Dirty Work Done Well

Rick Beckrich

Aaron Ruslander does the jobs no one else wants to do – the really dirty jobs. The Huntingtown resident is the owner, along with his wife Renee, of Chesapeake Crime Cleaners, the area’s only provider of trauma, death and crime scene cleaning services – in Ruslander’s words, “...technically, a biohazardous removal and remediation company.

“Chesapeake Crime Cleaners is our four-year-old company that adheres to all state and federal guidelines,” the Ruslanders told us. “We are both licensed, bonded and insured. Our trained technicians are certified in handling bloodborne pathogens, hazardous materials and biohazardous waste.

“In most cases our services are covered under your insurance (commercial, homeowners or automobile) and we work directly with your insurance company to abate the situation,” Aaron explained. “If needed, we have a network of certified contractors to complete all restoration needs.

“Our services range from handling the unpleasant, like removing dead animals, to the extremely traumatic, like cleaning up after a suicide, a homicide or an accidental death.

Unfortunately these types of incidents do happen. Blood and the other body fluids that remain can carry many infectious diseases and are hazardous. Public safety officials recommend the use of trained professionals to ensure your well-being.

“Chesapeake Crime Cleaners also handles the cleanup of work place accidents.” Aaron explained that federal regulations [29CRF1910.1030] are very specific in who is qualified to clean up blood-contaminated areas, and may impose severe penalties [OSHA fines ranging from $7,000-to-$70,000] on employers who place themselves, their families, employees and customers at a health risk.

“We perform all manner of unpleasant tasks,” Renee Ruslander said. “A lot of it involves odor removal – foul odors, animal odors, and the odors associated with feces, vomit, body fluids and decomposition. All residues are securely packaged, labeled as biohazard material, and delivered to a certified medical waste disposal firm.”

Renee, a lifelong Calvert resident, explained that most of the people in their families were involved in either police work or firefighting. She was a volunteer firefighter herself, “before motherhood interrupted.”

“Aaron is the deputy chief of the Benedict Volunteer Fire Department, where he’s served for more than 15 years, and we’re both qualified and certified bio-recovery technicians. He uses that well-marked trailer [with Chesapeake Crime Cleaners signs prominently displayed] as an advertising tool, but we also have a variety of unmarked vehicles for discreet service. We emphasize confidentiality.

“Our technicians are all certified in bio-recovery, including bloodborne pathogen (BBP) training and are completely equipped with the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) like biohazard blue suits, face shields and respirators. All of our techs have had extensive training as police officers, firemen or EMS specialists,” added Renee.

“Not many people realize it, but we also clean up uninhabitable properties – such as you sometimes see in foreclosures or evictions – and we also handle the cleanup and decontamination of vehicles. Not as traumatic, but equally difficult, and sometimes, really nasty. ”

“We offer 24-hour confidential service, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year,” Aaron continued. “Our motto has always been, ‘We clean up the unexpected’ and obviously, there’s no way to know when the unexpected will occur. Days, nights, weekends – our rates stay the same – no premium fees or overtime charges.

“Chesapeake Crime Cleaners services private residences, commercial properties, apartments, condominiums, motels, hotels, automobiles, RVs, watercraft, and aircraft in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.” Aaron smiled and added, “Like they say – it’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it.”

Cambridge sanitation business specializes in crime scene cleanup

By RICHARD McNEY
Chesapeake Business Ledger Editor

CAMBRIDGE Vance Morris worked for 25 years in the restaurant and hotel industry, but after getting laid off in May 2007, the second time in five years, he decided to stop working for others and start his own business. Having always worked in the design, sanitation and process improvement of all the food service companies he had ever worked for, he knew there was a need for a business that specialized in commercial restaurant and kitchen sanitation.

"I knew that there were very few specialized cleaning companies," he said. "I used my relationships in the food and restaurant industry to get into the business."

Crime scene cleanup: A dirty job, but they do it

By Deborah Gates • Staff Writer • April 11, 2010

CAMBRIDGE -- If you're reading this story over
Sunday breakfast, you might want to set it aside for
later. Vance Morris's work at Chesapeake Service
Solutions Inc. could leave some people with a
queasy stomach.

Morris and his crew of technicians suit up to clean
up after tragedy strikes -- and human biohazards
are left behind.

"When somebody calls about a job, I have to ask, 'Is
somebody dead?' " Morris said, underscoring the
firm's focus on biohazard sanitation. "We've cleaned
up enough yucky stuff."

That can include spatters of blood, brains and even
human guts; somebody's gotta do it.

And since few do, Morris' CSSI has a niche in a
market where most cleaning services stick to routine
dusting, vacuuming and polishing.

"We suit up, wear respirators -- we're covered head
to toe," said Morris, who expanded his Cambridge-
based cleaning business to fill a void in the
domestic services industry. "We don't do windows;
we are not a house-cleaning company."

CSSI is among a handful of cleaning services
specializing in biohazard remediation, or the
cleaning of biologically contaminated environments.
Not all cleanups are at crime scenes; clients include
owners of properties where patients have
succumbed to contagious conditions such as forms
of hepatitis or AIDS -- and left traces of bodily
fluids. And they remove the stench that lingers from
decomposition when a victim is discovered days
after their death.

Det. Sgt. Rich Kaiser at the Salisbury Police
Department said the number of local specialized
biohazard cleaning services are so few that the
department keeps on hand contact information for a
company based in Harford County, more than 100
miles away -- Crime Scene Cleanup.

"This is a company ready to go if we need one,"
Kaiser said. "The company advertises through
training programs we do."

Typically, property owners take responsibility for
cleanup of a crime scene, a process that has its
risks, Kaiser said.

"In a gruesome scene with a lot of blood spatter,
usually it's contained to a hallway or a room," he
said. "But when you're dealing with blood, you don't
know if it's contaminated or not."


Proper disposal of contaminated waste is as critical
as proper cleanup. "The hard part is staying within
guidelines as to how to clean up, and knowing the
different equipment to be used," Kaiser said.
"Disposal is a whole new monster."

Morris points to waste company Culver Enterprises,
which transports and disposes of biomedical waste.

Morris started CSSI three years ago, focusing on
heavy-duty cleaning, but not biohazard materials --
not until he received an inquiry from an insurance
agent about cleaning a crime scene after a man was
stabbed.