The part of the reporting that many sexual assault survivors hate the most — the poking and prodding of the medical exam — often can be the most important.

That’s why medical examiners from Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, Iowa State’s Student Health Center and Mary Greeley Medical Center say survivors should not be afraid of the medical exam performed on a victim after a sexual assault occurs.

“The exam is not frightening at all. It’s done by trained professionals who are empathetic of the situation that the survivor is in,” said Krista Noah, center manager of Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa. “We make the survivor as comfortable as possible and give them many choices of possible evidence . They make the calls.”

In fact, all of the physicians and nurses involved in the Sexual Assault Response Team have been specially trained as Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) to deal with these kind of cases.

“I took the Sexual Assault Examiner course, which taught me the different skills you need for one of these examinations,” said Mark Blaedel, staff physician at the Student Health Center. “[It taught] everything from sensitivity to doing the actual exam to how to give testimony in court.”

Blaedel said SANEs have two goals when a survivor comes in — to look for signs of injury and to offer treatment as protection from STDs and infection.

“We do have a very specific exam that is set up by the State Attorney’s Office,” he said. “The examination specifies exactly what type of evidence is to be collected.”

Noah said some of the tests that SANEs perform include scraping under fingernails for tissue, combing through hair for debris or a swab for fluids in the vagina.

“If she is not comfortable with [the vaginal swab], we can do other tests,” Noah said. “We do as much or as little as the survivor is comfortable doing.”

Blaedel said the purpose of the exam is to document injury.

“After an assault, there may be bruising and tearing, especially in the vaginal area,” he said. “We describe the injury on our examination form so that it can be submitted as part of a court case at a later time, if the survivor chooses.”

Blaedel added that many survivors are sore and bruised in many places of their body from being held down or restrained.

When offering treatment against STDs, Blaedel said SANEs offer antibiotics and emergency contraceptive pills. They also encourage the survivor to get an HIV test.

Blaedel is the only male SANE on the team, but he said most survivors don’t have a problem with a male doctor.

“Occasionally, a survivor doesn’t want to see a male examiner,” he said. “There was a time in the past when survivors had to occasionally face uncaring or hostile medical examiners.

“Now, SART has a good reputation for being an advocate for the survivor, so whatever hesitation most survivors have for a male examiner is not that much of a problem,” he said.

Blaedel said many of the sexual assaults were discovered medically in the past, but most survivors are now choosing to include SART.

“The few who came forward [in the past] came forward for medical reasons,” he said. “Now with SART, it’s becoming more acceptable for a young woman to ask for help through other means. So now, most cases, I think, are asking for help directly.”

Gerri Hagerty, registered nurse at Mary Greeley Medical Center, said SANEs’ goals are to improve survivor empowerment and increase reporting and prosecution rates.

“We do this by providing a supportive response to victims, diminishing re-victimization and by standardizing forensic evidence collection, documentation and treatment,” she said.

Noah said she believes every woman or man who has been sexually assaulted should see a SANE.

“I believe, and research shows, that it will help in the recovery process in a sexual assault if the person seeks help as soon as possible,” she said. “It also helps build a stronger case to seek medical care as soon as possible after the assault.”

Blaedel said all of the SANEs are “trying really hard” to do their part in helping sexual assault survivors.

“While a person who has just suffered an assault may feel like their world has just crumbled, it is important to ask for help,” he said. “Even though it might be hard to think about, medically, it is important to be seen right away.”