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 clean-up

By RICHARD McNEY Editor | 0 comments

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."

Morris started Chesapeake Service Solutions in summer 2007 and gained several contracts performing commercial restaurant and kitchen sanitation in the Washington, D.C., area. That summer he also purchased a Chem-Dry carpet and upholstery cleaning franchise on the Eastern Shore. Chem-Dry TDC, as the franchise is now known, serves Talbot, Dorchester, Wicomico, Worcester, Somerset and Caroline counties.

Morris was continually looking for needs he could fill with his businesses. An opportunity arose when he received a phone call from an insurance agent acquaintance. The insurance agent had a property manager client who had a tenant who was stabbed and the property needed to be cleaned. Morris had read an article about crime scene clean-up businesses several years ago and thought it would not be too different than the sanitary work he was doing in kitchens and restaurants. He decided to take the job.

When he arrived at the property the landlord was standing on the street with the key. Morris put on a respirator, entered the apartment and was hit with one of the worst odors he has ever come across. The man, who survived the stabbing, was thawing his Thanksgiving turkey in the kitchen sink when the crime took place. The turkey was still in the sink and was now rotting.

After his first experience with crime scene clean-up, Morris decided Chesapeake Service Solutions would specialize in biohazard removal and clean-up of trauma and crime scenes, and unsanitary dwellings such as the homes of hoarders. The new work required much of the same sanitizing equipment and cleaning products the business was already using.

"Coming into this was almost a natural progression," Morris said. "We saw a need. There are a lot of cleaning and janitorial companies out there, but no one was dedicated to this."

Morris acknowledges that not everyone can handle cleaning up crime scenes or the psychological pressures associated. He has four part-time employees who have no problem handling the clean-up. At the end of each job Morris holds a 15 to 30 minute discussion with his employees in case there is anything they want to talk about.

"For most of the guys it is just another mess to clean up," he said. "What outweighs it for me is I know the service I am providing to a family far outweighs any queasiness I might have."

In the past, clean up of such events has often been handled by family members or church members, he said. Chesapeake Service Solutions' main concern is that family members are not victimized twice by having to clean up after a violent crime or the death of a loved one, he said.

"We guarantee that our clients will never know anything occurred there," he said. "We investigate and examine the entire scene."

Clean-up is conducted in a discreet fashion. Employees are trained to be respectful on the job and they use an unmarked rental van to avoid further attention. The business also uses "green" cleaning products that are not harmful to the environment.

All Chesapeake Service Solutions employees are certified by professional and industry organizations and the business adheres to all OSHA and EPA regulations concerning the containment and removal of biohazards. Many of the regulations and precautions are focused on employee safety due to the dangers of dealing with bodily fluids, Morris said.

The business covers roughly a 100-mile radius around Cambridge and has about three jobs a month on average. All of the business's work comes through referrals or word-of-mouth since its services are not advertised, Morris said. The business does send out mailings to funeral home directors, social service agencies, law enforcement, volunteer fire companies and emergency operations centers to let them know the services are available.

Morris said that he has found running his own business to be challenging, but extremely satisfying.

"I will never work for somebody again," he said.

For information on Chesapeake Service Solutions, visit www.chesapeakeservicesolutions.com or call 410-924-4684.

Crime Scene Leftovers Pose Problem For Sanitation

Call it the Case of the Bloody Mattress.

City sanitation workers in southwestern Kentucky were recently left with the problem of how to dispose of a bloody mattress put out with the trash.

The mattress came from a home where police say a 37-year-old man appears to have died from self-inflicted stab wounds. The problem came when trash collectors realized they couldn't pick up a potential biohazard, but didn't want to leave it by the side of the road in a residential neighborhood in Hopkinsville.

"This was an area of concern for us because blood is considered a biohazard and not only can our trash trucks not pick it up, but it could be dangerous for people in the community," said George Hampton, a route supervisor for Hopkinsville Solid Waste Authority.

The Kentucky New Era reports that the mattress disappeared by midweek, but sanitation officials didn't take it and were still trying to make sure it was properly disposed of. The location of the mattress remained a mystery at week's end.

Hopkinsville sanitation workers received an anonymous call reporting a mattress, possibly covered in blood, that had been set on a curb outside of a home. That was the concern of the anonymous caller, Hampton said, who said children in the neighborhood could start to play on the mattress and come into contact with the dried blood that might have diseases.

Because there was blood on the mattress, sanitation workers couldn't haul it off with the rest of the trash.

"It raises a question for us about where we take it from here," Hampton said. "Someone has to clean up messes like these and we can't do it."

Solid Waste Superintendent Bill Bailey said sanitation workers aren't allowed to pick up possible biohazards, including blood, from the side of the road. Instead, Bailey said, the department needs to call other landfills to see who will pick up and take the items.

"Sometimes we can process and wrap it in plastic and dispose of it that way. But other times we have to contact a company that deals with disposing of medical waste."

Charlotte Write, a spokeswoman for Stericycle, a national company that specializes in medical waste disposal, said medical waste is generally burned to kill pathogens that can live in dried blood.

"It is important to dispose of all medical waste, especially waste that comes from the body, so as not to spread diseases," Write said.

Hopkinsville Police Chief Guy Howie said the families must clean up the scene of a murder or suicide or pay to have it done.

"It doesn't sound very friendly, I know, but that's just how it has to be handled," Howie said. "Someone has to clean it up and someone has to dispose of all of this, it's just a matter of figuring out who. It's amazing that just one mattress on a curb can raise so many questions."

Someone solved sanitation's problem by taking the mattress from in front of the home. Bailey said sanitation workers didn't remove it, but finding out what became of the mattress is important. It had to be properly sterilized and disposed of.

"We can't just stick it in our landfill and be done with it," Bailey said. "Whether it's on that curb or not, it's still hazardous material."