After a crime, a serious injury or a death by suicide on Bainbridge Island, the cleanup is done by an independent crime and trauma scene cleanup company that the family or property owner hires directly. Work can start only after the police, and the Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office1 if someone died, release the scene. Biohazard Network can connect you with an independent local company; we do not do the cleanup ourselves.
If you are grieving a death by suicide or struggling after what happened, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, confidential support. You can call, text or chat with a counselor at any time, including if you are worried about a loved one.
What crime and trauma scene cleanup involves
Crime and trauma scene cleaners are independent companies that remove and disinfect what was left behind after an assault, a homicide, a break-in with injury, a serious accident or a death by suicide. You and your family should not have to see or handle any of it.
The work deals with biohazards, meaning materials that may carry germs that cause disease. These include bloodborne pathogens, which are germs in blood that can infect a person through broken skin or the eyes, nose or mouth. They also include OPIM, short for other potentially infectious materials, which are body fluids that safety rules treat like blood.
Household cleaning is not enough. Germs can stay in seams or inside porous materials, which are absorbent things like carpet, padding and drywall that soak up fluids, and wiping can spread contamination to clean areas.
Who controls the scene first
Police control the property while they investigate. If someone died, the Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office1 is also involved. A medical examiner is an appointed official who leads death investigations, and this office investigates all sudden, unexpected, or unnatural deaths in Kitsap County.
Scene release means these agencies have finished their work and returned the property to you. Neither the police nor the county cleans afterward, so arranging cleanup then falls to the family or owner. Starting soon after release limits how far contamination and odor spread.
Until a company arrives:
- Do not touch, wipe, move or throw away anything in the affected area.
- Close the door if you can, and keep children and pets out.
- Ask the officer how to get a copy of the police report for insurance.
- You do not need to clean anything or go back into the room.
The office’s investigators carry a pamphlet for families that answers common questions and lists grief-counseling resources. Its family Resource Guide says it does not endorse or recommend any specific providers, so the choice of company is yours. You can reach the Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office1 at 360.731.6843.
After a death by suicide
If your loved one died by suicide, you do not have to manage the home alone. The funeral home cares for your loved one, and personal property the medical examiner’s office secured is released to the funeral home with the body. A cleanup company can take on the work at the home so you do not have to return to the room. If privacy matters to you, ask before the crew comes how the company handles discretion, including how its vehicles are marked.
For property managers and employers
After an accident in a rental, shop or office, keep tenants, staff and customers away from the area until it is cleaned. Afterward, ask the company for written records of what was removed, what was disinfected and how waste was disposed of, and keep them with your insurance file.
What to expect from the company you hire
The crew wears protective equipment such as gloves, suits, eye protection and respirators. Ask the company to explain each step:
- Containment: sealing off the work area so contamination does not spread to the rest of the building.
- Removal: taking out porous materials that cannot be safely cleaned. See also blood and bodily fluid cleanup.
- Disinfection: applying products that kill germs on the surfaces that remain.
- Odor work: treating odor only after its source is gone; see odor remediation.
- Disposal: biomedical waste is the legal term for listed waste types, including discarded human blood and sharps, meaning used needles, syringes and blades. In Kitsap County, hauling it is regulated by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) and the Kitsap Public Health District (KPHD); haulers need UTC approval and a KPHD Solid Waste Hauling Permit, so ask who will haul it.
- Records: photos and a written scope of work for your insurer.
Before you hire anyone, ask whether the crew follows OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard2, 29 CFR 1910.1030, and the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup, from the IICRC, a non-profit organization for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industries. You can also look up the business in the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries3 (L&I) tool Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business3, and read certifications explained for what to look for.
Does insurance pay for crime scene cleanup?
Homeowners insurance sometimes covers this work, depending on the policy. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner4 (OIC) says you can ask your agent or insurance company whether a loss is covered without filing a claim, so ask about dwelling coverage and the limited debris removal coverage a homeowner policy generally includes. The OIC says you may choose your own contractor for covered repairs, and it warns that signing a contractor’s assignment of benefit form could affect your rights. A landlord’s policy does not cover a renter’s personal property, so renters should read their own policy and keep damaged items until their insurer says what to do.
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
Do not count on the Crime Victims Compensation Program5 of L&I5 for the cleanup bill, because L&I lists crime scene cleanup under what the program does not pay for. If you or a family member was physically injured or mentally traumatized by the crime, ask about other costs it may pay, such as mental health treatment, grief counseling or funeral expenses. The crime must be a gross misdemeanor or felony in Washington, reported to law enforcement, with cooperation in the investigation. The program pays only after primary insurance, so start with your insurer.
Cleanup on Bainbridge Island
Bainbridge Island is an incorporated city in Kitsap County. The steps above are the same whether the home is near Winslow Way, near the ferry terminal district the Winslow Master Plan calls “a welcoming entry point into Winslow and the Island,” or near the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial, a National Park Service memorial site.
If repairs follow the cleanup, the city’s Planning and Community Development (PCD) Department coordinates and manages development and land-use activity on Bainbridge Island.
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.
- Kitsap County Medical Examiner (opens in a new tab)After a sudden or unexpected death, cleanup waits until this office is done.
- Kitsap Public Health District (opens in a new tab)For local health questions, such as a home that was used as a drug lab.
- Kitsap Public Health: permitted waste haulers (opens in a new tab)Cleanup companies that haul away waste here need this permit.
- 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.