Bio-One franchises have been sending out these adorable mini pies for the holidays. Flavors include:
Apple Pie
Cherry Pie
Pecan Pie
Blueberry Pie
Peach Pie
A special thanks to all first responders and law enforcement in our communities. We appreciate you!
Bio-One in Atlantic City brings the popcorn to a local charity event! We love seeing empty popcorn machines, awesome T-shirts, and smiling faces supporting great causes. Thank you for showing up and supporting your community.
If you know of someone in need of our services, please take a look at our locations to find the nearest Bio-One office near you. Stay safe!
Bio-One recently had the honor of helping a Veteran's family with a cleanout. He had worked at Minneapolis airport for 30+ years as a mechanic and was being sent home to Texas. These are the moments we really appreciate what we do at Bio-One. We are honored to help and support his family. Thank you for serving our country.
April 19-25th, 2020 is National Crime Victim's Rights Week!
Bio-One has the opportunity to help people after an unfortunate event, but we understand the pain of survivors is a long and ongoing process. We operate by the motto: help first, business second and we believe a community support system is such a great way to help those around you.
If you know someone who has personally been affected by crime, please take this week to reach out to them. Send flowers, a card, have a conversation or coffee with them and let them know they are loved and supported.
Gary Maxey in Savannah recently cleaned homeless veteran's tiny homes. This is part of a tiny house project in Savannah, Georgia where tiny homes are provided for homeless veterans either permenantly or as a transitional place. At Bio-One, we are honored to be a part of causes like this. We are here to help and love when we can help make a difference.
If you know of someone in need of our services, please take a look at our locations to find the nearest Bio-One office near you. Stay safe!
Rick and Karen Jacobs from Bio-One Raleigh recently brought food to the Hillsborough Police Department. They are helping a local food pantry fill their shelves. Way to go Bio-One Raleigh!
The best thing about Bio-One is we always live by the help first, business second motto. We are here when you need us!
If you know of someone in need of our services, please take a look at our locations to find the nearest Bio-One office near you. Stay safe!
The term “hoarding” is frequently misused. People often use the word to condemn themselves—or their family members—for accumulating items like clothes and collectibles gratuitously. Though true hoarders share this tendency, it’s a far cry from a medical definition. Hoarding compels people to compile and preserve excessive amounts of clutter that have no practical value. Hoarders will grow so attached to these items— which often include dirty dishes, trash and rotten food—that discarding them causes severe emotional trauma. It is one of the most poorly understood and stigmatized disorders in America, and one of the most difficult to treat. Hoarding is more widespread then you may know. According to the Washington Post, hoarding affects 19 million Americans. That equates to about 6 percent of the population. The scope of the problem may seem surprising, but only because hoarders tend to keep their illness private. Unless clutter accumulates outside the home, the disorder can remain a secret for years. The issue has become severe enough to inspire dozens of community task forces across the nation. These task forces exist for a simple reason: To curb the many dangers associated with hoarding. Though the disorder has profound psychological, financial and health consequences for the hoarder, it also jeopardizes the safety of neighbors. We’ve broken down the dangers associated with hoarding below:
1) Fire
The aggregation of clutter in hoarding situations creates unlivable spaces. Unfortunately, it also makes them highly combustible. Wall-to-wall piles of trash pervade homes, blocking exits and entrances that residents and first responders need to access during an emergency. Without any open space to mitigate a fire, these homes can burn really quickly. Because stoves, fireplaces and heating lamps are often filled and covered with trash, the risk of an outbreak rises significantly. Moreover, vermin that breed in these unsanitary environments can chew on electrical wiring in the wall, which may cause a fire.
2) Noxious Air Quality
Accumulated clutter often sits unattended, gathering blankets of dust that can affect air quality. Moreover, rotten food and waste produce heavy odors and release ammonia, which can lead to respiratory problems. Air circulation will diminish as oxygen vents are blocked, leading to a dangerous rise in carbon dioxide. Unfortunately, this situation gives mold and mildew the opportunity to grow and multiply quickly, releasing spores into the living space at an alarming rate. Because the air quality in these homes is so noxious, hoarding cleanup crews like Bio-One must wear respirators when they enter.
3) Weakened Structures
The sheer enormity of hoarding clutter can place stress on the home’s foundations. As the volume of items increase, so does the overall weight of the lode. Flooring has been known to collapse in these situations. Moreover, residents and maintenance workers have trouble accessing critical piping lines and electrical circuits inside and outside the home. Plumbing, gas and power issues can ensue, creating unsanitary living conditions and fire hazards.
4) Pests
Pests, such as rats, cockroaches, mice and fleas, thrive in hoarding situations. They are drawn to heaping mounds of clutter where they can feed and breed without being disturbed. Unsanitary living spaces, rotting food and trash attract them to the home, where they’ll likely stay as an infestation develops. In animal hoarding situations, waste and decomposing carcasses exacerbates the problem. Bacteria and airborne pathogens will pervade the home, spreading dangerous diseases like hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.
5) Falling, Tripping and Sharps Hazards
Hoarders will often stack their items on top of one another until their homes are filled with small mountains of clutter and trash. Heavy boxes, furniture and hardware can fall on top of residents and cause serious physical damage. The lack of navigable living space results in narrow, clutter-free passageways. But they are often rife with tripping hazards that can lead to broken ankles, noses and more. Sharp items, like knives, needles and broken glass may also be littered in this space. One false step and the resident can find themselves nursing a gushing wound that becomes infected.
6) Curtailment of Living Appliances
For hoarders, living appliances like ovens, beds and bathtubs quickly become storage vessels. This curtailment of basic living appliances creates a series of problems for residents: Combustibles near stoves can catch fire; health and hygiene deteriorate for lack of running water; and clutter on beds force homeowners to sleep on the ground, removing their access to quality sleep. Water, gas and electricity to the home will shut off as bills—lost in a sea of trash—go unpaid. All the while, the compilation of clutter will continue to grow unabated.
7) Mental Health
Poor living conditions in hoarding situations are deleterious to the homeowner’s mental health. Studies show that the brain responds negatively to claustrophobic and disorganized living spaces, overwhelming the mind, creating stress and increasing anxiety. Given the magnitude of disarray in homes affected by hoarding, the effects on the mind are exacerbated. Most hoarders already suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and are at risk for loneliness, depression and psychosis.
Bio-One can help you if hoarding affects your life. Our technicians are experts at removing hazards, Cleaning property and restoring homes, so don’t hesitate to give us a call if you need assistance. We’re available by phone 24/7/365.
An unattended death occurs in solitude. It often takes several days before somebody suspects that something is wrong. Sometimes it takes weeks, months and even years. When phone calls, text messages and emails go unanswered, friends, family members and landlords check in on the person at home, only to find that they’ve passed. If you’ve been in this position, you’re not alone. It happens more often than you might think.
Discovering an unattended death can be an emotionally wrenching experience. It’s even more traumatic when the victim is a loved one. Although you may feel obligated to clean up the remains yourself, there are several reasons why you shouldn’t do that.
For one, it’s dangerous. Body fluids from corpses release dangerous pathogens into the immediate area, creating a hazard for anyone without personal protective gear. To understand why this happens, you need to know how the decomposition process of the human body works. When someone dies, bacteria in the body lose the nutrients that keep them sustained. They look for other food sources to nourish themselves, and end up settling on the organs. These organs, which include the liver, the pancreas and the intestinal tract, are broken down with remarkable speed. To put this feeding process into perspective, there are trillions of bacteria in our bodies. That averages to about four pounds of bacteria for a 200-pound adult. Operating all at once, bacteria remove all the organs from the body within a 48-hour window.
Depending on the temperature and humidity of the room, the skin will begin to tear within this timeframe, allowing biohazardous materials to seep from the body. Rising pressure from the body’s gasses will quicken the process, releasing a terrible odor that’s often referred to as the stench of death. Sometimes, these gases will even cause the body to explode. As harmful pathogens pool on the floor, they release noxious gasses into the air, which can be inhaled through the nose and mouth. People who haven’t been trained to deal with biohazard remediation should remove themselves from the scene to escape these fumes and other threats from the decomposing body. Although it may not be obvious, people who approach a body without safety equipment risk exposing themselves to disease. Proper precautions must be taken, which brings us to another reason you shouldn’t embark on this endeavor yourself.
You likely don’t have the training or equipment to safely dispose of human remains. Gloves, goggles, respirators and body suits are necessary to protect yourself against airborne and bloodborne pathogens. But they’re not enough to keep you safe. Biohazard remediation follows a regimented process to clean the area safely and effectively. The chemicals allotted to clean decomposing bodies are regulated by the state. Thus, over-the-counter solutions simply aren’t powerful enough to remove and decontaminate body fluids soaked into the floor. While a surface may look clean, harmful pathogens will linger behind and pose a threat to others if the proper chemicals haven’t been used. Bio-One hires certified technicians that have the training and materials to thoroughly clean and clean an area contaminated by biohazardous waste. Moreover, they carry chemicals that can effectively deodorize the scene, which often proves difficult to do for death odors.
You also don’t want to clean up human remains if you’re connected to the deceased. If you do so, you will only exacerbate your trauma and prolong your grief. Asking professionals to take care of the task will not only spare you additional anguish, it will leave you assured that the job is done right.
Bio-One is available 24 / 7 / 365 at 303-625-6543 to speak with you regarding services. We complete this work across the nation with compassion and confidentiality. Give us a call if you have any questions and we will help you.
Contact Bio-One at 303-625-6543 for more information or for an estimate today.
Bio-One Inc. is the first crime and trauma scene cleaning franchise, operating in 35 States with over 90 locations. Bio-One is committed to providing excellent service in recovery and suicide cleanup, homicide cleanup, hoarding situations, junk removal, deceased animal recovery, feces removal, pest and rodent droppings and much more. Each office is independently owned and operated by a member of the local community. For more information about becoming a Bio-One franchisee, visit us at BioOneInc.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
