Keeping the response low-profile
Guests expect a calm stay, and staff may already be shaken by what happened. We arrive without fanfare, coordinate entry with your manager on duty, and keep the affected room or area closed off while we work.
Work can be scheduled overnight or at quieter times if that suits your operations, depending on scope and crew availability. We will be honest about what timing is realistic. A single point of contact on your side, such as the general manager or chief engineer, makes coordination simpler for everyone. Hotels, motels and resorts with recurring needs can set up a standing agreement so contacts and paperwork are settled before the next call.
Incidents in guest rooms and shared areas
- A guest who died in a room, whether from natural causes, by suicide or in another traumatic event, once authorities have released it
- Blood from injuries, assaults or medical events
- Drug use, paraphernalia and needles left behind
- Vomit, urine and feces on carpet, bedding or upholstery
- Incidents in guest bathrooms, hallways, stairwells, pool and spa areas or parking structures
- Short-term rental units affected by any of the above
Recovering a room
- Coordinate We confirm with your manager which rooms are affected, whether the room has been released by law enforcement or the medical examiner, and how we should enter.
- Assess We identify contaminated items and surfaces and explain what needs to be removed.
- Remove Mattresses, bedding, carpet and other porous items that absorbed fluids are removed and packaged for disposal.
- Clean and disinfect Hard surfaces, fixtures and furniture are cleaned, then disinfected with EPA-registered products per label.
- Address odor Where odor lingers, we remove the source and deodorize only if needed, with ozone used only in an empty room.
- Review We walk the room with your staff and note items for your maintenance or purchasing team.
First steps for front desk and housekeeping
Take the room out of inventory and keep the door closed. If a death or crime is suspected, do not disturb anything and call law enforcement. Ask housekeeping not to strip the bed or bag up linens from the room, since that can spread contamination to carts, hallways and laundry.
If there are adjoining rooms, consider whether guests next door should be moved, particularly if odor is present. Make a note of who entered the room and when, which helps both your incident report and our assessment.
Mattresses, carpet and soft furnishings
Hotel rooms are full of porous materials. A mattress or upholstered chair that absorbed blood or fluids usually cannot be reliably disinfected, and replacing it is often the safer choice. We tell you item by item what we recommend. In-room HVAC units can hold odor in their filters and grilles, so we clean what we can reach and flag the rest for your engineering team. For more, see mattress and bedding cleanup.
Drug residue and sharps
Needles should be left in place for us or collected only by trained staff with a puncture-resistant container. If you suspect a room was used to manufacture methamphetamine, contact local law enforcement; Tennessee's quarantine rules apply to manufacturing sites and require a TDEC-authorized contractor. For residue from drug use, see drug residue cleanup.
Your obligations and ours
Housekeeping staff with potential exposure to blood fall under your exposure control plan, which OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard requires you to maintain. If a staff member was stuck by a needle or splashed with fluids, direct them to your occupational health provider. We handle the cleanup itself and can describe our work for your incident file. Coverage under your property policy depends on its terms. We serve hotels and rentals across all 41 counties of Middle Tennessee.