But when Tina Emlet cleans up a crime scene, she can’t help but think about the people.
Did they see their killer’s face?
Did they know this was the end?
Did they struggle or just wait for death to come?
“When you know it was a crime scene, you have to wonder what happened,’’ Emlet says. “It’s a natural reaction, your mind just goes to that.’’
After a fire, flood or some other disaster, she says, “We can help put things back together. It’s a service ... But with a death’’ — she shakes her head — “there will always be something missing, something we can’t fix.’’
Emlet is a supervisor for Compleat Restoration, of Ephrata, cleaning up after crime scenes and other deaths, as well as fires, flooded basements and other unexpected problems that leave property owners looking for professional help.
When such things happen, insurance agents give property owners the names of companies that can help them put things back together. Compleat Restoration is one of several local businesses on that list.
A family-owned business, Compleat has operated for 28 years. It now has 45 employees. New workers start out making $11 an hour, their pay increasing with their experience and training.
“What has happened (at a site) will determine how you react,’’ Emlet explains — technically as well as emotionally. Through the local news media, they know if a work site is also a crime scene and even how it happened.
The caliber of gun makes a difference, she knows, as does the length of time a body has lain unattended in the house.
She talks about finding everything from a tooth in the ceiling tile to blood in the crevices of an air vent.
“We don’t want the family to see those things or come across them months later,’’ she says.
Practically speaking, Emlet says, the smell of a dead person is much more offensive than the sight of blood. And harder to eliminate.
“Odor is harder to get out, harder to deal with than getting the blood off of something.’’
Though Compleat offers all kinds of protective equipment and high-tech respirators, Emlet says her best aid in keeping it together is chewing gum, which distracts her from the task at hand.
In five-member teams, Compleat’s employees enter a site, evaluate the situation and suit up with everything from boots to thick vinyl protective overalls, gloves and masks.“After you get all the mess and yuck out,’’ Emlet says, “I still keep my respirator on. I don’t want to associate any smell, any cleaning chemical, any type of odor with what happened.’’
Emlet says, “all assignments are voluntary.’’
In other words, some people are better at dealing with fire damage and flooded basements than with blood and body fluids.
She is one who can handle death, even though she is still saddened by what she sees and what she can’t help but feel.
“I hope that if somebody hadn’t heard from me in a day or two, they’d notice I was missing,’’ she says.
Emlet, who is in her 30s, was working as a meat cutter when her sister’s house was destroyed by fire.
As she helped to pack away what was left of their belongings, she started talking to the workers from Compleat. She applied for a job and was hired. That was 15 years ago.
It was through work that she met her husband, Chuck, who works as a carpenter for Compleat. They live north of Lititz with their 5-year-old son.
Emlet describes herself not as an obsessive cleaner in her personal life but as someone who has always been an orderly, tidy person. That is, until she became a mother.
“Now, my dirty dishes can wait ... my priorities are different,” she says.
Compleat provides its employees with counseling assistance, something Emlet has had to use twice.
Once, Emlet said, was the first time she had to clean up after a suicide and suddenly came across a fragment of the skull on a dresser.
“My eyes filled with tears and I started shaking,’’ Emlet recalls. “It really brought home’’ the fact that it was not just cleaning but the end of a person’s life.
The second time, Emlet says without elaboration, “involved a child.’’
“We’re human,’’ Emlet says, “but we try not to lose control ... It’s hard to deal with sometimes, but you just have to block it out.’’
Whether the person’s death was natural or not, Emlet says, “either way, your day is different.”
“Whatever problems I had when I got out of bed that morning, someone else is having a much worse day,’’ Emlet says. “It sounds cliché, but some days it just makes me want to go home and hug my son a little bit more.’’
She adds, “It deflates you ... but it also minimizes any problem that I had that day and it reminds you that life is precious.’’
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