What to Do First After a Death at Home in Sioux Falls
Last updated 2023-11-14
Call 911 and Wait for the Scene to Be Released
Of everything to get right here, the one instruction people struggle with most matters the most. Leave the area untouched until Minnehaha County authorities or the medical examiner release the scene. Standing outside your own home during that wait is genuinely difficult, especially on a quiet street in the older city core where the activity draws attention from neighbors. But the scene has to be documented properly before anyone steps back in, and that protects both the official record and your own case if one ever exists. Once the release comes, our crew can respond the same day.
Do Not Attempt the Cleanup Yourself
It is natural to want the room back to normal right away, but good intentions and household cleaners cannot do this job. Blood and other biological material can carry bloodborne pathogens that linger long after a surface looks clean, and materials like carpet padding and subfloor absorb contamination that is invisible to the eye. That risk holds true across Sioux Falls, from the dense inner core to the newer southwest subdivisions. Our crew works under OSHA bloodborne-pathogen protocols and reaches for EPA-registered hospital-grade disinfectants made for this exact kind of decontamination, then checks the work with ATP verification testing instead of trusting a visual look.
Call Whenever You Are Ready
Clearing the scene does not attach a countdown to when you decide to call. Give your family whatever time it needs before that phone call happens. Whenever you're ready to make it, a live person picks up, never a recording, never a hold queue. Our crew arrives quietly, in a vehicle with no company signage, on any street across Minnehaha County, whether it is a close-set block in the older core or a newer home in the southwest. From there, we handle the decontamination and can walk you through the insurance side, so your energy goes toward your family instead of logistics, and we document every stage of the job for whenever your insurer needs it.