You Should Never be the One to Clean Up a Dead Body

Most people are never the ones to discover a dead body, but if it does happen to you, it can be quite disorienting. It is important to approach the situation safely and calmly. Understanding what to do beforehand can help you keep your composure.

Safety First

It is important to assess the area to determine if there is anything that could hurt you also. It may be your first instinct to run and try to help the person, but you also need to think about your own safety. You can’t help anyone if you get hurt also. You should look for falling items, chemicals, traffic, animals, or dangerous people in the area before approaching the body.

Find Help

If the area is safe and you are not in any danger, then you should call 911 and get help. The person on the other end of the call will walk you through what to do. The next steps will depend on the condition of the body. If they seem to have died recently, then you will probably be instructed to check for vital signs or administer CPR.

If there is a chance that the person could be revived, then an ambulance will be sent to your location while you are given instructions to give help to the victim. An unconscious or injured person may seem dead at first but could still be alive. Even if they are not breathing or don’t have a heartbeat, they could still be revived with the right help.

Don’t Disturb the Area

Aside from giving help to the victim, if it seems like they could be saved, you should not disturb the area. You don’t want to accidentally expose yourself to a hazard to your health or get in the way of investigative proceedings by the authorities. You should remain nearby, but be careful not to contaminate the crime scene.

Police

When the police arrive on the scene, you should be prepared to answer a lot of questions and give them all the information you have on the incident. They will need as much information as you have in order to help their investigation, so don’t leave anything out. You may even need to give them your contact information or set up an interview with them later after they have processed the scene.

Clean Up

If you discovered the body in a public location, then your involvement ends at this point. Unfortunately, if the body was discovered in your home or on a property that you own, you may be required to clean up the crime scene.

You should never be the one to clean up a dead body. The process needs to be carefully done by licensed professionals in order to mitigate the risk of exposure to biohazards like bloodborne pathogens.

Take Care of Your Mental Health

After discovering a dead body, your mental health is likely to be affected. Be sure that you take the necessary time to face your feelings and talk about them to friends, family, and/or a therapist. It is normal to feel a lot of feelings related to sadness, being stressed, or disturbed.