Rape kits administered by Nova Scotia RCMP due for an update

Sexual assault nurse examiners in Nova Scotia say the nationally standardized rape kit is due for an upgrade.

The kit is paid for by RCMP and distributed to hospitals across the country. Each box arrives sealed with the same set of equipment and paper work.

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Some experts argue the swabs and plastic bags inside the kit are not falling in line with today's forensic standards.

"We know that DNA can be degraded by warm, moist environments where bacteria and fungus can grow, so plastic is not always the most appropriate way to store biological evidence. So we add paper bags," said Heather Blackburn, co-ordinator of the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program in Antigonish.

"We also use a different type of swab that dries faster, so that we can preserve that evidence in a better way."

Blackburn advises her staff to ignore two other steps outlined in the kit's physician's manual because they put the victim through unnecessary trauma.

"When these kits were initially created and developed, it was required to remove scalp hair —up to 80 or 100 scalp hairs from a victim for a comparative DNA sample," said Blackburn. "We no longer need to do that, and also the removal of pubic hair — we no longer need to do that, as well."

'I remember a lot of picking and prodding'

A 28-year-old woman who shared her story with CBC News about waiting three days for rape kit in Pictou County, N.S., says once she met with the SANE team, she received care and compassion.

It's a stark contrast to 14 years ago, when she says she was raped the first time.

In that case, she went to her family doctor. She recalls having hairs pulled.

"I remember a lot of picking and prodding and tests and swabs and everything else and just laying there on the table with my mom holding my hand and me crying," she said.

In areas where SANE programs are unavailable, hospital staff may not realize the information and tools provided in the kit is outdated.

"If both the police and the emergency room physician have not done a number of kits and are not as experienced in collecting them, I could imagine that they would follow the physician's guide by the book and collect pieces of evidence that wouldn't necessarily be important to the trial or the investigation," said Blackburn.

She advises her team to modify the kit, by using different products and skipping the steps that ask for hair pulling.

Blackburn believes it's time for a new kit.

"I definitely think it would be cost saving — not including pieces into the actual, physical kit itself that were no longer necessary," she said. "And if we could streamline our work and we were all working with the same evidence collection equipment and techniques, then that would be better for all of us, right?"

A new test kit has been developed, but the RCMP isn't saying when it will be released.