Specially trained nurses now available for rape victims at all Louisville area emergency rooms

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Specially trained nurses for victims of sexual assault, once only available at two local hospital emergency rooms, will now be available at all 16 emergency rooms in the Louisville Area.

A new partnership between The Center for Women and Families, UofL Health, Norton Healthcare, and Clark Memorial Health will bring Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, SANE for short, to every local emergency room.

“Imagine already the trauma and all the victim might be going through and now we told that no you can’t get your services here, you have to go somewhere else,” Elizabeth Wessels-Martin, president of the Center for Women and Families said. “How tragic that was for a victim. And so by creating this partnership the barriers have been removed to be able to serve our victims in an incredibly positive way for them.”

SANE nurses are trained to collect evidence and document and photograph injuries from a rape. They work closely with law enforcement and are called on to testify in court proceedings. Until now, it is believed only a fraction of victims could easily get these services.

“So this makes the process easier,” Amanda Corzine, UofL Health nurse manager said. “They can go to the ER they are most comfortable with, that’s closest to them. And we can meet them there and serve them there instead of having them travel to us.”

According to a press release, SANE nurses had been serving an average of 375 local patients a year.

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