What is SANE?

SANE at Surrey Memorial Hospital and MSA Hospital is a unique service provided to females and males 13 years and over who have been sexually assaulted. This service is provided by specially trained nurse examiners 24 hours a day within 96 hours of incident at SMH. AT MSA Hospital, patients can be seen up to 72 hours after an assault. Call the emergency prior to arriving to ensure availability of a SANE nurse.

What is a Nurse Examiner?

A Nurse Examiner is a specifically trained female who is trained in gathering forensic (legal) evidence. The Nurse Examiner provides an objective forensic evaluation for patients who present requesting medial examination and forensic evidence collection.

What does SANE do?

The SANE program offers sensitive, caring, supportive and confidential care following a sexual assault. A Nurse Examiner meets the patient in Surrey Memorial Hospital emergency department and then provides the option for a special forensic examination.  In the examination the following happens:

• Forensic evidence will be collected and preserved for use in legal proceedings
• Evaluate the risk of pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and provide appropriate treatment in conjunction with the emergency physician
• Evaluate and document all injuries
• Evaluate emotional support, answer any questions you may have and provide resources for counseling services
• Care is provided for patients who chose not to report to police or have forensic evidence collected as well
• All care provided is at no cost to the patient

What will happen?

When you arrive at the emergency, a triage nurse will asses your injuries and will call the nurse examiner. You will be asked some questions about what happened. Any injuries you have that need immediate treatment will be referred to the emergency physician.

A social worker will see you at SMH and police may be notified if you wish. The choice is yours.

With your consent, the nurse examiner will:

• Ask you questions regarding the incident
• Collect evidence with permission
• Do a physical and pelvic or genital examination to look for injuries and collect specimens
• Provide you with resources for counseling services
• Provide clothing if you need it

All information is confidential. There is NO CHARGE to you for the SANE program. You can decide how you want to handle the assault. It is your decision, and we will not force you to do anything you don't want to do.