Hoarding Help from Exit Cleanup
December 2, 2019
What is Hoarding?
Hoarding Help, For immediate as sistance wi th hoard ing clea nup, contact EXIT CLEANUP today.
What is Hoarding? Well according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America , “Hoarding is the compulsive purchasing, acquiring, searching, and saving of items that have little or no value.
The hoarding behavior usually has deleterious effects—emotional, physical, social, financial, and even legal—for a hoarder and family members.” A house or building impacted by hoarding can be dangerous and unhealthy for occupants and neighbors. Swift action is required to address the hoarding problem to ensure the health of everyone nearby.
The 5 Hoarding Levels
The National Study Group on Compulsive Disorganization created a Clutter Hoarding Scale as a guideline for professional organizers making their first few contacts with clients. Its called the ICD Clutter–Hoarding Scale® The Clutter–Hoarding Scale® is an assessment measurement tool, developed by the Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD) to give professional organizers and related professionals definitive parameters related to health and safety.
Hoarding Level One: Clutter is not excessive, all doors and stairways are accessible, there are no odors, and the home is considered safe and sanitary.
Hoarding Level Two: Clutter inhabits two or more rooms, light odors, overflowing garbage cans, light mildew in kitchens and bathrooms, one exit is blocked, some pet dander or pet waste puddles, and limited evidence of housekeeping.
Hoarding Level Three: One bedroom or bathroom is unusable, excessive dust, heavily soiled food preparation areas, strong odors throughout the home, excessive amount of pets, and visible clutter outdoors.
Hoarding Level Four: Sewer backup, hazardous electrical wiring, flea infestation, rotting food on counters, lice on bedding, and pet damage to home.
Hoarding Level Five: Rodent infestation, kitchen and bathroom unusable due to clutter, human and animal feces , and disconnected electrical and/or water service.
How do people get a Hoarding Disorder?
Hoarding disorder affects all kinds of people from all ages and demographics. It is however more prevalent in older age groups, and the symptoms seem to intensify with age. Hoarding in general can severely disrupt the daily life. It can easily cause the person affected by the disorder to become reclusive and protective of their privacy.
Often, we find that hoarding disorder is present due to a trauma . That can be many things including a home where an unattended death has occurred. Its important to be supportive but typically the hoarding property contains many dangers and its best to help by removing the clutter to make it safer. The risk to the person or persons involved living this way is greatly increased. Living this way can lead to injuries caused by falling, collapsing debris, unsanitary circumstances due to trash or sewage issues, rats that carry disease etc. A person who suffers from hoarding disorder is often isolated from friends and family which creates many circumstances that can lead to injury or an unattended death because there is no one to find the person immediately after he or she has been injured or passed away. There are also many other dangers associated with hoarding such as diseases caused by rat feces and general cleanliness issues.
Hoarding Cleanup Dangers
What are the dangers of hoarding cleanup ? Not all hoarding properties are dangerous, but each property must be looked at individually in order to access the hazard level. As mentioned above there are the simple noticeable dangers such as stepping on sharp things, falling or twisting an ankle, or collapse of property and risk of being buried alive. Its potentially a slow suicide . But there are many more dangers many people do not realize. The health and safety hazards associated with hoarding cleanup in connection to biohazards are vast. These possible biohazards include finding blood and bodily fluids , human waste, dead creatures and of course the potential diseases and infections that can come of these such as the Hantavirus, which comes from rat feces, Histoplasmosis, E. coli, Staph bacteria including MRSA and HIV depending on what is lurking in the clutter. It’s not unusual to find buried dead animals or raw sewage from a broken pipe which could cause serious illnesses. Hoarding Cleanup Services at E xit C leanup
Our EXIT Clea nup experts can take on these dangers and bring it to a satisfactory manageable situation. It is a serious and challenging situation and due to the potential health hazards associated with a hoarding property its important to be understanding and professional . Exit can be reached 24-7 to discuss the situation and get your property cleaned and safe.
Hoarding Help, For immediate as sistance wi th hoard ing clea nup, contact EXIT CLEANUP today.
What is Hoarding? Well according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America , “Hoarding is the compulsive purchasing, acquiring, searching, and saving of items that have little or no value.
The hoarding behavior usually has deleterious effects—emotional, physical, social, financial, and even legal—for a hoarder and family members.” A house or building impacted by hoarding can be dangerous and unhealthy for occupants and neighbors. Swift action is required to address the hoarding problem to ensure the health of everyone nearby.
The 5 Hoarding Levels
The National Study Group on Compulsive Disorganization created a Clutter Hoarding Scale as a guideline for professional organizers making their first few contacts with clients. Its called the ICD Clutter–Hoarding Scale® The Clutter–Hoarding Scale® is an assessment measurement tool, developed by the Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD) to give professional organizers and related professionals definitive parameters related to health and safety.
Hoarding Level One: Clutter is not excessive, all doors and stairways are accessible, there are no odors, and the home is considered safe and sanitary.
Hoarding Level Two: Clutter inhabits two or more rooms, light odors, overflowing garbage cans, light mildew in kitchens and bathrooms, one exit is blocked, some pet dander or pet waste puddles, and limited evidence of housekeeping.
Hoarding Level Three: One bedroom or bathroom is unusable, excessive dust, heavily soiled food preparation areas, strong odors throughout the home, excessive amount of pets, and visible clutter outdoors.
Hoarding Level Four: Sewer backup, hazardous electrical wiring, flea infestation, rotting food on counters, lice on bedding, and pet damage to home.
Hoarding Level Five: Rodent infestation, kitchen and bathroom unusable due to clutter, human and animal feces , and disconnected electrical and/or water service.
How do people get a Hoarding Disorder?
Hoarding disorder affects all kinds of people from all ages and demographics. It is however more prevalent in older age groups, and the symptoms seem to intensify with age. Hoarding in general can severely disrupt the daily life. It can easily cause the person affected by the disorder to become reclusive and protective of their privacy.
Often, we find that hoarding disorder is present due to a trauma . That can be many things including a home where an unattended death has occurred. Its important to be supportive but typically the hoarding property contains many dangers and its best to help by removing the clutter to make it safer. The risk to the person or persons involved living this way is greatly increased. Living this way can lead to injuries caused by falling, collapsing debris, unsanitary circumstances due to trash or sewage issues, rats that carry disease etc. A person who suffers from hoarding disorder is often isolated from friends and family which creates many circumstances that can lead to injury or an unattended death because there is no one to find the person immediately after he or she has been injured or passed away. There are also many other dangers associated with hoarding such as diseases caused by rat feces and general cleanliness issues.
Hoarding Cleanup Dangers
What are the dangers of hoarding cleanup ? Not all hoarding properties are dangerous, but each property must be looked at individually in order to access the hazard level. As mentioned above there are the simple noticeable dangers such as stepping on sharp things, falling or twisting an ankle, or collapse of property and risk of being buried alive. Its potentially a slow suicide . But there are many more dangers many people do not realize. The health and safety hazards associated with hoarding cleanup in connection to biohazards are vast. These possible biohazards include finding blood and bodily fluids , human waste, dead creatures and of course the potential diseases and infections that can come of these such as the Hantavirus, which comes from rat feces, Histoplasmosis, E. coli, Staph bacteria including MRSA and HIV depending on what is lurking in the clutter. It’s not unusual to find buried dead animals or raw sewage from a broken pipe which could cause serious illnesses. Hoarding Cleanup Services at E xit C leanup
Our EXIT Clea nup experts can take on these dangers and bring it to a satisfactory manageable situation. It is a serious and challenging situation and due to the potential health hazards associated with a hoarding property its important to be understanding and professional . Exit can be reached 24-7 to discuss the situation and get your property cleaned and safe.
What is a Hoarder
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If you have a case of CDIFF and need help call EXIT BIOHAZARD CLEANUP and have us come and disinfect your home. What is CDIFF? C.diff stands for Clostridium difficile (klos-TRID-e-oi-deez dif-uh-SEEL), which is a germ or bacterium that causes a symptomatic infection due to the spore-forming bacterium, Clostridium difficile. It causes many Symptoms which include watery diarrhea, fever, nausea, and abdominal pain. It makes up about 20% of cases of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. It most commonly affects older adults in hospitals or in long-term care facilities. Complications may include pseudomembranous colitis, toxic megacolon, perforation of the colon, and sepsis which can be life threatening. One in 11 people over age 65 diagnosed with a healthcare-associated C. diff infection die within one month. In general it causes severe diarrhea and colitis (an inflammation of the colon). It’s estimated to cause almost half a million infections in the United States each year. C. diff can affect anyone. Most cases of C. diff occur when you’ve been taking antibiotics or not long after you’ve finished taking antibiotics. There are other risk factors such as being 65 or older, a recent stay at a hospital or nursing home, a weakened immune system, such as people with HIV/AIDS, cancer, or organ transplant patients taking immunosuppressive drugs, or previous infection with C. diff or known exposure to the germs. Because 1 in 6 patients who get C. diff will get it again in the subsequent 2-8 weeks . If you have been taking antibiotics recently and have symptoms of C. diff, you should see a healthcare professional as soon as possible. Getting diarrhea is fairly common while on, or after taking, antibiotics, but in only a few cases will that diarrhea be caused by C. diff . So if your diarrhea is severe you need to talk to your doctor and do not delay getting medical care. Your doctor will review your symptoms and order a lab test of a stool (poop) sample. If the test is positive, you’ll take a specific antibiotic (e.g. vancomycin or fidaxomicin) for at least 10 days. If you were already taking an antibiotic for another infection, your healthcare professional might ask you to stop taking it if they think it’s safe to do so. Your doctor may decide to admit you to the hospital, in which case they will use certain precautions, such as wearing gowns and gloves, to prevent the spread of C. diff to themselves and to other patients because it can be very contagious . its important to use a separate bathroom if you have diarrhea, thoroughly wash hands with soap and water every time you use the bathroom and always before you eat, and take showers washing well with soap. Cleanliness is key to beating this and stopping it from spreading to others or back to you. Because C.DIFF bacteria can last for months. When the bacteria are outside the human body they can be virtually anywhere in the environment. They are in a dormant state and essentially shutdown waiting for a new host. This enables them to survive for a long time from weeks to months in any number of places and that's why its very difficult to destroy and it is also why people often have the infection reoccur. The ability of it to be dormant and survive outside the body enables the generally easy transmission of the bacterium. It can last a long time sitting on surfaces, in soil or feces, in water areas, or even in food. Once the bacteria finds their way into a person's digestive system, they "wake up" and can begin to produce infection again. That being said, its not the easiest bacteria to kill. its not like covid which is pretty weak in the environment and generally dies quickly. this has some staying power and requires special cleaning and disinfection procedures. We often kill corona virus and other germs during our disinfection fogging services to help stop the spread of covid 19 and we kill 99.99% of germs and viruses in general for most of our services including our biohazard cleaning services, but CDIFF is something special and its much harder to kill so we have to bring out the big guns to do it. We mean specialty chemicals and procedures to kill what is there and what is hiding dormant. At Exit Cleanup we just think of this as another service we provide but as you can see its not your typical disinfection. If you have Cdiff or someone in your family does and you want us there to kill it, please just call and we will prepare for germ warfare for you. We will fight this for you.
This is to describe the 4 levels of biohazards and the 6 types of biohazards. Biohazard cleanup is important because we could encounter a biohazard anytime anywhere. Learn more here. A biohazard could be anything from animal feces or rancid meat to blood from a crime scene or materials from a laboratory.
Support after a Tragedy is Essential
The Aftermath of a crime or Death can be Overwhelming and Traumatic
A suicide in New Orleans. Exit cleanup doesn't always get the job but we do all we can to help in any situation. Most of the time, your home owners insurance pays the biohazard cleanup but if the deceased lived in an apartment, it may be something that the property owner may want to pay for. Its sometimes complicated but Exit will help. This situation was difficult because the resident committed suicide and the property owner wasn't available. Long story short , we helped out the sister of the deceased a bit so she could get things sorted and did what we could.
RYOBI Fogger review is to talk about the good and bad of the Ryobi 18v fogger. We here at Exit Cleanup use fogging for our disinfection services that we provide in the Louisiana area. We disinfect and decontaminate for viruses such as the Covid Virus, Mrsa, HIV, CDIFF, Hepatitis and more. We use fogging as one of our tools to kill the germs. you can also see our review of the Ryobi 18v electrostatic sprayer.
Exit Cleanup are Louisiana's blood and biohazard experts and we can help. We are here to deal with all biohazard cleaning siuations from blood spills to virus protection. We clean up death and crime scenes as well as the aftermath of suicides and any situation involving blood and bodily fluids. We also help cleanup hoarding properties and work with hoarders to get things back to a working normal in their homes. We get asked a lot about Blood cleanup so this article gives a bit o what to do in that situation.
Types of Biohazards we may have to deal with
