P.E.I. sex assault victims' treatment may change

Victims of sexual assault in Prince Edward Island may soon be treated by trained nurse examiners instead of having to wait to see a doctor after they have been attacked.

The provincial health department is not saying when this might happened, but space has already been set aside for a nurse examiner at the new emergency department in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown.

"As you know, the time waits at the hospital can be quite extreme," said Sigrid Rolfe, of the Prince Edward Island Rape Crisis Centre.

"Often, if victims do go, they end up waiting a long period of time, and that can be very difficult after the trauma that they've experienced," she said.Rolfe said time constraints also mean victims don't always get the physical and psychological treatment they need, or information about their rights following an assault.

So the province is considering a new program that would have specially trained nurses provide care for victims. The sexual assault nurse examiners would be on call 24 hours a day.

"We're able to provide comprehensive care. We have the relationship we've developed with the client. There's not police officers popping in and out, not physicians coming in that are rushed trying to see other patients. We're able to give them dedicated time and allow them to pace and help them control what they want to recover," said Cathy Carter-Snell, a sexual assault examiner from Calgary.

She's in P.E.I. to share her experiences at a sexual assault conference.

She said nurse examiners are better able to identify sexual assault-related injuries, and collect the evidence needed if a victim decides to go to the police.

"We [make it]more likely that, if cases go to the police, that charges will be laid and they'll be prosecuted," Carter-Snell said.