Walking into the flat's hallway in my hazmat suit and protective mask, I saw blood splattered up W the walls and bloody handprints all over the lounge. There had been a stabbing at the property, and it was obvious the victim had moved around before collapsing, leaving a gory trail to be cleaned in almost every room. It was like something you'd see in a horror movie but all in a day's work for me in my job as a crime scene cleaner.
On that job, in February 2020, after checking my two colleagues' hepatitis B vaccinations were up to date, so they weren't at risk of catching it from blood at the scene, we worked as a team, tackling the contaminated areas with industrial-strength sanitiser sprayed through a fogging machine. Sticky blood was on the carpet, kitchen cupboards, and in every crack.
After sanitising the flat, we got to work removing bio-hazardous waste, including cutting away part of the carpet, before disposing of it in a yellow waste bag, ready to be incinerated. Twelve hours later, we were finished. I left, exhausted but satisfied knowing the flat had no trace left of the horror that had unfolded there.
My career used to be very different from this one.
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