Crime scene cleanup attracts local interest

Loretta and Wesley Burgin, of Ava, started their own company, D&S Crime Scene Decontamination, April 1.

The couple specializes in cleaning up after homicides, suicides, decomposition and even meth houses, offering services within a 150-mile radius of their home. (See the related story on page 20.)

The Burgins traveled to Irving, Texas, to study crime and trauma scene cleanup at Amdecon, a company founded in 1999 by Michael Tillman.

According to Tillman, trauma cleanup is an industry – and an idea – whose time has come.

Meeting a need

“Ever since people have lived in cities and been civilized there’s been a need for this service; it’s just that the family or friends or volunteers always did it,” Tillman said.

He added that, because of increasing awareness of bloodborne pathogens, such as hepatitis and HIV, people are becoming reluctant to clean up after death or violence, which is creating demand for service providers.

Tillman began offering training on a consulting basis about four years ago, and a year ago he opened Amdecon Training Center.

The training center offers an intensive five-day training course in crime and trauma scene cleanup for $1,395, as well as a two-day course in meth lab cleanup for $1,295.

“We have a class every other month,” Tillman said. “The occupancy is 24 students, and they’re always full.”

The program has drawn students from the United States, Canada, Australia and England.

“Most of our students have existing businesses, such as carpet cleaning or fire restoration or something like that, and they want to add this on. Some want to start a new company specializing in this, and a small percentage want to get the training so they can go to work for another company,” Tillman said.

The Burgins went the entrepreneurial route.

Loretta Burgin said the business was attractive because she loves to work with people.

“I’ve worked in jails and I’ve worked with the elderly and I’ve worked with hospice and I’ve worked with young kids and youth, and I’ve always wanted to help people,” she said.

It also ties in with Burgin’s studies. She’s working on a degree in criminology at Drury University.

“Plus, it was something me and my husband could do together,” she said.

The couple went with Amdecon’s training because they were impressed by its quality and the fact that they could call the company and actually talk to its founder.

Need for regulation

Something that Tillman and the Burgins feel strongly about is the need for standards and regulations in their industry as it grows.

For example, say there’s a crime or a suicide in a hotel room, and the room is covered in blood and body tissue.

“There’s no state, federal, local (regulations), there’s no regulations anywhere, except California, that say that if that hotel room is covered in blood it has to be cleaned up and decontaminated properly before they can check in the next guest,” Tillman said.

There’s no requirement that cleanup crews be properly trained, certified or licensed, and the waste is not even regulated, Tillman said.

“If you take a small amount of blood in a hospital, that’s highly regulated. It has to be disposed of as medical waste,” he said. Because there are no regulations for crime and trauma scene cleanup, bloody carpeting, brain matter, decomposed tissue, etc. can be put out on the curb with normal trash.

“Ethical companies don’t do that,” Tillman said, “but it’s all voluntary.”

Tillman said he has no doubt that regulation will eventually come. Meanwhile, he is working to spread Amdecon’s standards.

He’s been working to make Amdecon a franchise for 2 1/2 years, and his first franchise meeting was scheduled for June 11.