Marshfield Medical Center-Weston’s (MMC-Weston's) Forensic Nurse Examiner, Lynette Volkers, works passionately to inform all community members about intimate partner violence and sexual assault in Marathon County. As the only hospital in the region that handles pediatric sexual assault, drug endangered children and child abuse cases, MMC-Weston plays a key role in supporting not only victims, but all community organizations with a role in supporting victims.
 
Twice a year, Volkers participates in a multidisciplinary panel organized by a local women’s shelter to inform and educate area high school students. In addition to Volkers, the panel includes law enforcement, the district attorney’s office, the police department therapist, a parole representative and an expert in the sexual assault registry. The presentation uses a hypothetical scenario between ‘Eric’ and ‘Jenny.’ Each panel member describes their role in the hypothetical scenario to educate students about informed consent, the medical and legal processes of an assault, personal rights, probation and parole, the sex offender registry, advocacy and behavioral health. The presentation is delivered at five high schools twice a year, reaching over 1,000 students per year. The panel is regularly scored as the ‘most helpful’ part of the educational program, and students will often approach panelists afterwards to reveal they didn’t know they had been a victim until attending the panel.
 
Volkers represents MMC-Weston on numerous community response teams that meet on a regular basis to discuss community-wide issues and solutions. One recent outcome from the Marathon County Domestic Abuse Intervention Team, was uncovering the need for more education to law enforcement on the medical emergency of strangulation. The presentation to law enforcement stressed the serious health consequences of strangulation that last days, weeks, and even months after the incident, even when a victim seems ok. One day after the presentation, officers used that information to bring a strangulation victim to the ER.
 
MMC-Weston’s forensic nurse cares for all types of assault: sexual, elderly, domestic abuse, child abuse, strangulation, and drug endangered children. By partnering with community leaders, the entire community can benefit from additional awareness and education which helps get sex offenders off the street.