Suicide cleanup often involves blood cleanup. Blood cleanup by definition now requires using universal safety steps recognized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). This means bloodborne pathogen training requirements exist for anyone involved with blood during their employment hours.
PTSD
Other issues involving suicide cleanup include psychological distress created by suicide cleanup's horrific nature, at times. A suicide cleanup may create problems greater than those involved in violent suicide acts. Insects (flies,maggots, spiders) may enter a suicide scene as well as blood and other potentially infectious materials (OPIM). We have pretty clear evidence telling us that witnesses to a violent suicide have a potential for developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
We also have heard stories of PTSD occurring among family and friends delegated to suicide cleanup duties. (See my writing on motivation for suicide) We might consider psychological consequences in these cases. A tendency to PTSD during suicide cleanup and after will depend on the individual, of course. It will also depend on the individual's relationship to their suicide victim. A horror scale from 1 to 10 might help to imagine the gravity of such a cleaner's task and its influence on mental health. Note that I write about an "individual," but more than one person may become exposed to a violent suicide cleanup for the benefit of the others clean, to save time, and to help find offending matter. Whether or not more than one cleaner is a good idea when not necessary must depend on the individuals involved.
A another person might add some needed support, just as a third person would do. Ideally, a third person might help with the actual suicide cleanup activities while over seeing the other two cleaners. A bit of advice, whatever the situation, stepping away from a suicide cleanup after about the first ten to twenty minutes has much to offer for it. During this time cleaner can brief one another on what they've seen, what they've done, and offer important observations. For example, it may have occurred to cleaners to remove blood and other materials from the floor first, but after first cleaning, observation may have lead to another approach.
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So long as a clean, clear path to the death scene itself becomes open and remains open, cleaners have their options before them. For example, a violent suicide with a shotgun will leave a 360 degree, top-to-bottom biological debris filed, most usually. In such cases, furnishings like beds, couches, chairs, and such may take first priority. Once disinfected and "reduced" of their biological contents, their removal allows for more working room. It also allows cleaners to witness their progress, which goes a long way toward easing their stress. "We can do this" becomes a common echo at such times.
During such horrific suicide cleanup tasks, some suicide cleanup practitioners us hydrogen peroxide. In small bottles with sprayers, they mist large areas. This serves an important purpose. One, this misting peroxide's oxygenating power highlights blood and OPIM. Basically, it's beginning corrosion of matter. It causes proteins to react with its oxygen. Two, it also disinfects as it highlights. A third comment here should note that hydrogen peroxide comes in small bottles for less than one dollar. A minimum of four small bottles should be on hand for large jobs.
Another chemical widely used by suicide cleanup practitioners includes household bleach. Used in dilution, bleach serves to destroy microorganisms. The Center for Disease Control recommends a one-to-ten ratio of bleach to water for nonporous surfaces. For fabrics and other materials, it seems logical that much heavier rations of bleach to water might help destroy blood's bloodborne pathogens, germs.
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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD becomes a concern for suicidal behavior, and with good reason. In families experiencing a suicide, members become some eight times more at riisk for suicide. PTSD does not account for these numbers, though. In fact, it's hard to find a single cause for suicide/. Suicide cleanup practitioners come to their own theories after witness numerous suicide scenes. Some claim alcoholism, drug abuse, divorce, and other unfortunate conditions lead to suicide. What they believe accounts for suicide may be, ini fact, the tip-of-the-ice-berg, so to speak. Some suicides are carried out by people, usually white men, who have made plans to die by their own hands when as young as six years old.
Age too does play a role in white male suicides, especially among older white males. Therre's much going on and if we need to take a step into the dark world of suicide theories, let us steop into the direction of alienation from others, separation from others.
Alaskan suicide studies relate that an increase in native male Alaskan suicides points to a number of factors. Some learned Alaskans say that the increase in Alaska Nativechildren's suicides may at least, in part, be due to the post-traumatic stress the members of their culture experience. But, the rate of suicide increases today in ways proving PTSD cannot account for these increases.
We expect to find PTSD among survivors of the Seal Beach mass murder. This horrific killing within a few minutes reach of this writer's Los Angeles crime scene cleanup residence, left a terrible mark on our history.
How do we explain this type of homicide in the midst of a quiet community like Seal Beach?
Mass Murder
It's easy enough to throw out terms like "psychopath" and "sociopath" to rid ourselves of mass murder events. No one want to spend their time musing over these terrible events. Someone, though, must do so if ever we hope to explain what goes wrong with the human psyche. In fact, one reason to study suicide explain the dynamics of self-murder processes. In doing so we begin to gleam a bit of insight into the mind of mass murderers. No, there's definitely major differences, but there are some similarities.
Mass murder, like suicide, shows that for an instant, the mind absents itself of other's pain and anxiety.
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