Spaulding Decon offers Free Crime Scene Cleanup to Families of Homicide Victims

Cats gone, stench lingers
By ELENA LESLEY, Times Staff Writer
Published January 16, 2008

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/01/16/Pasco/Cats_gone__stench_lin.shtml

TARPON SPRINGS - Even from across the street, you can smell the sour odor wafting from 759 Seminole Blvd. Neighbors say the stench has driven them from their yards and forced them to abandon their swimming pools. In December, Pinellas Animal Services removed 196 cats from the unassuming gray house.

 But their legacy remains. 

 "I can't enjoy my home. I can't sit by my pool. There's a flea infestation," said neighbor Kim Norris. "I smell that stench everywhere."

 Though the house has been condemned because of its unsanitary condition, the owners are working with the city and a private company to make the property habitable again. 

 "Our intention is to get the house cleaned up, certified by the city and move back in," said owner Carl Barlow Jr., who has lived there with his wife, Marsha, and their daughter. 

They clean grisly scenes

These unpleasant tasks fall to [Laura Spaulding] and others in the Tampa Bay area, private businesses that clean up after investigators leave. Homicides, suicides, elderly deaths and meth labs - she does it all. It's a difficult niche to break into, she says. Many people assume police clean up after crime scenes, and by the time they find out the truth, families are in the midst of emotional and traumatic times.

On average, cleanup costs about $2,000, Spaulding says. Homeowners insurance covers her services. Families can also be reimbursed through a state fund for crime victims. Rental unit cleanups are generally covered by property managers.

Former Police Officer Launches Crime Scene Cleaning Business

Spaulding Decon, LLC is a crime and trauma scene cleaning company.

Tampa, FL — (Aug 25, 2006) She was a pro at fighting crime, now she’s tackling crime grime.

Laura Spaulding, a former seven-year law enforcement officer, has launched the area’s newest crime scene clean-up business: Spaulding Decon, LLC. The 32-year-old Overland Park woman has seen her fair share of gory homicides, suicides, and other traumatic events during her career, and now she’s stepping up to clean them up and help relieve victims’ trauma. 

More than Just Dirty

These not-so-ordinary situations can happen anywhere, anytime. In one case, no one was aware a resident had died until four weeks later when a neighboring resident complained about a foul odor. After authorities removed the decomposing body, the apartment manager was faced with a unit that was uninhabitable because of the biohazardous waste and odor left behind.

To restore the unit to safe and rentable condition, a team of specially trained professionals first needed to remove the dangerous materials, disposing of them through certified biohazardous waste processes. Floor tile was removed to decontaminate the sub-floor where body fluids had seeped through the bedding and into the grout below. Special extraction processes and disinfectants were used to clean and decontaminate surfaces throughout the apartment, then professional-grade chemicals were used to eliminate the remaining odor.

TAMPA, Fla. – (Dec. 18, 2006) – Spaulding Decon, LLC, a fully licensed and certified biohazard cleaning and decontamination business for commercial, residential and industrial locations, has experienced steady growth during its first year – growth that is due as much to the company’s expertise as it is to the founder’s tireless efforts to educate the public on the dangers presented by improperly cleaned crime and accident sites.

“People are not aware of the significant health dangers that remain when hazardous waste is simply covered up and not properly decontaminated,” said Laura Spaulding, founder of Spaulding Decon and a former seven-year law enforcement officer. “Some companies may do general cleaning, but unless they are also decontaminating and removing the danger, they are simply masking the problem temporarily. It’s like putting a bandage on an amputation.