When someone is hurt or dies in a Bellevue home or workplace, the cleanup is done by an independent crime and trauma scene cleanup company that the family, landlord or employer hires directly. Cleanup can start only after police, and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office1 if someone died, have released the scene, meaning they have handed control of the property back to you. Biohazard Network does not do this work; we can connect you with an independent local company so you do not have to search alone.
If someone died by suicide, or if anyone in your family is struggling right now, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, confidential support. You can call, text or chat with a 988 Lifeline counselor anytime, day or night, and counselors can also support someone worried about a loved one.
What this cleanup involves
This service covers what is left after an assault, a homicide, a break-in where someone was hurt, a serious accident that was not a crime, or a death by suicide. The concern is biohazards, meaning material that can carry germs that cause disease. That includes blood and OPIM, short for other potentially infectious materials, which are body fluids that can carry bloodborne pathogens, the germs in blood that can make a person sick. Household cleaners cannot reach what soaks into porous materials, such as carpet, padding, drywall and upholstered furniture. A cleanup company removes and disinfects what was left behind so no one in the family has to see or handle it.
What happens first
Police control the property while they investigate. If someone died, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office1 also has a role. A medical examiner’s office is the public office that looks into certain deaths, and this one investigates sudden, violent, unexpected, and suspicious deaths that occur in King County. Its work at the scene includes photographs, evidence collection, and information from family and other witnesses, so you may be asked questions. You can reach the office at 206-731-3232.
Neither the police nor the county clean the property. Once the scene is released, you choose who does. In the meantime:
- Do not wipe, scrub or bleach any area.
- Keep children, pets and visitors out of the affected rooms.
- If you rent, the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) says not to throw damaged things away yet, because the insurer may want to inspect them, and to ask the insurer what to do with contaminated items.
After a death by suicide
You do not need to go back into the room. While the examination is under way, you will be asked to choose a funeral home or crematory, ideally within 3 days. That funeral home is where personal effects collected in the investigation are sent and where any viewing takes place. Evidence connected to the death is not released to the family; it goes to the investigating law enforcement agency. If privacy matters to you, ask a company before hiring it how it handles discretion, including what its vehicles look like.
For property managers and employers
After an accident at a rental, office or shop, keep tenants, staff and customers away from the area until the work is finished. Ask the company for written records afterward showing what was removed and disinfected and how waste left the site.
What to expect from the company you hire
The crew wears protective equipment such as gloves, suits and respirators. They set up containment, which means sealing off the work area so contamination does not spread to clean rooms. They remove affected porous materials, then carry out disinfection, meaning they apply products that kill germs on the hard surfaces that stay. Work on lingering odor comes after the source is gone; see odor remediation in Bellevue. For smaller spills, see blood and bodily fluid cleanup.
Some of what is removed is biomedical waste, a category Washington law limits to a set list that includes discarded human blood and materials containing free-flowing blood. Ask for photos and an itemized list for your insurer.
Before hiring, ask the company how its work follows OSHA’s Bloodborne pathogens standard, 29 CFR 1910.10302, and the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup (IICRC is a non-profit organization for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industries), then look the business up yourself on the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries3 (L&I) tool, Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business3. Our guide, Biohazard Cleanup Certifications Explained, explains what those checks show.
Does insurance cover it?
Homeowners insurance sometimes covers this work, depending on the policy. The OIC4 tells homeowners to understand what their policy does and doesn’t cover, and you can ask your agent or company whether a loss is covered without filing a claim. If the loss is due to a crime, notify police and keep a copy of the report. You have the right to choose your own contractor for covered repairs, and the OIC warns that signing a contractor’s assignment of benefit form could affect your rights, so read before you sign. A landlord’s policy does not cover a renter’s personal property.
Usually covered: Homeowner insurance protects your home and belongings from damage caused by specific risks, says the Insurance Commissioner’s page on how home insurance works. Insurance companies can’t deny your claim if a covered loss is due to domestic abuse and you didn’t help cause the loss; if you file a claim for a property loss, you’ll also need to file a police report, says the Commissioner’s page on domestic abuse and insurance.
Usually not covered: A policy may exclude losses caused by intentional or fraudulent acts of anyone it insures, under RCW 48.18.550.
Ask your insurer: “What does my policy cover for cleanup after a crime, a serious injury or a suicide in my home, and do any exclusions apply?” Source: Filing a homeowner insurance claim (Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner)4
The Crime Victims Compensation Program
L&I5’s Crime Victims Compensation Program5 does not pay for crime scene cleanup. It may still help a family with grief counseling, mental health treatment, medical and dental treatment, medication, partial wage loss replacement and funeral expenses. To qualify, a person must have been physically injured or mentally traumatized by a gross misdemeanor or felony in Washington, reported to law enforcement, with cooperation in the investigation. The program pays only after primary insurance, so check your own policy first.
Cleanup in Bellevue
Bellevue is an incorporated city, and its Development Services handles permits, inspects projects and investigates code violations. If removing damaged flooring or drywall leads to repairs, ask whether a permit is needed. Public Health – Seattle & King County offers guidance for businesses that generate biomedical waste and on how to handle used or found sharps; its main phone number is 206-296-4600. If a company you call is based in Seattle, ask how it reaches you: I-90 and its floating bridges link Seattle with Mercer Island and the Eastside, and the SR 520 floating bridge links Seattle with the cities on the east side of Lake Washington. If no one found the person for some time, see unattended death cleanup.
Who to call first
In an emergency, call 911.These official offices may be part of the first steps. They are government pages, not ours.
- King County Medical Examiner (opens in a new tab)After a sudden or unexpected death, cleanup waits until this office is done.
- Public Health – Seattle & King County (opens in a new tab)For local health questions, such as a home that was used as a drug lab.
- Washington Crime Victims Compensation Program (L&I) (opens in a new tab)If a crime happened, it may help with some costs, such as funeral expenses. It doesn't pay for cleanup.
- Verify a contractor (L&I lookup) (opens in a new tab)Look up whether a company is a registered contractor before work starts.
- Washington State Department of Health (opens in a new tab)State health rules, such as for drug lab cleanup and hantavirus.