Last year, 1,739 rapes were reported in South Carolina — nearly five each day — making it the ninth highest per-capita rate in the U.S., FBI statistics show.

But there are only about 50 nurses statewide who are specially trained to examine sexual assault victims, said Terry Casto, the sole full-time certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner in the Columbia area.

She said SANE programs statewide are “grossly understaffed” mainly because of a lack of public funding. Click here to find out more!

“A lot of nurses go gung-ho at first,” said Casto, the program coordinator for Palmetto Richland and Baptist hospitals. “Then they go back to their facility and find roadblock after roadblock, and then it will die.”

Joel Sawyer, spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford, who oversees the state Office of Victim Assistance, said last week he was unaware of a shortage of SANE nurses. He said he doesn’t know where the state will find extra money for those programs given current budget woes.

“There are a lot of profound needs in law enforcement,” Sawyer said. “It’s one that will have to be contemplated relative to all those other needs.”

The need to treat sexual assault victims in South Carolina is great, said Bebe Westbrook, sexual assault coordinator for the S.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

Last year, for example, the state’s 16 rape crisis centers received a total of 5,244 reports — three times the number of rape incidents reported to the FBI by local police agencies, Westbrook said. Center advocates made 1,311 emergency hospital visits.

“We are missing a lot of rape victims in this state,” Westbrook said.

Specially trained nurses are needed to help sexual assault victims cope with the trauma of the violence, Casto said.

“Someone is taking care of her who knows exactly where to tell her to turn — someone who takes care of her in a timely fashion rather than having her wait six hours in the ER,” she said.

A SANE nurse for nine years, Casto said she has handled about 700 rape cases, noting she has been called as an expert witness in court cases.

Her position is funded by a federal grant through the state Department of Public Safety. That money runs out in July, she said, though she added Palmetto Health officials have said they will “support my position even if it’s not funded.”

Casto has nine part-time nurses in the program who help cover shifts at both hospitals. But there isn’t enough funding to have a SANE nurse on call all the time, she said.

Lexington Medical Center has one part-time SANE nurse, though other emergency room nurses there are trained to collect evidence in sexual assault cases, said hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Wilson.Wilson said Lexington’s SANE nurse, Robin Baker, also assists at Palmetto Health’s two hospitals when needed.

Two part-time SANE nurses provide service at Providence’s two hospitals, hospital spokeswoman Megan Wright said.

SANE nurses are trained in interviewing sexual assault victims and conducting forensic examinations, which includes taking pictures of injuries and collecting DNA evidence, Casto said. Police are contacted if adult victims consent; hospitals are required to call police in cases involving victims younger than 18, she said.

The certification training for a SANE nurse involves 40 hours of classroom time, nine months to one year of clinical experience and another clinical year to specialize in pediatric cases, plus time riding with police officers and six to eight hours of observing expert court testimony, Wilson said.

Casto said interviews at Palmetto Health Richland are conducted in a special room that looks like a living room; if the victim consents, other victim advocates and police might be present. The forensic examination is conducted in a separate room. The entire process usually takes about three hours on average, she said.

Last year, Palmetto’s program treated 107 adults and 49 children, Casto said. This year, the program has been seeing about 13 victims a month, she said, roughly the same as last year. A number of the victims are high school and college-age women, she noted.

In about 85 percent of the cases, the victims knew their assailants, she said.

Casto said she would like to see the state fund regional SANE programs to cover all hospitals. Westbrook envisions traveling teams of SANE nurses who could visit hospitals with limited resources.

But Casto acknowledged any new funding will be difficult in tough economic times.

“It’s just hard to keep the dream alive,” she said.

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