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Biohazard and crime scene cleanup referrals, Riverside area24 hours a day, 7 days a week

After a death at home in Riverside County

Step by step, in the order things usually happen. Take it one step at a time.

Call (951) 518-9569

Answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

A woman at a kitchen table making a phone call

The steps

  1. Call 911

    Unless the death was expected and a hospice team is involved, call 911. Ask the hospice what to do if one was caring for the person.

  2. The police and the coroner

    California asks the coroner to look into deaths that are sudden, violent or unattended, and deaths where no doctor or hospice nurse had seen the person in the 20 days before (Government Code 27491). In Riverside County that is the Sheriff-Coroner's Coroner's Bureau.

  3. Choose a funeral home

    The person with the legal right to decide, usually the closest family, signs a release naming the funeral home or mortuary. The funeral home then arranges to collect the person (Release of Remains form).

  4. Personal belongings

    Anything the coroner holds goes to the funeral home with the person, unless you ask to collect it yourself. It is kept for 90 days from the date of death, and collection is by appointment.

  5. The cleanup

    Once the home is released, the room can be cleaned. Call the number on this page when you are ready.

  6. Tell the people who need to know

    If it was a rental, the landlord or manager. If there is insurance, the insurer, before the cleanup starts.

Numbers you may need

Coroner's Bureau, west office

800 S. Redlands Avenue, Perris. (951) 443-2300. The east office is in Indio, (760) 863-8311 (Sheriff-Coroner).

Riverside Police

24-hour non-emergency: (951) 354-2007 (Riverside Police).

Sheriff, west county

Non-emergency dispatch: (951) 776-1099. Moreno Valley: (951) 247-8700 (Sheriff contacts).

Questions

How long before we can clean the home?

Until the police and the coroner's staff have finished. Ask the officer at the scene, or the agency that responded, when the home is released.

Should we throw anything away first?

No. Leave the room as it is for the cleanup company, and photograph anything damaged for insurance.

When you are ready, call

You do not need to know what kind of cleanup it is. Say what happened and where, and an independent company that works in the Riverside area will talk it through with you. Hiring them is your choice.

Talk to a cleanup company

Call (951) 518-9569

Answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Calls may be recorded. How this website works is set out in the referral disclosure and privacy policy.

Call (951) 518-9569