A police report can be offered, but it is ultimately the victim's decision whether or not to involve the police. Emergency departments maintain their own procedures. For our emergency department there is a policy in place for any suspected victims of domestic abuse. When a suspected victim presents at triage, she will be asked a few questions and then she will be referred to social work. If there is not a social worker available to assist at that time, a series of interventions will still take place.
Providers have a unique opportunity to help the victim.
You want to try to stop the cycle of violence and make sure the victim is protected. It is a public health concern, since it is so under identified and there are huge numbers of victims. Because domestic abuse is an ongoing cycle producing increasingly severe injuries over time, battered women are likely to see physicians frequently. The rate of domestic violence detection by emergency room doctors is low. Journal of the American Medical Association, vol.