Our guides
If you are trying to understand biohazard cleanup before you call anyone, these pages may help:
- Biohazard cleanup FAQ: common questions about how cleanup works
- Insurance and payment: how coverage questions usually play out
- What affects cost: the factors that shape a cleanup estimate
- All services: the situations we handle
- Emergency help: what to do right now
- Service areas: the Middle Tennessee counties and towns we serve
After discovering a death at home in Tennessee
Call 911. Dispatchers will send emergency responders and law enforcement as needed. If the person was under hospice care and the death was expected, follow the hospice team's instructions about whom to call.
Tennessee law requires certain deaths to be reported to the county medical examiner, including deaths from violence or injury, sudden deaths of people who appeared healthy, suspicious or unexplained deaths, and people who are found dead. Under T.C.A. 38-7-108, a reportable body generally may not be moved without the medical examiner's authorization, so leave the person and the area as they are.
The medical examiner or investigators and the funeral home take care of the person who died. Cleanup of the home begins only after they have finished and the property has been released. Until then, keep others out of the room, and avoid cleaning anything yourself.
After a crime at a residence
Let law enforcement finish its work and confirm the scene is released before anything is cleaned. Ask the investigating agency about victim services; many agencies and prosecutors' offices can connect victims with advocates and local support.
Tennessee's Criminal Injuries Compensation program, administered by the Tennessee Department of the Treasury, may help with some costs. According to the Treasury, victims may be eligible for up to $3,000 toward crime-scene cleanup when the crime occurred at the victim's or a relative's home. The program generally requires that the crime be reported to law enforcement within 15 days and that a claim be filed within two years, and it pays only what other sources such as insurance do not. Our insurance page has more detail.
After a sewage backup
Sewage is grossly contaminated water. CDC notes that contact with floodwater containing human waste can cause wound infections, rashes and stomach illness.
- Keep children, pets and anyone with open cuts away from the affected area
- Do not use electrical outlets or appliances in standing water; shut off power only if you can do so safely
- Stop using sinks, toilets and drains that feed the backup until a plumber has looked at the line
- Wear rubber boots and gloves if you must enter the area
- Wash any clothing that touched sewage in hot water with detergent before wearing it again
If you find needles or sharps
Do not pick up a needle with bare hands, and do not put sharps in recycling or loose in the trash. FDA advises placing used sharps in a sharps disposal container and disposing of full containers according to local guidelines, which may include drop-off sites, household hazardous waste sites or mail-back programs.
If you find many needles, or needles in a place where children play, keep people away and call us or the property owner. If someone is stuck by a used needle, wash the area with soap and water and contact a healthcare provider promptly; what happens next is a medical decision.
When to call us
Call 615-513-5112 once the authorities involved have finished, or any time you are unsure whether a situation needs professional cleanup. We will tell you honestly if it does not.
It can also help to call before you speak with your insurer, so you understand what a cleanup would involve. We can describe the likely scope in plain terms, which makes the conversation with an agent or adjuster easier. If the situation turns out to be one you can handle yourself, we will say so and suggest how to do it safely.