Patient comfort and privacy

Consider patient comfort and privacy.  Minimize patients’ discomfort while they are being photographed and respect their need for modesty and privacy. Drape them appropriately while taking photographs.[1]
 
Also, consider how to best provide support to patients during this time. Patients may want an advocate and/or a personal support person to be present. Take measures to avoid allegations of impropriety when photographing patients. For instance, if for some reason a male photographer is photographing a female patient, another woman should be present at this time.

[1] Drawn from the California Medical Protocol for Examination of Sexual Assault and Child Sexual Abuse Victims, 2001, p. 56, and the American College of Emergency Physicians’ Evaluation and Management of the Sexually Assaulted or Sexually Abused Patient, 1999, p. 113. 



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