Who to Call First After a Death in a Home
If you have found someone deceased, call 911 first. Everything else waits. The order after that matters more than people expect, because cleanup cannot begin until the authorities release the scene, and calling a cleanup company before that point achieves nothing.
This page exists because the sequence is genuinely confusing at the worst possible moment, and because families and landlords are often given contradictory advice. Here is the order, and who is responsible for what.
The order
- 911. Always first, even where the death is clearly not recent. Do not move anything and do not begin cleaning.
- Law enforcement attends and the coroner is notified. In Clark County the coroner determines cause and manner of death. That process is not something a family arranges.
- The scene is released. Nothing can be cleaned or removed until this happens. Ask directly when it occurs, because it is the trigger for everything after it.
- Notify the property owner or manager, if that is not you. They have their own obligations and, in a rental, they typically arrange the remediation.
- Contact a biohazard remediation company. This is where we come in, and it is genuinely step five rather than step one.
- Notify the insurer. Often in parallel with step five. Many policies cover this, and early notification protects the claim.
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Who does what, and who does not
The coroner’s office determines cause and manner of death and arranges transport of the deceased. They do not clean the property, and they are not responsible for what remains afterwards.
Law enforcement secures and investigates the scene, then releases it. They also do not clean, and they will tell you so.
The funeral home handles the deceased and the arrangements that follow. Remediation of the property is a separate service from a separate company.
A biohazard remediation company handles what is left: contaminated material, decontamination, odour, controlled disposal and documentation. That is the gap nobody else fills, and it is the one families are usually least prepared for.
The single most common misunderstanding is that someone official will handle the property. They will not. Once the scene is released, responsibility for the building sits with the owner or the estate.
What to avoid in the first hours
When you do call us
You will not be asked to describe anything in detail on the phone. We need to know the property type, roughly how long the situation has been present, and whether the scene has been released. That is enough to plan.
We attend in unmarked vehicles. Neighbours see a van, not a service. That is deliberate, and it is one of the few things within our control at that point.
What happens on site is set out on our crime scene and biohazard cleanup page. If you are already worrying about the money, crime scene cleanup cost covers insurance and the Victims of Crime Program. And if the property will be sold afterwards, whether a death has to be disclosed in Nevada answers the question most families ask next.
Common questions
- Who do I call first after finding someone deceased?
- 911. Law enforcement and the coroner take it from there, and the scene has to be formally released before any cleaning or removal can begin.
- Does the coroner clean the property?
- No. The coroner determines cause and manner of death and arranges transport of the deceased. Cleaning and decontamination of the property is a separate service and is the responsibility of the owner or the estate.
- How soon can cleanup start?
- Once the scene is released. That timing is set by the authorities, not by us. It is worth asking them directly when it happens, because it is the moment everything else becomes possible.
- Who pays if it is a rental?
- Usually the property owner arranges the work, often through their insurance. Where a crime is involved, Nevada’s Victims of Crime Program lists crime scene cleanup as an eligible expense, subject to its own limits and processes.
- Can family members do the cleaning themselves?
- We strongly advise against it. There are bloodborne pathogen risks, contamination usually extends into material you cannot see, and biohazardous waste has to be disposed of properly. There is also no documentation at the end, which matters if the property is later sold or a claim is made.
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No pressure and no detail required on the phone. Unmarked vehicles, certified technicians, and a written scope of what was done.