The California Police Athletic Federation (CPAF) is proud to announce that the 2021 United States Police & Fire Championships (USPFC) are now Presented by Bio-One, Inc.
Operating under the motto, "Help First, Business Second," Bio-One provides high-level decontamination and biohazard cleanup services while offering clients the privacy and compassion needed at difficult times. Bio-One operates in 41 states with over 110 locations and is committed to providing first-class service.
"We are thrilled to add Bio-One as the Presenting Sponsor for the 2021 USPFC because First Responders warrant our support," said California Police Athletic Federation President LC Collins. "Bio-One’s reputation is second to none, and with their partnership, we can offer first responders a health and wellness outlet. We look forward to working with them for years to come."
Founded by San Diego Police Lieutenant Veon "Duke" Nyhus, The United States Police & Fire Championships were first held in San Diego in 1967. Duke recognized the need to promote physical fitness and camaraderie among the Public Safety and First Responder community members.
The USPFC caters to active and retired public safety and first responders who participate in Olympic-style competitions and open to individuals representing firefighters, law enforcement, and officers from corrections, probation, border protection, immigration, and customs across the country. Traditionally athletes compete in 45+ sporting events from biathlon to motocross across 35+ venues in Southern California.
"At Bio-One our support for Law Enforcement and Fire Service Officers is unwavering, and we're thrilled to partner with the California Police Athletic Federation during this memorable event," said Nick-Anthony Zamucen, founder of Bio-One. "We wish each athlete success and look forward to celebrating these everyday heroes."
The 2021 USPFC Presented by Bio-One will take place from June 10th to the 19th in venues across San Diego, California, and strengthen the relationship between First Responders and the community for many years to come!
About the United States Police and Fire Championships
The California Police Athletic Federation (CPAF) is the parent organization of two multi-sport programs designed for peace officers and firefighters. The World Police & Fire Games (WPFG) are open to active and retired law enforcement and fire service personnel throughout the world. The United States Police & Fire Championships (USPFC) are open to active or retired public safety and first responder personnel from an eligible agency within the USA. For more information, please visit www.uspfc.org.
Alex and Danielle joined our team in September. Both are being trained as Certified Master Trauma Technicians. They are learning quickly and making needed contributions to our team.
Alex was born and raised in Idaho. He graduated from BSU in 2017 with a Biological Sciences degree and pursued vocational training in mold remediation and water damage by earning his IICRC WRT and AMRT certifications. Alex is also a certified home inspector with InterNACHI. He comes to us with 3 years of experience in the restoration industry. He loves fly fishing and backpacking. He says he’s “grateful and proud to be a part of such an elite crew that shows compassion and quality on every level.”
Danielle credits her strong work ethic to her grandparents, who taught her how to build cars, paint them, and sell them as a side hustle. She comes to Bio-One with a diverse background in the service industry. She’s owned an auto shop, been a machine operator, and a traveling remodel merchandiser. She is married, a proud mother of 2, and a huge animal lover. She enjoys spending time with her family, volunteering, and fishing.
We will be going around with Danielle and Alex to introduce them to our partners and clients, so you can get to know them and feel more comfortable with our team in the field.
We recently joined the Women’s Council of Realtors as Affiliate Member, at the invitation of Sarah Libengood, a successful agent with Keller Williams here in the Treasure Valley. Congratulations to her for being named the President for 2020! We have tried to get involved as much as we can. Last month we sponsored the breakfast, and they were kind enough to give us the floor to share for a few minutes about our business. We have found over the years that many of our services can assist agents in closing a deal when tricky situations arise – mold remediation, smoke odors, nicotine smells, rodent infestations, hoarding, urine & feces.
Recently, their motivational speaker for the morning fell through at the last minute. Sarah asked several people if they would be willing to share an encouraging message for 7 minutes without preparation, and honestly, how many people do you know who would jump at that opportunity? It was a hard sell, right? Well our assistant manager, Chris Ingels, who represents Bio-One at these meetings, looked at the situation with a completely different set of eyes.
When asked if he would be willing to step up, Chris immediately responded, “I’ll shine!” Then he proceeded to inspire all those gathered with the perspective that unexpected circumstances create opportunities to live life to the fullest. They are usually opportunities to do the unexpected and bless someone. If you are willing to lean in to the difficulty, fear and unknown, you will grow and build confidence through the experience. And the courage - the others-centeredness that’s required – will show forth your quality.
We already knew that Chris is a great guy. We see it on display everyday with his work ethic and reliability. He genuinely cares about our clients and solves problems with creativity and resourcefulness. He’s getting better and better every day. Much of this can be attributed to his willingness to step into the gap, help where he can and learn as he goes.
Sarah posted a heartfelt thank you to Chris on her Facebook page that we have shared with our network here.
Sometimes the need is big. Sometimes it’s small. What opportunities do you see to shine today?
It's Time to Winterize Our Homes!
We mentioned earlier how much we enjoy the change of seasons in Boise. Well one of the ways to ensure you can enjoy the benefits of living in a beautiful place with four seasons and protect your home from the elements is to winterize. For Boise natives, this is an annual tradition around the time of the first freeze that only costs a few dollars and a little time in preventative maintenance. However, for newer transplants and first-time homebuyers, here’s a quick cheat sheet of things to do in the next couple weeks.
Sprinkler Blowout
Hire someone off Facebook Marketplace to blowout your sprinklers for $25-40. This will prevent water from freezing in the lines and blowing sprinkler heads. Pick up a couple foam caps to insulate your hose bibs over winter once the lines have been drained.
Crawl Space
Close vents in the winter to protect your pipes and keep rodents out. Insulating exposed pipes will also help them withstand the cold.
Roof
Clean out the gutters of accumulated leaves, dirt and debris before the first winter storm. They prevent the water from draining properly, and the buildup of water will freeze, causing icicles and ice dams. We remediated a lot of moldy attics after Snowmageddon due to ice dams. Periodically check your roof for ice to make sure snow has a clear path to run off when it melts through the freeze/thaw cycles. It’s much easier to remove if you catch it forming early.
Energy Efficiency
There are many other tips out there for how to improve the energy efficiency of the home, including sealing cracks around windows, reversing ceiling fans and installing door sweeps. But we want to point you towards home appliances that require minimal but regular maintenance to maximize their useful life. Use this time as an annual reminder to change out filters, drain water heaters, etc. Otherwise, these things are often neglected. Doing so will help you avoid costly leaks and detect issues early to minimize damage.
Vehicles/Garage
It’s a good idea to drive an AWD or 4x4 vehicle with all season or winter tires in stormy weather. Many tire shops will make the semiannual switch for free if you buy the tires from them. Check the road conditions before traveling for regulations and closures.
Make sure that window scraper is in the car, ready to go.
It’s also worth looking in the garage or shed for fluids you may use on a regular basis that you don’t want frozen and relocating them to a climate-controlled environment, like the laundry room.
All the above assumes a consistently occupied residence. Please note there are other highly advisable steps to take if the home is going to be unoccupied when temperatures fall below freezing.
When a loved one dies by suicide, it’s fair to assume that first responders will decontaminate the scene. But they don’t, creating yet another dilemma for families who are freshly traumatized by a sudden and devastating loss. Driven to remove the memory from your home as quickly as possible, your first impulse may be to clean the space yourself. But there are several reasons why you shouldn’t take on this burden.
For one, suicide cleanup is a traumatic and overwhelming experience of its own. Although you may think you can push through this task by suppressing your emotions, you’re at risk of developing PTSD and prolonging your grief. It's best to avoid the scene and leave this process to the professionals.
Additionally, you may be subject to harmful diseases if you don’t clean up the scene properly. Over-the-counter cleaning supplies are not always strong enough to kill some of these viruses. Pathogens linger long after a surface has been scrubbed, leaving you and your family at risk of developing bloodborne infections like Hepatitis C and HIV if your cleaning process has not been thorough enough.
Certified specialists in biohazard remediation are the only people qualified to perform this intensive work. They know the commonly missed areas, and how to keep themselves safe while making the home safe again for the family. Let them restore your home with the assurance that it will be sanitary.
Bio-One is here to help in this regard. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you need assistance. We’re on standby 24/7, every day of the year, and are always available to answer any questions you might have.
One of the things I love about being a Bio-One franchise owner is that this is a values-driven company with a Help First. Business Second motto. We always try to be as active in the community as possible by continuously supporting and sponsoring positive events and organizations. We have an especially soft spot in our hearts for events that support first responders and survivors. Most recently we have sponsored the Trauma Intervention Program 2nd Annual T.I.P. Tow Fire Truck Pull, as well as the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Annual Forget Me Not ceremony hosted by Cloverdale Funeral Home.
This was the second year that we provided lunch for the 60+ attendees of the MADD Forget Me Not. It’s hard not to get choked up watching the memorial video realizing that the list gets longer every year. On the other hand, the T.I.P. Tow was an upbeat event held at the Eagle Fun Days with some good-natured competition among first responders to see who could pull a fire truck the fastest. We sponsored the Ada County Coroner’s team, which improved on their time last year by 5 seconds! In the end T.I.P. was able to raise several thousand dollars for victims and survivors of trauma. Check out the link below for a video of our practice pull!
We are always looking for more events to sponsor and positive organizations to join. If you know of any events or good causes that align with our business in the Treasure Valley that could use another sponsor, let us know. We want to hear from you! Contact Travis Nichols at 208.505.8731 or info@bio-oneboise.com with your ideas or suggestions. And be sure to follow us on Facebook for more event information and photos!
We tend to see an uptick in some of our services during the summer months prompted by the odors that develop in hot weather. One of those is hoarding, which the Mayo Clinic defines as “a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them.” Hoarding has been on the rise in recent years, currently affecting 1 in 5 people. The American Psychiatric Association officially registered Hoarding Disorder (HD) as an official mental disorder in 2013.
There is significant variety in how HD affects people from the causes, to things hoarded, and severity. There are various risk factors for hoarding including personality, family history, and stress levels. What we have found is that there is typically a historical disposition towards clutter when what we call a “trigger” event occurs that the affected person(s) is unable to cope with effectively. This could be losing a job, the death of a family member, a health issue or some other traumatic event, and drugs. We have assisted clients that hoard animals, urine, mail, clothing, or simply everything that makes its way into the home. The hoarding is exacerbated by isolation. It may be a depression or debilitating illness/injury that prevents the hoarder from keeping up with their home, but as the situation worsens, embarrassment causes them to withdraw further and try to hide the situation from friends, family and neighbors.
Hoarding can cause significant damage to a home. The National Study Group on Compulsive Disorganization created a clutter hoarding scale with five levels of hoarding ranging from clutter to total inaccessibility of areas of the home and interruptions to the utilities. It can also lead to other issues such as rodent infestations and mold. The sooner it is addressed the better it is for the person’s quality of life, health, property, and pocket book.
We suggest property managers do preventative maintenance checks on a regular basis to protect their owners’ assets. If the hoarder is the homeowner though, it can be more challenging, because their cooperation will be required if they are still living. (We receive many calls from family members who have inherited properties from a hoarder). We love receiving calls from people with the disorder that recognize they need help and are ready to make a change! Often times though, the call comes from a concerned friend or family member, and what we’ve found is that some sort of leverage may be required to motivate the property owner. This could be a red tag from code compliance, a visit from the sheriff’s office or an eviction notice from their landlord.
All of Bio-One’s hoarding jobs are custom-designed to meet the needs of the client because every situation is different. It usually starts with a free phone consultation followed by a free on-site estimate when the family is ready. We walk the property with the client(s) to empathize with their challenges and define our scope. We will put together a proposal for their review and adjust with feedback if necessary. We encourage a 1-page “Recovery List” from the family that we will ensure our crew is on the lookout for. This includes items of obvious value like money, jewelry, or important documents, as well as items of sentimental value like pictures and family keepsakes. These will be stored in a safe zone for the family’s review. Besides decluttering a home, Bio-One can remove soiled carpets, recover feces or dead animals, disinfect & deep clean, perform mold remediation, and connect the clients to other reputable trades.
We understand that hoarding is very stressful for all parties involved, and our team approaches every situation with sensitivity and respect. We would be honored to help you navigate this challenging experience with our years of experience. Call anytime with questions.
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