Every Biohazard Has Its Own Story: Navigating the Five Levels of Risk

Does Forensic Restoration Have Different Stages Or Risks Associated?

Stepping into the world of forensic restoration reveals a meticulous science that transforms contaminated spaces into areas safe enough for a daycare. Chad Mallonee, owner of Hazard Clean Restoration, pulls back the curtain on this specialized field where each call presents unique challenges—from crime scenes and trauma sites to drug labs, infectious disease outbreaks, and unattended deaths.

The conversation unveils the five distinct bio-risk levels that guide restoration professionals in their work. A level one scenario might involve biological materials contained in a small room, while higher levels present increasingly complex hazards requiring more intensive protocols. What remains consistent is the methodical approach: thorough site assessment, appropriate protective equipment (including powered respirators and multiple layers of hospital-grade gloves), and specialized techniques tailored to each situation.

Most fascinating is how this field continuously evolves alongside scientific advancement. Much like surgical practices have transformed over decades while maintaining the same objectives, forensic restoration adapts to new threats and technologies. The verification process stands as the cornerstone of this work—scientific testing that confirms harmful substances have been neutralized or removed completely. This quantifiable before-and-after comparison provides concrete evidence that spaces have been returned to safety standards that would allow any activity to resume without risk. Through this rigorous, science-driven approach, restoration professionals like Melanie don't just clean up after life's most challenging moments—they restore safety, peace of mind, and the possibility for new beginnings.

Have you experienced a situation requiring professional biohazard cleanup? Visit Hazardclean.net or call 772-259-5018 to learn how specialized restoration can help your family recover from difficult circumstances.

To learn more about Hazard Clean Restoration visit:
https://hazardclean.net/
Hazard Clean Restoration
772-259-5018

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Restoration Revolution podcast,
where we help restore hope andput your family on the road to
recovery, one episode at a time.
Here's your host and owner ofHazard Clean Restoration, Chad
Melody.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Forensic restoration goes way beyond what meets the
eye.
There's a science to everystage and each one comes with
its own serious risks.
Welcome back everyone.
I'm sophia yvette, co-host,slash producer.
Back in the studio with chadmelanie, owner of Hazard Clean
Restoration, chad.
How's it going today?

Speaker 3 (00:47):
It's going great, sophia Going great, having a
great day.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Great, that's wonderful.
So Chad forensic restoration issuch an interesting topic.
Can you explain to ourlisteners how forensic
restoration has different stagesor risks associated with it?

Speaker 3 (01:06):
Yeah, yeah, so you know, obviously.
So we and what we do is, with abiohazard, one call could be
completely different than thenext call that we receive, and
you know we do a lot ofdifferent, variety of different
incidents that occur, and sosome of them are just some crime

(01:28):
, crime scenes, trauma scenes.
You know you could have somebioterrorism, drug labs, you
could have infectious diseasesthat occur.
You get an unintended deathwhen someone passes away and
maybe their family is not awareor whichever, and so that occurs

(01:49):
.
We get hoarding.
Because there's a variety ofcalls that we get, we have
obviously a variety of risksthat are associated with the
different incidents, and sothere's five levels In between
some of the levels.
There's some sub-levels, but ingeneral there's five levels
that we have of bio-riskassociated with forensic

(02:09):
restoration.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Five levels, wow.
What's the first thing yourteam does upon arrival at a
forensic scene?

Speaker 3 (02:21):
We're going to do a site assessment.
So you know we're going to goin.
We're going to do a siteassessment, so we're going to go
in.
We're going to assess thesituation, determine the risk
level, whether, if it's like abio risk level one would be like
a small room, you could haveblood, urine, feces, anything
like that, some soft tissue,whichever that you may have in a

(02:43):
small confined area or a room.
That would be what we considerlike a bio-risk level one and
they go up from there.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Now, how do you assess and mitigate potential
risks on site?

Speaker 3 (02:56):
Well, we do that through our training.
You know we really focus on,you know, making sure that our
training is, you know, istop-notch and we continually
evolve, and I think that'simportant.
We evolve with science, weevolve as new techniques come

(03:17):
out.
It feels like, especially withAI and everything else, things
are always changing and we tryto stay on the cutting edge of
that and we make sure we protectour team really through, you
know, through following thescience, following the latest
ways to protect ourselves.
And you know, you think aboutsurgeons, you know, 100 years

(03:38):
ago, compared to now, they, theylook completely, they kind of
look the same a little bit.
You know, they do kind of samethings, trying to protect
themselves, but with theknowledge that we have now,
their processes, theirtechniques, their training is a
lot different than it was, youknow, even 50 years ago 100% Now
.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
what kind of protective equipment is
essential during forensiccleanups?

Speaker 3 (04:03):
Well.
So that's going to depend onthe bio-risk level that's
associated.
But in general, it's going tobe making sure that we have PAPR
, so it's kind of a poweredrespirator or gas mask, as a lot
of the community may know themas that.

(04:24):
You know we're utilizing that,that we're going to be in what's
a full ppe.
So we're going to have, fromhead to toe we're going to be
completely covered.
We're going to have, you know,two to three pairs of gloves on,
depending on that risk level,and they're going to be hospital
grade gloves.
They I can just be, you know,your basic mechanic gloves and
everything.
And we're also there'sdifferent techniques that we're

(04:55):
going to apply as well.
Where, you know, we may go inand make sure that we can knock
down some of that risk,initially, before we start
working, and, depending on whatwe're dealing with we're going
to, we'll use differenttechniques and different
products in order to accomplishwhat we want to do and our end
goal is whether it's a viruslevel one all the way up to
virus level five, and I could gothrough the different levels if
you wanted to but at the end ofthe day, we want to make it so

(05:21):
clean and so safe that if theowner of that building or that
area wanted to open a daycarethe next day, they would be able
to do that?

Speaker 2 (05:32):
Wow.
Now what happens during thatfinal stage of forensic
restoration?

Speaker 3 (05:53):
Well, so the final stage is really going to be ver
was some kind of I'm just tryingto come up top of my head, but,
you know, if you had, let'sjust say, any kind of blood or
tissue or anything like that orwhichever, we're going to make

(06:15):
sure that we've gotten thosesurfaces, you know, all the way
down to hospital grade safe, andthat's really what we focus on.
If we were dealing with, youknow, like a fentanyl or
anything like that, or meth oranything, we're also going to
make sure that we're testingthat to make sure that we've

(06:37):
eliminated and neutralized thethreat there.
And so, really, the final stepis making sure that we're
verifying that we've done whatwe said we were going to do
through all that.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
Now, how do you determine when a space is safe
enough to reenter example, likeyou said, to open a daycare the
next day?

Speaker 3 (07:00):
example, like you said, to open a daycare the next
day.
I think exactly what we werejust talking about is you know
there's, there's, there's adepending on what we're working
with.
So if we're working with, youknow, say, a unintended death,
you know there's going to beprocesses that we have to see.
You know what we're workingwith at that point, as far as

(07:25):
you know how dirty is thatsurface, and then we're going to
be able to, through science andeverything, be able to quantify
what that surface is after.
So we'd be able to see, beforeand after what we started with
to what we finished with, andyou know the same thing with,
say, it was fentanyl, we'd beable to be able to verify hey,

(07:45):
yeah, there's fentanyl here.
And then afterwards we'd beable to test and verify that
there's no fentanyl, that we'veeradicated it and we've
neutralized that, so there's nolonger a threat.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
Wow, more great information from you, chad.
Thank you so much for thatinformation and we'll see you in
your next episode.
Have a fantastic rest of yourday.

Speaker 3 (08:08):
Thanks, Sophia, Bye everyone.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
Thanks for listening to the Restoration Revolution
podcast, where recovery startshere.
Thanks for listening to theRestoration Revolution podcast,
where recovery starts here.
Let us help put your family onthe road to recovery.
Go to hazardcleannet or call772-259-5018.
That's 772-259-5018.