Suicide Cleanup

Bio-Trauma 911, Inc. was recently contacted to conduct a suicide cleanup at a local hotel.  After all the formalities were completed, the technicians were dispatched to the scene to commence the suicide cleanup.  Upon arrival, the technicians found the door to the hotel room to be sealed with crime scene tape and a noticeable odor about the hallway.  For anyone who has ever been near a death scene, the odor is unmistakable.

The technicians dispatched to this particular scene had cleaned twenty or thirty suicide scenes.  Suicide cleanup was not new to them, nor was the aftermath typically found following a suicide.  As the crime scene tape was removed and the door slowly opened, what appeared ahead of these experienced technicians was like nothing ever before seen. Trained to calculate every step and to plan the most effective procedure for a thorough cleaning, both technicians stood dumbfounded.  As both tried to catch their breath, while choking back the vomit, the immensity of the job at hand began to sink in.

Suicide cleanup, just as any other crime or trauma scene cleanup job, requires technicians to check their emotions at the door.  For some, suicide cleanup may be more emotional than a violent crime or an accidental death.  For others, a suicide cleanup is more easy to justify, as the person committing the suicide made a conscience decision to end his or her life.  However one might choose to rationalize the events preceding the death, each must suppress his or her emotions.  Just as in the military, mission accomplishment often trumps troop welfare.

As the technicians stood for what seemed an eternity, the hotel manager suddenly appeared on scene.  Quickly closing the door, one of the technicians informed the manager that it was best if she didn’t look inside the room.  Heeding their advice, after asking a couple questions, she departed.  The technicians once again opened the door, stepped inside and locked the door behind them.  Before them, covering nearly every inch of wall and ceiling space, was a dark red paste of blood, brain matter and bone fragments.  The suicide was carried out with a high powered shotgun, which left only a headless body to empty any remaining blood onto the bed.

Suicide cleanup is more than simply cleaning the remains of some one’s loved one after they choose to end their life.  So often, technicians must deal with the family members of the deceased, who may be present looking for answers.  Although our profession does not teach us the art of counseling grieving loved ones, we try our best to comfort and console those left behind.  Suicide is a permanent end to what is often a temporary problem.  We long to tell the young sons and daughters that their father will return when he finds life a bit easier to deal with, but he’s gone and will never return.

I write this post for two reasons.  The first point I would like address concerns our responsibility as business owners to look after the mental welfare of our technicians.  The two technicians dispatched to the suicide cleanup described above were put into a situation that would rival any combat situation involving death or dismemberment.  Crime and Trauma Scene Cleanup Technicians can suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  Please have a program in place to offer your technicians counseling, either on a regular basis or when they exhibit any signs of PTSD.

The second point I would like to make is directed to anyone who has ever thought of or considered suicide.  Just recently, a friend of my wife’s family died of a heart attack.  She died on her living room floor while her husband took a shower and her five year old watched in horror.  She was forty-eight years old and had four children.  Although she didn’t commit suicide, the emotional and psychological effect of loosing a spouse and mother has to be similar.  With good reason, the children will never be the same and will be scarred for the rest of their lives.  Please, before you ever convince yourself that suicide is the answer, please seek professional help.  No child should ever have to suffer through the loss of  a mother or father.  Think of your children and the pain your decision will cause them.

If you have anything to add to suicide cleanup, please feel free to post your comments.