Emergency Care for Sexual Assault
After a sexual assault, a survivor may choose to go to the emergency room for medical care. The nearest emergency room to the Evanston campus is Evanston Hospital (847-570-2111) located at 2650 Ridge Avenue near the Central Purple Line stop. The nearest emergency room to the Chicago campus is Northwestern Memorial Hospital (312-926-2000) located at 251 E Huron Street.
At the emergency room, doctors and nurses can treat injuries, test for and prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and pregnancy, and facilitate evidence collection (sometimes called a 'rape kit').
If the survivor chooses not to go to the emergency room, they may still consider seeing a private doctor or a clinician at the Student Health Service to treat injuries, test for STIs and pregnancy, and obtain emergency contraception. Please note that evidence collection is only available in the emergency room.
Emergency contraception can also be obtained over the counter without a prescription. For more information, please visit our page on emergency contraception.
Getting to the ER
Any student requiring emergency medical transport for a serious medical condition can call 911.
Before Going to the ER
If the survivor is interested in an evidence collection kit in the immediate aftermath of an assault, potential evidence will be best preserved if the survivor avoids showering, bathing, going to the bathroom, douching, brushing their teeth, or changing their clothes or bedding (if relevant) before going to the hospital. If the survivor does take off the clothes they were wearing during the assault, evidence will be best preserved if they avoid washing the clothes and bring them to the hospital for inclusion in the kit.
What Will Happen at the ER
When a sexual assault survivor arrives to the hospital, hospital staff will call an advocate who is specially trained to support survivors seeking medical care and/or evidence collection. The police will also be called to provide survivors with the opportunity to make a police report. Though both an advocate and a police officer will arrive at the emergency room, the survivor is not required to speak with either party.
Emergency room healthcare providers can perform a head-to-toe medical examination, including a genital examination, to diagnose and treat injuries sustained during assaults. They can also perform baseline tests for pregnancy and STIs, as well as provide emergency contraception and medications to prevent and treat STIs if the survivor is seen 3-5 days post-assault. Hospital staff can assist survivors in connecting to follow-up care.
These medical services should be offered regardless of whether a survivor chooses to complete an evidence collection kit. Survivors of all ages have the right to consent to or decline medical treatment and evidence collection without parental permission or notification.
Forensic Evidence Collection Kits
Survivors can elect to participate in an evidence collection kit (a 'rape kit') to document and collect potential forensic evidence (i.e., DNA) found on their body in the seven days after an assault. Kits are typically released to law enforcement for testing and use in criminal investigations and prosecutions. If a survivor is undecided about whether they want law enforcement to proceed with testing the kit at the time of its collection, law enforcement can hold the kit for ten years and test it at any point if the survivor decides to move forward. This is true even if the survivor does not make a police report at the time that the kit is collected.
A specially trained provider called a SANE (sexual assault nurse examiner) conducts the evidence collection procedure in the emergency room. Kits have multiple components involving different parts of the body; some of these components can feel especially difficult for survivors. However, survivors have the right to refuse any piece of the procedure, to take breaks during evidence collection, to have every step explained to them, and to request that a friend, partner, or advocate stay with them during their time in the emergency room. More information about the steps in the evidence collection process can be found here.
Payment
Survivors are not required to pay for any examinations or services, including ambulance rides or medication, that they receive during their visit to the emergency room for sexual assault care.
If the survivor has private health insurance, the hospital may attempt to collect payment, and the visit to the ER could appear on the insurance billing statement, but it does not need to be paid. If the survivor does not have health insurance, the bill will be covered by the state of Illinois.