QRIC Safety Spotlight: Karen Kilpatrick

Casual Sample Collection Officer

Karen Kilpatrick has 22 years of swabbing experience, and prides herself on her integrity and safety practices.

Karen works across all codes of racing, collecting samples from animals, which are then sent for laboratory testing. The primary sample taken is urine, but hair samples are also taken. If an animal is unable to urinate, a vet may be required to take a blood sample after confirming with the Chair of Stewards for the day.

Prior to taking the sample, Sample Collection Officers must be mindful of animal welfare.

“With horses, we follow them out of the enclosure and back into the race day stall for recovery before the sample is taken. This usually involves drinks of water. For integrity purposes the bucket is filled up in our line of vision, and the horse is taken out and given a hose; the water is then scraped off back at the stall.”

The horse is given another drink of water and a walk before the urine sample is collected with a long handled pan.

Sample Collection Officers do not touch greyhounds prior to sample collection, as their bodies can easily absorb contaminants that may taint a sample.

Sample Collection Officers use individually sealed sample packs, breaking the seal of the pack in front of the strapper or greyhound trainer.

It is a QRIC rule that all sample collection officers wear gloves when collecting samples. This is not only a safe work practise, but also a matter of integrity.

“We don’t take our gloves off until the samples are sealed,” said Karen.

“This is to protect us from getting fluids on our hands, but it also prevents us from contaminating the sample.”

The swab box where the samples are taken from horses is small, so Sample Collection Officers must be mindful of safety when in the box with these large animals.

“Clear communication is important; the strappers will tell us if a horse is nervous or if it might kick,” Karen said.

“A lot of Sample Collection Officers have a background with horses, so we can read their body language and predict their behaviours.

“We take precautions such as leaving horses on the lead if they are nervous, or even keeping the strapper in the swab box to let them lead the horse around.

“If we know that a horse will panic in the swab box, we consider this a safety risk, both to us and to the animals. In this case, we ask the vet to take a blood sample after confirming with the Chair of Stewards for the day.

“It’s important to me to always follow best practise when I work. It’s people’s livelihoods and their careers, and I take that very seriously.”