USA HEART Project partners with Freestanding Emergency Department

The University of South Alabama’s HEART Project (Health, Empowerment and Recovery from Trauma) has partnered with the USA Health Freestanding Emergency Department to provide forensic medical exams and other support services for student sexual assault survivors.

“The proximity of the USA Health Freestanding Emergency Department to our campus serves as a perfect referral resource,” said Candice Selwyn, director for the HEART Project. “Our student survivors now have more options to seek the help they need 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. USA students are still able to go to the Student Health Center for sexual assault forensic medical services on campus during regular hours and the Freestanding Emergency Department at any time. We are grateful to be able to continue to provide options to our student survivors.”

Highly skilled sexual assault nurse examiners, or SANEs, have extensive training on how to care for assault survivors in a compassionate, respectful manner and collect evidence for possible prosecution. The partnership provides survivors with safety and dignity as they are treated following a traumatic experience.

According to the HEART Project team, this expansion is important because it will continue to provide all the resources needed in one place, which include advocacy, counseling and testing, law enforcement, and a full forensic medical team.