At the Children’s Advocacy Center we practice a team approach to the care and treatment of children who may have been sexually abused.
A Pediatric Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (Pedi SANE) is part of the team available for your child and family. The Pedi SANE can provide information regarding growth and development, sexuality and preventing sexually transmitted diseases. They can also answer any other questions you or your child might have.
The Pedi SANE nurse is specially-trained to care for children when there is a concern or report of sexual abuse. This care may include the recommendation that a child have a special exam known as a forensic medical exam.
A Pedi SANE exam or consultation is available at no charge to families.
The Importance of Exams:
This forensic exam is not painful or invasive and it is important for many reasons:
- To ensure the health and well-being of your child
- To reassure your child that everything is okay with their body.
- To diagnose and treat medical conditions that may be related to sexual abuse.
- To document any possible physical and forensic findings.
- To collect forensic evidence that may be present on the child’s body (if exam is conducted within 72 hours of contact).
Medical services at the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) of Bristol County are provided by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s (DPH) Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program. The Bristol County Pediatric SANE is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, who has received specialized education and training from the DPH Pediatric SANE Program to care for children and adolescents, when there are concerns for sexual abuse. The Pediatric SANE provides compassionate, coordinated, and comprehensive medical care that is responsive to the child’s developmental, physical, emotional, and cultural needs. The Bristol County Pedi SANE provides specialized examinations in a child-friendly medical suite at the CAC. In keeping with the program’s “Do No Harm” principles, examinations are customized to each child’s needs, and are not painful. The Pediatric SANE regularly collaborates with community medical providers to ensure children receive comprehensive care.
Emergency SANE services for children and adolescents in Bristol County are available at several local hospitals including Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, Morton Hospital in Taunton and St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford. These medical providers have been trained by the MA Department of Public Health (DPH) to care for children and adolescents when there has been an acute sexual assault (an assault occurring within 72 hours for patients 11 years and younger, within 120 hours for patients 12 years and older). They are available to respond on a 24/7 basis to provide a sexual abuse/assault examination, collect forensic evidence, and collaborate with other disciplines to ensure medication administration, safety planning and clinical follow up. They can also link patients to the CAC.