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On the job

Cleaning up after the police have gone

Bill Ciaccio is a regional supervisor for Aftermath Inc., a crime and trauma cleanup company in North Attleborough. Bill Greene/Globe Staff/Globe Staff

Who cleans up after a bloody murder or suicide? The potentially gory mess doesn’t faze crime-scene cleaner Bill Ciaccio, 33. He considers his job a service to the families who are left devastated after the investigators leave. Mopping up after someone dies involves handling risky blood and other bodily fluids, and properly disposing of material to avoid spreading disease.

“We have to treat everything with the utmost precaution,” said Ciaccio, who is a regional supervisor for Aftermath Inc., a crime scene clean-up company based in Aurora, Ill., with an office in North Attleborough.

What sort of trauma do you clean up after?

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It doesn’t have to be a crime scene; we also do industrial accidents, unintended deaths, gunshots, and stabbings.

How soon after an event do you show up?

We like to be in crime scenes shortly after the investigators leave the scene. The longer you let it sit, the more the odor and fluids spread, and what could be a one-day job turns into a very big endeavor.

What procedures do you ­follow?

We are on call 24/7. When a call comes in, we have an hour to respond and be at the shop in North Attleborough. We’ll start contacting the family involved and get them up to speed so they know what to expect, and we’ll help them with the insurance paperwork. ­Upon arrival, the scene will be quarantined; plastic sheeting is erected, and air scrubbers pump out the dirty air. The task could take four hours or three to four days. All surfaces are disinfected, sanitized, and deodorized in a procedure called a biowash.

What was it like when you saw your first death scene?

I was nervous, and I wasn’t sure how I would react. It was a bad decomposition on the Cape.

How did you get involved in this line of work?

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It suits me well because I have a background in construction, which is helpful because some clean-ups require that floorboards and walls be removed. My experience with the mortgage industry helped deal with the insurance paperwork. In many cases, homeowners’ insurance will cover the costs to clean up after a trauma.

How do you keep emotionally detached from the scene you are encountering?

I don’t think I always am able to remain detached. There are times when I have a very difficult time staying professional. You’re dealing with people who have had the worst day of their life. Sometimes it really hits you, and it’s hard to understand why things happen. I don’t have any answers. It shows you no one is far from tragedy. It could hit any of us at any time.


Cindy Atoji Keene can be reached at cindy@cindyatoji.com.