Chicago Tribune (CT) - THURSDAY, August 1, 1996 Edition: NORTH SPORTS FINAL Section: METRO CHICAGO Page: 4 Word Count: 606
Tara Gruzen, Tribune Staff Writer.

Wanting to spare the family more heartache, officers began looking for someone to clean the scene. They had to work through the night before they were successful.

What the officers were up against in the search was fear of becoming infected with the HIV virus or any other blood-borne pathogen.

It is a fear that has spawned an industry: cleaning up places where suicides or deaths from natural causes or violent crimes have occurred.

The crews arrive after the police have gone and the body has been removed to carry out a job that involves a high-tech service from workers willing to get into impermeable body suits, elbow-length gloves, boots with plastic coverings and large masks with respirators.

Dr. Robert E. Hirschtick, an infectious disease specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said proper treatment of crime scenes is more important than ever, especially when the death involves people who have led risky lives.

"People involved in violent crimes tend to have a greater incidence of blood-borne pathogens," he said. "You are often talking about a lot of chronic drug use."

The major concerns, Hirschtick said, are transmission of HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C. While Hirschtick said he has never consulted with a crime-cleanup company, he said doctors often are in contact with police to explain the risks of handling a death scene.

In the Chicago area, only a small number of companies now bill themselves as experts in the field.

Pioneers in the fledgling industry include Jim Abraham, who opened a company called Bio-Response in Orland Park a year ago. Abraham said his firm has since responded to about 175 death scenes throughout the area.

"It's just like working with radiation," he said. "We treat all scenes as contagious," he said.

Others, such as Glen Johnson, owner of A-Abace Services in Chicago, likens the jobs to asbestos removal. "You just don't know what you are dealing with when blood is involved. I've had so many people turn me down when they found out what the job was."

Members of cleanup crews working for firms such as those operated by Abraham and Johnson must go through extensive training in disinfection and deodorization procedures. They are taught to package the material they collect before taking it off the premises.

Abraham said that his crews are told not to enter a scene too quickly but to expose themselves gradually to whatever might lie ahead. They are specifically cautioned not to enter an area until they have confirmed the body is gone.

"I don't want my people seeing the victims, because they will tie the face into the scene," Abraham said.

Mathew Klujian Jr., owner of Mathew Klujian and Sons Cleaning in Chicago, said when tragedy strikes at home, families often want everything cleaned, even areas that were not tarnished.

Klujian said the efforts of his workers offer a degree of comfort to the families. "After a scene, people have a really eerie feeling about anything and everything."

The fee charged by such firms is based on the amount of effort required to clean up a death scene, with an average charge estimated at $1,500.

Although the pay is good--Johnson says he pays his workers $50 an hour--the nature of the work makes finding those willing to earn it a challenge.

"I've had so many people turn me down when they found out what the job was," said Johnson."A lot of people won't do it for any amount of money."

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