The 26-year-old victim, who CBC News is not naming, says she was told no one was on staff or on call that night at Dr. Everett Chalmers who was trained to conduct the examination. She said she was told to go home overnight, not to shower or change, and to use the bathroom as little as possible to help keep any evidence at bay. “I really wanted to not have to keep my body in the state it was in for another 12 hours,” she said in an interview. “Well, I guess I felt like I was being asked to sit in on this experience. Like, I could smell him on me.” Only after she called the police for advice on what else she could do, and an officer intervened, did the hospital call a nurse to help her, she said.

As serious as a gunshot wound, police said

“No woman who has been rushed should ever be told to come back tomorrow for help after finding the courage to ask for help,” the woman said. She decided to talk about her experience, she said, to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else. The attack happened in August over New Brunswick Day weekend when she went on a date with a man she had met online. She drove home alone around 10:30 p.m. and decided to call Fredericton police to ask what she should do when she “saw all the blood.” She said the officer she spoke with told her it was her choice, but recommended she go to the hospital to be checked out. He also advised her that she could make a sexual assault kit to collect evidence in case she decided she wanted to press charges against the man. “The officer had told me I shouldn’t have to wait long. Like, the words he used were ‘they would treat it as seriously as if you had a gunshot wound.’ SANE nurses are trained to collect samples for forensic purposes, which can be submitted to the police or held for up to six months, depending on the victim’s wishes. (CBC) She got a number in Chalmers’ emergency waiting room, surrounded by men, and waited anxiously. A nurse finally brought her into the triage area and started asking her some routine questions. “I just cut her off and said, ‘I’m here for a rape kit.’” The nurse then took her to a quiet room with a door where she could be alone while they contacted a nurse trained to make the sexual assault kit. After about 15 to 20 minutes, she was put on the phone with a representative from SANE, the sexual assault nurse examiner program, who told her she was “very brave” to come in and then, “very matter-of-factly,” told her no one was on call that night. No one was on duty until the following evening at 8pm, the SANE spokeswoman said, but she was willing to carry out the examination herself in the morning. “Knowing that there could be help available, and just — there was no one around — it was hard to be heard,” the woman recalled. “And I was kind of shocked that I was making an appointment to see someone for this trauma.” It was very vulnerable to have to go in and explain what had happened and ask for help. And so being told I had to come back tomorrow…didn’t help the situation.- Alleged Sexual Assault Victim He says he realizes nurses are understaffed, but doesn’t agree with offering the SANE program “only sometimes.” “It was very vulnerable to have to go in and explain what had happened and ask for help,” she said. “And to be told I had to come back tomorrow… didn’t help the situation. I was already in a difficult position. “I really wanted to feel like it was over. And asking me to wait until tomorrow was like asking me to keep sitting with this experience for 12 more hours, like it was like a cold I could deal with tomorrow. .” She was also surprised the hospital didn’t suggest she stay, she said. She called the police again just after 1 a.m., from her car in the parking lot. A Fredericton police officer went to Chalmers Hospital and spoke with staff to ensure a SANE nurse was called that evening to assist the woman. (Gary Moore/CBC file photo) “When I spoke to the police [the first time]I had been told that this was a big deal and that it would be treated as such and that I would get the medical attention I needed.” She spoke to the same officer, who she says was “very surprised” to hear she was sent home without any care. He said, “This shouldn’t have happened to you,” he said. His partner was also surprised, so much so that he drove straight to the hospital to meet her and then talk to the nurses. He told her if no one was available at Chalmers that night, then maybe she should drive to Oromocto or Woodstock. “But he says, ‘We’ll find a place for you to see me tonight.’ No one at Chalmers had mentioned that another location was an option, he said. After about 30 minutes, the officer came out to tell her that Chalmers had called a nurse and that she would be there shortly. “I’m very grateful that the police were able to find someone … to help me that night.”

It felt like a hassle

At the same time she felt even more uncomfortable, like it was an inconvenience for the nurse because this happened to her. “When he first came out, all he said was, ‘Well, I got the call. Everyone got on the phone. Don’t worry.” So it was just this idea of, “Everybody’s up now, you’ve got the help you need, don’t worry,” like I’d made it a big deal. “While I was told that what happened to me was a big deal. So I didn’t like that I had to make a big deal out of it to get taken care of.” The nurse poked her mouth and under her fingernails for DNA, then put her on a piece of paper to catch hair, fibers or other evidence. He then used a black light to check her body for any residue. Although the nurse had explained the procedure at first and told her she could stop at any time, the woman says she wishes she had been asked about every step. “Like, ‘I’m going to do it now, is that okay?’ “I don’t think anyone set up the system to make a situation like this worse. But if the same thing happened to someone I cared about… I wouldn’t want that to be the way they’re cared for.” No one who has been sexually assaulted should struggle to care for someone, she said.

Horizon ‘is aware of this situation’

Margaret Melanson, interim president and CEO of Horizon Health Network, confirmed that she is “aware of this situation.” “My thoughts are certainly with the survivor at this time,” he said in an emailed statement. “With regard to the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program, it is standard practice that if an immediate in-person examination cannot be conducted, the patient is offered the opportunity to return home in a comfortable environment where there can be support. be in their place, instead of waiting in the emergency department,” Melanson said. “In these cases — and in accordance with SANE protocols — patients will receive information on how to preserve any evidence until an evidence collection kit can be administered in person by the SANE nurse on call. This is usually done once the nurse is available, often the very next day at the latest.” Margaret Melanson, interim president and CEO of Horizon Health, said that if a SANE nurse is not immediately available, victims show up “often no later than the next day.” (CBC) Roxanne Paquette, SANE program coordinator for both Horizon and Vitalité, did not respond to a request for an interview. Earlier this year, he told the CBC there was a protocol whereby a SANE nurse responds within an hour of a call. Horizon’s SANE website states that the goals of the program are to “provide access to the care and specialized services of a SANE nurse within a reasonable time and in an appropriate geographic location.” The program is offered at 12 of the province’s 23 hospitals — only those that are open 24 hours a day. But SANE nurses can travel to other hospitals, Paquette said. Roxanne Paquette, SANE program coordinator, has previously said the protocol is for a nurse to respond within an hour of receiving a call. (Rachel Huizinga/CBC) About 80 nurses in New Brunswick have received special trauma training to treat sexual assault survivors and administer sexual assault evidence kits, she said. That’s a good number for the province, Paquette said, though she added she’d like to see more. Lorraine Whalley, executive director of Sexual Violence New Brunswick, said what’s needed is to have trained staff available across the province to see someone right away. The best practice, she said, when it comes to gathering evidence, getting treatment and trauma-informed care is “the earlier the better.” And it can be potentially re-traumatizing for victims to have to wait, Whalley said. Lorraine Whalley, executive director of Sexual Violence New Brunswick, said it’s important for victims of sexual violence to respond promptly and get the care they need “to minimize any further trauma.” (Rachel Huizinga/CBC) “Certainly we all know the challenges facing our health care system,” Whalley said. “Our understanding, however, with the work we’ve done with the sexual assault nurse examiner programs across the province is that when someone who has been sexually assaulted shows up in an emergency room, it’s a priority.

Happened to someone “already injured”

“They’re testing, you know, at the highest level, hands-on, and they’ve got procedures and protocols in place so they don’t have to wait. So it’s unfortunate that … someone who’s already been injured in this way has to wait, or she’s told to wait and then have to advocate for herself to receive…