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Yale-New Haven Hospital news release
Release date: October 24, 2005
Media contact: Mark D'Antonio, (203) 688-2493

Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital expands services for young rape victims

The Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital announced it is expanding its year-old Sexual Abuse Nurse Examiner Program (S.A.N.E.) - already the larger of two pediatric S.A.N.E. programs in Connecticut - to include seven specially trained nurses. The goal is to have one S.A.N.E. nurse covering each shift to ensure comprehensive examinations and support for girls who have been sexually assaulted.

"We are seeing that there is clearly a significant need for this type of service," said Kirsten Bechtel, MD, who established the S.A.N.E. program in the Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital Emergency Department, the only level one trauma center for children in the state, more than a year ago with the help of a grant from the Friends of Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital. She has worked with more than 80 girls who came in reporting that they had been raped since the program began. Most of these patients have been adolescents, who are beginning to date and go to parties, and are more likely to be exposed to drugs and alcohol.

While there are no reliable annual surveys of rapes and sexual assaults on children, the Justice Department estimates that 44 percent of rape victims are under the age of 18, with the risk peaking in the late teens. Dr. Bechtel said a pediatrician in a small suburban town is as likely as a pediatrician in Bridgeport, Hartford or New Haven to be called upon to do a sexual assault evaluation.

The S.A.N.E. nurses in the Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital Emergency Department trained for their role in a six-week course at the Quinnipiac University Department of Nursing. They work directly with police, prosecutors, child protective services and community advocacy services to provide coordinated specialized care that is more comprehensive than what is offered in a traditional emergency setting.

"When a girl arrives in the Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital ED within 72 hours of an incident, our S.A.N.E. nurses are able to provide a thorough, sensitive evaluation," said Dr. Bechtel, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Yale School of Medicine.

When a patient comes to the Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital reporting that she has been raped, she is taken immediately to a private room. Dr. Bechtel and one of the S.A.N.E. nurses conduct a physical sexual assault evaluation, including a medical history, a thorough assessment of trauma, a scan of the patient's body and clothing for evidence and a detailed examination. "We take a very gentle approach," said S.A.N.E. nurse Liz Ryan. "We explain everything, using words that they understand depending on their age and what's age appropriate."

In addition to the S.A.N.E. nurse, the patient sees a social worker trained in conducting forensic interviews, and a certified sexual assault crisis counselor.

S.A.N.E. nurses keep meticulous records of each case because they can be called on later to testify in a trial. "Some victims just want to be treated and not press charges," Dr. Bechtel said. "We try to tell patients they can make an anonymous report, but we can't force them to make a report. Our primary goal is to make sure the patient is evaluated from a medical and psychological perspective," she said.

Reporters: For more information on this release, contact Mark D'Antonio, (203) 688-2493.

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Last revised: October 25, 2005 (mv)

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