Ep 2 - Suicide Cleanup - After the Tape: True Crime Scene Cleaner
- Doug Baruchin
- May 24
- 5 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Today, in honor of Mental Health Awareness month, we're covering a difficult topic. This episode delves into the reality of suicide cleanup, the grief, the humanity, and the unfortunate consequences. There's much more to cleaning up after someone takes their own life than just restoring the affected rooms in a home or business. There's an emotional toll for everyone involved. Family members, friends and even the technicians who handle the cleanup are all affected, even connected for the brief time that they're together.
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How We Can Help
Blood cleanup services are required in various situations where blood and bodily fluids pose health risks and need professional handling. These include severe injuries from accidents, violent crimes such as homicides and assaults, and suicides or suicide attempts.
In every crime scene, we confront various challenges and complications, each with its own story of pain and loss. From the presence of blood and bodily fluids to fingerprint dust and drug paraphernalia, these scenes bear witness to the pain endured by those affected. Whether in a home, an apartment building, or a public area, the aftermath of tragedy leaves its mark. At the start of each project, we approach the scene with empathy, assessing the situation carefully and planning our cleanup process to ensure we address it with the utmost care and consideration.
Our Crime Scene Cleanup Process
Our crime scene cleaning process begins with a thorough assessment to determine the extent of contamination and identify hazardous materials. Safety is our top priority, so we implement strict protective measures, including the use of personal protective equipment and containment protocols. We then remove all biohazards—such as blood, bodily fluids, fingerprint dust, tissue, and contaminated items—using specialized equipment and dispose of them in accordance with state and federal regulations. After the physical cleanup, we disinfect the area to eliminate lingering pathogens and use professional-grade deodorizers to remove any odors. Finally, we restore the space to its original condition, ensuring it is safe, clean, and fully habitable.
Podcast Episode Transcript
*If you choose to read the transcript instead of listening to the Podcast Audio, keep in mind transcripts are generated using ai and may contain spelling/grammar/and/or sentence structure mistakes. For the best experience, listen to the audio version of this podcast.
Hello and welcome back to After the Tape, True Crime Scene Cleaners, a show that pulls back the curtain on the hidden, often forgotten work that helps hold society together. I'm Doug Boruchin with ITS Environmental Services in New York and today we're talking about a job few want to think about and even fewer can do. Suicide cleanup. This isn't about gore. It's about people. The ones left behind and the ones who walk into tragedy after the sirens fade and the world moves on. When someone dies by suicide, the trauma doesn't end with death. For the families, there's grief, there's shock, and in many cases, something they never anticipated, having to clean up. In most places, it's not the responsibility of the police or emergency responders. It's actually left to the family. That's where trauma cleanup professionals come in. This job isn't just about disinfectants and gloves. It's about respect, discretion, and carrying an emotional burden the most of us never see. Let's start with the basics. Suicide cleanup falls under the category of biohazard remediation. Technicians are trained to deal with blood-borne pathogens, chemical hazards, and the psychological weight of trauma scenes. It's specialized, subject to state and federal regulations, and extremely difficult work. It's not so much what you see. The blood is easy. It's the teddy bear in the corner, the birthday card on the fridge, the picture on the nightstand. That's the hard part. We're walking into scenes of heartbreak. Sometimes it's a teenager's bedroom, other times it's a lonely apartment where no one noticed for days. The smells can be overwhelming and so can the silence. Technicians are often the first to witness the emotional aftermath of these scenes. Families in shock, friends unable to speak, and parents who can't even bear to step into the room, and yet somebody has to. But it comes at a cost. Crime scene cleaners can struggle with depression and nightmares. Once after a particularly difficult case involving a young, recently divorced man, one of our technicians had to stop working and actually leave the job. something about that particular scene struck a chord. You can never know what you'll feel until you cross that threshold. Now let's talk about stigma. Workers are often invisible, but that's on purpose. We don't don our PPE in public, and why not? Because often families don't want the neighbors to know. Suicide still carries a heavy stigma, and cleaners carry that weight too. We aren't just cleaning up blood. We're protecting a family's privacy and their grief. I remember a case where the mother asked me to lie to the neighbors. Just say it was a plumbing problem, she said. Sometimes it's not about telling the truth. It's about kindness and respect for your client's wishes. Unfortunately, though, kindness doesn't pay the bills. And here's another hard truth. Suicide cleanup can be expensive. Most families don't realize that their homeowner's insurance might cover it, if they even have it. Now try to imagine having to explain this as delicately as possible while standing in the middle of a trauma scene. Some of us refuse to charge when the families can't pay. Others offer payment plans or work with non-profits. But the business side is complicated. This is a job after all. It's dangerous, it's skilled, and unfortunately, it's necessary. Then there's the physical risk. Blood-borne pathogens, structural damage. Cleaners wear full PPE, respirators, gloves, protective suits, but even then, accidents can happen. Cuts, splashes, even chemical burns. And then there's the mental health toll. Most cleaners I've known and worked with have a pretty strong constitution, but it can get to you after a while. Some lean on each other, others just bury it deep, but after a while, it builds. Continually witnessing death scenes and grieving family members can take a serious toll on your mental health. It's important that crime scene cleaners have access to mental health professionals in the event they need to talk to someone other than their coworkers or their own families. So why do we do it? The people I've worked with all say the same thing. They want to help. They want to bring dignity to someone's last moment, relief to a grieving family, or even just order to a place of chaos. The people who clean up after suicides are the silent caretakers of our collective pain. We walk into scenes of sorrow, grief, and sometimes horror not to judge but to help. The work's not glamorous, it's not easy, but it's vital. As we wrap up today's episode, I want to leave you with this. Mental health matters. Struggling with depression can be one of the most difficult things to deal with. If you or someone that you know is struggling, please know there is always help. In the U.S., you can call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 24 hours a day. Thanks again for listening to After the Tape. If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave us a review. Got a question or a story to share, hit us up on Instagram at afterthetapepodcast. Until next time, remember, every day you wake up is another day that's been given to you, so make it count. Stay curious, stay compassionate, check in on your loved ones, and don't forget what happens after the tape.
