An alliance of Story County officials was set up to help victims of sexual assault recover – both physically and emotionally – and go on with their lives.

Law enforcement, medical and advocate officials are onhand to help victims catch their assailants, get proper medical attention as soon as possible and ease the rigorous investigation process, said Julie Harders, coordinator of the Sexual Assault Response Team.

Employees with Mary Greeley Medical Center, ISU Student Health Center, Department of Public Safety, Ames Police Department and Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support came together to form SART in 1998.

When a report is filed, representatives are sent to the scene to begin an investigation.

“Representatives from the advocate group, a law enforcement officer from Ames Police and a nurse from Student Health or Mary Greeley are dispatched,” Harders said.

SART is beneficial, she said, because everything is taken care of at one time.

The team allows victims to file reports anonymously by calling the hotline or the Internet. Harders said the anonymous reports are filed and kept in case the victim wants to pursue charges at a later date.

Officials are required to undergo special training in order to be a certified responder.

“The training is [in] the basic dynamics of the crime and the collection of evidence,” Harders said.

Officer Allan Lavender, Ames Police Department, has been a first responder for SART for about three years.

Lavender said he became involved with SART because he already had been investigating sexual assaults, and the department needed a first responder.

“It actually works out better this way because instead of having to bring somebody in every time a call is made, there is always someone to respond,” he said.

SART is based on the ISU campus, but serves all of Story County.

For more information, call 296-6397 or visit www.public.iastate.edu/~sart.