After an unattended death in Bremerton, an independent biohazard cleanup company does the cleaning, once the Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office1 has finished its work and the home has been released. The first steps belong to that office and to the funeral home you choose, not to you. Biohazard Network connects you with an independent local company that you hire directly; we do not do any of the cleanup ourselves.
An unattended death means a person died alone and was not found right away. If this has happened to someone you love, or in a unit you manage, you do not have to clean anything yourself, and you do not have to decide everything today.
Why this is not ordinary cleaning
When a death is not discovered right away, body fluids can move below the surface into carpet, padding, mattresses, upholstered furniture, drywall and the subfloor, the wooden layer under the finished floor. These are porous materials, meaning they absorb liquid instead of letting it sit on top. A room can look clean and still hold a biohazard, which is biological material, such as blood or other body fluids, that can carry disease. Those fluids can contain bloodborne pathogens, which are germs carried in blood that can cause illness, and OPIM, short for other potentially infectious materials. Professional cleanup protects anyone who enters the home later, and it gives the home a real chance to be lived in, sold or rented again.
What happens first
A medical examiner is an appointed official who investigates deaths to learn their cause. In this county, the Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office1 investigates all sudden, unexpected, or unnatural deaths in Kitsap County, and an unattended death at home may be one of them. You can reach the Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office at 360.731.6843.
Until police or the medical examiner release the home, they control it. Scene release is the point when those officials say their work is done and others may go in. Before then, do not move, clean or throw away anything. Personal property the office secures goes to the funeral home along with the person, so you will collect those items there, not at the house.
Ask the investigator for the family pamphlet; it answers common questions, explains autopsies and lists grief-counseling resources. The office’s Resource Guide says it does not endorse or recommend any specific providers, so choosing a cleanup company is up to you. If you later want the report, the office page links a family declaration form for requesting it.
What to expect from the company you hire
Ask the company to walk you through its plan before work starts. A sound plan covers protective equipment for the crew, such as gloves, suits and respirators, and containment, which means sealing off the work area so contamination does not spread through the home. Affected porous materials are removed, and hard surfaces are cleaned and then disinfected, meaning treated with a product that kills germs. Odor work comes only after the source is gone; Odor Remediation in Bremerton, WA explains that step.
Some of what is removed counts as biomedical waste. Washington limits that term to the types listed in state law, such as human blood and blood products and sharps waste, like used needles and syringes. In Kitsap County, hauling biomedical waste is regulated by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) and the Kitsap Public Health District2 (KPHD), and a hauler needs UTC approval and a KPHD Solid Waste Hauling Permit, so ask who will haul it. KPHD’s separate Site Restoration Hauler permit covers companies hauling site waste in their own equipment and is not the biomedical one.
Ask for written records you can give an insurer, such as a scope of work, photos and an itemized invoice. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner3 says you can ask your agent or company whether a loss is covered without filing a claim.
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 works4. For damage from those risks, dwelling coverage typically covers repairing or replacing your damaged home.
Usually not covered: Standard homeowner and renter policies exclude wear and tear: insurance covers sudden accidents, not ongoing issues, says the Insurance Commissioner’s smoke damage page, which lists what standard policies exclude5.
Ask your insurer: “Without filing a claim yet, can you tell me if my policy covers cleanup and repairs after a death in my home, and what limits apply?” Source: Filing a homeowner insurance claim (Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner)3
To check a company yourself, ask how its crew follows OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard, 29 CFR 1910.1030, and the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup, which comes 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 with the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) tool called Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business, and read Biohazard Cleanup Certifications Explained to understand what you find.
How long the cleanup takes
No one can give an honest timeline before seeing the home, so ask the company to explain its estimate. These things make the work longer:
- How long before the person was found. More time can mean more of the building is affected.
- Porous materials. Carpet, mattresses, upholstered furniture and drywall that absorbed fluids have to be removed rather than cleaned.
- Flooring and subfloor. If fluids reached below the finished floor, sections of flooring and subfloor may need to come out.
- Odor work. It starts only after the source materials are gone.
- Rebuilding. Replacing drywall or flooring is a separate stage after cleanup. How Biohazard Cleanup Fits With Water, Fire and Mold Restoration explains how the stages connect.
Ask for cleanup and rebuilding to be listed separately so you can see each stage. If your policy requires protecting the property from further damage, insurers have five business days to approve a mitigation scope, the plan of work to prevent more damage.
For landlords and property managers
If your tenant lived alone and died in the unit, Washington law, RCW 59.18.595, sets out your duties. On learning of the death, promptly mail or hand-deliver a written notice to people such as any known personal representative, any known designated person and the emergency contact on the rental application. A designated person is someone a tenant who lives alone named in writing, separate from the lease, to act for them after death. Your notice must say the tenancy ends 15 days after it is mailed or delivered, or on the date rent is paid through, whichever is later.
The same law lets you enter on learning of the death and immediately dispose of perishable food, hazardous materials and garbage, though you still wait for scene release before cleanup begins. The tenant’s other belongings go to a tenant representative who asks in writing within the time allowed. Before selling or disposing of anything left, you must send a second written notice, and personal papers and personal photographs are excepted. Talk with the tenant representative before the cleanup company removes affected belongings, and keep a written list of what was removed and why.
Bremerton details
Bremerton is an incorporated city, and its Department of Community Development processes permit applications, so ask whether any rebuilding in the company’s plan needs a permit and who will apply. Whether the home is near Harborside Fountain Park, near the Puget Sound Navy Museum by the downtown ferry terminal, or elsewhere in the city, ask where the company is based. By land, SR 3 and SR 16 through Gorst, at the western end of Sinclair Inlet, are the only route onto the Kitsap Peninsula, and that route is congested.
If you find needles, leave them alone; the Kitsap Public Health District2 has guidance called Safely Handling Sharps and also handles Birth & Death Certificates. When you are ready, we can connect you with an independent local company. See Biohazard and Trauma Cleanup in Bremerton, WA and Biohazard and Trauma Cleanup in Kitsap County.
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.