ANITA SYMONDS: Christiana Care is a level one trauma center. [beeping] The forensic nurses at Christiana Hospital are emergency room nurses that we have trained to identify things that would be considered evidence on a victim of a crime.
EMT: We have a 50ish-year-old female, three gunshot wounds, one to the leg...
JENNIFER OLDHAM: Christiana Care started with our forensic team only seeing sexual assault patients and later grew to abuse and neglect and then the stabbings and the gunshot wounds.
NURSE: Hi, ma'am. My name is Megan. I'm one of the forensic nurses here.
ANITA SYMONDS: We're focusing on the injury documentation, and then we end up turning that over to the police.
NURSE: This is for the shirt.
GREG D'ELIA: I can ask them: "How did this happen?" They can give me that detail right then and there. Okay, thanks. Is there any other evidence?
NURSE: No, that's it. Thanks. All yours.
GREG D'ELIA: The team at Christiana Health Care goes above and beyond. They're concerned with the immediate well-being of that person physically, medically and emotionally and connect them with the correct victim services.
ANITA SYMONDS: If a child comes into the emergency department that fell, same with an elder, we can identify certain types of injuries as to whether they're inflicted or consistent with a fall. We use those skills to kind of screen out abuse as well as screen in abuse.
MATTHEW FRAWLEY: We use a forensic nurse examiner to establish the level of injuries sustained by a person so that we can establish an element of an offense.
ATTORNEY: Please raise your right hand to affirm...
MATTHEW FRAWLEY: Their testimony is critical to help me explain to a jury, and prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt, that my victim in that case sustained serious physical injury. Explain...
JENNIFER OLDHAM: What keeps Christiana Care's Forensic Team going is that we have the potential to help society. The evidence that we collect can help prosecute someone who is a public menace or committed a horrific crime. It's all about helping the public. It feels wonderful.
