You have been called to provide a hospital accompaniment. When you get to the hospital, the nurses have already started the SAFE Kit and they don’t allow you in the room. How do you proceed in this situation?

According to the State of Connecticut ‘Technical Guidelines for Health Care Response to Patients Who Report a Sexual Assault’ (rev. 2021), approved by the Commission on the Standarization of the Collection of Evidence in Sexual Assault Investigations, it is the patient’s right to be able to talk to a certified sexual assault counselor and advocate at any moment. The certified advocate must be allowed in the room. If the nurse doesn’t allow the advocate in the room, the advocate can proceed to talk to the ED manager or person in charge, as well as ask for support from our staff backup on call.