If drug-facilitated sexual assault is suspected and the patient needs to urinate prior to the arrival of the SAFE examiner, what should the healthcare provider do?

When drug-facilitated sexual assault is suspected, the integrity of evidence is crucial for any subsequent legal proceedings. Collecting a urine sample properly while maintaining the chain of custody is essential because the sample can provide vital information regarding the presence of drugs that may have been used in the assault.

Maintaining chain of custody means that the sample must be handled in a way that ensures it can be traced back to the individual and that it hasn’t been tampered with. This involves careful documentation and often supervision during collection. If a sample is discarded or collected improperly, it might compromise the evidence, potentially hindering justice for the victim and preventing accountability for the perpetrator.

Other options would not adequately protect the evidence or the patient's situation. For example, allowing the patient to urinate without supervision could lead to the loss of critical evidence, while ignoring the request is inappropriate given the circumstances surrounding a potential sexual assault.