b'| AWARENESS GUIDEWhen Human TraffickingIntersects With HealthcareProviders can find themselves in the unexpected position of treating victims. How can they best attempt to put them on the road to safety? By Joe DarrahS itting in the hospital waiting room,tance to people among a cohort of the victimbe treated, Estes said. Through appropriate likely feeling isolated and lonely, theprofilethose who are also struggling withawareness measures, however, healthcare victim of human trafficking is rarely,substance abuse.professionals who are coming into contact if ever, truly alone. No, far too often the han- Victims of trafficking are coming intowith these victims as patients can poten-dler or pimp is within close proximity, play- the hospital daily, multiple times per day,tially affect change in their lives and put ing the role of concerned confidantperhapssaid Estes, especially in major metro areasthem onto a safe path to recovery. claiming to be an uncle, cousin, or guardian.like New York, Miami, and Los AngelesIts essentially a certainty for the estimatedand Dallas and Denver are becoming thor- ASKING QUESTIONS, IDENTIFYING 12.3 million people victimized by traffickingoughfares now as well. Contributing toPROBLEMSongoing, according to the International Laborthe concealment during these precariousInherently, one of the problems with maxi-Organization, that they dont even have themoments is that, unknowingly, cliniciansmizing the limited time and opportunity to freedom to check in to the hospital on theirin the emergency department particularlyidentify trafficking victims and interven-own accord. This characteristic is also com- are not asking the right questions when iting quickly enough is a lack of employing monly the first of many signs that, unfor- comes to identifying potential victims ofappropriate staff with the formal training to tunately, emergency department and othertrafficking. Naturally, the main concernaddress the tense moments that can occur frontline healthcare staff members miss,often tends to be triaging and treating thewhen a trafficking victim enters the emer-probably on an everyday basis, says Cali Estes,main acute issue that brought person to thegency department. There needs to be at least PhD, MCAP, MAC, ICADC, a healthcarehospital, and getting them discharged asone person on staff who is trained in knowing ISTOCKconsulting professional who provides assis- quickly as possible so that other patients canhow to escort those individuals [who should www.elitecme.com |2020| AWARENESS GUIDE 17'