Sexaul Assult Response Team
SART #s: Emergency - (858) 613-4670 Office - (858) 613-4457

What is SART?
In the fall of 1990 Palomar-Pomerado Health System established the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) to provide a multidisciplinary response to sexual assault. The team is composed of representatives from law enforcement, advocates for victims, and sexual assault examiners. SART members provide immediate and follow-up medical assessment, advocacy and criminal justice services to all adult victims of sexual assault (sexual assault survivor). The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) provide the medical component of SART.

SANE nurses will perform pschysocial assessment of sexual assault survivor along with the evidentiary exam; perform an evidentiary exam on suspects of violent crimes; provide information and referral to enhance the continuity of care for a sexual assault survivor and their significant other; and present expert testimony in court.

SART's response helps sexual assault survivors avoid undergoing repetitive and unnecessary questioning and additional trauma due to the confusion among providers about their roles in assisting the survivor through the psychological, medical and criminal justice process. It also provides consistency of evidence collection and preservation. In the event of a sexual assault victim is seriously injured or requires hospitalization, SART will go to whatever facility and provide the service there.

Before the establishment of SART, sexual assault survivors had to wait in the emergency department from 1 to 6 hours to get an examination and half of those exams were interrupted one or more times by other emergencies. With the SART program, sexual assault survivors can get the exam with little or no waiting and without interruptions. The establishment of specially equipped "SANE" rooms at Pomerado Hospital or Palomar Medical Center allow survivors to undergo the medical-legal examination in a separate, private and tranquil environment away from the crisis environment of the hospital's emergency room.

Victim advocacy services are provided by the EYE, Escondido Youth Encounter at 760-747-6281 or Women's Resource Center at 760-757-3500.

Any questions about SART should be directed to Diana Faugno, District Director of Palomar-Pomerado Health System at 760-739-3444, fax 760-739-3400 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 555 East Valley Parkway, Escondido, CA 92025.

SART Home page: www.pphs.org/about/sart.htm

The SART meets the first Wednesday of the month.

• 0800 - Medical Subcommittee and Advocate Subcommittee
• 0930 - Group meeting, etc.

• Every 45 seconds, a woman is raped.
• Every 9 seconds a woman is battered.
• 80% of rapes are perpetrated by someone the victim knows.
• 42% of rape victims tell NO ONE about the assault.
• 30% of 911 domestic violence calls in the City of San Diego come from children.
• Relationship violence is the #1 cause of injury to women ages 15-44; more than rapes, muggings, and car accidents combined.
• 1,247 women and 440 men were killed by an intimate partner in the year 2000.

1. Validate feelings...BELIEVE THEM!
2. Encourage medical and police attention immediately.
3. Be a good listener.
4. Be supportive.
5. Respect the privacy of the victim.

1. Explore your options, it's your decision to report to the police.
2. Do not shower, change your clothes, or brush your teeth.
3. Get medical attention for injuries, possible STD's, and pregnancy.
4. Request a support person, such as an advocate.

1. Myth: She asked for it.
   Fact: No one asks to be sexually assaulted under any circumstances.
2. Myth: Men are not at risk.
   Fact: 1 in 12 victims of sexual assault are men, and they are less likely to report.
3. Myth: Victims lie, they want revenge or attention.
   Fact: Less than 2% of ALL reported rapes are false accusations.