The University of Washington’s Medical Center Emergency Department announced today that an on-call sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) will be available to treat victims of sexual assault. (The UW hospital joins Harborview Medical Center, Valley Medical Center, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and Swedish Medical Center, which also provide sexual assault examinations.)
There are currently 22 on-call nurses in the Seattle area who are trained to conduct forensic examinations, UW’s Health Sciences NewsBeat reported.
This training, held at the Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress at Harborview, not only includes providing emergency contraception and treating potentially sexually transmitted diseases, but also teaches nurses how to document patient conditions, collect and package evidence, and even how to testify in court.
“Due to UW Medical Center’s proximity to the University of Washington campus, this is a much needed service. We as a department are proud to offer this service and glad that this will add expanded services to the general community,” said Sue Theiler, associate director for patient care services at hospital’s Emergency Department.
The goal is to make the level of care consistent across all UW Medicine facilities and more accessible across the city, said Terri Stewart, SANE program coordinator.
According to the Seattle Police Department’s crime dashboard database, there were 108 reported rape cases in 2015 and 17 reports this January alone. (This, of course, does not include unreported incidents of rape and sexual assault. The Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network estimates 68 percent of rapes are unreported.)
“People are more inclined to come forward about what happened if they’re treated by someone who understands all the psychosocial dynamics that occur with sexual assault, someone who can work with patients where they are at that moment in a sensitive way,” said [Terri] Stewart, [SANE program coordinator].
Victims of sexual assault are encouraged to seek evaluation and treatment as soon as possible after the incident. They can receive care regardless of whether they choose to submit a police report. Forensic examination must be completed within five days of the event.
Needless to say, this type of care is vital to the city.
