Thunder Bay hospital to upgrade sexual assault victim services

Nurses and counsellors working with sexual assault victims are welcoming news that Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre plans to close a gap in service.

The problem is that, on occasion, no trained nurse is available to administer a sexual assault kit in a timely way.

The executive director of Thunder Bay's sexual assault crisis centre said some clients have gone to the hospital after an assault and been told there's no one available to do a rape kit examination.

"For most victims, I'll tell you, a lot choose never to go to the police, Doreen Boucher said.

They choose never to go to the hospital,because they're afraid of how they're going to be treated. And for those who do choose, they should be seen as soon as possible."

Thunder Bay hospital spokesperson Chisholm Pothier said it plans to make sure staff are available 24/7 to complete a rape kit.

He noted a gap in service was discovered after a woman posted to social media saying she witnessed an assault victim turned away.

Pothier denied that incident occurred.

They want to get washed

But Boucher contends some of her groups clients have gone to the hospital after being assaulted, and been told no-one was available to do a rape kit examination.

They were told to wait, something Boucher called horrendous.

They want to get washed. They want to get clean. They feel dirty, she said.

If they have to wait for the rape kit to be done and so they can't wash, they can't clean up, that can be pretty traumatic for them.

The president of the Forensic Nurses' Society of Canada said the risks from a delay are more than just psychological.

Any amount of time could potentially result in some loss of ability to pick up evidence, Judy Waldman said.

Waldman noted it's not uncommon for sexual assault programs to struggle with staffing, but a prolonged delay could also prevent a survivor from accessing medications that can prevent infection with HIV.

There's also a risk that a victim who leaves the hospital won't come back.

"The response [of] being sorry [or] we don't have anybody, go home or wait here for eight hours... could just turn somebody off, she said.

They go home and then they decide not to come and then we have no way to provide any kind of psychological intervention."

Minimizing the impact of a delay

When hospitals can't avoid making someone wait for the procedure, they can take steps to minimize the impact of the delay, Waldman continued. Hospitals can advise victims not to shower, and give instructions on how store clothing in a way that preserves evidence.

She also said they can do tests, such as blood and urine tests, that don't require specialized training. They can also provide psychological support.

"The forensic evidence collection, yes, it's a specialized thing, she said. But the care of somebody who comes into an emergency department can be done by anybody in the emergency department.

Pothier said victims who choose to leave the hospital while waiting for a rape kit procedure would likely be advised that it's best not to shower before the rape kit is complete. They would also be asked not to wash their clothes.

Waldman said she's not aware of any case in which a delay in completing a rape kit caused problems for prosecutors in a sexual assault trial.