Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE)

Program Mission and Vision

A Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) is a Registered Nurse who has been specially trained to provide immediate, compassionate, and comprehensive care to sexual assault victims, including forensic collection of evidence.

South Dakota, like much of the country, suffers from a lack of trained SANEs. The mission of the SANE Program is to coordinate the resources and provide support for healthcare professionals across the state in order to improve the access and delivery of services to all victims of sexual assault.

The Mission of the program is to:

  • Provide immediate, compassionate, culturally sensitive, and comprehensive forensic evaluation and treatment by trained, professional medical experts.
  • Deliver timely medical/forensic examination with more complete evidence collection.
  • Avoid further trauma to all sexual assault survivors in the health care environment.
  • Maximize the probability of collecting and preserving the physical evidence of an assault for potential use in the legal system.

This will be done by:

  • Maintaining a state-wide roster of SANE-trained and SANE-certified healthcare professionals to ensure service capacity across rural SD counties.
  • Providing financial support to healthcare professionals interested and willing to become SANE-trained or SANE-certified.
  • Fostering a peer-led SANE Learning Collaborative with resource sharing.
  • Identifying and partnering with the existing networks of sexual assault response
  • Partnering with local universities to integrate SANE education into the nursing curriculum.

Join the South Dakota's SANE Learning Collaborative

The SANE Learning Collaborative is intended for South Dakota healthcare professionals seeking forensic nursing education.  Being a member of this SANE group will allow you to ask questions, access on-line resources, receive current training offerings, apply for financial assistance, and collaborate with other SANE Learning Collaborative members.

SANE Learning Collaborative Sign-up

Already a member?

Access additional resources here

Who do I contact with questions?

  • Questions related to the SANE Program should be directed to:

    The Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment

    Phone: 605-357-1465

    Email:  [email protected]

  • Questions regarding the testing of the evidence collected should be directed to:

    South Dakota Forensic Laboratory

    Phone: 605-773-3673

  • To request adult or pediatric kits or to provide comments related to kits, please contact:

    South Dakota Department of Health

    Phone: 605-773-3361

    Website:  https://doh.sd.gov/prevention/Rape-Prevention/Collection-Kits.aspx

    Email: [email protected]

  • Questions specific to evidence collection procedures for pediatric victims only can be directed to following number on a 24/7 basis:

    Child’s Voice, Sanford Health

    Phone: 1-800-341-4320 (no outside public or lay person access)

USD hosts South Dakota’s first IAFN-approved SANE Clinical Skills Lab

The University of South Dakota’s Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment hosted South Dakota’s first International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN)-approved Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Clinical Skills Lab Jan. 8-9 at the Lee Medical Building, on the campus of the University of South Dakota.

A SANE is a registered nurse who has been specially trained to provide immediate, compassionate and comprehensive care to sexual assault victims, including forensic collection of evidence.

Kristi Kranz, the SANE program coordinator for the Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment, said the state of South Dakota, like most of the country, suffers from a lack of trained SANEs.

View the full Press Release .

This project is supported by Grant Number 2018-WR-AX-0014 awarded by the Office of Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice.  Its content is solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Department of Justice.