Although HALO hopes to never meet clients under tragic circumstances, there is a
chance that you may find yourself looking for experts behind trauma cleaning services,
like HALO. Other names for Trauma Cleaning include biohazard cleanup, biohazard
remediation or biohazard removal.

When You Need Trauma Cleaning Services?

Situations that require you to hire a trauma cleaner include accidents, suicide or
attempted suicide, decomposition after an unattended death, a traumatic injury, medical
emergencies, industrial accidents, contamination, animal of human biohazard
contamination (blood or waste) or the transportation, treatment and disposal of waste
that is otherwise regulated.

So what does this mean in layman’s terms? You may need to call us if you’ve had a pet
or person pass away, if someone in your home has suffered an injury, if you find animal
or human waste within a hoarded home or if a someone you know has passed away
unattended.

Why Can’t You Do It Yourself?

The process of cleaning a trauma scene is regulated by the Ontario Ministry of the
Environment and Guideline C-4; biological waste removed from any scene is
considered to be classified as hazardous by the same Ministry. Trauma cleaners require
specialized training and certification so that the process is completed correctly and in
adherence to all guidelines and codes. The work involved requires scrupulous attention
to detail and patience to do the job properly. Not to mention, most of our trauma cleanup
clients admit that these situations are overly emotional, dangerous, emotionally draining
and nauseating.

What Is The Risk In Trauma Cleaning?

All bodily fluids, human and other, are hazardous and contact with them can expose you
to a broad range of risks

Some of the main infectious pathogens found within the blood and bodily fluids found at
a Trauma Cleanup site that can cause harm to humans are:

• Bacteria like Tuberculosis, Strep and E-coli
• Fungi like Aspergillosis and Histoplasmosis
• Viruses like Hepatitis (all kinds), HIV, Common Cold and flu
• Prions like Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (aka “mad cow disease) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

These biohazardous materials can impact every part of your living space that they touch
including floors, subfloors, walls and even household items. They can also impact your
and the personal health of others living with you. Excessive odours affect air quality,
biological contamination can pass infection from a structure to people and our wellbeing
is often impacted by witnessing these kinds of trauma scenes.

Will My Space Look The Same After Trauma Cleanup?

Although sometimes HALO can make a space look as good as new after a trauma
cleanup, that expectation is not realistic. Surfaces saturated with blood or other bio-
hazardous matter, wood floors for instance, may not be cleanable. It is more likely that
they would need to be removed and then special precautions, like chemicals or sealers,
are used to ensure the safety of any subfloor below.

In the case where we have to remove flooring or other elements of the space (for
instance, perhaps a piece of drywall), HALO leaves the scene clean and ready for a
contractor to make repairs. In some cases our clients ask us to coordinate with these
construction services and we are happy to do so.

How We Do It?

There are standard procedures for trauma cleaning and decontaminating internal and
external spaces.You can expect HALO staff to be wearing extensive Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE) that may include shoe covers, coveralls, gloves and protective
eyewear. We use specifically rated cleaning agents which are mandatory in these types
of cleanups to ensure risks for contamination and infection are negated.

It is worth mentioning that visible damage is only part of the process – disinfecting
building materials and underlying layers that you cannot see can be hard, especially in
nooks and crannies that are difficult to get to. HALO knows how to assess the extent of
damage, complete what we can and then provide recommendations for further action if
necessary. HALO staff have the training, empathy and knowledge to safely and
successfully decontaminate a difficult scene.

Halo Can Help

HALO is here and we can help. Trauma cleaning is both an art and a science. Any and
all trauma and biohazard cleanups should be handled by certified professionals, like
HALO. Not only do we ensure the proper steps are taken to correctly remove, clean and
prevent the potential of infection and other illnesses to spread, we do so with discretion
and efficiency and with your safety and wellbeing in mind.