Blood and Bodily Fluid Cleanup in Tumwater, WA

When blood or another bodily fluid needs cleaning up in a home, car, shop or office in Tumwater, the safe way is to hire a biohazard cleanup company that removes, disinfects and disposes of everything the fluid reached. If someone has died, the first step is waiting until police or the Thurston County Coroner’s Office¹ release the property; if no one has died, the first step is keeping people away from the area. Biohazard Network connects you with an independent local company that you hire directly; we do not do the cleanup ourselves.

This may follow a fall, an injury at home, a medical emergency, or the expected death of someone under medical care. This page explains what the work involves and what to ask, one step at a time. If a death went unnoticed for a while, see unattended death cleanup in Tumwater, and for a crime or serious trauma, see crime and trauma scene cleanup in Tumwater.

Why ordinary cleaning is not enough

A biohazard is a biological material, such as blood, that can spread disease to people. Blood can carry bloodborne pathogens, which are germs in blood that can cause serious illness, such as hepatitis B. Some other bodily fluids can carry them too; cleanup workers call these OPIM, short for “other potentially infectious materials.”

What you can see is only part of the job. Fluids soak into porous materials, meaning materials full of tiny openings that absorb liquid, such as carpet and pad, upholstery, mattresses, drywall and unsealed wood. A surface can look clean while fluid remains underneath. That is why the cleanup company has to find how far the fluid spread, remove what cannot be fully cleaned, and disinfect the rest.

What to do first

• If the death was sudden, violent, unexpected or suspicious, the Thurston County Coroner’s Office¹ investigates it. A coroner is an official, elected in Thurston County, who investigates certain deaths. Police or the coroner control the property until they give a scene release, which means they tell you their work there is done. The Thurston County Coroner’s Office phone is (360) 867-2140.
• Keep children, pets and visitors out of the room or vehicle.
• Do not scrub, wipe or throw anything away. Moving soaked items can spread contamination.
• If you see needles or syringes, leave them where they are and tell the company.
• If you plan to use insurance, call your insurer about coverage. Homeowners insurance sometimes covers this work.

At a business or in a vehicle

If this happened at your shop or office, do not ask staff to clean it up. Blood can carry disease, and the work calls for training and protective equipment that are not part of a normal cleaning job. Close off the area until the cleanup company has finished. A car or truck needs the same care: seats, carpet and headliners are porous, so have the company assess the vehicle before anyone drives it or has it detailed.

The cleanup process, step by step

Ask the company you hire to walk you through each step before work begins. Cleanup workers wear protective equipment, such as gloves, suits and face protection, throughout.

1. Assessment. The crew checks where fluid reached, including under flooring and behind trim, and explains what needs to come out. Ask for a written scope of work and an estimate before you agree.
2. Containment. Containment means sealing off the work area, for example with plastic sheeting, so contamination does not spread to the rest of the home or building.
3. Removal of porous materials. Soaked materials that cannot be fully cleaned are cut out or bagged. Ask the company to list each item before removal and to set aside belongings you want to decide about yourself. Before repair or demolition work, Washington requires homeowners, building owners and contractors to have a good faith asbestos inspection of materials the work could disturb, so ask how the company handles this if drywall or flooring will be cut out.
4. Cleaning and disinfection. Disinfection means applying a product that kills germs on a surface after the surface has been cleaned. Hard surfaces that stay are cleaned first, then disinfected.
5. Odor. If an odor remains once the source is removed, it is handled as a separate step; see odor remediation in Tumwater.
6. Disposal of biomedical waste. Washington law⁵ defines biomedical waste as a short list of types, including discarded blood and materials holding free-flowing blood, and sharps, meaning needles, syringes, lancets and blades removed from their sterile package. A company that collects, transports and disposes of biomedical waste must keep an operating plan that holds it separate from other solid waste until treatment or disposal. Ask the company who hauls and disposes of its waste.
7. Final check. Ask how the company confirms the area is clean before it leaves, and ask for photos and a written record of what was removed for your insurer.

Questions to ask before you hire

You can ask how a company’s work lines up with OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard, 29 CFR 1910.1030, and with the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup, written by the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC), a non-profit for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industries. You can also look up the business yourself in the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) tool called Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business, and our certifications guide explains what each check means.

Also ask about what matters to you: vehicles without company markings if privacy is a concern, whether the company can bill your insurer directly, payment terms, and when it can start.

Blood cleanup in Tumwater and Thurston County

This page covers the City of Tumwater, home of the Brewmaster’s House in the Tumwater Historic District and the city’s Tumwater Valley Municipal Golf Course on Tumwater Valley Drive SE.

The Thurston County Public Health & Social Services Department, 360-867-2500, lists a Solid and Hazardous Waste Program and, for sharps, a Syringe Services Program. Its Unwanted Medications drop-off sites take no sharps or bloody or infectious waste, so do not bring those items there.

If the coroner was involved, Deputy Coroners are in frequent contact with families and help with answers about the death and next steps toward final arrangements. Keep any paperwork from that investigation with your cleanup records, because the Coroner¹’s investigation may help speed insurance claims. The office’s Resources page lists bio-hazard clean-up companies under “Bio-Hazard Clean-Up Services”; it does not state that it endorses them, so ask any company from that list the same questions.

Downtown Yelm backs up when drivers divert around I-5, which can slow emergency response. If a company will travel through that area, ask for a realistic arrival window when you first call.

Blood and bodily fluid cleanup: every town we cover