Meth Labs : A Guide

Meth Labs: What to do?

The latest report of Australian Crime Commissions shows that in 2009/10 Queensland Police discovered more than 40% of the 694 meth labs located in Australia. John Lawler, chief executive of Australian Crime Commission said, “It is sad, our report shows that more than 71 per cent of these labs are detected in residential areas where innocent neighbours risk exposure to toxic chemicals.”   How do you detect a meth lab?

Outward signs of a meth lab

•     Chemical odours like paint thinners and nail polish remover coming from the building
•     Fans (exhaust) running for a long period and strangely at odd times.
•     Frequent visitors to the lab at odd hours.
•     Curtains always drawn or Windows blackened out.
•     When you see people coming outside only to smoke.
•     Occupants being unfriendly, appear to be secretive about their activities, behaving paranoid.
•     Property being monitored with security and surveillance equipment.
•     Neighbors, Landlords, other visitors denied access.
•     Trash bins containing a huge amount of cold & flu packaging, chemical type containers, bottles and boxes with labels removed.

 On the inside, once you know these things

•     Lab containers, beakers, equipment and documents.
•     Clear liquid solutions with chalky substance settling at its bottom.
•     Containers having two layered liquids, one dark colored liquid and the other a clear or pale yellow layer.
•     Coffee filters containing a white paste or a reddish brown substance
•     Dishes containing white crystalline powder or substance.
•     Hot plates kept near chemicals.
•     Odors of chemicals emitted from rooms.
•     Stain on walls, usually they are yellow or brown in color.

What to do on discovering a Meth Lab?

•     Do not go to explore the area. Exposure to meth can cause severe health complications
•     Do not try to touch, taste or smell anything at a meth lab.
•     Avoid smoking in or near a suspected meth lab.
•     Friction or Sparks producing items should be avoided at all cost eg. radios, cell-phones, torches etc.
•     Immediately call the local Police.
•     Do not re-enter the premises.

Meth Labs exposure can cause the following:

•     Constant headaches.
•     Eyes become watery
•     Nausea.
•     Burning sensation on the skin.
•     Difficulty in breathing, coughing.
•     Pain in chest.
•     Feeling of coldness or weakness.
•     Dizziness.

If at all you encounter a meth lab or you need to cleanup a Meth lab Contact Bio Cleanse Pty Ltd, visit: http://bio-cleanse.com.au/methamphetamine/ for more details.

Crime scene cleanup business - Not for everybody!

There are many reasons why some individuals shouldn't be in the crime scene cleaning business and why you require extremely tough skin to be a crime scene cleaner. Not only do you have to deal with the dead, and gore but also the family of the deceased.

I had a family stand outside a residence and they actually wanted to see what I was placing in the incineration boxes. They really needed to filter through the case of bio-danger waste to verify we didn't hurl anything. It is simply fantastic the way families can act when their dear ones passes away. Individuals stand outside of shocking crime scenes and battle over who gets what and stuff that truly don't make a difference, for example lamps. 

We generally sit down for a bit to bag important and personnel things for the family like money, jewelry or documents. There is an emotional switch you need to turn on and off particularly when this happens. I frequently think about the victimized people and their families throughout and after the clean-up. At the same time at the close of the day it is an amazing feeling to realize that I helped begin their mending process. That is the reason I press on to clean up crime scenes and that is the reason I feel it is rewarding.

Hoarding Victim?

Imagine you go meet a new friend that you made recently and you thought of him living in a beautiful house with a nice inviting & pleasing ambience.

But as soon you open the front door, instead of welcoming arms you find rats and cockroaches crawling all over your feet.

If that’s not enough then still you try to sniff for that refreshing, ‘feel good’ aroma that you were expecting but to your surprise you get a stink so bad that it will put even a skunk to shame!

But still imagine your ardent nature still takes you on and you insist on meeting your new found friend, you see a whole dump of garbage between you and your friend and you’re confused to think whether you have entered a dumpster or whether your friend is playing hard to get.

Well, that was just an imagination. Even in that it sounded so gross but, think about actual hoarders who live in such conditions? Hoarding management could be quite a daunting task.

Filth and debris from hoarding, fecal matter, bodily fluids, excessive trash, expired food, odour, boxed items, mould, mildew, etc., these extreme situations often require the services of trained professionals.

To clean an area of gross filth, often known as hoarders cleanup, can be a challenge and often impossible for an individual untrained in decontamination and odour removal. We at Bio Cleanse Pty Ltd have been dealing not only with the effects of the disorder, but also with the people who suffer from it.

We are primarily based in Goulburn, and cater to surrounding areas of Sydney and Canberra. Check out http://bio-cleanse.com.au/hoarding-management/ for any advice regarding extreme hoarding.

Hoarding

What is hoarding?

Hoarding is a psychological condition that is characterized by not being able to get rid of excess or unused things up until the point where the same things or the belongings are choking up the patient’s living space.

For example, the person is also unable to access rooms like rest room or perhaps his or her bed owing to the excessive hoarded items.

How long will Hoarding Clean up take?

Every Hoarding scenario is completely different.  Though most take a day to scrub up, some take as much as a week. 

Hoarding cleanup is split into 2 ways:
1. Removing all things from the house so that all the su

rfaces can be cleaned thoroughly.

2. A Hoarding specialist can sift through the things to organize and notice any important papers or valuable items.

What if there are valuables within the hoarder’s house?

Bio Cleanse personnel are trained to place aside all valuables and any things which will have a price, these things are shown to the party accountable  and boxed up for more analysis by the accountable party.

What are the dangers of hoarding?

Those who do the hoarding cleaning should be ready for animal (rats, mice, vermin, etc.) feces and also the animals still alive running through the things and trash. The feces contain every kind of diseases, and unless you have got your hepatitis (A, B, and C) shots, tetanus shots, RBI shots, and alternative array of shots managing harmful and deadly diseases, you would possibly be taking a chance when cleaning up after a hoarder.
Please also be careful for sharp objects (knives, broken glass, sharp objects of any kind) that may cut you. Hypodermic needles may be a concern.

Why hire a bio-hazard clean up company to do hoarding clean up?

Although several cleaning firms would possibly cleanup after hoarders, several can walk away once their is an excessive quantity of bio hazard problems (animal dung, old and bacteria food, etc ). Please also aware that most likely mould will be present, and, if removed or maybe touched incorrectly, the mold will spread.

Our Cleanup services at Bio Cleanse include:

• Trash cleanup

• Human and animal waste removal

• Medical waste removal

• Furniture removal

• Blood and body fluid cleanup

• Odour Removal

Bio Cleanse Pty Ltd 
norrisbryan@hotmail.com

34 Rose

Goulburn, NSW, 2580Australia

042 741 1789

How to spot a Meth Lab Home

When a pound of illegal methamphetamine is created, it generates more than four pounds of toxic waste. This waste kills plants, makes houses unsafe to live and contaminates forests and farmlands. The houses that housed meth labs and were foreclosed by the state are still unlivable due to various health hazards. As a concerned neighbor and a good citizen one can help put a stop to this by keeping their eyes and noses open.

There are several ways to spot a meth lab. Firstly notice if there are any unusual smells in the house like smell of cat urine, ammonia, acetone (smells like nail polish remover) Ether or any strong chemical smell. Next check if there are any out of the ordinary sights happening around like blacked out windows or strangers coming and going from the house at all hours. The trash coming from the house is also a big sign especially if the trash contains things like beakers, duct tape, neon-stained coffee filters, or a lot of clear glass containers (very unusual for a suburban home owner). If you are a pharmacist or just happen to be in a pharmacy, notice when someone buys cold medicines in large quantities. This is almost a dead give away because a meth maker will use a lot of cold tablets as they contain ephedrine or pseudoephedrine—Sudafed for instance—per batch. Check their recycle bins as they will mostly contain a lot of copper instead of paper and plastic. The house or its surroundings will have Coleman fuel and HEET containers lying around. The property surrounding the house will also contain strong clues. There will be some amount of wall discoloration, corroded gas canisters and plants and trees dying around the structure.

If you notice any of the above instead of confronting the suspect yourselves make sure you call the higher authorities. To ensure a free clean zone, we at Bio-Cleanse have the skill and expertise to thoroughly decontaminate and remediate all types of Met Lab locations in the Goulburn, Sydney and Canberra areas.

Give us a call to discuss your Methamphetamine contamination risks and training requirements to ensure a better living.

Source: Bio-Cleanse

Do you have what it takes?

Most crime scene cleanup technicians do not work nine to five hours. Instead, they are on the job, usually for 12-hour shifts throughout weekends, almost two nights every week, and one or two weekends a month. This is due to the general nature of the work we do. It is scattered and regular hours are a luxury for our employers, who are usually the local law enforcement agencies. As a result of which you are required to be able to work at a moment's notice. You cannot be out of city, at a party, drinking, or otherwise be unavailable once called.

One of the main job duties we do is cleaning up human waste. This includes cleansing blood off walls and objects, the floor covering, throwing off articles of furniture, and bag loose human remains the medical examiner has left behind. You are at all times required to wear acceptable protecting gear to stop exposure to blood-borne pathogens. Your training teaches you to make use of the chemicals to use to get the work done, as normal cleaners don’t fully sanitize affected areas.

Another common cleanup scenario is once criminals like meth and other drug dealers are taken into custody, and the toxic chemicals left at the crime scene need correct disposal. Training for crime scene cleaners usually include protective gear one wears, a way to handle numerous dangerous chemicals, correct disposal strategies and accounting for all inventories. You treat all substances at a crime scene as doubtlessly dangerous, even though they maybe labeled otherwise, because they may be mislabeled to forestall detection by authorities.

Perhaps the foremost dangerous scenario for crime scene cleanup professional is being called to wash a possible bio-terrorism site. If you are managing infectious agents, you've got to wear hot, significant protecting gear, like a HAZMAT suit, double-filter respirators and chemical-spill boots. You’re coaching covers respiration protection, official communication channels, and awareness of your personal space and labeling procedures. It is vital all procedures are followed to the letter, otherwise you risk infecting not solely yourself, but innumerable others by being careless.


Source: Bio Cleanse

Bio Cleanse Pty Ltd – The Trauma, Accident & Crime Scene Technicians

Bio Cleanse Pty Ltd, are Trauma Clean, Accident & Crime Scene Cleaning Technicians, located in the Australian Capital Territory Canberra, also servicing NSW.

Bio Cleanse’s dedicated team of highly trained professionals is ready at all times to respond to and restore any situation that may arise from a crime scene, homicide or suicide.

Bio Cleanse will thoroughly clean, remediate and restore any and all areas affected by your tragic event. Let us reduce your stress and perform the monumental task of cleaning up, affording you the peace of mind you deserve during this difficult, traumatic and emotional time.

Bio Cleanse specialises in trauma scene cleanup and decontamination of bio hazardous incidents in all environments.

Bio Cleanse will clean and sanitise the site, neutralise the odours, and seal and remove all contaminated materials for disposal at a licensed medical waste facility. Bio Cleanse is committed to helping people when tragedy strikes. Bio Cleanse’s objective is to restore safety to an environment in the most professional and discrete manner possible. This relieves family members or employees of the emotional and traumatic task of cleaning up.

If left un-remediated, properties that have been used as clandestine drug labs pose serious health problems to future inhabitants. To avoid any health hazards, Bio Cleanse has a specialized system to clean meth labs and suspected meth labs and to disinfect any such suspect properties.

 

To know more about Bio Cleanse Pty Ltd please visit: www.bio-cleanse.com.au

 

Contact Us:

Bio Cleanse Pty LTD

PO Box 175

Goulburn NSW 2580

Phone: 0427 411 789

Fax: (02) 4821 3408

Email: norrisbryan@hotmail.com

Website: http://bio-cleanse.com.au/