Memorial Day

I write this blog as therapy, I guess. I guess that's why anyone writes, because "The writer has something to say." Sartre

I really could care less that anyone else might read it. This blog is a form of commitment to myself to use my mind, to place my 60 years experience, skills, abilities, and knowledge into one of several places. Plus, God bless'm, Google makes it available for free!

I usually do not write or talk about Memorial Day, but since I've been pontificating on Iraq, 9/11, handguns, philosophy, and such, I suppose that I need to say something. From Wikipedia: Following the end of the Civil War, many communities set aside a day to mark the end of the war or as a memorial to those who had died.

My wife puts the American Flag out on memorial day. I usually ignore it. I also usually work on Memorial Day, and oddly enough, I usually work on Veterans' Day. I suppose this is because I am a Vietnam Veteran, 173rd Airborne Infantry, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 65-66, "Death from Above," the Southeast Asian Strike-force for the USA and for the Chinese, "Rockasons" - - A mere infantry brigade with a big job back then. Anyway, it seems that this Vietnam Veteran has somehow managed to work more Memorial Days and Veterans Days than not in the last 40 years. (Gee, I like being 60 because it does lend one to a rather monumental picture of being human.)

I cleaned my first trauma scene in a place called "War Zone D," a cluster of mountains in which the "Hoe Chi Men Trail" emptied out into South Vietnam, not really so far from Saigon, not far at all from the Song nong di river. This was in November, 1965 following a rather large engagement at that period of time. I cleaned a few bloody ponchos. Later I would clean M-16's, claymore mines, more ponchos, web gear, helmets, bayonets, canteens, and more soldier stuff. I didn't give a second thought to cleaning the blood off then. I suppose that is why this form of "cleaning" is easy for me. Who knows?

Today I see that the 173rd is in Afghanistan. I regret being too old, too fat, and too weak to join them -- really. I feel bad and guilty that strong young men are "humping" mountains in Afghanistan for a somewhat dutiful cause and I cannot return to their unit. Not to clean trauma, but to work as a sergeant among learning soldiers. I'd share the risk, the labor, the out-and-out drudgery of being a foot soldier. These soldiers are big on words like "honor," by the way. They have to be big on honor. Really. It is a big word to them for big reasons.

That great Army Airborne Ranger and football star Pat Tillman went down to "friendly fire" in Afghanistan, I've heard. He was REALLY big on "honor." I heard too that the Army and U.S. Government have persistently lied to his parents. Odd, isn't it, that US Army officers are trained to tell the truth, to honor their integrity. I hope that they lied for some good reason and not for simple career advancement.

Then there's Iraq. The 101st is in Iraq and I am glad that I am not there with them. When I gave up on the Army, or better yet, when the Army gave up on me a few years ago, I would have promptly joined the 101st in Iraq as a fellow soldier, not with any belief that it was an "honorable" thing to do, because it would not have been an honorable thing for me to do, knowing what I know about the Iraq issues. I knew Bush and party were lying, just like the Army lied to Tillman's family.

I knew from experience that soon the "enemy" would integrate itself into the general population, especially in places like Baghdad. I think that the general population is the "enemy" in many cases. I would not want to take part in figuring out how to survive in a terrorist driven urban environment. I'll stick to the woods, the wild. Still, if I could, I would soldier with the 101st in Iraq, if I could.

I think that there's an emotional thing inside of me about being a survivor and young soldiers are dying and maybe I might help them. Maybe I might help anyone. It is such a mess there. We are so helpless in these matters and I don't like it. I want to help end it all and I would if I could join the 101st. Sadly, there is no fountain of youth for this old, fat man.

Yesterday I heard that fat TV lady Roseann making the point that to the Iraqis, in many cases, the US must be a terrorist organization, considering the numerous deaths created since our arrival. I could hardly believe that I was watching this woman and agreeing with her so much.

Check these figures out, and as of today's date (05/24/07):

Every 10 minutes an Iraqi in Iraq dies from war related causes.

Every 10 hours a US Soldier/Marine dies from war related causes.
(This does not count those who die in-flight out of the country for their wounds.)

For every KIA (Killed in action soldier), there are 15 wounded in Iraq, many with life-long head trauma requiring 100 percent care for the rest of their lives.

Every 10 days the US spends 2 billion dollars on its Iraq war efforts.

The total cost of the Iraq war will probably reach 2 trillion dollars if not stopped soon.

So stand up, hook-up, shuffle to the door, and Go! Here comes another memorial day, more than one hundred have preceded it, and the richest, most powerful nation in history chooses to destroy innocent civilians while tapping their natural resources. Now what does that say for honor?
Airborne!
Eddie Evans

Guns Suck!

Guns do not forgive. Sometimes I regret being in this business because of the stupidity of people and their stupid handguns. I cleaned a death scene for just such people this week.

Often enough, let any drunk or fool or combination of the two around a gun and there is sure to be trouble. I stopped counting the number of "accidental" deaths by handguns that I have cleaned. I stopped counting these deaths very early into this occupation.
Two young men drinking to celebrate the older man's 21st birthday: BOOM! The handgun went off as the two played games with it. The apartment was littered with beer and champagne bottles. Otherwise, it was well kept considering that a young bachelor lived in it. Now he's in jail and going away for a long time. His life will become rigidly structured by the state as a result. What a waste.

I figured that I would write on this subject sooner-or-later, and it has come to pass because of a wasted life that I happened to cross paths with in the last week. The NRA types will argue that there is a "God given right" to have these weapons. I disagree, but the genie is out of the bottle and there's no putting it back. Can anyone imagine the nightmare of trying to police these things out of existence in the US, the home of the Six Gun Mystique?

The only "God given right" to handguns is in choosing the perfect right to live free of them.

Eddie Evans

9/11 - HIV - Crime Scene Cleanup

Here's a fact that the crime scene cleaner needs to keep in mind.

World-wide, more people died of HIV on 9/11 than died from the terrorist attack in New York City. I heard this while listening to the radio today. The speaker wanted to make the point that HIV is a daily event, unlike terrorism.

Here's a couple of things beyond PPE that I do in the field to reduce risks and costs:

Large quantity of dried blood in the form of volcanic ash or less:
Place paper towels upon matter, moisten with sprayer by using 1:10 bleach and water. Let dwell while working elsewhere; Remove matter and towel, and repeat if, until completed. Towels can go into sanitary sewer if not too large.

If the cleaner prefers cotton towels from Home Depot, these can be washed in a dedicated washing machine with soap and bleach following use. (If the cleaner has the stomach for this procedure!) These towels should be pretreated on-site with a soap and bleach solution in a bathtub, toilet, sink, or bucket, given dwell time, and placed in a black bag. Using this procedure, the cleaner will use handling techniques like those used in hospital laundries. (If ever placed in a red bag, cleaning materials remain in the red bag. Never remove material from a red bag.)

Once pretreated and laundered, these towels can be placed in a black bag with duct tape markings to identify it as useful cleaning material. Standard cleaning towels will last for at least 3 cleanings when laundered properly.

I don't find any conflict with the above procedures in CDC or OSHA literature.
1. The bleach solution is per CDC, and dwell time is important as a standard operating procedure.
2. The ash-or-less has been dwelling before the cleaner reaches it, relative to blood-borne pathogens' survival outside of the petri dish.
3. The sanitary sewer carries many gallons of human waste, blood and otherwise, from everyday living to mortuary and hospital business.

I also think that these procedures will fit the catastrophic cleaning needs of the general population, if and when needed because of terrorism or global warming, global dimming, or all three. Bleach, incidentally, carries an MSDS easily found in any supermarket as a universally recognized disinfectant.

Besides the above, I recall my 6 years working in a rehab environment for heavy drug users. The female toilet waste was handled as normal, the sanitary napkins, that is. Also, what came across was the struggle involved with quitting heroin and other such drugs. Even the risk of contracting HIV, HEP C, and more were not enough to stop clients from shooting-up when they left our program.

I recall a number of young women who had contracted HIV, HEP C, and other diseases. Their lives were basically ruined, at least to my way of thinking. At least, "business as usual" should have changed. Sadly, this was not, is not the case.

To think that these ladies went back into the world to share their diseases with unsuspecting husbands and boyfriends is to think in terms of forthcoming criminal-like conduct, spreading blood-borne pathogens, that is. I suppose that we could make an argument for calling their behavior a form of "terrorism," considering its consequences.

This behavior was not unique to women, but also applies to men as well. I point out the ladies because they sometimes wanted to reproduce, which is tragic to say the least.

Now, if the cleaner is careful, there should not be any great risks to cleaning trauma, crime scenes, that is. Needle-stick is by far the greatest risk known for contracting disease from blood; nothing the cleaner does will come close, unless of course there is a needle-stick from the cleaning environment, a real possibility when cleaning a scene generated by inter-venous drug users. At this writing, I have not found evidence of blood-borne pathogen transmission via occupational cuts or abrassions. Nonetheless, always work with the mind's eye to "what if." HIV is a mutating pathogen, in any case. Remember Mandel and Darwin. So, never ever place hands beyond the line-of-sight when cleaning trauma.

Education is so important for cleaning as well as the reduction of risks from blood-borne pathogens, in general. I suppose that education is just about key to everything that humans touch or somehow influence, like HIV, 9/11, and cleaning.


Eddie Evans
CrimeSceneCleanup.Com

Crime Scene Cleanup and Concrete Polishing

I should have mentioned that I have a concrete polishing business. Actually, I have a floor polishing business for natural stone and concrete. So what does this have to do with crime scene cleanup?

It has a lot to do with crime scene cleanup. My floor business subsidizes my cleaning business. You see, there is not enough work in crime scene cleanup to survive. Now, many people in this business survive simply by doing crime scene cleanup. But there are others like me, destined to hold down more than one occupation. In fact, I have several other businesses, but I will not write about these businesses now. You can bet that I will on another day. For now, keep in mind that I need several other businesses to barely make ends meet, and i am looking for another way to diversify my prospects.

Business is so bad in crime scene cleanup that I always advise new-comers to "keep your day job." I say this in all honesty. If you don't believe me visit my crime scene cleanup school and I will tell you the same thing. This line of business is an add-on for most people. That means it is another way to generate income for an already existing business. If anyone were to enter the crime scene cleanup business as a stand-alone business, and they did not have deep pockets, a rich daddy, or the best luck in the universe, I would think they needed their head examined to come into this business.

Can you imagine what people are hearing? They are hearing that "you can make hundreds of dollars an hour by cleaning up after death." They are being told that simply "by going to a school and setting up shop" they will make bunches of money. Well let me put it this way because I like analogies. During the gold rush in California it was those who sold the wheel barrels and picks and shovels that made money. The guys who actually went out to dig for gold ended up starving in many cases.

I believe that this analogy is a good one for crime scene cleanup as an occupation. It works for concrete polishing too -- I should know.

By all means, if you have an already existing business, and you want to add-on one or more businesses, then consider cleaning trauma. Don't expect to get rich from it.
Carpet cleaners, by the way, are among those most suited to add-on crime scene cleanup. Visit my blog at www.crimescenecleanup.com and you will find more writing on these ideas. There will be more coming, too.
Eddie Evans

Is it Hazmat?

Confusion often arises among those new to cleaning after death, pathogens, and HAZMAT. Reading here will help clarify some questions about HAZMAT and pathogens (disease and suffering).

HAZMAT is an abbreviation of hazardous material. It refers to any solid, gas, or liquid that causes harm to humans and other organisms. Likewise, HAZMAT may cause damage to property and habitat.

There are differences between HAZMAT and pathogens (bio-hazardous) in the context of cleaning after death. Pathogens are HAZMAT in the sense that blood containing disease carrying bacteria and viruses are hazardous in some circumstances. So there is an overlap between an understanding of the two.

HAZMAT may be liquid or semi-liquid like blood and other human matter. HAZMAT may also be liquid in other dangerous forms, like corrosives, mercury, and petroleum based products. Solids and gases may also be HAZMAT. Explosives, which may be in liquid, semi-liquid, or solid form are also HAZMAT.

The transportation of HAZMAT requires specialized transporting tools, containers, vehicles, and placards.

The transportation of pathogenic blood and other human matter also requires special handling and special transportation considerations.

Blood

I wrote about blood in another blog, and I wasn't finished. I doubt that I'll ever finish.

Did I mention that the surface area of the external body is less than the surface area of all of those little blood cells in the body? I have read that it is so. Reference to follow at another time.

Eddie Evans

Do not do unto others . . . .

I wanted to write this down before I forgot, and then I forgot to write it down a bunch of times, now.

So here it is:

"Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you." Prince Kropotkin

No, this is not by Jesus Christ or anyone else but Kropotkin.

The other one goes like this and it is less liberating:

"Do unto others what you would have them do unto you"
This one, unlike the first, commands. The first simply says, "Leave others alone."

For those German Philosophy types, here it is:

Behave as if your behavior were to become universal. Immanual Kant

I needed to get these off of my chest and somewhere where I could find them. It is getting too easy to forget stuff. Thank goodness for Google and its blog service!

Now I need to recall something by Shakespeare, but I don't have the first idea what it was!