Today’s kids use the internet for more than just a resource they use it to socialize. As summer approaches children are likely to spend equal parts outside playing and inside online, which is why it is important to know about cyber bullying.

What is cyber bullying?

Cyber bullying is an electronic form of bullying that often takes place through:

• Instant messages
• Chat rooms
• A website or gaming site
• Through digital messages or images sent to a cell phone

Signs your child has become a victim of cyber bullying:

• Appears anxious about going to school
• Unexpectedly stops using the computer, their cell phone, etc.
• They become withdrawn from friends and school activities
• They appear uneasy when they get an instant or text message

What to do if your child is targeted

1. Don’t overreact - Evaluate the situation and support your child without immediately calling the school or the bullies’ parents. Be sure to ask questions and if you feel like your child is in physical danger take action. If a threat has been made contact your local authorities immediately.

2. Save every message – If things escalade it is very important you have thorough records of the harassment that you can give to the police. Be sure to save every message, text, and bookmark every website the bully posted on.

3. Don’t participate – Never get more involved in cyber bullying than absolutely necessary. Odds are if you or your child responds to a comment it will only make matters worse.

4. Know school policies – Many schools have policies about cyber bullying; don’t hesitate to get the school involved or have a guidance counselor keep an eye out for in-school bullying.

Resources

For more information about cyber bullying feel free to visit the following websites:

• www.wiredsafety.org

• www.stopcyberbullying.org

• www.cyberbullying.us

Labels: cyber bullying

This August Bio-Clean of New Jersey helped remediate the home of a hoarder who had 38 chihuahua's living in a tiny rowhome, surrounded by thier own feces for years. Check it out!

Did you ever suffer property damage due to corrosive drywall? The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance providing relief to homeowners who have suffered property losses due to the effects of certain imported drywall installed in homes between 2001 and 2009. Revenue Procedure 2010-36 enables you to treat damages from corrosive drywall as a casualty loss and provides a “safe harbor” formula for determining the amount of the loss.

You can claim a loss of 75% of the unreimbursed amount paid during the tax year to repair damage to your residence and household appliances from corrosive drywall.

Padgett Business Services December 2010, Vol. 8, No.12

To learn more about tainted drywall, such as how to spot it and some history, check out our website!

Labels: Chinese Drywall, corrosive drywall

Bio-Clean of New Jersey Recently posted an article about a couple in Bristol, PA who had recently purchased their first home, only to discover after that it was formally used as a meth lab. Due to an absence PA of laws on the subject, the couple is facing great difficulties in trying to get their home clean and safe again.

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE:

If you would like to donate to and help this family, please click here to donate:

http://ourmethhouse.chipin.com/cleaning-our-meth-house

Click here to check out their blog:
http://ourmethhouse.blogspot.com/

Friend them on facebook to help spread the word:
Our Meth House on Facebook

Labels: meth, meth lab, meth lab decontamination, meth lab testing

Police find possible drug lab at Georgetown dorm

Labels: animal decontamination, Drug Lab, meth lab testing

Yesterday, health offic ials announced the first reported case of Cholera in the United States. A Florida woman returned home from Haiti and brought the disease with her. According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Haiti has already suffered 1,100 deaths due to Cholera.

Cholera is bacterial infection of the small intestine that causes a large amount of watery diarrhea. Cholera occurs in places with poor sanitation, crowding, war, and famine. Symptoms include glassy eyes, intense thirst, vomiting, diarrhea with a "fishy" odor, dry mucus membranes, and intense abdominal pain. Cholera kills by causing extreme dehydration in those infected. Cholera can not be spread from person to person like the flu. It passes through contaminated water and food sources.

If this disease isn't directly communicable between people, why is Bio-Clean telling you about it? Because Disease Outbreak Control starts with education. While these cases are still only reported in Florida, anyone who is coming back from Haiti has a chance of bringing back Cholera with them. If you know anyone who has been to Haiti recently, especially to help in relief efforts, let them know they should see a doctor!

For more information on why Bio-Clean is a national leader in Infection Control Services, check out www.crimescenecleaning.net

Labels: Bio-Spray, biospray, Cholera, disease, disease decontamination, infection control, mumps. disease control

The Philadelphia Health Department is warning about an outbreak of mumps at a school in Overbrook. On November 9th, Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia reported 19 cases of mumps. While the school's number of infected students is concerning, the Philadelphia health department has yet to issue any large scale warning.

This outbreak serves as a reminder that one sick student or employee can cause a disease outbreak that effects many. Don't let your school or office become overrun by mumps, influenza, H1N1, or any other communicable disease! Bio-Clean is the first company of our kind to pioneer into the latest breakthrough in disease control technology. To learn more about the industry's first NO WIPE, RAPID RESPONSE DISINFECTION PROCESS, click the image below.

Labels: animal decontamination, biospray, disease decontamination, mumps. disease control, outbreak control

Bio-Clean was recently featured in an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Daniel Rubin: Bristol buys stuck with methamphetamine-tainted house

Thu, Oct. 28, 2010

Someone had frosted the master bedroom window. Ugly brown plastic kept people from looking in the kitchen.

"I thought, 'Maybe there were old people who'd lived there and they didn't want to get blinded by the morning sun,' " said Jenn, 30.

The closing hadn't come easily. Twice it was postponed - and the second time the Realtor said he was missing a signature because the owner was in jail.

Again, Jenn thought the best. "People wind up in jail for all sorts of reasons," she said. "Child support . . ."

She and her boyfriend, Rob Quigley, 31, were in love with the century-old twin in Bristol Borough, and love can be blind.

There was plenty of space for her crafts and his computer. One of the four bedrooms could easily be turned into a nursery when the time came.

The location was perfect: a short drive to his graphic-design job in Hamilton, N.J., and a straight shot down 95 to South Street, where she buys clothes for a vintage shop.

"We couldn't wait to get started," Rob said.

They moved in March 1. Five days later, he met their neighbor taking out the trash. She was glad that the young couple had moved in, she said, and that the former occupant was not coming back.

Now she had Rob's attention. "She told me he was in a biker gang, and this used to be a meth house."

Head spinning, Rob walked into the house and broke the news to Jenn. Together they rushed upstairs to the computer and did something they said they wished they had done before they bought the $190,000 house: They Googled the address, 334 Jefferson Ave.

The third hit was a site called Homefacts. They were living in a former meth lab, all right. A second page, by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, ended any remaining doubts.

Some more searching yielded a list of symptoms that exposure to meth chemicals causes.

Sore throat, check. Watery eyes, check. Irritability, well, that could be from the meth, the moving, or the idea of the meth. But, check.

Swabs taken from five rooms showed the presence of methamphetamine, the greatest concentrations in the basement and master bedroom.

Three days later, Jenn and Rob moved out.

Taking the advice of the tester, Andrew Yurchuck of Bio-Clean of New Jersey, they threw out everything they couldn't douse in Simple Green. Friends moved them into Rob's mother's house in Newtown, where they have lived ever since.

Unfortunately, they don't have much of a next move.

David Scaggs, a real estate lawyer, told them that litigating their case could cost more than $50,000, and that it would be difficult to win.

They'd have to prove the home inspector or the Realtor who listed the house knew or should have known that the house had a material defect. Or they could go after the owner. Scaggs told me he wasn't optimistic.

Four brothers inherited the house as part of their parents' estate. One son - Ronald Geagnacova, a former biker with the Warlocks - had lived there until April 2004, when he was arrested after he overdosed on heroin. His girlfriend called police, who found a loaded gun with an erased serial number. The weapons offense was Geagnacova's third.

A local paper, the Bristol Pilot, reported that after evacuating neighbors and searching the house, police posted a sign on the front door, marking it as "a clandestine laboratory for the manufacture of illegal drugs."

Geagnacova received a seven-year sentence on federal charges. His brother Francis, the executor of the estate, didn't return my phone call.

Scaggs said Jenn and Rob's best option was finding a lawyer who would work for a contingency fee.

Or they could spend the money to have the place cleansed of meth. Bio-Clean estimated that mitigation would cost $61,000. That's not an option for them, either.

The couple say they are on the verge of financial ruin, spending $220 a month for storage on top of a $1,500 mortgage payment. They've paid $4,000 for legal bills, $1,500 for the testing. And they can't sell the twin without disclosing its past. They can't imagine who would buy it.

So how hazardous is the place? Pennsylvania doesn't set standards for what's a safe level of methamphetamine traces. Neither does New Jersey.

Colorado does, however, and the amount found in the basement and bedroom was 60 percent of the level that state deems hazardous.

I ran the test result by Dennis Thrasher, a public-health doctor in Tucson, Ariz., and lead author of a 2009 article in the Journal of Medical Toxicology about exposure to methamphetamine.

"If I were feeling the effects - watery eyes, irritation in the nose or throat, maybe a little bit of a cough - I wouldn't move back in," he said.

So with few options left and their money disappearing, Jenn and Rob have returned to the Internet to vent. Jenn created a blog that chronicles their nightmare on Jefferson Street. Its name:

"Our Meth House."

"We are heartbroken," they write. "We bought a home with money we earned diligently and honestly, only to be deceived. . . . Please keep us in your prayers."

Read the full article here!

Labels: meth, meth lab, meth lab decontamination, meth lab testing, methamphetamine, philadelphia

Rodents are the most destructive pests in the world. Rats scatter disease-carrying waste, and can chew through cement and wires, resulting in electrical fires! E. Coli, Salmonella, and hantavirus can all be delivered into the human bloodstream by Bats, Rats, and mice.

As the weather continues to cool down, if you find pests or rodents in your home, call Bio-clean at 856.307.1051.


TIPS ON SAFEGUARDING YOUR HOME FROM WINTER PESTS

Autumn is the time to start taking measures against rodent and insect intruders. As the temperature drops, rodents and pests will try and enter your home for warmth and shelter. Here's a few tips on how to keep them (and the diseases he carry) out!

1. To keep insects out of your home when keeping a door open to let the cool autumn air in, try a sodium vapor light bulb. Also, a fluorescent light bulb placed far away from the entryway can draw insects and pests away from your home.

2. When you rake the leaves this fall, make sure tree branches and shrubs aren't touching the sides of your building.

3. When planning your landscape, remember that rodents don't like to be out in the open, so avoid planting anything too close to your building.

4. Check your home for cracks or openings. Rats can enter the home in a hole the size of a quarter, mice and bats in holes the size of a dime, and cockroaches in holes only 1.16 of an inch wide.



Do you want to make SURE your home will be pest free this winter? Bio-Clean offers pest-prevention consultations; let an expert make sure your home is sealed tight and fully safeguarded from disease spreading rodents and pests. Call Bio-clean at 856.307.1051. www.crimescenecleaning.net

Labels: bats, disease, feces, feces celanup, pest abatement, rodents, tips

Because meth is highly addictive, relatively inexpensive, and easy to make, it has spread rapidly through the western, southwestern, midwestern, and southeastern United States.

While the North East Coast was once virtually Meth-free, drug dealers in the area are looking to change that.

For example, check out this recent Meth lab bust in Lehigh county:

Lehigh County Drug Task Force busts suspected meth lab at Salisbury Township home

Authorities have executed a search warrant at a Salisbury Township home they believe contains a methamphetamine lab.

Township and Pennsylvania State Police, along with members of the Lehigh County Drug Task Force descended upon the home at 1410 S. Gilmore St. between 8 and 8:30 this morning. The single-family home sits at the corner of Lynnwood Street. A flower shop is attached to the house.

Officers in bio-hazard suits were still removing items from a garage beneath the house shorty before 11 o'clock this morning. Lehigh County Drug Task Force Detective Joseph Stauffer said the search is part of an ongoing investigation at the property, and that officials have found what they believe is a meth lab.

According to Lehigh County property records, the home is owned by Rebecca Andrews, who purchased it in July. Two adults and two young children -- neighbors said both are girls -- live in the home.

The side yard is littered with children's toys, and a red Dodge Dakota pickup truck that had been parked in the garage when police arrived has been moved to the driveway.

Neighbors who have lived on the street for 44 years, but declined to give their names, said there is a constant stream of cars to and from the home at all hours of the day and night, which is unusual in the otherwise quiet neighborhood. The couple said they have come to recognize the same six to eight cars that visit the house.

In the past few weeks, the couple said, they began noticing billows of smoke wafting from the basement. But last week, the man who lives in the home added a small chimney at the back of the house to direct the smoke from the property, they said.

While it's unfortunate that Meth has begun to appear in the North East at all, at least it looks like local authorities are vigilantly holding back the nation's Meth cooks from overtaking this area of the United States as well.

Do you ever wonder if that old abandoned house with lots of cars in front of it is a meth lab? Do you suspect Meth may have been cooked in a newly purchased property? Are you just curious about Meth lab identification and decontamination? Click on over to Bio Clean of New Jersey's Meth Lab Decontamination page, where you'll find scads of information on how to spot a meth lab, signs of a meth lab, what to do if you come across a meth lab, how we test for meth labs, and how we clean them up. There's even a section designed to help those who may have a meth problem. Don't delay, check out the site today.


http://www.crimescenecleaning.net/meth.htm

Labels: bio-recovery corporation, biohazard, biorecovery, meth, meth lab, meth lab decontamination, methamphetamine

Bio-Clean of NJ has recently sponsored St. Mary's School's Intramural Basketball team! Now, I may be a little biased, but I have to say that Bio-Clean must be one of the tuffest sponsors a kids sports team can get; The other teams are going to need our services after these kids get done with them! LET'S GO ST. MARY'S BASKETBALL!!!

Labels: community, crimescenecleaning.net

I heard a story on WMMR's Preston & Steve show today, that really reminded me of the crimescene cleaning business. Check it out!

Maryland funeral home loses license over treatment of corpses

Inspectors visiting a Maryland funeral home were shocked to find about 40 bodies stacked on top of each other in a garage, leaking fluid.

The bodies, some of which had been donated for scientific research, were awaiting cremation, but "even somebody who donates their body to science... should be treated with dignity," a state funeral board official said.

Investigators said when they entered the garage an employee warned them, "Don't get upset about all the bodies in there." Unsurprisingly, the funeral home has lost its license, CNN reports.


Apperently people were walking through this room and tracking bodily fluids in sanitary areas! So gross!

Labels: crime scene cleanup, death cleanup, decomposition

Yesterday, we learned all about the stages of decomposition, from the initial stage’s egg-laying free-for-all, to the butyric fermentation stage’s cheesy odor.

I also touched on belatedly discovered deaths, also known as undiscovered deaths, or decomps. Today, we’re going to get into that a little more.

Luckily for me, on the majority of the undiscovered death cleanups I have participated in, the deceased was in an early state of decay, IE: no maggots.

Cleaning up the bodily fluids that have leaked out of another human being is no fun. The smell is awful. It’s creepy in general. It’s just not awesome.

Frequently , the deceased will have passed away on a couch or bed, which means we have to remove a 200lb piece of furniture that Is soaked in blood, bile, bacteria, and digestive enzymes, but only after we cut off and remove the most soiled parts. It’s like carving a 200lb, gigantic, disgusting, rotting chicken.

There are very few decomps that aren’t totally horrible, but if there are no maggots, it’s a bearable kind of horrible. I’ve never personally been on a job that was really rife with live maggots (but my co-worker Keith has! That’s a [hilarious-cause-it-didn’t-happen-to-me] story for the next installment.

So long story short, today we’re talking about a dead body that generated a lot of life.

--This post contains real scene photos. Viewer discretion is advised. Click Here to reveal the rest of the post--

Labels: bio-recovery corporation, crime scene cleanup, crimescenecleaning.net, death cleanup, decomposition

Recently, Bio-Clean CEO Andrew Yurchuck spoke at Woodbury Jr High School's career day.

The students loved Andrew's speech. Eager to thank Mr. Yurchuck, they sent him several cards! Some of them are just too cute not to share.







Our Personal Favorite... if you open up the top layer of this card, confetti (anthrax?) comes out!

Labels: bio-clean restoration, community, crime scene cleanup

Today is the first installment of a 3 part-blog series on maggots and Decomposition. Crime scene cleaning and maggots, believe it or not, go hand in hand. Part of natural human decomposition; be it indoors, or outdoors, involves the life cycle of a variety of different types of flies.

Before we discuss real accounts of dealing with maggots on “undiscovered death” jobs, we should try and understand what happens to a body when it decomposes. According to Michael Weaver, Staff, Biology/Microbiology, Merck & Co., Inc.

At the very moment of death, the heart and lungs stop, and blood and oxygen are no longer pumped through the body. Because blood is no longer being pumped, the cardiovascular system loses pressure, and blood drains down to the lowest point on the body- whatever side is laying on the ground. The upward-facing side of the body turns very pale from lack of blood, and the downward-facing side becomes very dark. This phenomenon is called, lividity or liver mortis.

Despite all of this death and dysfunction in the body, shortly after liver mortis sets in, most cells in the body are still alive. Although brain cells die just a few minutes after the heart stops beating, skin and bone cells will actually be able to stay alive for days.

How is this possible? Time to take a trip back to Highschool Honors Biology. When a person is alive, their cells stay alive through a process known as aerobic respiration. Oxygen is processed by the cells and turned into energy, and thus the cells are alive. If a person is dead, their cells convert to anaerobic respiration, a form of energy creation that occurs without oxygen.

The body’s cell’s fight to stay alive, using anaerobic respiration to generate energy for as long as they can. What stops them from living forever? Well, when anaerobic respiration takes place, cells create Lactic Acid: it’s the same process and chemical compound that makes your muscles ache you run long distances.

When a person is alive, the Lactic Acid created during anaerobic respiration is washed away and processed by the human body. When a person is dead, nothing keeps the lactic acid in check. Muscles and blood vessels fill up with Lactic Acid, completely stiffening the body. You’ve probably heard of this stiffness by its common name; Rigor Mortis.

So here we are; 3-36 hours later, zero blood pressure, full of lactic acid, brain dead, microscopically still alive, complete Rigor Mortis. Gross right? I think so.
Though the current state of our hypothetical body is a gross one, it gets grosser. At least in my experience, the undiscovered death’s that we clean up were in a much later stage in decomposition.

“But wait Steve,” you may be thinking to yourself, “Don’t you see what state the bodies are in when you clean and decontaminate the scene of an undiscovered death?”

The body is never present when a crime scene cleaning company cleans and decontaminates a scene. It’s a common misconception that crime scene cleaners have to deal with dead bodies. Coroners take the bodies, we get the mess. (*Side note* If there are any coroners out there reading this, I know your job is tough, but could you be careful and not spill a trail of bodily fluids through the entire house? Thanks.)

Stage 1: Initial decay DAYS 0-3 POSTMORTEM

Initial decay includes all the aforementioned blood pooling, lactic acid buildup, and rigor mortis. A few other things happen in the first three days postmortem.
First, if you didn’t know, there are bacteria living inside your intestines right now, helping you break down the food you eat. One all the food and, let’s try and be mature here, poop is eaten, the bacteria that once helped you digest your food start to digest you! Once these bacteria eat through your intestinal walls, they move onto your other organs, including the rest of your digestive tract.
Your stomach and digestion organs contain enzymes and other things that help digest and break down food. When these organs are ruptured, these enzymes leak all over the rest of your body cavity. These enzymes join in with your helpful bacteria, and begin to break down your body’s tissue.

Stage one is also when INSCECTS get in on the action. As soon as you die, flies become attracted to the odors given off by your dead body. Flies lay their eggs in any open wounds and any orifices with no resistance; because you are dead, your body’s defenses are almost completely incapacitated. Within 24 hours, the eggs hatch, and maggots begin to feed on your insides.

Stage 2: Putrefaction DAYS 4-10 POSTMORTEM

You know it’s bad when stage 2 is purification… and there are 5 steps!

While maggots and microorganisms are breaking down your body, they are also giving out a large amount of different types of gases, including hydrogen sulfide, methane, putrescine, and the aptly names cadaverine.

These wretched, stankin’ gases attract hoards of insects. More flies show up to lay more eggs, adding to the maggot fiesta inside the body. Beetles, cockroaches, and other larger bugs show up as well, hungry for decomposing flesh and the smaller insects feeding on the body.

Remember those gases? They build up so much that they actually begin to inflate the body, forcing even more fluid out of cells and decomposing organs. The fluids collect inside the body cavity, where maggots and bacteria use it as spawning pool.

Stage 3: Black putrefaction DAYS 10-20 POSTMORTEM

The bacteria and insects have been at work for over a week now. The body has become bloated with fluid, maggots, and gases. Outer flesh is now creamy, and the whole body begins to collapse. If you thought the purification stage stank, you’re going to be blown away by black purification, because the body is no longer sealed up. Fluids and gases are freely leaking out of new holes in the body. Oh and lets not forget, all this lively activity is causing a rise in temperature. Hot, leaky, gassy decomposition… sounds like a senate meeting! Bu-dump-CH!

During this stage, bacteria and insects will eat the majority of the flesh left on the body.


Stage 4: Butyric fermentation DAYS 20-50 POSTMORTEM

Any flesh that remained in Black Purification is now gone. The body begins to dry out and emit a “cheesy” smell caused butyric acid. This new, funkier stank attracts many new organisms. Mold starts to grow on any part of the body touching the ground, and if possible, beetles start to show up. Maggots begin to die off, as they are unable to eat the dry, tough skin and ligaments left over.

Stage 5: Dry decay DAYS 50-365 POSTMORTEM

The body is now totally dry; pretty much just bones with a hard chewy black crispy crunchy crust. Tineid moths, the same moths that eat your good wool sweaters, show up to eat the body’s hair. All that is left is a skeleton, unless large animal some to take them away. The body is finally, completely decomposed.

Judging from what’s left over, I’d say we get undiscovered deaths from stage 1-3. I’ve never smelled a cheesy dead body, so I don’t think I’ve ever seen the aftermath of Butyruc Fermentaion.

Black Purification however, I have seen. Tomorrow, I’ll tell you all about a few decomp jobs I’ve been on, and how insects played a big part! Gross right? Until Tomorrow!

Labels: crime scene cleanup, decomposition, science, undiscovered deaths

Hey guys, it’s time for another interesting/possibly-emotionally-scarring Bio-Clean adventure! Today’s topic – close quarters handgun discharge cleanup.

Alright, without further ado, let’s get on to the story. Keith and I receive a call in the afternoon from a Hotel somewhere in Pennsylvania. All we know is a handgun was discharged, someone was shot, and that it all took place in a bathroom. Keith and I load up the truck with the necessary supplies and equipment, and off we go.

We get to the hotel and it’s a bit of a to-do. In order to not freak out the rest of the guests, we’re escorted into the employee’s-only area as quickly as possible. The room was high up in this hotel, at least 20 stories off the ground. Keith and I load our equipment into the service elevator and take a long ride up. Hopefully, this won’t be so bad.

Hopefully, this won’t be so bad. That pretty much sums up the collective mood before almost any job Keith and I go out on. Man, I hope that there is not 15 gallons of bodily fluids everywhere. In crime scene cleaning, the severity of gore and damage varies greatly from job to job. Sometimes, it’s just a square foot of blood on some carpet; easy-peasy. Other times… it’s a nightmare… on multiple levels. Seeing rooms where it looks like someone went AWOL with a broken pressure washer full of blood is nightmarish in itself… but cleaning it up? A whole ‘nother type of nightmare. And let’s not forget, 10 hours in a suit designed to keep pathogens out (and subsequently keep hot air IN) is not awesome.

Anyway, enough kvetching. How bad would this job be?

Click the link below to reveal the rest of the article and some bloody photos. 18+ is advised.

--This post contains real scene photos. Viewer discretion is advised. Click Here to reveal the rest of the post--

Labels: blood, bloody, crime scene cleanup, crimescenecleaning.net, death cleanup