Business specializes biohazard cleaning

Trauma Specialties focuses on cleaning sites of trauma such as crime scenes

By Chad Miller
cmiller@paragoulddailypress.com

A lot of people have seen crime scenes on TV, but very few may wonder what happens to a scene afterwards. Who cleans up the mess? Paula Mudry and Bill Ketcham are starting a business in Paragould that will specialize in that very thing.

“A lot of companies will clean up fire damage, smoke damage, water damage and stuff like that,” Ketcham said. “But when it comes to biohazards, a lot of them shy away from it. That’s where we come in.”

Mudry and Ketcham said their new business, Trauma Specialties, will specialize in cleaning biohazardous material such as blood and other body fluids. Although they were unsure of the level of demand in Paragould, Mudry and Ketcham said they know there is a need for this kind of service.

“The trauma of losing someone is enough,” Mudry said. “The family shouldn’t have to go in afterwards and clean up. It’s very hard to do.”

Mudry said she knows what it’s like for a family to have to clean up a trauma scene. She said she had to clean after her 15-year-old son committed suicide.

“It would’ve been great for me to have someone come in and take care of my situation,” Mudry said. “I didn’t have any idea at the time that there were services like this available.”

Ketcham said this type of service can take its toll on even someone serving on a professional level.

“By the time I’m done (cleaning), I probably know the family member just as well as the family does,” he said. “For some families, it’s worse than others.”

Ketcham said when he was doing this type of work in Washington, he dealt with some “horrific” crime scenes. He said he cleaned the scene of a double murder because the family of the victims could not bring themselves to enter the house. Mudry and Ketcham said they had been doing this type of work for about a year.

The couple said the material they clean up requires special care.

“It’s not something you can just throw in your garbage and be done with it,” Mudry said.

Ketcham said Trauma Specialties works with the same type of disposal services used by hospitals to dispose of biohazardous material. He said they also work with coroners and law enforcement agencies. Ketcham said sometimes when police arrest someone, the suspect will be injured and blood will get in the car.

“The police don’t want to have to mess with that,” he said. “Because they don’t know what’s in the blood. So they call us.”

Ketcham said they often have to clean cars because it is one of the main places people commit suicide.

Aside from the knowledge of how to handle such material, Ketcham said it also takes a lot of “intestinal fortitude” to do this type of work. He said the first job he did was a case where the person had been dead for more than three weeks before the body was found.

“The smell alone was (horrible),” Ketcham said. “A lot of people can’t handle that.”

Mudry and Ketcham said they just got the necessary licenses and are now working on sending introductory letters to state and local officials. Ketcham said in the future, they hope to expand their service into Tennessee as well as all over Arkansas.

“We’ll travel anywhere throughout the state,” Ketcham said. “All we want to do is help."