Nurse testifies on blood taking

Singer Arno Carstens was co-operative when a blood sample was taken to determine whether he had been drinking and driving, a nurse testified on Wednesday.

   

Sheila Newman told the Cape Town Magistrate's Court she filled out a statement that she had seen the former Springbok Nude Girls frontman after his arrest in central Cape Town in December 2010.

   

It was standard procedure to fill out a form with the date, time, accused's name, the case number, and times of certain procedures.

   

The form stated Carstens entered the centre, where suspected drunk drivers were tested, at 11.24pm. The seal to the blood kit was opened at 11.55pm and a blood sample was drawn at 11.56pm.

   

Andy Hess, for the State, asked if the nurse recalled the meeting with Carstens and had any observations.

   

Newman replied that she did not specifically recall him because she took samples from around 65 people every 6pm to 6am shift.

   

"However the behaviour of the accused is estimated by the time [on the form]. It means the client was co-operative because I took blood one minute after telling him what's going on," she told the court.

   

She said some people previously brought into the centre had bitten a police officer, tried to steal an officer's gun, or thrown the blood sample against the wall, which would all have been noted as delays on the form.

   

Carstens has pleaded not guilty to a charge of drunken driving, and driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.20 percent as the alternative charge. The legal limit is 0.05 percent.

   

Newman was questioned on the procedure she followed when drawing  blood.

   

She said she always greeted the person, showed them the sealed blood kit and checked the expiry date of the needle and container.

   

She would put a tourniquet around the person's arm, put on a clean pair of gloves and dab their arm with cotton wool dipped in clean water.

   

"We cannot use wet wipes if testing for alcohol because it's going to influence the test," she explained to the court.

   

She would then take a sterile needle from the kit, draw the blood and tilt the tube to make sure it mixed with white powder.

   

The person would be shown all the elements being placed in the blood kit box before it was sealed and handed to the arresting officer, with a sticker showing all the case details.

   

The trial continues.

   

-Sapa