Hospital sets up center for young victims

Health care crosses paths with law enforcement at Kalispell Regional Medical Center in a new effort to find justice for young sexual-assault victims.

Donated space within the hospital and a team of nurses trained in evidence collection form an important piece of an effort to help the County Attorney's Office build cases and reduce trauma to young victims.

Hospital officials, social workers, detectives and county attorney staff members worked together toward this goal for a couple of years, said sheriff's detective Cmdr. Bruce Parish.

"We all wanted to get on the same page," he said.

Parish called the results of pediatric forensic training, recently completed by nurses, incredible.

"We've had six cases that just worked out wonderfully," he said.

Flathead County Sheriff Jim Dupont called the cooperation historic.

"In the entire time I've been here, I've never seen it," he said.

The process resulted in a vision for a new center for victim interviews and exams at the medical center and expanded training for nurses.

"Without the hospital, we couldn't have done it," Dupont said.

Allison MeilickE, director of the emergency room, said the hospital agreed to provide the space, and its foundation gave a grant to send five nurses for pediatric forensic training.

A team of eight nurses receives training on adult assault and rape cases every year, Meilicke said. However, she said pediatric cases differ in significant ways, such as the appearance of wounds and scarring.

The nurses felt a need to expand their expertise in examining children. They got their wish in October when five nurses traveled to Georgia for training.

Meilicke said the payoff came almost immediately after the nurses returned that month.

"On the first two (exams) after they returned, they saw evidence," she said. That happens only 5 percent of the time.

Meilicke said children typically don't come in with acute injuries as an adult rape victim might. More often, youngsters have scarring visible only with special magnifying equipment.

"Kids heal quickly, but scars are evident to the trained eye," Meilicke said.

The hospital hopes to receive donations to buy a digital colposcope, which magnifies the genital area during exams. Ultraviolet light also is used to show up certain residues.

The description of their work sounds more like a "CSI" episode rather than "ER."

"It provides a real different twist to nursing," Meilicke said.

She described how a nurse might swab under fingernails for DNA if the child mentions scratching the assailant.

"If there are bite marks, they collect evidence from those areas," she said.

Located on the second floor of the old section of the hospital, the exam and interview rooms were under renovation as Meilicke provided a tour.

She said victims and their families can reach the sexual-assault investigation area from the front of the hospital rather than the emergency room.

The location provides a low-traffic area for law-enforcement officers and nurses to work with victims.

Meilicke and Dupont credited sheriff's detective Cpl. Jeanne Landis as the prime advocate for the centralized interview area.

She envisions an expanded center that will include other services to help adult and child victims.

As one of two deputies specializing in these cases, Landis understands the need better than most. The office has investigated 26 cases since August.

"We're maxed out," she said.

Law-enforcement officers from across the valley will use these facilities instead of interviewing victims at police departments or sheriff's offices, she said.

"It's a friendlier environment," she said.

Landis said a grant application for digital video equipment has been submitted. If approved, the equipment will reduce to one the number of times sexual-assault victims must describe their abuse at the hospital.

Parish said this is particularly important with children.

He explained that defense attorneys try to convince juries that victims were fed information or asked leading questions during multiple interviews. Inconsistencies also develop during repeated questioning.

Landis said it also lessens the stress on the victims of sexual assault.

Children will be interviewed just once - by a trained officer - and medical workers will be able to watch the interview as it's conducted, so they don't keep asking a child the same difficult questions. The interview can also be linked by satellite to the county attorney's office.

"This new approach makes it easier for victims to come forward," she said.

The equipment also benefits the search for physical evidence by allowing nurses to focus their exams by listening to the interviews.

Landis said money still is needed to buy toys, furniture and other equipment, such as the colposcope, for the facility.

People interested may send donations designated for the center to Northwest Healthcare Foundation, 310 Sunnyview Lane, Kalispell, MT 59922 or call 751-6767.

Meilicke said the nurses have gotten a lot of satisfaction putting their training to work for victims. One recently told her that she felt she was making a real difference.

"I think that's what drives them," Meilicke said. "The way to put people in jail is to get good evidence."

The sheriff said this historic, cooperative effort to build air-tight cases also sends a message to sexual predators.

"We're not going to tolerate it - period," Dupont said.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.