Peggy Revell
Riverside Health Care Facilities, Inc. is leading a group that’s looking into improving services within the district for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, including whether or not a Sexual Assault Domestic Violence Centre is needed here.
While still in the early stages, the group includes representation from law enforcement, the local Family Health Team, physicians, public health, Atikokan Crisis Centre, victim services, the United Native Friendship Centre, and various counselling agencies across the district, Cindy Cole, nurse manager at Riverside, said in an e-mail.
Together, they will be gathering data and identifying present services within the district, as well as where there are gaps and how these gaps can be addressed.
“At some point, we may be looking at developing a proposal to the LHIN for funding of such [the Sexual Assault Domestic Violence Centre], but this will be further down the line,” Cole said, noting this process will take some time.
Since the Ministry of Health first started funding Sexual Assault Domestic Violence Centres in 1984, 34 have been established within hospitals across the province.
Currently, there are four located in Northwestern Ontario in Kenora, Sioux Lookout, Dryden and Thunder Bay.
“The mandate of the provincial programs are to assist victims/survivors of sexual assault/domestic violence in meeting their medical, emotional, and social needs in conjunction with resources within the community,” Cole explained.
This includes working with already existing community agencies so victims and survivors of these violent acts can have continuous care, she noted, as well as educating communities on violence.
Part of the centre includes having a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner [SANE] on staff.
“A Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner is a nurse [mainly registered nurses] who has taken extra education to do thorough injury assessment and documentation; gains knowledge about forensics and evidence collection; learns about the justice system; and, most importantly, learns how to assist a victim following an assault,” said Cole.
While the role of a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner was first introduced in 1993 as a part of these centres, it is an expanded role for a registered nurse that is “relatively new” within our region, she noted.
Currently when a victim of sexual assault comes to the hospital, they go to the Emergency Department, where medical and physical exams are performed by the emergency department physician, Cole said.
If the victim wishes, an OPP Provincial Rape Kit can be completed at this time, but this kit is complex and can take up to one-two hours to complete.
Besides having training and skills in providing the best possible care, SANE nurses are trained to assist in the collection and maintaining of evidence, Cole noted.
“Having a SANE nurse will free up the emergency physician to care for the other emergency patients,” she cited as one of the benefits.
“As this is a very emotional and psychological experience, having a SANE nurse be the primary health-care provider may help alleviate delays and some of the anxieties of someone who has been sexually assaulted.”
