TACT 48 / AZ / Ft Worth July Chronicles: Insights from TheLastResponders Blog

Monthly Newsletter for

T.A.C.T. 48 / AZ / Ft Worth

Who Cleans Up After the Police Leave?

When law enforcement leaves a traumatic scene, their work may be finished—but the cleanup may be just beginning.  Police officers and homicide investigators are focused on what matters most: protecting the community, investigating what happened, documenting evidence and helping bring answers to families. They are not biohazard remediation professionals, and the scene may still contain blood, bodily fluids or other potentially hazardous materials after the investigation is complete.  That is where T.A.C.T. comes in.

Our technicians are trained to safely assess the scene, establish appropriate containment, use the necessary PPE, remove contaminated materials, clean and disinfect affected areas, and properly handle and transport regulated biohazard waste.

We also believe that helping the community starts with making sure people know who to call.  We proudly sponsor many First Responder events, not simply to introduce our company, but to help educate local them about what happens after a scene is released—and how they can help families and property owners connect with a qualified remediation professional.  For a family experiencing one of the worst days of their lives, knowing there is someone to call after the investigation is over can make a difficult situation just a little easier.

A Day in the Life of a T.A.C.T. Technician

 A question our technicians get asked often: what is a typical day like for you?

We try to have non-emergency work schedule available for them Monday through Friday as most emergency work happens over the weekends.  Maybe it's a scheduled hoarding cleanup, rodent remediation or an odor project.  But with emergency response, plans can change in an instant.

As an example, recently one of our technicians was scheduled to begin a hoarding project in Mesa at 8:00 a.m. At 8:20 a.m., we received an emergency call involving a suicide in Tempe. Team members were pulled from the scheduled project and sent to assist with the emergency, remaining there into the early afternoon.  And the day wasn't over with that - the same technician who was on emergency rotation was called out again that evening—this time for a roadside blood remediation in Scottsdale at 11:00 p.m.

Long days? Absolutely.  Unpredictable? Definitely.  But there is something our technicians understand about this work: people don't schedule emergencies. That's what makes being a T.A.C.T. technician different. It's not simply a job of cleaning and removing materials. It's showing up when people need someone willing and prepared to step into a difficult situation and make it safer, cleaner and a little easier to manage.

Biohazard Waste Go?

When contaminated materials are removed from a biohazard scene, they don't simply go into the nearest dumpster.

One of the responsibilities we take seriously at T.A.C.T. is making sure biohazard waste is handled properly from the moment it is removed until it reaches an appropriate treatment or disposal facility.

T.A.C.T. is an ADEQ-registered biohazardous medical waste transporter. Arizona requires biohazardous medical waste transporters to be registered with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), with registered transporters subject to state requirements for the transportation of this type of waste.

Our technicians use appropriate containers and handling procedures for regulated waste. OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard requires regulated waste to be properly contained to prevent leakage,  and closed before removal and transport.

Once collected, biohazard waste is transported through the appropriate disposal process rather than being placed in ordinary household or commercial trash.

Why does that matter?  Because proper remediation doesn't end when contaminated material leaves the property.  It ends when that material has been responsibly handled from the scene through its final treatment or disposal.

For T.A.C.T., that's part of doing the job correctly—and part of protecting our clients, our technicians, waste-handling personnel and the community.

T.A.C.T. 48 & T.A.C.T. AZ are ready to assist in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Flagstaff, Prescott, Kingman, Sedona, Glendale, Tucson, Sun City, Peoria, Surprise, Buckeye, Casa Grande, Yuma and throughout all of Arizona

T.A.C.T. Ft Worth is ready to assist in Arlington, Benbrook, Dallas, Decatur, Denton, Fort Worth, Grapevine, Haslet, Irving, Keller, Lake Worth, North Richlands Hills, Plano, Richardson, Saginaw, Springtown, White Settlement and surrounding areas.