Nurse offers compassion and clean-up to grieving families

Heidi Lamkin admits her work is “a job most people couldn't do.” She recently launched Absolute Bio-Recovery Service East, a small company that offers bio-recovery, or cleanup, of crime scenes and bio-hazards.

“We do crime and trauma scenes like murders, and I've done some suicide cleanups," Lamkin says. "We also do hoarder houses and unattended deaths."

By “do,” she means “clean-up after,” a job that can involve anything from carefully cleaning a car’s wiring to removing bloodstained floorboards. On the mundane side, she offers deodorizing services to families caring for a sick loved one at home or in a hospice setting.

Because Lamkin is an ICU nurse, she’s not bothered by most jobs, many of which are no more stomach-turning than what she’s encountered in hospital settings. In addition, she and her husband have been trained through the American Bio-Recovery Association to safely clean up crime scenes, bio hazards and other waste that poses a health risk to the average person. They’re even certified in meth lab cleanup.

Although some larger bio-recovery companies market and advertise heavily, Lamkin sees advantage in her experience. “They’re [some larger companies] not emotionally or technically trained to do the work,” she says. “To me, training in dealing with people, being compassionate and truly caring is huge. All of these situations are cases in which people have been devastated.”  

Because a coroner would typically remove a deceased person before Lamkin arrives, she's not as directly exposed to death as she could be. However, she says that finding personal items -- glasses, a cane, dentures – is moving and saddening.

Still, Lamkin takes comfort in knowing that she's sparing grieving families an unenviable task. She says her nursing background helps her relate to traumatized families. “I’m helping people achieve a new normal,” she says, “And I’m showing them that there are truly compassionate people out there.”

By Robin Donovan