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UPDATED NOVEMBER 20th, 2021

The recent outbreak of Coronavirus, COVID-19 is a serious matter. While it’s likely that many who come down with the virus will recover just fine, all projections point out that some however, will not. Worldwide and locally we see precautions being taken in measures which collectively as a global population have not been done in recent times. 

Fortunately for tattooers and those who work in the body modification industry, taking precaution against viral and deadly diseases is nothing new; we live our everyday lives managing the risks of blood borne pathogens. We deal in blood and ink and with every person we serve, we exercise our abilities to fight against bacteria, viruses, and disease. So what does that mean for you, the customer. Let’s take a look at what we specifically do to keep you safe, and outline the cleaning and precautionary measures we take at Fallen Heroes Tattoo // Art. 

Each artist at Fallen Heroes Tattoo // Art are licensed body art practitioners by El Paso county as well as First Aid and Blood Borne Pathogen certified, per the licensing regulations mandated by the state and county health departments of the state of Colorado.  Our staff have each taken the courses, and passed exams focused on things like blood borne pathogens, the harm they cause and how to mitigate their abilities in practice. The courses cover such nastiness as HIV, Hepatitis, Staph, and on and on. If there is a disease which can be transmitted by bodily fluids, our artists have been well-versed in the prevention of their transmission. As such, we develop and maintain a mindset that everything has the ability to harm us and that anyone can be a potential carrier (not a bad way to look at things these days).

As a result of our training, while you may not have the virus, we are going to treat you and the things that you might come into contact with, like you do! The good news is, we have been doing that for every customer we serve, since we opened our doors. We have the knowledge, ability, and practices to keep ourselves and our customers safe, so we work all day, everyday to create a clean, safe, and sterile tattooing environment.

UPDATED NOVEMBER 20th, 2021
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​So what steps do we take to create that clean, safe, and sterile environment?

Let’s begin with Cavicide. Cavicide is the cleaner that we use to clean and disinfect the service area and or station where we work. Per Cavicide’s product info and MSDS sheet;

“This product kills on hard, non-porous inanimate surfaces when allowed to remain wet…, Human Coronavirus, SARS associated Coronavirus and Avian Influenza A strains H3N2 and H9N2 for 5 minutes.”

The dry or "kill time" of 5 minutes is good, but in order to ensure that we get the full neutralizing effect of Cavicide on all blood borne pathogens we've been trained to be overly cautious, we spray and leave it to sit for up to 10 minutes before wiping off and fully scrubbing the area. If you have ever hung around after your tattoo or piercing, you may have seen us spray the chairs, the rolling trays, the work station, our machines and other reusable tools. Anything non-disposable which you or your bodily fluids came into contact with, gets liberally sprayed, then wiped clean after soaking, before we consider our service finished.

We also use only single use supplies and gas sterilized products. Yes it costs more, yes it seems wasteful at times, but the peace of mind that comes with knowing our products are brand new and completely sterilized is priceless. Specifically, our needles, the tubes which hold the needles, and needle cartridges are all single use products.

Needles aren't the only single use item that we employ. Fallen Heroes Tattoo // Art is 100% disposable studio. Even if something is not a sterilized product, (like tape, or an ink cup, or a protective bags for our machines or bottles) it is not something we can reuse. Bottom line, if there is no way to bring it to a safe sterilized state, then we dispose of it. 

UPDATED NOVEMBER 20th, 2021
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​Essentially, in the artist stations where you will receive your service, you are in the cleanest most sterile environments that we can create. On top of that, we make sure that the tools, instruments, and supplies that we use also are clean, sterile, safe and guarded from cross-contamination. We do not compromise that and it is not something new, this is the environment we have been serving you in since we opened our doors in 2016.

"You don't see us clamoring for new ideas on how to make our space safe for you, because we've been doing that from day one." - DB

That being said, we identify our front lobby and waiting areas as the most at risk environments in our studio. These are the areas where customers frequent the most, they are shared spaces and occupied by the most people. They also have the most surfaces that one could come in contact with.

While our lobby and waiting areas present little to no risk of exposure to bodily fluids like in the artists stations, they are general use areas where people congregate, and those type areas have been deemed at risk in this state of hyper-safety. Fortunately for all of us, our station servicing practice extends throughout the studio and all the way to the lobby, and are maintained several times per day.

Our normal (pre-Covid-19) cleaning routine consisted of daily deep-cleaning of not only the artist stations, but of the entire studio. For example - All common-use surfaces like our front desk, our credit card and signature pad, all door knobs and handles, our arcade games, and our non porous furniture. 

Keep in mind - we are not only concerned with Covid-19, we are concerned with keeping things safe against everything we possibly can when it comes to blood borne pathogens and any forms of contamination. While we understand the need to be even more cautious now, the reality is that your artists live in an enhanced state of cautiousness, every single day!

UPDATED NOVEMBER 20th, 2021
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So if you've read through everything on this page (all the tabs), you've likely come to realize the same thing that we have. Our greatest shared threat in our studio (or any reputable studio) are the people.

It's you the customer, it's us the employees. We all have  a part to play in the prevention of this (or ANY) virus, disease, etc.

If you feel sick or have any reservations about being out in public, we will take no offense on you rescheduling your appointment. If you have a deposit placed and an appointment with us, call us at 719-635-7431 and let's work it out. Trust us, the last thing we want is someone sick in the studio!

We do have a deposit policy, and we do have obligations to maintain that policy, but if you haven’t realized by now, we are not in the business of screwing our clients over. We care, we understand, and we will do whatever we can to work with you through this trying time. 

Love - Your FH Team

UPDATED NOVEMBER 28th, 2020
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In the words of General George S. Patton Jr., "Lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way."

Without anyone defining or working to standardize what we already know, our team came together and built the following "rules" that we will follow at Fallen Heroes Tattoo // Art starting May 1st 2020, and continuing until evidence dictates that our measures are no longer necessary. 

Trust us gang, these are just as tough on us as they will be on our clients. We understand, but we want to ensure that we have mitigated every opportunity for the spread of any airborne virus in our studio as we bring things back to a new "normal".

• Staggered Appointments - We will continue (as we did just before the state-imposed shutdown) to stagger appointment times so that we have as few people in the front lobby at a time as possible.
• Distancing in common areas - In all common areas, we will ask that everyone practice effective distancing from one another.
• Single Client per Artist - We are asking that everyone please come to your appointment alone if at all possible. If you are dependent upon someone else for care, please bring them along, but make sure that they understand our precautions and that distancing will also be maintained in the artist stations.
• Mask usage - Our artists will use non-surgical masks during your procedure, and you will be offered a disposable non-surgical mask as well.
• Deposit restrictions - If you feel sick or symptomatic, please call and we will certainly re-schedule your appointment as required.

HOW WE'RE HELPING TO 'FLATTEN THE CURVE'

There's was a ton of speculation around the recent Covid-19 scare. Some feel that it was exaggerated, others have taken some drastic measures to avoid it all together. Either way, we'd rather be safe than sorry when it comes to the health and welfare of our clients and staff. Below is a model that we developed and followed successfully through the outbreak.