, seek immediate medical attention.
If you live in the Chicagoland area and have recently experienced water damage, fire damage, smoke damage, or storm damage, necessitating the use of a generator, call ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons immediately! The sooner we can restore your home or business to pre-loss condition, the safer you'll be.
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Serving Chicago and its suburbs since 1961, our experts specialize in preparing estates for auction or real estate sale by giving each property a detailed cleaning, while lessening the burden on family members and executors.
10 Ways to Winterize Your Home This Fall
Fall has come and gone — and it's time to start thinking about how you can better help your home withstand the tough winter ahead. Prepping for the winter is never easy, but with these few quick tips from the professionals at ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons, you can move on to making your hot cocoa and gingerbread houses with no worries at all!
Disaster Restoration Professionals-Restoring Community
Disaster Restoration Professionals, ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons, Chicagoland's leader in professional disaster restoration, engages communities in environment of giving & restoring Brief History Disaster Restoration Professionals Sam Simon and Nasutsa Mabwa, partners in the ServiceMaster By Simons' franchise group in the Chicagoland area, share a special story. Meeting in the mid-nineties as child welfare workers in Chicago's […]
Disaster Restoration Professionals, ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons, Chicagoland's leader in professional disaster restoration, engages communities in environment of giving & restoring
Disaster Restoration Professionals Sam Simon and Nasutsa Mabwa, partners in the ServiceMaster By Simons' franchise group in the Chicagoland area, share a special story. Meeting in the mid-nineties as child welfare workers in Chicago's inner-city, Sam and Nasutsa committed to serving ward's of the state and their families. They each worked tirelessly to reunite children with their families. In some cases, children were placed in loving adoptive homes.
A Company is born
After completing graduate school and following separate career paths, they joined up in 2012 to form a company of disaster restoration professionals that served people in a variety of ways. This included restoring and rebuilding homes and businesses as well as contributing to local organizations that restore and rebuild communities.
It's in this same spirit of charity and service that Nasutsa and Sam operate their companies. They include ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons, ServiceMaster Cleaning By Simons, ServiceMaster of Oak Park and ServiceMaster of River Forest. "We help people in their times of need" said Sam Simon, "by restoring homes and businesses, we restore lives."
ServiceMaster By Simons offers an array of household and business services. When a home or business has been affected by water or fire damage, ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons is immediately called to the rescue. Most times, restoration services are requested by the insurance companies. We field a lot of service requests from the home and business-owners themselves. We offer a full line of cleaning services including post-construction cleaning, hoarder cleanup and carpet & upholstery cleaning.
Peoples lives are disrupted when disasters like water damage or fire damage occur in their homes or businesses. ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons minimizes these interruptions and restore's peace of mind. We know that these events can be stressful. So we work tirelessly to get your property and your life back to normal – FAST!
The ServiceMaster By Simons group prides itself on its spirit of giving and restoring. We're honored to give back when we can. On a greater scale, restoring communities is a life long passion for our company and team members. Some of the organizations that our company is involved with include:
A Safe Place – Lake County, Illinois
The Talking Farm – Skokie, Illinois
Albany Park Community Center – Chicago, Illinois
Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate – Chicago, Illinois
Lycee Francais of Chicago – Chicago, Illinois
Epic Academy – Chicago, Illinois
Goldie B. Wolfe Miller Women Leaders in Real Estate Initiative – Chicago Illinois
"Sam and I met as social workers, where we worked hard to help our community," said Nasutsa Mabwa. "That same passion exists in our company and its staff today as we strive to help people in extreme circumstances of need.
Recently, ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons and a crew of over 20 technicians and managers mobilized to Hilton Head, SC. We aided and assisted in Hurricane Matthew recovery efforts. It's in these times of need that we experience the strength and determination of people who band together for a common cause. Helping the residents of Hilton Head, SC get back on their feet was a challenge that ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons stepped up to.
If you need a disaster restoration professional in the Chicagoland area, immediately call 855-9-SIMONS and let ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons get your property back to normal-FAST. We specialize in Immediate Response to our customers. We are available 24/7/365 to provide Water & Fire Damage Restoration, Mold Remediation as well as a long list of specialty cleaning services. Call now.