ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
When childhood trauma comes to mind, many people think of its physical aspects, but a large part of trauma also stems from emotional and mental abuse from abuse or neglect.
Southwest Medical Center Trauma Program Coordinator Katie Coleman said when addressing trauma, officials look particularly at possible domestic or school violence, bullying and parents who are separated.
“All those affect the children,” she said. “That’s considered childhood trauma. Loss of a loved one, whether it’s sudden or a traumatic loss, is considered a childhood trauma. We’re looking at the different aspects. Rather than physical, we’re looking at mental and emotional.”
Coleman said one in seven children experience abuse or neglect annually in the U.S., and the same statistics show one in four girls and one in 13 boys are estimated to experience some type of sexual childhood abuse.
April is Childhood Trauma Month, as well as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and Coleman said the two are tied together through SWMC’s Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner-Sexual Assault Response Team (SANE-SART) program.
Coleman added more than two-thirds of children have reported some sort of childhood trauma with at least one traumatic event by the age of 16. Coleman said dealing with trauma as an adult is difficult enough, but the emotional and mental aspects of trauma can take an even bigger toll on a child.
“We’re also thinking about suicide, homicide, things like that,” she said. “Each year, 14 youth die from homicide, and 1,300 are treated for violent related injuries. Children under the age of 1 are at the highest risk for abuse and neglect.”
Coleman explained how the SANE-SART program helps with trauma.
“We call the SANE-SART program if we have concerns of abuse in general,” she said. “They started a forensic aspect of the SANE-SART program. We call them, and they will come in, document, take pictures. We can do blood work if we’re concerned and if there’s a further concern for more imaging and things not only physical.”
Even without a psych unit, Coleman said a great number of mental health patients still come to the hospital.
“We work with trying to make them have a safety plan to go home,” she said. “If they need other resources, outside resources, we’re in communication with Topeka to get those mental health resources they need.”
Much of Coleman’s job is to focus on educating the public about trauma.
“We have to ask ourselves, do we have those resources?” she said. “Are we providing what resources we need? As trauma program coordinator, mostly what I’ll be working on is making sure we have those resources available and how do you get hold of those resources.”
With Southwest Kansas being a rural area, Coleman said many people think trauma does not happen here, but it does. She said with SWMC serving many of Liberal’s surrounding communities, the trauma numbers increase even further.
“Our motto is, ‘If you see something, say something,’” she said. “Whether that’s reporting it to a counselor, if a friend of the child needs to report it to the counselor, at school, the counselor can get hold of whoever they need to. If you see something, say something whether that’s reporting it to someone at the school, whether that’s making a report to the Liberal Police Department, whether that’s calling the hospital and asking for me to report that.”
Coleman said nurses are mandated to report anything they see as suspicious to the state.
“A lot of investigations do happen, and a lot of them are fine, but you do have some of those that come out that are not okay,” she said.
Coleman said reports can also be made anonymously to the Kansas Department of Children and Families Web site at www.dcf.ks.gov.
Along with Childhood Trauma Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month, April is also Child Abuse Prevention Month, and Coleman said she grouped the three together to bring awareness to all of these issues.
April is likewise Sexually Transmitted Infection Month, and Coleman said it is important to remember for those who are sexually active to get routine care.
“Just like we go to the doctor and get our blood drawn for our cholesterol levels or our thyroid levels, if you are sexually active, you should routinely get that,” she said. “You don’t necessarily show symptoms all the time, so you’re not only exposing yourself, but you’re possibly exposing other people as well.”
Coleman said men can go years without symptoms, but if they have a sexual partner, those women could have those symptoms. She added left untreated, STIs can be deadly.
“We look more closely at chlamydia, gonorrhea,” she said. “If you’re a woman and you’re getting pregnant, those can also have great effects on the fetus. It is highly contagious, and you can go years without knowing.”
A particular symptom women show, Coleman said, is abdominal pain.
“They can have discharge,” she said. “Most of the time, we know our body, so if something’s off, it’s better to get tested and make sure everything’s okay. It is an infection, so you’re going to have a fever. You’re going to have chills. You’re going to have abdominal pains.”
While there are other means of preventing STIs, Coleman said condoms are still the best way to do so, especially for those with more than one partner.
“The health department has free condoms, and they do a lot of STI testing,” she said. “If you are concerned, if you think you might have an STI, you can call and make an appointment, talk to someone there.”
Coleman said at one point, Seward County had one of the highest chlamydia rates in the state. She said more STI statistics can be found on the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Web site at www.kdhe.ks.gov, and searches can be done by state, county or town. Coleman said symptoms for STIs depend on the circumstance of the infection.
“If you are a woman of child-bearing age and you feel you’re pregnant or you are pregnant and you’re having symptoms, it’s important to get tested,” she said. “It can cause blindness. It can cause heart disease. It can cause death.”
Coleman added the hospital has the capability to test for infections.
“If you’re concerned and you’re at your primary care provider, you can ask to be tested,” she said. “They also have those resources.”
While SWMC’s emergency room is open 24 hours, Coleman said with other critical patients and circumstances, STI cases may have a wait before being seen by a doctor. She said the Seward County Health Department can provide testing and bill insurance or work on an income-based sliding scale.
As for what is used to treat STIs, Coleman said most cases are handled with antibiotics.
“You get prescribed some antibiotics depending on the infection, where you’re at, what symptoms are going on and how long you’ve let the infection go, but most of the time, you’re prescribed antibiotics to take that, and they encourage you to follow up,” she said.
Coleman said social media and other avenues of entertainment can have a major influence on STIs.
“The media can be a good foundation to get that education out there and to make it okay to ask for help,” she said. “There’s no judgment. We’d rather you get tested and ask for help than you come in and we can’t help.”
Coleman said the effects from social media particularly influence younger generations.
“It’s a good platform if we use it correctly to get the information out, and it can also be a detrimental platform if we choose to allow our children to view those things they shouldn’t be doing,” she said.
