Students in Kara Sprague’s forensics classes at Pine Bush High School got an insider’s view of just what it takes to do clean-up at a crime scene. Nicole Morales, owner of Bio One, talked to the students about her job as a crime scene cleaner and the meticulous detail she must use to do her job effectively.

 

 

When it’s a crime scene, cleaners come in after law enforcement. Ms. Morales said the first thing she must do before going to any job is dress correctly for that job. In her business, that always involves personal protective equipment (PPE). They duct tape the zipper on their hazmat suits and wear two pairs of gloves. They also wear a ventilator so they do not breathe in dried blood or other substances.

She talked about her experiences, cleaning murder scenes and apartments where people have died but were not found for quite some time. It can be a very difficult situation emotionally. What keeps her from getting overwhelmed with that part of her job? “We do it for the families,” Morales said. “We are meticulous – we move everything to clean because we do not want a family member to find something we’ve missed. We are here to help.”

 

 

The students were very interested and asked excellent questions. She described the chemicals used to clean and disinfect at scenes, including which materials would go into red bio-hazard bags and what would just go into the trash.  

It’s not only those types of clean-ups that Bio One does. They also do clean-up after hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters, as well as mold removal. Morales explained that they go into hoarding situations and clean up – it took two days to clean out a one bedroom apartment because of hoarding.

The hardest clean-up she’s had isn’t what one would expect. A chocolate company in Pennsylvania had a leak in a tank that flooded a parking lot. She had to get there before it hardened. “I didn’t eat chocolate for a year,” she said.

This business is recession proof, she said, and it fulfills their sense of purpose. They are on call 24 hours a day. At the most difficult time in someone’s life, she and her husband Juan are there to help.