Bio Hazard Auto Detail??? MRSA

rolop6

rolop6

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So I'll make a long story short. I have detailed a Police Chiefs personal cars and was asked to come in and detail a few of the Police departments cars. So I show up and two of the cars I was suppose to detail are confiscated cars. One which the lady inside tested positive for MRSA. From what I read it is no joke. It can be very hard to treat and can live on surfaces for upto 90 days!!! I am not happy detailing this car at this point, but my question is, have any of you done Bio Hazard detailing? If so what supplies were used? how did you go about cleaning the car? or do you know who might be able to do it? any help will be appreciated!!!!

Thanks!!!
 
I have detailed cop cars and worried about similar issues..... I just talked to my betterhalf and asked her about her experience treating MRSA patients - no they don't wear a bio harzard suit, and she said that as long as you don't have an open wound you should be ok. With all this said, I would turn it down and explain to the city/cops that the vehicle must either sit for a prolonged period of time or that it must be "ozone generated"..... then you would be willing to detail it. Either way is an extra ??? dollars really worth it?!?!? I turned down my local city's cop cars because 1) they only had an estimated 10 a month to detail 2) they only needed detailing when someone puked, spit, our bled in the cars 3) I had to purchase approved only chemicals for their cars. All of the above turned me away from the gig. If I were you, I would step back and say, " Is it really worth it?!?!?"
 
B&B Tennessee said:
I have detailed cop cars and worried about similar issues..... I just talked to my betterhalf and asked her about her experience treating MRSA patients - no they don't wear a bio harzard suit, and she said that as long as you don't have an open wound you should be ok. With all this said, I would turn it down and explain to the city/cops that the vehicle must either sit for a prolonged period of time or that it must be "ozone generated"..... then you would be willing to detail it. Either way is an extra ??? dollars really worth it?!?!? I turned down my local city's cop cars because 1) they only had an estimated 10 a month to detail 2) they only needed detailing when someone puked, spit, our bled in the cars 3) I had to purchase approved only chemicals for their cars. All of the above turned me away from the gig. If I were you, I would step back and say, " Is it really worth it?!?!?"
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Thanks B&B, I was thinking the same thing. Bad thing is for some reason my hands take a beating and i have cuts and scrapes from cars I detail or even my own equipment. So I would definitely have to be EXTRA carefull and thats just not worth my health.

mwoolfso said:
How to and what to use to disinfect agains MRSA? - Yahoo! Answers
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Thanks mwoolfso, I took a look at similar posting and i dont think the upholstery would do too well with bleach. Maybe Mr. Clean. I think the panels would get discolored with what ever I use. I think its just too risky. I think ill pass.
 
You've got me thinking lol - the last cop car I detailed was about 3 weeks ago and I have been slightly sick since :( ------ hmmmm, did I get some crazy nastiness in that night?!?!?!
 
rolop6 said:
Thanks B&B, I was thinking the same thing. Bad thing is for some reason my hands take a beating and i have cuts and scrapes from cars I detail or even my own equipment. So I would definitely have to be EXTRA carefull and thats just not worth my health.
Click to expand...
Just walk away.

You're not trained to minimize your risk and your hands have compromised skin integrity. It's also not part of your job description. The cops should just hang on to the car until it can bake in the hot summer sun if they want it detailed by a detailer. Your instinct is telling you to walk away from this one and that instinct is there to keep you safe.
 
Agreed. No amount they would realistically pay you would compensate for getting ill.
 
rolop6

In Feb. 2009 my healthy 29 year old son contracted MRSA pneumonia. Working as a ICU nurse he probably contracted it from a patient. He went to the Emergency room on a Sunday afternoon and had a clear chest Xray. On Tuesday morning he returned to the Emergency room and his right lung was completely compromised. He recovered after 14 days in Boston Medical Center ICU, 10 of those days on a ventilator. The survival rate for his form of the disease is approximately 50%, so he was lucky.
As a family member of a MRSA survivor I would recommend passing on this job. It is not worth the money.

Sludge
 
Sludge said:
rolop6

In Feb. 2009 my healthy 29 year old son contracted MRSA pneumonia. Working as a ICU nurse he probably contracted it from a patient. He went to the Emergency room on a Sunday afternoon and had a clear chest Xray. On Tuesday morning he returned to the Emergency room and his right lung was completely compromised. He recovered after 14 days in Boston Medical Center ICU, 10 of those days on a ventilator. The survival rate for his form of the disease is approximately 50%, so he was lucky.
As a family member of a MRSA survivor I would recommend passing on this job. It is not worth the money.

Sludge
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Wow Sludge - that must of been on ordeal for sure..... nice to hear there is a happy ending there!
 
B&B Tennessee said:
I have detailed cop cars and worried about similar issues..... I just talked to my betterhalf and asked her about her experience treating MRSA patients - no they don't wear a bio harzard suit, and she said that as long as you don't have an open wound you should be ok. With all this said, I would turn it down and explain to the city/cops that the vehicle must either sit for a prolonged period of time or that it must be "ozone generated"..... then you would be willing to detail it. Either way is an extra ??? dollars really worth it?!?!? I turned down my local city's cop cars because 1) they only had an estimated 10 a month to detail 2) they only needed detailing when someone puked, spit, our bled in the cars 3) I had to purchase approved only chemicals for their cars. All of the above turned me away from the gig. If I were you, I would step back and say, " Is it really worth it?!?!?"
Click to expand...

Im going to offer an alternative opinion to this statement. The reasons for using biohazard gear to avoid the MRSA is because there is a *chance* that some of these bacteria may gather on your skin or clothes, and become the dominant *latent* bacteria that live on your body.

All they need to do is transfer a few genes to the staph that normally lives in your pits, groin or sinuses, and then wait for an opening in your skin to infect. The good thing about MRSA is that it is not extremely necrotizing, so its not going to eat all the flesh off your leg in a day if you get a scratch. But its very hard to treat, so if you get it into a joint or deep puncture wound, you are in for a long hospital stay, a lot of weight lost, and 6 months to a year of recovery. Thats not something everyone can afford.

IMO not even close to being worth it.
 
At the klink, we use a product called PowerQ, kills everything and we use Inmate Workers (we don't call them "Trustees") and clean it up when cops come in with pukers.....

I just read the label:

Part# 18535
Power Q - #13
Staples logo on it(Staples? Really?)

Staples must own the company. Coast Wide was the original.

It's good stuff..... From training (18 years) a lot of ick dies when it contacts other things, like plastic and what not.

But, we use tons of gloves, so, glove up and lysol or something like that to kill the ick then detail. Nitrile gloves the best.

MRSA is no joke and it's rampant in jails and where these guys hang out. My fingers are dried out and splits from washing and alcohol gel on my fingers (get some of that too!). We also use those Disenfectant wipes all the time.

No shame in walking away!
 
What others have said. Walk away as another door will open with favorable working conditions. My health is a lot more important to me.
 
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