What is Bio-Recovery?
Bio-Recovery is the act of mitigating and remediating conditions resulting from the release of biological hazards. This may include crime and trauma mitigation (bloodborne and body fluids), outbreak response, zoonotic diseases, foodborne diseases, public health threats and clandestine drug labs.
The Dangers of a Trauma or Death Scene (Biological Hazards)
Also known as biohazards, refer to biological substances that pose a threat to the health of living organisms, primarily that of humans. This can include medical waste or samples of a microorganism, virus or toxin (from a biological source) that can affect human health. It can also include substances harmful to other animals.
Existing Standards For Bio-Recovery Services (Canadian)
(1) Risk Group 1 (low individual and community risk) This group includes those microorganisms, bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites, which are unlikely to cause disease in healthy workers or animals.
(2) Risk Group 2 (moderate individual risk, limited community risk) A pathogen that can cause human or animal disease but under normal circumstances, is unlikely to be a serious hazard to healthy laboratory workers, the community, livestock, or the environment. Laboratory exposures rarely cause infection leading to serious disease; effective treatment and preventive measures are available and the risk of spread is limited.
(3) Risk Group 3 (high individual risk, low community risk) A pathogen that usually causes serious human or animal disease, or which can result in serious economic consequences but does not ordinarily spread by casual contact from one individual to another, or that can be treated by antimicrobial or antiparasitic agents.
(4) Risk Group 4 (high individual risk, high community risk) A pathogen that usually produces very serious human-animal disease, often untreatable, and may be readily transmitted from one individual to another, or from animal to human or vice-versa directly or indirectly, or casual contact.