title: Identification and Treatment of Human Trafficking Victims in the Emergency Department: A Case Report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human trafficking victims experience extreme exploitation and have unique health needs, yet too often go undetected by physicians and providers in the Emergency Department (ED). We report a clinical case of human trafficking of a white, English-speaking United States citizen and discuss the features of presentation and treatment options for human trafficking victims upon presentation to the ED.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 29-year-old woman with a past medical history significant for intravenous drug abuse and recent relapse presented to the ED after a reported sexual assault. The patient was discharged that evening and returned to the ED the following day acutely suicidal. The patient divulged that she had been kidnapped and raped at gunpoint by numerous individuals as a result of a debt owed to her drug dealers. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Many human trafficking victims present to an ED during the course of their exploitation. To that end, EDs provide one of a limited set of opportunities to intervene in the human trafficking cycle of exploitation, and physicians as well as other ED staff should be equipped to respond.
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Patric
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gibbons
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Hanni
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stoklosa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000009:adverse effects; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology; D064423:Drug Trafficking / Q000523:psychology; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends*; D005260:Female; D064410:Human Trafficking / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D059020:Suicidal Ideation
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid
keywords: human trafficking; human trafficking case report; labor trafficking; management of human trafficking victims; opioid abuse; sex trafficking; substance abuse