‘Negligent Discharge’ is the unintended firing of a gun. When these events occur, there is substantial damage done to physical property. Besides, if the bullet hits a person or an animal, it might cause traumatic injury and death.
The latest data provided by the Center for Disease Control has shown that there has been a decrease in accidental shootings. However, this is no consolation to anyone who has lost a family member or a friend for this reason. Besides, if your family member’s or friend’s improperly cleared, stored, or maintained firearm causes a fatal injury or death, there is a sorrowful and regretful feeling that follows.
How Do Accidental Shootings happen?
Ironically, guns do not simply pull the trigger themselves. Even law enforcement officials, active and former military personnel, and experienced gun owners may forget to clear the firearm’s chamber before its storage or handling. When maintaining these firearms, there are several processes involved. There is pulling the trigger to allow for releasing and removing the slides. A training technique is referred to as the “dry firing,” aiming for an unloaded pistol or rifle as you practice trigger pulls in a safe direction.
In gun safety, the first rule learned is to assume that every firearm is loaded before checking the gun’s chamber. However, complacency is often the cause of numerous accidental firearm injuries and death. In other cases, the shooter or victim might not have undergone gun safety training. Improperly stored firearms and curiosity are major factors contributing to the sad stories about teens and children’s deaths due to accidental shootings.
Although accidental gunshots related to hunting are not common, they do happen. When hunting, hunters travel over rough and bushy terrain. In these tough environments, the firearm’s triggers may catch on to the shrubs and bushes, possibly resulting in an accidental shooting. Suppose the hunters are not wearing the safety orange clothing and accessories. In that case, other hunting groups might fire their guns in your direction without knowing your presence is in line with their direction of shooting.
There are two known non-fatal shooting accidents related to hunting in October and December of 2018, where dogs accidentally “shot” their owners on a hunting expedition. If the hunters used gun safety measures, these accidents would have been avoided.
When the opportunity arises, it is crucial to teach children how firearms work, and the dangers that may result from the improper handling of firearms. The training provided will reduce these firearm accidental shooting incidents as children will not treat guns like toys.
The Aftermath of Gunshot Injuries and Fatalities
Negligent discharge leads to blood spills and severe physical trauma to soft tissue and bones, whether they are fatal or not. A high-velocity bullet can cause damage beyond the immediate trauma scene, spreading biohazard contamination.
Anyone who attempts to help the injured victim or a deceased shooting victim normally tracks body tissues and fluids to the wound’s surrounding surfaces and areas, increasing the zone of biohazard contamination.
Before removing the accidental shooting victim from the scene, residual blood and tissue start to decompose, releasing harmful pathogens and unpleasant odors. The body fluid penetrates surfaces like furniture and walls quickly. If the accident occurred in a truck, car, or boat, it might penetrate spaces that are hardly reachable, like the vehicle’s chassis. Trauma cleanup, especially per square foot in close quarters, can be much more complicated.
How to Clean Up After an Accidental Shooting Injury or Death?
When the victim loses a significant blood amount, there are insect and rodent problems, mold and bacteria growth, and decomposition odors when unskilled personnel clean up an accidental shooting scene. There is also the chance that there are the victim’s residual tissues that are left undiscovered.
Anyone who tries to clean up the scene may also experience emotional trauma. It would be best to hire a cleanup professional trained to handle these gruesome accident scenes, and capable of the biohazard cleanup that remains.
Our 360 Hazardous professionals will restore your vehicle, property, or scene to the original conditions before the accident by applying the procedures below:
1. We provide a cleanup cost estimate and work with your insurance
Once you give us a call, our customer care personnel will inquire about the damage and prepare a service timeline and estimate. If you have insurance covering your property, they will take care of the total repair and cleanup costs. Our professionals can also refer you to victim advocacy groups that may help with coverage gaps, deductibles, and trauma counseling referrals.
2. We Respond Within Hours
Our highly-skilled cleanup technicians are available 24/7. When they arrive, our professionals conduct a step-by-step procedure that surpasses the EPA, OSHA, and local health standards. If you wish to stay on your property at the time of cleanup, our teams will ensure that you are safe and reassured at all times.
3. Our Supervisors Plan On How to Tackle Your Trauma Scene at Your Property
Our teams conduct a checklist and assess your property layout identifying the contamination zones in the site. They also establish staging areas to control the contamination spread effectively.
Our teams will also organize dumpster delivery if required and discreetly carry these specially-labeled harmful materials to our vehicles safely and legally dispose of them. We use instruments that detect moisture that ascertains blood saturation levels in your subfloors, framing, and walls. Additionally, we apply professional solutions in detecting blood droplets in and out of the trauma scene.
4. We Remove All Residue from the Site
Our teams use non-toxic and proprietary cleaning materials to wipe down, soak down, and neutralize the ballistic and organic residue. We do our best to preserve your home furniture, appliances, anything that comes into contact with any biohazard material, with your safety as our top priority.
In cases where the flooring, furniture, or walls cannot be adequately decontaminated and cleaned, our professionals remove these parts for legal and safe disposal. Afterward, you may call your contractor to come and repair these damages.
5. We clean, deodorize, and sanitize all the site’s surfaces
Our teams sanitize and shampoo your carpets and furniture using our industrial machines to remove moisture effectively. Whenever possible, our teams use non-toxic, antimicrobial solutions that are enzyme-based, meeting OSHA, and EPA standards. We do this carefully so as not to damage your textiles and finishes.
When deodorizing, our teams carefully get rid of the decomposition odor sources. When done, no unpleasant odor is left, leaving the condition of the area back to its original status. Our teams also remove residue and odors from tear gas and gunpowder.
6. We thoroughly inspect our work
After completing each step of our trauma cleanup process, we reassess the trauma scene to decide whether we are ready to conduct the next procedure. After completing a project, we thoroughly examine the site to ensure we did not miss anything. After this process, you are then welcome to conduct the site’s final inspection.
We Give You 24/7 Full Support
At 360 Hazardous, we treat every client with compassion, dignity, and respect, we consider ourselves the beginning of your healing process. We stand firmly behind the services we provide. If you are struggling with emotional and mental devastation, 360 offers post support to help you in your time of need. If you require our cleanup services, please reach out to us as we offer 24/7 support.