Provide the necessary means to ensure patients’ privacy

Exercise discretion to avoid the embarrassment for individuals of being identified in a public setting as a sexual assault victim. Some health care facilities use code plans to avoid inappropriate references by staff to sexual assault cases. Also, do not leave sexual assault patients in the main waiting area at the exam site. Instead, give them as much privacy as possible (e.g., a private treatment room and waiting area) and be cognizant of their sense of safety (e.g., do not examine suspects in same location at the same time). Make sure that the first responding health care providers attend to patients’ initial medical needs and arrange for an on-call advocate to offer onsite support, crisis intervention, and advocacy. It may be useful to give patients the option of speaking with an advocate via a 24-hour crisis hotline (if one exists) until an on-call advocate arrives. Health care providers should provide patients with access to a phone to contact family members and friends as desired, and should promptly contact law enforcement, if not already involved, if patients want to report the assault (or according to jurisdictional policy). 
 
Health care providers should explain to patients the scope of confidentiality during the exam process and during communication with advocates. (For information on this topic, see A.4. Confidentiality.)


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