Who cleans up a crime scene after investigators, police, ambulance service, and security officers have left? A Secunda woman who volunteers at a victim support centre tells how she became involved in clean-ups that would leave many shaken.

Riana Pelser, a volunteer at Curamus Victims Support Center speaks to the Ridge Times about cleaning up after the dead.

Cleaning up scenes is not something Curamus used to do as they are more involved in trauma counselling, however, volunteers over the years have seen the demand and have taken it upon themselves to clean up where needed.

Pesler recalls her first cleanup, at a scene where a victim had attempted suicide and was taken to hospital by paramedics but died. The house where the victim attempted suicide was left behind bloodied.

“When I got to the scene, my main purpose was to assist the family with counselling. Once police and emergency services left, the father of the victim asked what would happen to the bloodied room.

“My first thought was that I could not leave the family with the room in that state. I went to their kitchen, took all the chemicals I could get my hands on and put on gloves that I had with me,” says Pelser.

She moved every piece of furniture and cleaned everywhere. With the help of another volunteer, a bloodied mattress was removed from the property.

“Everything was cleaned from floor to ceiling. That was my first scene.

“Ever since, when we arrive at a scene, we speak to the people and ask if we can help clean up,” says Pelser.

From what she has heard, a cleaning team can be called in from Pretoria, but that usually take days before any clean-up is done.

“We wait for everyone to leave the scene. Once the undertaker has removed the body, we begin cleaning.

“It is only human to want to help the grieving parties. There is nothing worse than leaving the grieving families to face a bloodied room.”

Cleaning up does not only consist of bloodied scenes. In some cases, Pelser must also clean up bodily fluids such as urine and faeces in cases of natural death.

“In a natural death, the deceased’s muscles relax. Everything that is inside of the body comes out, whether it be mucus, urine or faeces,” says Pelser.

She said for many grieving families, the last thing on their mind is getting someone to clean up and that is where Curamus comes in.

“I make it my point to stay until the end. If there is something that needs to be cleaned up, I will clean it for them. I will not leave until the family is okay and everything is cleaned up,” says Pelser.

Pelser says the most common scenes she attends locally are suicide and murder scenes.

“When I speak to the people and ask if I can clean up for them, most of the time the thought had not crossed their mind and their response is always they have not even thought of the cleaning up.

“Many times, the grieving ones do not expect us to do this, but for me, it is done with pleasure because I cannot leave them with the mess,” says Pelser.

This is a job that takes a strong stomached person and one that can handle any situation, whether it be bloodied or in other cases decomposition.

Pelser used to work in a hospital in the cancer unit and death and the smell of death is not something that easily upsets her.

She also taught herself how to clean up certain scenes. Through the years she says she has learnt to be equipped with certain gear when attending scenes.

“I had to teach myself. I never had training.”

She says it takes a while to get the smell out of one’s system when it comes to attending scenes of decomposition.

“You have to handle every scene carefully. You need to make sure that every spot of blood, even splatter on walls is completely removed. We don’t want the grieving parties to be triggered at the sight of blood that has not been cleaned up.

“With the years of experience, you go into a mode where the scene is not about you but the grieving families at hand. You cannot get emotionally involved,” concludes Pelser.