What Your Doctor Should Know…
SafeNet’s medical advocacy program has helped improve local medical response to victims of domestic violence. As one of twelve prototype programs in the nation, our collaboration with area hospitals has provided professional education and training and protocol development aimed at early identification of domestic abuse.
SafeNet advocates are on-call at local area hospitals 24 hours a day to assist domestic violence victims with safety planning and connect them with counseling, shelter, and other services.
What Is SafeNet’s Medical Outreach Program, and Why Is it Important to Erie?
Oftentimes, the first professional person to encounter a victim of Domestic Violence is a provider of health care. Linking health care with domestic violence services can be critical step in establishing safety for the survivor and the family. .
The opportunity to establish that linkage took place in n 1994, when SafeNet was selected as one of 12 sites in the United States to initiate a collaborative project with area hospitals that would facilitate early identification and intervention for victims.
Then Hamot Hospital and St. Vincent Hospital both volunteered to take part in the project which was critical to Erie’s being selected for this project. SafeNet representatives and local health care professionals were trained in Pittsburgh with a curriculum developed by the Centers for Disease Control.
Each of the 12 selected programs were encouraged to develop their own approach to intervention to move victims from repeated use of the Emergency Departments to a domestic violence program that would deal with the underlying issues. Oftentimes, victims frequently visit the emergency room for the symptoms of their abuse. Until the real issue of DV is addressed, this pattern will continue.
SafeNet and our hospital partners determined that linking the victim with the domestic violence service at the time he/she presents at a hospital was the most promising option for intervening in the cycle of violence.
SafeNet staff and volunteers have continued to provide a 24-hour response to local hospitals for more than twenty years. . On-call staff meets the patient and provides initial safety assessment, safety planning and information about SafeNet services and other community resources. Other immediate supportive services may be needed such as transportation to shelter, emergency Protection From Abuse orders and facilitating linkage with other attorney or counseling services.
Of the 300 or more victims seen by SafeNet each year in a health care setting, 84% to 87% follow through with one or more additional SafeNet service. For most, this is their introduction to IPV services. (IPV stands for Intimate Partner Violence).
Training of health care personnel is essential to maintaining this intervention for victims. SafeNet is available to the health care system to provide training in the dynamics of domestic violence and protocol for identifying and assessing DV which emphasizes assuring the safety of the victim as well as the attending health care professionals.
SafeNet values its relationship with the healthcare system as a means of providing intervention, education and advocacy to victims of Intimate Partner Violence. Collaboration is essential in providing immediate response to victims which will allow them to make a connection with Domestic Violence services and Erie is fortunate to have this service.
