Crime scene cleanup not for queasy.

Crime scene cleanup not for queasy.

Abilene firm specializes in removing all trace of trauma, blood coated the otherwise pristine white room. It haunted him for months. The nightmares wouldn't stop.

And still, every time he drives by the "Hell House," he thinks about it, he said.

DeShazo didn't know the man who was brutally stabbed in the house. He and a crew of other employees were there to clean up the mess.

The Abilene company offers services that include carpet and upholstery cleaning, insulation removal and fire and water restoration. The company also cleans up trauma scenes, which surprises people who mistakenly think that service is a responsibility of police or other emergency service providers.

Glenn said he doesn't know of any other company in Abilene that cleans up trauma scenes, whether it involves a crime or a natural death.

The job can be a safety hazard if Glenn and his staff aren't careful. Employees protect their bodies with one to two sets of Tyvek protective clothing, a mask and multiple pairs of gloves, Glenn said.

"Not one inch of you is exposed," he said.

However, as DeShazo found out the hard way, despite all of those layers, the risk of illness is still there.

"We treat these jobs like these people have everything we don't want to catch," DeShazo said.

Employees are exposed to bodily fluids that can be harmful. Glenn said sometimes there's so much secretion - as was the case on South 7th Street - that portions of the floor and even soil below the house have to be removed.

It's one of the reasons Glenn doesn't force any of his 25 employees to do trauma scene cleaning.

They volunteer to go out on those jobs, when they feel they're ready, Glenn said.

Marsha Rodgers, a restoration technician, has gone to at least a dozen sites since first volunteering.

On her first trauma scene clean up, she remembers that the Christmas decorations were still hung. Sarah Gonzalez, a Sweetwater woman, her two daughters and her live-in boyfriend were found dead in the home last year.

Children being involved affected Rodgers the most because she is a mother and grandmother, she said.

Rodgers said sometimes when she's working a trauma scene, she almost feels a presence. Glenn has the same experience.

"There's just an air about the scene," Glenn said. "There's a strange calm. There's not a lot of talking."

Even if the scene stirs thoughts, Glenn said his employees must remain focused on their job. They must ensure no bone, tissue or fluids are left behind.

"We don't want the family to find anything," Glenn said. "Not one drop of blood."

Often, crews throw out furniture or belongings that wouldn't be safe for future use. The family isn't allowed at the scene during the clean up.

The crew warns the family that they may smell an odor in the house where the death occurred.

DeShazo said the smell of death has no comparison.

"You smell it once and you never forget it," he said. "There's a sweetness to the odor that just sickens you to the bone."

Jobs that involve a death can take a mental toll on employees, Glenn said. The experience takes weeks to get over and Glenn often allows employees to take time off to recover.

"You just don't want to talk to anybody," Glenn said. "It's almost like a mourning. You (have to) get your mind right."

Glenn sees the work as a service, although it is not a pleasant task, he said.

"You (have to) try to get them to look for the silver lining because it's there," he said.