Warning: This story contains images and descriptions that some people may find upsetting.
Lucy, Seb and Tom are on the final day of their training to become specialist âtrauma cleanersâ â a service that most of us will, with any luck, never need to use.
These âhygiene specialistsâ see the goriest, darkest side of society: after a murder or a suicide takes place, these are the people sent in to clean up after the emergency services have removed the body.
âIf thereâs something to be seen, weâve seen it,â says Mark Baxter, manager of the National Academy Of Crime Scene Cleaners, which runs the training.
âThere was one gentleman who was found in the bath with the hot water tap running for a long time and that basically meant the body flesh was stripped from the individual.â
Baxter has seen plenty of blood and guts in his time. Shotgun suicides are the âmost horrificâ, he says, âbecause of where the body matter will end up. It could be anywhere, on the ceiling, on the walls and itâs under force so that obviously creates a greater issue.â
The National Academy Of Crime Scene Cleaners (NACSC) website gives a further flavour of what trauma cleaners deal with, with a horrifying list of scenarios they respond to: âNatural death, suicide, hanging, drug overdose, murder, and decompositions.â
But they donât only deal with deaths. If a property has been turned into a drug lab, or a hoarder has passed away, someone must be tasked with returning it to a habitable state quickly and sensitively. Thatâs where Lucy, Seb and Tom will come in.
The tools of the trade include needle-resistant gloves, bio-hazard sacks, and a cleaning liquid so powerful it will âdissolve and emulsify soiling and even remove old floor polishâ.
Stating the obvious, Baxter says this isnât a job for someone âif you donât think youâve got the stomach for it,â before describing how he once found a bath âfull of faecesâ.
While trauma cleaners have always been in demand, they have reached a broader audience through American shows such as How Clean Is Your Crime Scene?
Much of their work comes via police forces around the country and as such, what they witness reflects some of the more distressing trends in the country.
âItâs a bit cliche but weâre almost like a fourth or fifth emergency service,â says Baxter. âDeath is something that is a natural conclusion to everybody, but itâs also a sad indictment of society.
âSuicide among younger people is now at its highest levels of all times, in fact itâs one of the highest reasons of death in males under 25.
âKnife crime in London â over 150 people I think so far this year died in knife crime, so it just shows you where we are with those things.â
The three-day training course run by Baxterâs NACSC culminates with a day at an old barn outside Bristol, set up to replicate some of the scenes the budding trauma cleaners may have to deal with.
First up is a kitchen set to look like a property recently vacated by drug users. Needles litter the floor and spots of (fake) blood dot the surfaces. Baxter walks the group through how to approach the scene â slowly, carefully and being vigilant for booby-traps.
âBooby-trapping is something you mainly get in drug-related crimes or drug-related incidents,â Baxter explains. âA property will be deliberately left to try and catch the people out that are coming in, maybe to safeguard certain areas, but normally they want to try and catch out the authorities.â
The trainees pick their way through, successfully spotting needles hidden under a wall-mounted cupboard and a fire extinguisher.
So why on earth would you want to work as a trauma cleaner? Tom Goode from Canterbury works for a cleaning company run by his father. He told HuffPost UK: âI watched a programme actually on Netflix called How Clean Is Your Crime Scene? Itâs brilliant, a huge company in America and it shows you the nitty gritty side of it and I thought thereâs money there and I love cleaning, so why not?
âThe booby-traps were a bit of a surprise. When you actually think about that, needles being put behind light switches, in sockets, underneath chairs, it does make you aware that in everyday life youâve got to be careful. We could walk into anywhere and there could be needles or blood, so nothing has really put me off.â
By becoming NACSC-certified, trauma cleaners are given access to numerous resources, including counsellors. Baxter says this helps prepare them âfor what youâre dealing with, so that you remain professional throughout.â The most affecting cases, he says, are those involving children. âThatâs obviously a sad situation, especially if youâve got kids.â
Lucy Indge, a supermarket cleaner from Abergavenny also being trained by Baxter, explains she has one quality that will put her in good stead: âI havenât got that good a sense of smell, for one.
âThere can sometimes be ears and leftover body bits which I didnât think would be there. I thought theyâd have to go with the body, but no, apparently not, weâll still find the odd body part.â
Trauma cleaning doesnât require special qualifications, but the NACSC was established in 2009 to professionalise the industry, and the course is now recognised by police forces around the UK.
As well as teaching how to dispose of a blood-soaked mattress or a Hepatitis-infected needle, the course emphasises the importance of the sensitivities of customer service in this line of work.
Seb Jones from Lichfield runs his own car-valeting service and is on the training course to expand his business. He says: âYou have to approach people in a very courteous manner â it is a terrible time in their lives. And also, you have to think how you would want to be treated.â
For Baxter, while there are many aspects to the job that are truly grim, itâs the satisfaction of a job well done that makes it worthwhile. âWe will often find things in as house they didnât know were there and so weâve given them a bit of their history they didnât know about,â says Baxter.
âWe can give them addresses of people theyâve lost touch with, all of those things mean weâre providing a very good service but itâs also rewarding to us because we think weâre actually improving someoneâs life.â