Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Each year, millions of people in the United States are affected by sexual violence, and many cases of sexual violence are not reported. According to the CDC, more than half of women and nearly one in three men have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime. Through its Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program, also known as the SANE Program, Riverside is committed to helping and supporting survivors of sexual assault in our community.

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Host: Welcome back to the Well Within Reach Podcast, brought to you by Riverside Healthcare. I'm Gabby Cinnamon. And today, I'm joined by Chris Davis, sexual assault nurse examiner, SANE program coordinator at Riverside. Thanks so much for coming on the podcast today, Chris.

Chris Davis: Thank you for having me.

Host: So, can you tell us a little about yourself and your background? I think this is your first podcast with us.

Chris Davis: Yes, this is my first podcast. I have worked at Riverside since 2006 when I graduated from KCC. I started off on peds. I worked there till about 2012, then I switched down to the ER. I got my AA, so adult adolescent SANE through Illinois in 2019. And then, I just recently became the SANE coordinator in, I think, it was about March.

Host: So, you have a lot of experience. What is the SANE Program at Riverside?

Chris Davis: So, the Riverside SANE Program, we are a treatment center. So, this is actually a pretty big deal right now because the laws just changed, the SASETA laws just changed. And we had the choice to either become a treatment center or a transfer center. Riverside decided to become a treatment center and invest in our nurses becoming SANEs so that we could keep caring for these patients in our community.

Host: Why did Riverside start this program?

Chris Davis: They started it because it's, like you said, so important. This is something that affects everyone. We don't like to talk about it sometimes. We don't like to admit that it happens in our community. But given the statistics you just mentioned, it's something that's here.

Host: How does someone become a SANE nurse?

Chris Davis: So, in order to become a SANE nurse, they recommend that you have two years of experience. They will take nurses who are registered nurses for at least one year, and then you have to attend 40-hour didactic training, which is a combination of online and classroom. Once you complete that, then you have to go on and do your clinical training. The clinical training includes things like doing sexual assault kits with a mentor, learning how to do a full medical screening, going and meeting with places like our advocacy center, Clove Alliance, the state's attorney. I did a forensic photography class through the FBI in Juliet, which was quite interesting. I did a human trafficking webinar thing at Olivet. So, a lot of different things that goes into it. It takes about eight months to a year to complete the clinical training.

Host: Oh, wow. I definitely did not realize that. Can anyone become a SANE nurse?

Chris Davis: Anybody who is a registered nurse can become a SANE nurse. You need to be able to practice somewhere though, like an emergency room or a treatment center where you're going to be able to care for that type of patient.

Host: We're going to take a quick commercial break to talk about Riverside's new ER.

When it comes to emergency room care at Riverside, the wait is over. With accreditation as a primary stroke and chest pain center and the area's only accredited heart failure clinic, the Riverside ER also offers the area's only onsite neurosurgeons and heart surgeons, as well as access to onsite pediatricians from the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital. One team working together to provide you and your family the highest quality care at the most critical time when seconds count. For more information about Riverside's new state-of-the-art ER, visit riversidehealthcare.org/er. Now, back to today's podcast with Chris.

Why do you feel it's important for Riverside to have SANE RNs?

Chris Davis: I think it's important so that we can keep these patients in our community. Going forward with the new changes to the SASETA law, if we don't have SANEs on staff at Riverside, then we cannot keep these patients in our community. So, these are patients who have been through a trauma. And if we were a transfer center, we would have to transfer them out of the community, which puts a huge additional strain on these patients.

Host: Yeah, I can't imagine. Because even, you know, if you have to be transferred for another reason, that's already stressful enough. But then to be in these circumstances and have to be transferred outside, I think that has to be even worse.

Chris Davis: Yeah, absolutely.

Host: So, Riverside recently completed a remodel of the ER that has a designated SANE room. Can you talk about that and how having that designated room has helped you guys better serve these patients?

Chris Davis: Yeah. So, we have this SANE room and this room, you know, can be used for other patients too. But when we have a SANE, we absolutely try to use that room whenever possible, because that room has a private bathroom in it. Part of the process after you have a sexual assault and you go through all the evidence collection and the medical and all of that is many times these patients come to the hospital directly after this assault has happened and they haven't showered or anything to try to preserve the evidence, having that room right in there allows them to go into that room to shower, we have our cabinets with all of our clothing from Clove Alliance in there. And they can kind of just stay in that room, get it all done, and then walk out of there and kind of leave it all behind them in there. Whereas before we had this room, they had to go to a bathroom that was in the hallway, walk out there, and it just was not great for them.

Host: Yeah. No, that room is very nice. That's awesome that you guys made that a priority in the new space for sure. In what ways do you feel that having SANEs helps our community?

Chris Davis: Just being able to keep them here. But a SANE nurse has the specialized training. So, they use a trauma-centered holistic care to care for these patients. They care for them, their medical, their emotional, and the evidence collection. There's differing studies out there, but the SANE nurses go through this training so they can care for these patients more thoroughly.

Host: You mentioned Clove Alliance. How does Riverside work with local organizations in the Kankakee County area to support those who need help after a sexual assault?

Chris Davis: So, Clove Alliance is our advocacy center here in Kankakee County. They're absolutely amazing people. Whenever a sexual assault survivor shows up at Riverside, immediately we call them. Now, the patient has the choice then if they want to talk to them or not. Sometimes they just aren't in a spot where they want to, so they don't. But they always leave their information so that if they get to the point where they want to, they can go and contact them. They help them through the entire process, the legal, all of that, set up counseling. They provide us with all of our clothing, because a lot of times, after evidence collection, the patient removes their clothing and it gets sent off. So, they provide us with clothing to give to them, little kits for them to shower and all that kind of stuff. So, they're just amazing. We also have a SART team here in Kankakee County, which is the sexual assault response team that is made up of nurses from Riverside and St. Mary's Clove Alliance advocates, the state's attorney and local police officers.

Host: It's great that people have access to so many other organizations as well, because the mental emotional effects after something like that, it can take a toll I'm sure. Is there anything else you would like to add before we go?

Chris Davis: Just that I feel like it's not something that we like to talk about, but just know that if this does happen to you or a loved one, there is resources out there. You can come to Riverside at any time if it's not an acute thing, meaning having happened recently, Clove Alliance is there.

Host: Thank you so much for sharing all those resources for our community. Because like you said, people think this will never happen to them or that I don't even know anyone who this has happened to, but most people probably do and they might not realize it. So, it's great that we have all these resources and have this program right here in the Kankakee area. Thank you so much, Chris, for coming on the podcast today to talk about this very important topic and this initiative at Riverside.

Chris Davis: Thanks for having me.

Host: And thank you listeners for tuning in to the Well Within Reach podcast brought to you by Riverside Healthcare. To learn more about the SANE program at Riverside, visit riversidehealthcare.org/er. Make sure to rate and leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to our show.