The Emergency Department at Union Hospital provides best-practice care for sexual assault victims. Healthcare professionals who have completed Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) training are available on-premise or on-call at all times. SANE is a qualification for forensic nurses who have received special training to conduct sexual assault evidentiary exams for rape victims.
Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners are specially trained in the medical, psychological and forensic examination of a sexual assault victim. In addition to the collection of forensic evidence, these highly-trained nurses also provide access to crisis intervention, counseling, sexually transmitted infection testing, drug testing (if drug-facilitate rape is suspected) and emergency contraception.