Troubling Call, need to vent

[chbare]

Report your findings and go up your chain and perhaps even speak with your medical director for additional guidance. In addition, you need to chart this incident exquisitely in the event the case progresses. I find it strange that the doc did not treat this as a potential sexual battery. In my area we actually have specially trained providers known as sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE) who are immediately called upon in these kinds of cases.

[island emt]

Here We are mandatory reporters in cases of suspected abuse , sexual assault and cases of neglect to children and the elderly. State statute is very clear on the requirements for us to file a report to the hospital receiving the patient AND the state hotline.

I would write up everything you can remember from the beginning of the call to the time you handed over care at the second receiving hospital.

DOCUMENT everything seen and heard.

Make copies and file one away at home in a sealed dated & timestamped envelope for safe keeping.

File one through your services normal chain and send one to the state or province CPS.

Be prepared to go to court to testify.

Good on you for coming here to vent and get other experienced providers opinions.

This is a call that has no good outcome for the young girl, don't let her down by doing nothing.

[ambodriver]

Make the call to DCFS, I am sure you already have since we are mandated too. (At least where I am from)

After that drop it. You cannot get involved emotionally with this shit. I know some people don't want to hear me say it...I know I am not liked here, but you have to separate. Or else you will go crazy.

[royrudolph1969]

Where I come from we are mandated reporters. There is no question.

[Arctickat]

Gee, this is a tough one. Dealing with kids is hard enough, dealing with kids in a situation like this? I don't envy you. In our situation we don't have a duty to report something like this, more of a moral obligation, but geez....I dunno. It's not like the child was endangered by her mother, so going straight to child welfare might be a bit extreme. I think you're headed the right way, you passed the responsibility up the chain of command and the doc assured you there would be some followup. It's up to the mom and daughter to report if any crime occurred and all you've got is pretty circumstantial.

Follow up with your cop friend, he likely won't tell you any details, but he may be able to confirm if there is an investigation in progress and that might help.

[island emt]

I would definitely file a report as a mandated reporter under state statute.

Let the powers that are above my pay grade figure out how to handle the case.

We do not have to witness an incident to make a report, we only need a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing.

I would also be talking to a friendly LEO over a cup of coffee.

My job is to be the patients advocate, especially with a minor

[RuralKSEMS]

We're mandatory reporters of abuse or SUSPECTED abuse in minors and elders.

[DwayneEMTP]

I've seen the term "mandatory reporter" many times here, does that mean the same thing to everyone? Who are you obligated to report to? It seems that part of the OP was asking if he should speak to the police. Being a mandatory reporter is awesome, but unless the OP knows much more about it than I do, that statement alone doesn't really help much.

Also, if this child comes from one of the American war zones that we call 'inner cities', then being to galant can put this girl in more danger than she is now. It's important that when we start to skirt the system, which I'm a fan of and do regularly, that you consider the unforseen consequences and don't cause additional pain, which I've also done more often that I'd like to admit. Sometimes are best efforts outside of the system spiral out of control due to our ignorance of 'the big picture' and our good turns ugly, and often passes beyond our control to mitigate that ugliness once it does.

Awesome post. I'm not clear why you would choose to not continue your discussion. This topic is so important, and too often ignored...

[Jaymazing]

I consider myself very fortunate to not have to deal with these calls very often in the region I work in. I feel for you; it seems like it's weighing down on you pretty hard.

I think you've done the right thing so far by opening up to peers (even if just anonymously). You'll get lots of opinions, lots of advice, and lots of Monday Morning quarterbacks, but I have a feeling you're going to get the most benefit from simply typing the whole thing out and organizing your thoughts.

In the end you've just got to do what will help you get to sleep at night. Follow your gut, and good luck.

[Bernhard]

Here, it's the reliability of the receiving hospital to take care of such issues. Pediatrics usually are very sensible to this matter and know what to do (and how to do it). Preclinical providers are supposed to report their suspicions to hospital staff/receiving doctor.

Anonymous, if that's not the case for your system or you're unsure with that, I'd suggest to report to your superiors. Most likely they already have dealt with such situations and either can point you to appropriate ressources or take action themselves. At least they should know the quality management process flowchart for these cases or now feel the urge to create one.

Would I step up to help this one poor girl at any costs (her life security, mine, my job...) with my limited power, other than trying to get the ones involved that should be in charge? Most likely: no. Choose well. But don't do nothing. Those are your nightmares.