Crime and Trauma Scene Cleanup in Kent, WA

After a crime, a serious injury or a death by suicide in Kent, an independent biohazard cleanup company does the cleanup, and it can begin only after police, and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office¹ if someone died, have finished and released the home. Biohazard Network does not clean anything; we can connect you with an independent local company that you hire directly. Until the release, you do not need to do anything with the affected area.

We are sorry you are facing this. If you or someone in your family is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, confidential support, and you can call, text or chat with a counselor anytime, day or night. The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) says 988 counselors can also support someone who is worried about a loved one.

What crime and trauma scene cleanup involves

A biohazard is any material, such as blood, that may carry germs able to make people sick. Bloodborne pathogens are those germs when they travel in blood. After an assault, a homicide, a break-in where someone was hurt, a serious accident or a suicide, these materials may be left on floors, walls, furniture and other surfaces.

Ordinary cleaning is not enough. Household products and a mop can spread contamination instead of removing it, and some materials soak deep into flooring and walls. Crime and trauma scene cleaners are independent companies that remove and disinfect what was left behind, so the family does not have to see or handle any of it. If the situation involves blood only, without a crime or a death, the blood and bodily fluid cleanup page may fit better.

What happens first in Kent

Police control the scene first. If someone died, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office¹ also takes part. A medical examiner is a public official who investigates certain deaths, and this office investigates sudden, violent, unexpected and suspicious deaths that occur in King County. Its investigators may take photographs, collect evidence and ask family members and other witnesses what they know.

“Scene release” means the investigators are done and the property is handed back to the owner or family. Neither the police nor the medical examiner cleans the home. Before the release, please do not touch, move or throw away anything in the affected area. Evidence that contributed to the death is not returned to the family; it goes to the investigating law enforcement agency. For questions about an investigation, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office¹ can be reached for medicolegal death investigation at 206-731-3232, ext. 5, at any hour.

After a suicide

While the examination is under way, the family chooses a funeral home or crematory to receive the person who died. Personal effects collected during the investigation go to that funeral home, and the office asks families to choose one within 3 days. Families are not charged for the investigation or examination.

Once the home is released, the cleanup company takes the hardest physical part off your shoulders. You can stay elsewhere while the work is done. If privacy matters to you, ask the company plainly about plain vehicles, how its crew will arrive, and what it will say to neighbors who ask.

For property managers and employers after an accident

If someone was badly hurt at a rental, a shop or a workplace, close off the area and keep tenants, customers and staff away from it. Do not ask maintenance workers or coworkers to wipe it up. When the work is finished, ask the company for written records of what it removed, how it disinfected, and how the waste was disposed of. Those records help with insurance and with your own files.

What to expect from the company you hire

The crew will wear protective equipment, such as gloves, suits and face protection. They will set up containment, which means sealing off the work area so contamination does not spread to the rest of the building. Porous materials, meaning things like carpet, padding, drywall and upholstery that absorb liquids, often cannot be saved and are cut out and removed. Hard surfaces are then cleaned and disinfected, which means treated with products that kill germs.

Any lingering odor is treated only after its source has been removed; the odor remediation page explains that step. Biomedical waste is the medical-type waste that state law defines, including discarded human blood and materials containing free-flowing blood.

Before you hire anyone, ask whether the company follows OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard², 29 CFR 1910.1030, and the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup, which comes from the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC), a non-profit group for the cleaning and restoration industries. Then look the business up yourself on the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries³ (L&I) tool called Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business³, and read how certifications and registration work for more detail.

Does insurance cover crime scene cleanup?

Homeowners insurance sometimes covers this work, but every policy is different. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner⁴ (OIC) tells homeowners to understand what their policy does and does not cover, and it says you can ask your agent or insurance company whether a loss is covered without filing a claim. If the loss came from a crime, the OIC says to notify police and keep a copy of the report.

You have the right to choose your own contractor for covered repairs. The OIC warns that signing a contractor’s assignment of benefit form could affect your rights, so read anything a company asks you to sign. Renters should know that a landlord’s policy does not cover a renter’s personal property; if belongings are contaminated and unsafe to handle, the OIC says to ask your own insurance company what to do, and not to throw damaged items away yet, because the insurer may want to inspect them.

The Crime Victims Compensation Program⁵ of L&I⁵ helps people who were physically injured or mentally traumatized by a gross misdemeanor or felony in Washington, when the crime was reported to law enforcement and the victim cooperated with the investigation. It may pay for things such as medical treatment, mental health treatment, grief counseling and funeral expenses. However, L&I lists crime scene cleanup under what the program does not pay for, and the program pays only after primary insurance, as the payer of last resort.

Getting help to a home in Kent

Kent is an incorporated city, so if the cleanup leaves walls or floors that need rebuilding, the city’s Economic and Community Development department runs the Permit Center where you can ask whether repairs need a permit.

Companies that serve King County may be based elsewhere in the county. 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 east of Lake Washington, so ask a company where it is based and when it can reach Kent. If a death went unnoticed for a time, the unattended death cleanup page covers that situation. You can also read more on our Kent page and our King County page.

Crime and trauma scene cleanup: every town we cover