Cleanup after a crime, a serious injury or a suicide in Renton is done by an independent trauma scene cleanup company that the family or property owner hires directly, and it can start only after police, and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office1 if someone died, have released the scene. Biohazard Network does not do this work. We can connect you with an independent local company when you are ready, and this page explains what happens first.
If you are coping with a sudden loss or a frightening event, you do not have to carry it alone. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, confidential emotional support by call, text or chat at any time, day or night, and its counselors can also help someone who is worried about a loved one.
What crime and trauma scene cleanup involves
A trauma scene is a place where a crime, a serious accident or a death has left blood or other body fluids behind. That material is a biohazard, meaning a biological substance that can carry disease. It may hold bloodborne pathogens, which are germs carried in blood that can make people sick. Cleaners also deal with OPIM, short for “other potentially infectious materials,” which means body fluids other than blood that can carry the same germs. Household products can make a surface look clean while germs remain underneath, and handling the material without protection puts the person cleaning at risk. Crime and trauma scene cleaners are independent companies that remove and disinfect what was left behind, so the family never has to see or handle it.
What happens first in Renton
Police and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office
After a crime or an injury, police control the property until their work is done. If someone died, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office1 may also be involved. A medical examiner is a public official who investigates deaths, and this office investigates sudden, violent, unexpected and suspicious deaths that occur in King County. Its work at the scene can include photographs, evidence collection, and information from family and witnesses. Scene release means the authorities have finished and handed the property back. Families are not charged for the office’s investigation or examination, and its death investigation line is 206-731-3232.
What you do and do not need to do
- Wait for release before anyone goes back in to clean.
- Do not wipe, move or throw away anything in the affected area, and keep children and pets out.
- Choose a funeral home. The Medical Examiner’s Office1 asks families to select one within 3 days, and personal effects collected during the investigation are sent there.
- If a crime was involved, keep a copy of the police report for your insurer.
After a suicide
If your family member died by suicide, please be gentle with yourself. The funeral home you choose receives your loved one, and viewing takes place there rather than at the Medical Examiner’s Office1. The cleanup company takes the hardest physical task off your shoulders: you do not need to enter the affected area at all. If privacy matters to you, ask the company before it starts how it handles discretion, such as how its vehicles are marked.
For property managers and employers
After an accident in a rental, a shared building or a workplace, keep tenants, staff and visitors away from the area until the company takes over. When the job is finished, ask for written records of what was removed, how surfaces were treated and how waste was disposed of.
What to expect from the company you hire
The crew should wear protective equipment such as gloves, suits and eye protection. Ask how they will set up containment, which means sealing off the work area so contamination does not spread. Porous materials, things that soak up liquid like carpet, padding and drywall, may need to be cut out and removed. Disinfection, the use of products that kill germs on surfaces, follows. Any lingering odor is treated only after its source is gone; see odor remediation in Renton. For smaller spills, see blood and bodily fluid cleanup in Renton.
Biomedical waste is the legal term for certain medical-type waste, including discarded blood and materials holding free-flowing blood. Ask too for photos and a written scope of work for your insurer.
To check a company yourself, ask whether its workers are trained under OSHA’s Bloodborne pathogens standard, 29 CFR 1910.10302, and whether it follows the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup from the IICRC (the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification, a non-profit for the cleaning and restoration industries). Then look the business up in the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries3 (L&I) tool called Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business3, and read how certifications are explained for more.
Insurance and the Crime Victims Compensation Program
The Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) urges homeowners to understand what their policy does and does not cover. You can ask your agent or company whether a loss is covered without filing a claim. The OIC says a homeowner policy generally includes some limited coverage for debris removal, that you may choose your own contractor for covered repairs, and that signing a contractor’s assignment of benefit form could affect your rights. Renters should know that a landlord’s policy does not cover a renter’s belongings, and if those belongings are contaminated, the OIC says to ask your insurer what to do and not to discard them yet.
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
L&I5 runs the Crime Victims Compensation Program5, and it does not pay for crime scene cleanup. The program may help with mental health treatment, grief counseling, medical care, partial wage loss and funeral expenses. It pays only after primary insurance, and it requires that the crime was reported to law enforcement and that the victim cooperated with the investigation.
Renton and King County offices
Renton is an incorporated city, so whether the home is in the Renton Highlands, east of the city center, or in Kennydale, a neighborhood annexed into Renton, permits for any rebuilding go through the City of Renton. Its Community and Economic Development (CED) department leads land use planning and regulation and services for the development process, and its page lists Permit Services and Code Compliance. If you hire a company based elsewhere in the county, ask how it will reach you; I-90 and its floating bridges link Seattle with Mercer Island and the Eastside, and the SR 520 floating bridge links Seattle with cities east of Lake Washington. If a death went unnoticed for a time, see unattended death cleanup in Renton.
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.