Victim/survivors of sexual violence
● Male and female patients presenting to St Vincent’s ED following a sexual assault in the last fortnight should be discussed with Victorian CASA (Centre Against Sexual Assault) which is based at CASA House at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Parkville.
● ED clinicians should discuss presentations with the CASA clinician on call at (03) 9635 3610 or via 1800 806 292 out of hours
● Cases will then be discussed on an individual basis and with consideration for patient preference an individual may be transferred to RWH Women’s Emergency Care centre for specialist review
● Clinical staff at the Victorian Institute for Forensic Medicine (VIFM) are also available 24 hours a day/7 days a week on (03) 9684 4480 for guidance on emergency management of sexual assault presentations to the ED.
● The St V’s ID guideline for non-occupational blood and body fluid exposure is on the intranet which includes guidance on post-exposure prophylaxis and testing
● If someone declines CASA/forensic sexual assault review or presents out of the forensic assessment timeframe (2 weeks), the Sexual Assault Crisis Line Victoria (SACL) 1800 806 292 provides after-hours secondary consultation and confidential telephone crisis counselling service for victim/survivors of both past and recent sexual assault
● People can also refer themselves to CASA with the same phone numbers ((03) 9635 3610 or 1800 806 292) - consider providing patients with written information
● The Women’s Legal Service Victoria 1800 133 302 provides free and confidential legal information and specialises in issues arising from relationship breakdown and violence against women.
● The Federation of Community Legal Centre’s website www.fclc.org.au has details of local community legal centre with Legal Aid Victoria.