Author: Megan and Amanda Boccardi
Suicides in general are hard to deal with- from the family to the police on scene, and for our crew remediating the affected area(s). Many suicides are orchestrated and conducted with guns, however there are other ways we have found people decide to take their own life. Looking back into last years' bio jobs, we had many suicides, and one really sticks out in my mind. Amanda and I were barbecuing with our neighbors on a quiet Monday evening when we got the call for one of the most extensive and hardest bio jobs to date.
It almost seemed unreal and a bit shocking after the conversation ended- someone had jumped off of a 400 foot building causing major damage to the building and to the public who witnessed the event. All we knew from the call was there was damage to the third floor sky lights, blood and body parts in two pools under the sky lights, and blood on the street where part of the body fell. We arrived as soon as the police released the scene and were given a tour to every room, space, and area where blood and flesh were found. Without a doubt we knew we could not only handle this bio job, but make the building safe again.
After 55 man hours and two days of work, our crew successfully cleaned the sky lights where the victim initially made contact, the third floor sky deck, the street where the ending contact was made, the two pools after they were drained, the pool deck, and two sand filters. There were some scary moments for us during the decontamination process- we only had approximately four feet of space to work on while cleaning the sky lights (one side was the sky lights and the other side was the edge of the deck looking down onto the street). Once in the pool deck area we had to use a 20 foot ladder to clean the inside of the sky lights all while holding our supplies and chemicals- reaching and balancing- trying not to fall- challenge accepted!.
We walked away from this job knowing we took care of our clients and helped a business try to get back to normal operations. Yes it was scary at times, and yes it was hard work, but Bio-One is always up to the task. No job is too big and no job is too small. With much pride, we work diligently and our end results prove our motto- Help First, Business Second.
