Mop-up Duty: An entrepreneur wants N.O. to pay him to clean crime scenes, but a medical expert sees no need

by Richard A. Webster
Dolan Media Newswires

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Tommy Boudreaux knelt over a dark stain on the sidewalk in front of a boarded-up house in Treme.

The ash gray splotch looked like a burn mark or a patch of embedded dirt. He took out a clear plastic bottle filled with hydrogen peroxide and pulled the trigger.

"Watch this," he said.

When the liquid hit the pavement, it sizzled and expanded into a frothing mass of white foam.

"This is where she died," Boudreaux said.

He pointed the bottle at a blackened section of soil in a barren flowerbed. Bubbles erupted out of the dirt.

"That's where she bled out."

He repeated the process on a series of streaks running down the porch stairs and again on a muddy clump of grass covered with flies.

"This is all blood," Boudreaux said. "It's been a week since the murders and there's still blood everywhere."

Boudreaux owns Clean Scene Services, a New Orleans-based company that specializes in cleaning and restoring homes after violent crimes. The house at 819 N. Robertson St. where he sprayed hydrogen peroxide to reveal the presence of blood was the scene of a triple homicide March 31.

Alfred Andrews, 78, reportedly killed his 31-year-old girlfriend, Jennifer Muse, her 25-year-old sister, Monica Muse, and her 50-year-old mother, Wanda Wagner Simpson, before shooting himself in the face with a shotgun. Andrews remains in critical condition.

Boudreaux, who charges between $1,700 and $2,700 per crime scene, said he approached Andrews' family after seeing reports of the slaughter on the news. The family, however, does not have homeowner's insurance, and without insurance, which is how the majority of families pay for his services, there is nothing Boudreaux can do for them.

But the city can do something, Boudreaux said. It can hire his company as the official vendor for cleaning public sidewalks at crime scenes.

"I came out here two days after the shooting and there was a small child running through the blood with socks on."

Boudreaux pointed to a purple action figure lying next to one of the bloodstains.

"A child could come by, pick that up and put it in his mouth. It's a public safety hazard and the city needs to take this seriously," he said.

City officials did not return requests for comment.

"People say that my service exploits the crime rate, but that's not what I'm doing," said Boudreaux. "I'm trying to make sure when a crime is committed that at least we're following through with the proper cleanup."

Boudreaux and other crime scene-cleaning companies may not be exploiting the crime rate, but they are exploiting people's fear of disease, said Dr. Julio Figueroa, associate professor of clinical medicine at Louisiana State University School of Medicine.

The only diseases that pose a risk at crime scenes are blood-borne pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis strands B and C, which wouldn't survive outside the body for more than a day or two, Figueroa said. And even then, a person would have to have a fresh cut and be exposed to a substantial amount of the blood to be infected.

"You'd have to have the stars align just perfectly with the right set of conditions in order to have transmission. Even in a hospital where there is a higher risk of exposure, transmissions are uncommon," Figueroa said.

Jimmy "Lucky" Osborne has lived on the second floor of 819 N. Robertson St. for more than 20 years. He was good friends with Andrews and spent a day cleaning the apartment after the shootings.

It was a macabre scene, Osborne said. The floors were buried in an inch of blood, brain matter was splattered on the furniture and pieces of bone, including a section of Andrews' jaw, were scattered throughout the room.

"It took me a whole day to clean the place," Osborne said.

But Boudreaux contends no amount of ammonia and bleach can properly clean such a grisly scene. Without the assistance of professionals, public contamination is inevitable, he said.

While he was cleaning the apartment, Osborne moved some of Andrews' furniture to the sidewalk, including his blood-soaked couch. It was gone when Osborne stepped back outside.

"Somebody took it," Boudreaux said. "Can you believe it? Now that couch is in someone's home."

And that's the problem, said Boudreaux, who worked as a surgical nurse for 10 years before starting his company. The city does not assume responsibility for the clean up of crime scenes, leaving it to members of the community who typically use hoses to wash whatever flowed out of the victim's body off of the streets and into drainage ditches or nearby lawns where children play.

Rags and towels used to soak up blood are thrown into trash bins, exposing the community to disease, Boudreaux said.

But Figueroa isn't buying it. Given the city's budget problems, he said taxpayer money would be better spent elsewhere.

The average person with no medical or biohazard background is capable of cleaning a crime scene as long as they are educated on the risks and take the proper precautions like wearing gloves and protection for their mouth, nose and eyes, Figueroa said.

"Is it absolutely necessary to hire a professional company? Probably not as long as you have the least bit of common sense," he said.

"But as with the person taking a couch full of blood off the sidewalk, you can't always count on people acting in the most sensible way."

Fund helps murdered victims' families.

When Joseph Ross returned home from work, he never expected to find his entire family dead.

Joseph Ross says, "My kids was dead on top of each other in the bathroom."

The quadruple murder shocked the community.

New Orleans City Council Woman, Cynthia Hedge-Morrell says "I don't know what you can say about anyone that would kill a small child, I think there's just a special place in hell for somebody like that."

New Orleans Police Detective, Zenia Smith says "It's very sad it's heart-wrenching, it's very sad."

Ross doesn't know how he will pay to bury his family.

Smith says "No he doesn't have anything."

Aunt, Dwanda Holmes says "Anybody, whatever you can do I appreciate it."

NOPD Detectives Latina Jolivett and Zenia Smith were assigned to help the family through the Crime Victim's Reparation Program.

Holmes says "All I want is closure, I have to go pick out four caskets, not one, but four.

The detectives help victim's families deal with the financial aftermath of a crime.

The program is funded through the state.

Detective Smith says "For homicides it will go to funeral and burial expenses, but it will also go to crime scene cleanup, loss wages. You can also be compensated for medical expenses if you were a victim of a shooting and you have a plethora of hospital bills."

Cynthia Hedge-Morrell replies "In a way I want people to know that it's there so they can use it but I also want to hope that we can get the violence under control so we don't have to use it."

But the detectives also help those left behind cope with the emotional pain.

Ross cries out "They took my babies, they took my babies, they took them away."

Detective Jolivett responds "It's very tough, it's tough for any family, it's tough to sit down with the family members days after something like this has happened."

Now a family prepares to bury all four victims on Good Friday.

The state may initially give an emergency award to victim's of up to 5-hundred dollars.
Typically to cover the cost of funerals they will award up to 45-hundred dollars.
A funeral donation fund has been set up at First Bank and Trust.
You can contribute at any branch.

Crime Scene Cleanup: What It Involves

A crime scene cleanup service is not without its complications. Crime scene cleaning encompasses restoring the crime scene to its original state. When a crime is usually discovered, crime scene cleaners are not called until after officers of the law, like the crime scene investigators, have done their jobs first and have given the go ahead for the cleaners to come in. If you intend to hire a crime scene cleanup company, you must make sure that they are well equipped and fit right to get the job done. A crime scene presents challenging conditions.

The Use Of Protective Gears:
Crime scenes can very well involve the use of hazardous or deadly substances. For safety reasons then, it has become imperative that crime scene cleaners use protective clothing, in addition to protective tools and gadgets. You must see to it that they have all the necessary protective gears and gadgets. The protective clothing can consist of disposable gloves and suits. A disposable gear is preferred nowadays since it offers the best protection against contamination. You use it one time and get rid of it. That way, the dangers of contamination is virtually brought down to zero percent. Protective clothing extends to respirators and the use of heavy-duty industrial or chemical-spill protective boots.

Among the gadgets that a crime scene cleaning company must have are special brushes, special sprayers, and wet vacuum. These special tools ensure added protection against getting into contact with the hazard could very well be present in the crime scene. There is large, special equipment such as a mounted steam injection tool that is designed to sanitize dried up biohazard materials such as scattered flesh and brain. You would also need to check if they have the specialized tank for chemical treatments and industrial strength waste containers to collect biohazard waste.

Of course, any crime scene clean up must have the usual cleaning supplies common to all cleaning service companies. There are the buckets, mops, brushes and spray bottles. For cleaning products, you should check if they use industrial cleaning products. A crime scene cleaning company must have these on their lists:

1 - Disinfectants including hydrogen peroxide and bleaches - The kinds that the hospitals used are commonly acceptable.

2 - Enzyme solvers for cleaning blood stains. It also kills viruses and bacteria.

3 - Odor removers such as foggers, ozone machines, and deodorizers

4 - Handy tools for breaking and extending such as saws, sledgehammers, and ladders

Established crime scene operators also equip themselves with cameras and take pictures of the crime scene before commencing work which. The pictures taken may prove useful for legal matters and insurance purposes. You never know which.

Needless to say, a specially fitted form of transportation and proper waste disposal is also needed. These requirements are specific. As you can imagine, crime scene cleaning is in a different category on its own. A home cleaning or janitorial service company may not be able to cope up with the demands of a crime scene. A crime scene cleanup service requires many special gears and tools that a home cleaning or a janitorial service company does not usually have or does not require. Crime scene cleaning if not done correctly can expose the public to untold hazards.

What Else To Look For In A Crime Scene Cleanup Company
You may also want to hire a company that has established itself. An experienced company with a strong reputation is always a plus but it could be expensive too. You will do well to balance your needs with what is your budget. There are several companies that offer specific prices such as for death scene clean up categories and suicide clean up categories. Most companies own a website and have round the clock customer service as receptionists.

When looking for a suitable crime scene cleaning service, among the first things you need to do is to scout for price quotes. Crime scene cleanup services usually provide quote after they have examined the crime scene and then they give you a definite quote. Factors that are usually considered include the number of personnel that will be needed to get the job done. It also includes the amount of time that might be needed. The nature and amount of the waste materials that need to be disposed will also be factored in. You can be sure that the more sophisticated equipments needed the more expensive it will get.

Crime Scene Cleanup And Your Insurance
For homeowners, the best approach is always to make sure that crime scene cleanup services clauses and provisions are written down on the contracts or policies. The inclusion of crime cleanup services clauses is very common and has become standard clause in most homeowner’s policy. Make sure that you are covered for this unforeseen event. Make sure that your policy directs the crime scene cleaning company to transact directly with the homeowner insurance company. A crime scene cleaning service is usually a standard clause in many homeowners’ insurance clause. These companies often do the paperwork in behalf of clients.

If for some reason you do not have such coverage by any policies relating to crime scene cleanup on your home, there are ways to keep your expenses controlled.

Finding the right company can be very taxing, especially that you have to deal with the emotional stress stemming from the crime itself, especially with a crime scene involving death.

There are many crime scene cleanup companies in operation nowadays. There are reliable professionals that you can hire and prices are relatively competitive. As of recently, crime-scene cleanup services can cost up to $600 for an hour of their service. A homicide case alone involving a single room and a huge amount of blood can cost about $1,000 to $3,000.

In recent years, crime scene cleaning has come to be known as, "Crime and Trauma Scene Decontamination or CTS. Basically, CTS is a special form of crime scene cleaning focusing on decontamination of the crime scene from hazardous substances such as those resulting from violent crimes or those involving chemical contaminations such as methamphetamine labs or anthrax production. This type of service is particularly common when violent crimes are committed in a home. It is rare that the residents move out of the home after it has become a scene of a crime. Most often, the residents just opt to have it cleaned up. That is why, it is very important to hire the best crime scene cleaning company out there. The place needs to be totally free from contamination of any kind. You have to make sure that the company is able to remove all traces of the violent crime that took place. This includes cleaning biohazards that are sometimes invisible to the untrained eye.

Legally speaking, federal laws state that all bodily fluids are deemed biohazards and you should make sure that the cleanup service company you hire understands this and includes it in the cleanup. These things appear as blood or tissue splattered on a crime scene. You must be able to hire a company that is equipped with special knowledge to safely handle biohazard materials. The company must have the knowledge what to search for in any give biohazard crime scene. For instance, the company should be able to tell clues such that if there is a bloodstain the size of a thumbnail on a carpet, you can bet that there is about a huge bloodstain underneath. Federal and State laws have their own laws in terms of transport and disposal of biohazard waste. Make sure that the company you hire has all the permits necessary.

It will also be a huge plus if you could hire people who not only has the special trainings but also who have the nature to be sympathetic. If you are close to the victim and have the cleaning done at the behest of the victim’s relatives, it would matter that the cleaners tread the site with some level of respect. It is a common site that family members and loved ones are often there at scene. In general, when looking for a suitable crime scene cleaners, you would take into considerations the kind of situation that the crimes scene presents and the demands that it require. Crime scene cleaning companies handle a wide variety of crime scenes and prices may vary from one to the other crime scene and one to the other company.

Each type of scene requires its own particular demands not only to make the crime scene look clean and neat on the surface but to make it germ free, and clean inside and to make it free from all deadly and infectious substances. The cleanup cost for biohazards may vary depending on degree of the bio hazard(s) on the scene. There may even be a category that changes the cleanup pricing which usually involves decomposing bodies and carcasses. Likewise, a cleanup of chemical hazards vary, depending on the amount of chemical hazards as well as the grades i.e. how hazardous the substance is in terms of human contact. Prices are also determined by the number of hours and personnel that it would to get the crime scene cleaned. In addition, the "gross factor" from crime scene involving death and gore needs to be taken under consideration regarding the chemicals that will be used as opposed to those crimes' that do not have gore involved.

Traumatic Grief

By Nancy Crump

Since the late 1980’s, we have seen an increase in interest and research on the effects of trauma on the grief process. We have learned that the grief process from the sudden, unexpected, and often violent deaths of suicide, homicide, auto accidents, natural disasters, and other types of deaths, is very different from the grief process of those who have died from natural causes, old age, or long-termed illness. Many, if not all, of the deaths faced by Bio Technicians fall into the category of traumatic. Those family members who hire you have usually been touched by the trauma of the death. Understanding the traumatic grief process and its differences from other types of grief may be of some help to you as you deal with these family members.

There are several key elements that make the responses by family members to a traumatic death difficult. First is the suddenness of the death. Family members usually did not have time to prepare themselves for the death and to make the psychological adjustments to cope with the news of the death. Also, the suddenness of the death does not give the family an opportunity to say goodbye to the victim before their death. Second, the violence of the death may leave the family with horrific memories and nightmares that often interfere with the grief process. Third, many of these types of deaths require police intervention and the family is often not given the support, information, and compassion they need at the time. Another element can be the presence of the media at the time of the death, as well as weeks and months later if legal issues follow the death. Most traumatic deaths involve young people who’s parents, grandparents, and siblings may still live. Certainly, the death of a child or young person is very difficult to cope with.

Reactions to a traumatic death can be very different, more intense, and longer lasting than other types of death. The emotions following a traumatic death are often conflicting and intense. There is a tendency to relive the death event over and over in an attempt to make it real. Intrusive thoughts and nightmares are very common. Intense physical responses such as inability to eat or sleep, stomach aches and headaches, muscle tension, high blood pressure and a decrease in the autoimmune system are also common. Many times, the survivors must deal with intense feelings of guilt or remorse, feeling that they were somehow responsible or could have prevented the death “if only”. Family members have the need to tell the story of the death over and over again in an attempt to gain a sense of the reality of the death. They often have an overwhelming need to learn all they can about the circumstances of the death - how the person died, whether they were in pain, did they know they were dying, what were their last words, who saw what happened, and in cases of homicide, who committed the murder. All of these reactions are ways the survivors use to grasp the reality of the death and to begin the grief process.

As Bio Technicians, you are often called by family members or meet them upon arrival to the scene. Understanding some of the dynamics of trauma on the grief process may help as you help the family. Understanding the “normalcy” of the reactions you may see can help you feel more competent and assured to speak with family members without wondering whether or not you are saying the “right” thing. Some suggestions are listed below, but the most important thing is to convey sincerity and compassion to the family. They are very vulnerable and sensitive to words, expressions, and body language. Just make sure that what you say and do is congruent with how you feel or you will come across as insincere and uncaring.

Soon after a traumatic death, most survivors simply need to tell the story to anyone who will listen. It is important for their recovery to be able to do this. If you have time to listen, do so. They are not necessarily looking for any input from you; they just need someone to listen.

Remember that there are two basic rules for grieving people – you don’t hurt yourself or someone else. If, during the conversation, you hear comments that indicate the person is thinking of either, you might suggest they go talk to someone else before making a decision to do something like this. Create a list of counselors, therapists, or mental health centers to hand out at times like these. Take comments about thoughts of suicide seriously and offer to call a friend or family member to be with the person and get them help. Suicide rates often increase after a sudden, traumatic death of a loved one. These are very difficult situations for you as a caregiver, but you need to set limits as to what you can and cannot do. Listening and having resources available are all you need. The survivor needs to take some responsibility for them, and others who are better trained to handle these situations need to be contacted.

Although many reactions may look and feel “crazy”, most are normal reactions to the situation. Again, as long as they don’t hurt themselves or someone else, they are probably reacting normally to an abnormal situation. Helping normalize these reactions is very helpful to the survivor. Encouraging the survivor to talk and to express what they are experiencing is also helpful. Making a simple statement such as, “I think I’d feel the same way if this happened to me”, helps the survivor feel less out of control.

There are many support groups available to survivors that would make a good resource for them. Creating a list of those in your community or in nearby communities is a great gift for survivors. They may not want to attend a support group, but usually someone from the group is always willing to talk to them by telephone or offer assistance.

In the work you do, you may find yourself in situations of dealing with survivors who have needs you do not feel comfortable or competent in dealing with. That’s okay as it is not your responsibility to be all things to all people. However, there are these simple steps you can take to help your families in a meaningful way. You can listen. You can refer. You can offer resources. Having some general knowledge of the traumatic grief process may make you feel more competent in dealing with your families and knowing that you are being supportive and helpful in a meaningful way.

Below are some national organizations that offer support groups in almost every locality. They are specific to either the type of death or the relationship to the person who died and are more appropriate to traumatic deaths. They all have web sites or central telephone numbers that can be contacted for local information.

The Compassionate Friends – for parents’ whose child has died of any cause.
MADD – Mothers Against Drunk Drivers offer support for parents who a drunk driver killed child
Widowed Persons Service – sponsored by AARP for spousal death
SOS – Survivors of Suicide support groups
POMC – Parents of Murdered Children and other victims of homicide.

These and many other groups may be listed at your county’s Victim Assistance Office usually located in the office of the District Attorney. Also, check with your local hospices or hospitals. They offer support groups that are open to the public. Some local churches may also host support groups. As you create your list, don’t try to keep up with the dates and times of group meetings as they change frequently. All you need is the name of the group, a telephone number, and possibly a contact person. Leave it to the survivors to take the responsibility to make the calls on their own behalf.

Custodian’s stress-disorder suit restored

Meghann M. Cuniff / Staff writer

A custodian who sued her school district after being forced to clean up the bloody scene of a student’s suicide had her lawsuit reinstated Tuesday by the Washington Court of Appeals.

Debbie Rothwell, who still works at Lakeside High School in Nine Mile Falls, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a lawsuit filed in May 2007 by her lawyer, William Powell, of Spokane. The 16-year-old student shot himself in the head inside the school’s main entrance in 2004. The lawsuit was dismissed in January 2008 by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Greg Sypolt, who ruled the incident was covered by the Industrial Insurance Act.

But the Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling, disagreed and reinstated the suit.

“There are people who do clean up the mess after one of these horrible murders or suicides happen,” Powell said Tuesday, referring to private professionals. “But the superintendent in this case chose not to do that. He should have known better.”

Along with former Superintendent Michael Green, now superintendent of the Woodland School District in Western Washington, the lawsuit names the Nine Miles Falls School District, Stevens County Sheriff Craig Thayer, two sheriff’s detectives and an unidentified man as defendants.

None was available for comment. Like most civil suits in Washington, the complaint seeks unspecified damages.

Rothwell’s complaints center around her task of cleaning up the suicide scene, then being asked to move a backpack she later learned belonged to the victim and contained a suspicious device that authorities detonated using a robot.

She stayed at work until after 4 a.m., cleaning the mess of blood, brain and bone alone, becoming “emotionally distraught and physically ill” before returning to the school less than four hours later at Green’s orders to serve cookies and coffee to grieving students and keep the media from the school, according to the suit.

At issue in the court decisions was whether Rothwell’s claim of post-traumatic stress disorder fell under the industrial injury act, which prohibits lawsuits based on industry injury or occupational disease.

Judges John A. Schultheis and Dennis J. Sweeney ruled it didn’t because it wasn’t the result of one work order. Her trauma grew over several days, according to their written opinion. Judge Teresa C. Kulik dissented.

The Cleaners

When someone dies, someone else has to take care of the mess. That's where Tommy Boudreaux comes in.

By Eileen Loh Harrist

Gary Kern and Louise Voros gear up from head to toe in lightweight Tyvek suits. Kern glances over to the house next door. 'They know something's going on,' he says. 'They can smell it.'
'The initial trauma is knowing that your loved one is dead. Knowing that they have to go in and see the conditions that are left behind is another. It's not something that should be left for a family member to handle.' -- Tommy Boudreaux

In the death room, Tommy Boudreaux loads trash into red bags marked 'Biohazardous Materials.' He has removed the cushions on the couch where the woman died. 'People don't understand about body fluids,' he says.

You can smell death outside the tiny house in Chalmette: a thick, sweetish odor of decay.

Outside in the sunlight, Tommy Boudreaux pulls a gas mask over his face. "I'd rather be at the beach," he jokes. He heads through the kitchen door and pulls it closed behind him.

Back outside, Boudreaux's employees, Gary Kern and Louise Voros, gear up from head to toe in lightweight Tyvek suits. Kern glances over to the house next door, where curious faces periodically appear in the window. "They know something's going on," he says. "They can smell it."

Balmy mornings like this can push the spectre of death so far away from the living that it seems unimaginable. For the past few weeks in this neighborhood, life has flowed seemingly without a ripple. Children ride their bikes on the sidewalks, cars pull in and out of driveways, dogs yap in back yards. In the midst of this normalcy, one person has slipped away so quietly that no one, for days, knew she was dead.

Boudreaux and his team came into the picture not long after someone noticed a strange silence about the square brick home. Officers found one of the house's two residents, a woman in her 50s, dead on the sofa, a victim of a cerebral hemorrhage.

She had lived with, and cared for, an elderly man -- an arrangement apparently born from financial convenience -- and he was still in the house. The roommate was ill and suffered from dementia, and he hadn't moved far from the corpse. Evidence of his various ailments -- blood, urine, feces -- had soiled blankets, chairs and carpet.

Officers took the man into protective custody, and they summoned the coroner's office to come get the body. The rest is left for Boudreaux to clean up.

Boudreaux's company, Clean Scene Services, is based in Belle Chasse and is one of about 175 companies across the United States that specialize in cleaning up "biohazardous scenes." That's a polite term used to describe messes that involve potentially dangerous organic matter such as body tissues, fluids and waste. Such companies respond to suicides, murders, accidents or acts of violence, floods, fires -- anything in which biohazards are present. It's the type of company you hope you never have to call, but if you need it, you're glad it's around.

"We've handled everything from squalor conditions to multi-million-dollar estates, motor homes and late-model sportscars," says Boudreaux, an affable 37-year-old with black-rimmed glasses and black hair flecked with silver. "These situations come in all different sizes, all races, creeds and colors, and from all financial environments."

Boudreaux had spent 10 years as a certified surgical assistant in Slidell when he learned about the burgeoning bio-recovery industry. "I was at a crossroads in my life," he says. "I was going through a divorce and I had two small children. I read an article in People magazine about a gentleman out of Phoenix doing this type of work. And I took a moment and saw before me there were families hit with this type of traumatic situation and they need this service. I researched it, and there were none in New Orleans."

Boudreaux figured his medical experience would be good background for a business that requires extensive training in blood-borne pathogens, safe disposal methods and other issues related to ridding an area of biohazards. As a neurosurgeon's assistant, he'd seen his share of blood and gore. He was confident he'd be able to handle every aspect of the job, and launched Clean Scene in November 1996.

Three months later, Clean Scene got its first case -- a handgun suicide in Lakeview. That's when Boudreaux first understood the gravity of his new field. He would be cleaning up the messes that people sometimes leave behind when they exit the world, and every case would put him into intimate contact with human suffering.

"The initial trauma is knowing that your loved one is dead. Knowing that they have to go in and see the conditions that are left behind is another. It's not something that should be left for a family member to handle. They are not trained or visually prepared to clean up what they are about to see. The term 'somebody blew their head off' -- it is literal.

"It's real, and it's sad," Boudreaux says. "We're pulling everything from teeth to skull fragments out of the ceiling."

To the average person, the condition of someone dying and then going for days without being discovered sounds gruesome and sad. Those in the bio-recovery business call it a "decomp," and it occurs with depressing regularity.

On this day in Chalmette, the house looks presentable outside. Inside it's squalor. Respirator masks designed to filter out organic vapors and gases block out the stench that permeates each room.

"As long as I don't smell it, I'm fine," Boudreaux confides. "As much as we do this work, I will gag and start barfing at the drop of a hat. Once you smell a death scene or once you smell blood, it's a smell you'll never forget."

Kern and Voros begin scooping up rotten food and trash. Boudreaux heads to the tiny TV room, the "death room," to assess what he needs to do. He glances at a photo of a middle-aged blonde woman, wearing a graduation cap and gown and smiling. "That's probably her," Boudreaux says. "It's sad."

The phone rings. "And people are still calling her."

Someone has put a paint-spattered radio in the living room, and Kern hums aloud to the Pink Floyd song "Us and Them" as he loads blankets and pillows into a garbage bag. Except for the smell, the three could be a bunch of friends moving someone into a new home.

Ordinary belongings take on significance when a person's death is out of the ordinary. Hanging around the home are framed diplomas from several institutions, ranging from vocational schools to an Ivy League college. The diplomas reflect different stages of a life: a maiden name, a married name, a second married name.

A three-year-old newspaper clipping tacked to the kitchen bulletin board describes the wedding of her son and daughter-in-law, who live up North. The son plans to come to Chalmette in a few days to retrieve his mother's belongings. A package from the couple sits unopened, its postmark several days old. A never-to-be-finished needlepoint project lies on a table next to a sewing machine. There's a collectible Jacqueline Kennedy Christmas ornament, still in the box.

In the bathroom is a heavily used litterbox. White cat hair coats the furniture and a soiled bowl in the kitchen says "Attack Cat," but no animal is in sight. No one knows what happened to it.

Nothing in this woman's life had indicated, up until now, that it would end like this. One wonders how it can fall into others' lots to have their entire lives sifted through and boxed up by a company whose sole purpose is to clean up the kinds of mess no one else wants to touch.

In the death room, Boudreaux loads trash into red bags marked "Biohazardous Materials." He has removed the cushions on the couch where the woman died. A clear liquid glistens in a sheen on the plastic top of the sofa's hide-a-bed. "That's her body fluids," Boudreaux says.

"People don't understand about body fluids," he says. "Body fluids have enzymes ... all the same enzymes that break down our food. When it comes into contact with things it just starts breaking them down like it would food."

Enzymes have seeped through the sofa and have eaten away at the couch springs; mold has grown throughout the piece of furniture, and the sofa-bed mattress is stained all the way through with reddish fluids. "We're going to have to wrap that sucker up like a Christmas gift," Boudreaux says. He plans to re-carpet and re-paint the room. "Leave it in much better condition than how we found it," he says.

As the team leaves, a white cat darts across the street and hides under a car.

Not many people talk about what Boudreaux calls "secondary trauma": the distress experienced by loved ones who must deal with practical aspects of the death or accident, including cleaning it up.

"For over 15 years I've spoken to survivors who talked about how horrific it is," says Frank Campbell, executive director of the Baton Rouge Crisis Intervention Center.

When Campbell first started working with crisis victims, he was startled to learn no one is responsible for cleaning up gory trauma scenes. "It's assumed that the police, EMS or fire department is going to handle the cleanup, but they don't have the budget for that. The family members are left literally picking up the pieces, and that is a trauma. No one should have to go through that. It is a punishment above and beyond the suicide."

Campbell has recommended Boudreaux's company to bereaved families for years. "First, it eases trauma. Second, it's a better cleanup, and third, it's more respectable."

Campbell recalls one instance where a death occurred in the garage, and stunned neighbors and relatives watched as firefighters simply hosed the victim's blood down the driveway into the gutter. "They've already had the trauma," Campbell says. "To have the cleanup handled with an amount of respect makes all the difference."

Explains Boudreaux: "You don't just go in there with a mop and a bucket and say, 'OK, ma'am, just point me in the direction of the blood.'"

In fact, Boudreaux recently took a course called Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), a two-day workshop for law enforcement officers, emergency medical technicians and others who regularly come into contact with suicide cases. "It doesn't make us counselors," Boudreaux says, "but it does extend the resources."

Clean Scene's caseload is about five to eight jobs per month -- a small number considering it was the first bio-recovery business in New Orleans and is the only local member of the American Bio-Recovery Association (at least one similar company has sprung up, though it is not listed with ABRA). Given the need for its services, Clean Scene should, presumably, have more business than it could handle.

One reason it doesn't is that city regulations prevent public employees such as police and coroners from promoting specific private companies. Some do tell distraught families that companies like Clean Scene exist, and recommend they look in the phone book.

That's why Boudreaux has to hustle. He's developed a rapport with police officers, firefighters, deputies, coroner's employees and EMTs, telling them about Clean Scene's work. He gives them flyers with the toll-free numbers of nonprofits including the American Bio-Recovery Association. Public employees can distribute those. Boudreaux also scours TV and print news for stories of families who might need his services.

If he sees the address, he might just show up. "We'll ask if the scene has been cleaned," he says. "We ask if it would be okay for us to leave our literature." Most of the time, he says, the families are glad to see him.

"You can't advertise it in the traditional market sense," Boudreaux explains. "You can't put up a billboard that says, 'If someone in your family dies a horrible death, call us!'"

Lately, Boudreaux has been tweaking Clean Scene's image. He's revamped his logo, which began as a bold pattern featuring yellow-and-black crime scene tape. He now favors muted tones and comforting illustrations like the ones featured on the brochures for hospices and funeral homes.

He's also redesigning the Clean Scene van so it's more discreet; Boudreaux says he's more aware of how the vehicle might appear to others when it pulls up to a home or company. "I'm a businessman," he says, "but I'm also a person."

The growing bio-recovery industry is trying to define its place in society, says Kent Berg, president of the American Bio-Recovery Association (ABRA), which has about 60 members. He started the organization in 1996 with five members, and says the industry boomed in 2000, topping out at about 272 companies, many of which have dissolved.

"Many people think they can run out and start a [bio-recovery] company, and so they jump into the business. And then they find that's not the case," Berg says. "There is a huge turnover. There is probably about a 50 percent turnover in the last five years."

Why so volatile? Some owners fall victim to the advertising problems, while others can't stomach the reality of the job, says Berg, who owns a bio-recovery company in South Carolina.

"I think people who have been in businesses that are cleaning-related feel that they could tackle this aspect of cleaning, and they probably imagine blood spots and minor things that you might associate with nosebleeds," he says.

"Instead, they're overwhelmed when faced with a shotgun suicide where every square inch of a 400-square foot room is covered with some type of liquid, solid, skull fragments, brain tissue, fatty tissue. All of that."

Berg and Boudreaux also say they must factor in the costs of licensing, bonding and insurance. Clean-up jobs generally run between $1,000 and $2,500, with homeowners' insurance usually covering the costs.

"Why is it so costly?" asks Boudreaux. "Liability." He explains that customers hire him to not only clean up the mess, but also take on the legal responsibility involved. "When I take a job, I'm assuming all the liability. A large percentage of the public, as well as business sectors, really aren't aware of the health and life threat in these situations. ... There are bodily fluids that are colorless and odorless that will kill you just as quickly as something that is apparent to the human eye. Fragments of bone that are sharp as razors."

Boudreaux mentions the house in Chalmette where the woman died on her couch. That landlord, he says, had originally resisted hiring a bio-recovery company.

"He's thinking, shoot, put the couch out for the regular garbageman to pick up. He's not talking about the liability. He's got insurance, but he's got a $1,000 deductible and he doesn't want to pay it.

"She died on the sofa in the back room, and she decomposed. She'd been dead about four days. I said, 'Sir, look what you're doing. You're talking about bringing out something that's hazardous to people's health, and exposing the whole neighborhood to it.'

"He said, 'I see couches outside all the time.' And I said, 'Yeah, but not ones that people have died and decomposed in.'"

Every trauma scene has a story, some more apparent than others. It's now another beautiful, sunny day. Voros and Kern are working on a suicide, a young man who shot himself in the head in his bathtub. He lived in a Metairie apartment complex behind a busy shopping center. The Clean Scene workers arrive to find the victim's belongings stacked in the living room. No one is sure who did this: the victim himself, or someone tidying up after his death.

Everything about the apartment indicates he lived alone, yet there's a large framed photo of a man and woman dressed in traditional ethnic costumes, their arms wrapped around each other, beaming at the camera. Nearby is a ceramic statue of a bride kissing a groom. One wonders if this was his wife -- what happened to her? Did her absence contribute to this suicide?

"OK, Gary," Voros says to Kern. "Let's rock and roll."

In this home, the death room is the bathroom. A pillow soaked with dried and semi-dried blood lies in the tub, indicating the victim had placed it behind his head before he shot himself. Voros rips the pillow off the bottom of the tub, releasing rivulets of blood that stream down into blackish-red pools.

"I don't see an exit or an entrance," Voros says, examining the pillow. "It's hard to speculate. When we have others, we know where the bullets went. This is really tame, very well-contained. He was very neat."

"He didn't want to cause anybody a bunch of grief, is what I think," Kern adds.

Despite the bloody pools in the tub, the bathroom itself is pristine. Fluffy cranberry towels match the toilet seat cover. A toothbrush, toothpaste and dental floss sit by the sink, all new-looking. Other toiletries look equally brand-new: mouthwash, shaving cream, shampoo and soap -- as if the victim had just bought these products within a week of committing suicide.

Voros pulls plastic gloves over her manicured hands and begins placing the toiletries into garbage bags. She talks how she got involved in this work. "I've known Tommy for 20 years, and when he started this business, he knew I was a really meticulous person and I had some medical background."

Voros says she's never been adversely affected by the scenes she's had to clean. "It gives me closure, you know? You do a job and you finish, and you go on to the next one."

Boudreaux finds satisfaction from his work, too, but for different reasons. He recounts one instance where he arrived at a house to find a little girl wailing about her teddy bear, which was still in the room where her father had just shot himself in the head.

"I can remember distinctly that child's teddy bear littered with brain matter," he says. "And all she kept saying was, 'I want my teddy bear.' We restored it, and I was able to get that teddy bear back to that little girl."

It's those kinds of situations that send Boudreaux straight home to hold his kids, 8-year-old Alexandria and 6-year-old Brandon. He says that in a strange way, he's grateful for the opportunity to come so close to human tragedy day in and day out. It makes him realize how lucky he is.

"I know my kids wonder sometimes why I hug and kiss them so much. I hug and kiss them a lot more, and I'm not afraid to tell friends and family members that I love them.

"I have learned that life is short," Boudreaux says. "Very short."