The Restoration Revolution Podcast

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

• Chad Mallonee • Episode 13

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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

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Restoration Revolution podcast, where we help restore hope and put your family on the road to recovery, one episode at a time. Here's your host and owner of Hazard Clean Restoration, Chad Melody.

Speaker 2:

Forensic restoration goes way beyond what meets the eye. There's a science to every stage 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 chad melanie, owner of Hazard Clean Restoration, chad. How's it going today?

Speaker 3:

It's going great, sophia Going great, having a great day.

Speaker 2:

Great, that's wonderful. So Chad forensic restoration is such an interesting topic. Can you explain to our listeners how forensic restoration has different stages or risks associated with it?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, so you know, obviously. So we and what we do is, with a biohazard, one call could be completely different than the next call that we receive, and you know we do a lot of different, variety of different incidents that occur, and so some of them are just some crime, crime scenes, trauma scenes. You know you could have some bioterrorism, drug labs, you could have infectious diseases that occur. You get an unintended death when someone passes away and maybe their family is not aware or whichever, and so that occurs. We get hoarding. Because there's a variety of calls that we get, we have obviously a variety of risks that are associated with the different incidents, and so there's five levels In between some of the levels. There's some sub-levels, but in general there's five levels that we have of bio-risk associated with forensic restoration.

Speaker 2:

Five levels, wow. What's the first thing your team does upon arrival at a forensic scene?

Speaker 3:

We're going to do a site assessment. So you know we're going to go in. We're going to do a site assessment, so we're going to go in. We're going to assess the situation, determine the risk level, whether, if it's like a bio risk level one would be like a small room, you could have blood, urine, feces, anything like that, some soft tissue, whichever that you may have in a small confined area or a room. That would be what we consider like a bio-risk level one and they go up from there.

Speaker 2:

Now, how do you assess and mitigate potential risks on site?

Speaker 3:

Well, we do that through our training. You know we really focus on, you know, making sure that our training is, you know, is top-notch and we continually evolve, and I think that's important. We evolve with science, we evolve as new techniques come out. It feels like, especially with AI and everything else, things are always changing and we try to stay on the cutting edge of that and we make sure we protect our team really through, you know, through following the science, following the latest ways to protect ourselves. And you know, you think about surgeons, you know, 100 years ago, compared to now, they, they look completely, they kind of look the same a little bit. You know, they do kind of same things, trying to protect themselves, but with the knowledge that we have now, their processes, their techniques, their training is a lot different than it was, you know, even 50 years ago 100% Now.

Speaker 2:

what kind of protective equipment is essential during forensic cleanups?

Speaker 3:

Well. So that's going to depend on the bio-risk level that's associated. But in general, it's going to be making sure that we have PAPR, so it's kind of a powered respirator or gas mask, as a lot of the community may know them as that. You know we're utilizing that, that we're going to be in what's a full ppe. So we're going to have, from head to toe we're going to be completely covered.

Speaker 3:

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's different techniques that we're going to apply as well. Where, you know, we may go in and make sure that we can knock down some of that risk, initially, before we start working, and, depending on what we're dealing with we're going to, we'll use different techniques and different products in order to accomplish what we want to do and our end goal is whether it's a virus level one all the way up to virus level five, and I could go through the different levels if you wanted to but at the end of the day, we want to make it so clean and so safe that if the owner of that building or that area wanted to open a daycare the next day, they would be able to do that?

Speaker 2:

Wow. Now what happens during that final stage of forensic restoration?

Speaker 3:

Well, so the final stage is really going to be ver was some kind of I'm just trying to come up top of my head, but, you know, if you had, let's just say, any kind of blood or tissue or anything like that or whichever, we're going to make sure that we've gotten those surfaces, you know, all the way down to hospital grade safe, and that's really what we focus on. If we were dealing with, you know, like a fentanyl or anything like that, or meth or anything, we're also going to make sure that we're testing that to make sure that we've eliminated and neutralized the threat there. And so, really, the final step is making sure that we're verifying that we've done what we said we were going to do through all that.

Speaker 2:

Now, how do you determine when a space is safe enough to reenter example, like you said, to open a daycare the next day?

Speaker 3:

example, like you said, to open a daycare the next day. I think exactly what we were just talking about is you know there's, there's, there's a depending on what we're working with. So if we're working with, you know, say, a unintended death, you know there's going to be processes that we have to see. You know what we're working with at that point, as far as you know how dirty is that surface, and then we're going to be able to, through science and everything, be able to quantify what that surface is after. So we'd be able to see, before and after what we started with to what we finished with, and you know the same thing with, say, it was fentanyl, we'd be able to be able to verify hey, yeah, there's fentanyl here. And then afterwards we'd be able to test and verify that there's no fentanyl, that we've eradicated it and we've neutralized that, so there's no longer a threat.

Speaker 2:

Wow, more great information from you, chad. Thank you so much for that information and we'll see you in your next episode. Have a fantastic rest of your day.

Speaker 3:

Thanks, Sophia, Bye everyone.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening to the Restoration Revolution podcast, where recovery starts here. Thanks for listening to the Restoration Revolution podcast, where recovery starts here. Let us help put your family on the road to recovery. Go to hazardcleannet or call 772-259-5018. That's 772-259-5018.