first day on the job // 2.23.2022
So, I recently got a job as a crime scene decontaminator in mid-February and let me just start off by saying that within the short period of time btwn training & actually going on a job has been amazing! I was so excited to just land this job considering I've been into crime related stuff since I can remember; I'd always wanted to be a pathologist but med school was too intimidating for me, so I ended up getting a BA in Criminal Justice. In preparation for a first clean up job, I had to drive to St. George to get fitted for my respirator. The drive from Vegas to St. George alone was amazing filled w scenery & landscape so beautiful & w a few prerolls packed for the drive, it truly was lovely. So after getting my respirator, literally 2 weeks later, I got the call from my boss that there was a house to be clean in St. George; suicide, gunshot. I had a two hr drive ahead of me but I was ready; to me that was perfect so I can mentally prepare myself. I left Vegas around 9:30 am and got to the house about 12:40 pm (there's an hour time difference btwn Vegas & Utah just fyi). As if this day wasn't exciting for me already, I grew up in a desert so this when I say this, I say this as if a child says this: it began to snow as I entered St. George & when I got out of the car to the house we needed the clean, it was still falling and I have never seen snow falling from the sky before; IT WAS SO MAGICAL! I had to contain myself bc I didn't want to seem insensitive considering the line of work I'm doing, however, I will end that thought with this, I knew right then that it was going to be a great day. After the snow show, I found where I was supposed to be & when I say I was nervous, I was NERVOUS. I had no idea what to expect other than a person who had committed suicide. The area in which John Doe killed himself in like a garage but indoors; it was home to the family's extra fridge, extra dry food storage, and the home of all the guns & ammo. The person who took their life was about 80 years old w quite a few health issues & didn't feel that they had a good quality of life, so he ended it. Personally, I can understand how someone would go to this extreme, for a lack of better words, when dealt a shitty deal like that. When I saw where the biohazard was, I started to calm down a bit since it wasn't as gruesome as I had thought. John Doe took his life w a .22 so the spatter wasn't extreme & the pooling wasn't as bad either. Luckily, since this was my first clean, I had other co-workers there to help guide me on what to do; the training videos are helpful as hell but with work like this, its easier to learn by actually doing in the moment. In this case, watching can be just as helpful. As my team members helped clear the space in the room so that we can get a detailed clean, I went to the bathroom to fill our solutions; we have Indicator, let's us know what is actually blood so we know exactly where to clean, we have Enzyme, which when sprayed on blood (wet or dry) helps lift the blood off the surface for a more detailed clean, we have Disinfectant, for obvious reason, & lastly Odorizor for more obvious reasons. After I got our solutions made up, I was able to get really hands on and help clean up the actual scene. My fellow teammates had to leave for whatever reasons but that just meant the work was all mine now; I spent the last hour of cleaning by myself, dealing w the detailed scrubbing. After about 4 hours of cleaning the house, the job was finally done & then came the hardest part, well for me. I hate confrontation but I'll be your support if need be, so when we're done w a cleaning, my boss usually does a walk through w the family to give them reassurance of any and all blood being gone from the scene & we answer any questions they may have. The worst part for me, however, is one of the most important parts to the ppl we come in contact w bc at the end of the day, we helped them, to the best of our ability, to make that house a home again by cleaning out the grim history that may have taken place.