Human Trafficking Victim Identification, Assessment, and Intervention Strategies in South Texas Emergency Departments.

Introduction: Human-trafficking victims seek assistance for health issues in emergency departments. This point of contact provides an opportunity for screening and identification of the victim's situation, enabling intervention.

Methods: This descriptive research study was designed to identify whether a standard protocol is currently used to identify, assess, and intervene for human-trafficking victims in 47 south Texas counties. ED leaders were surveyed using a sequential set of strategies including online, e-mail, and/or phone surveys to identify the methods used in emergency departments screening for adult and child human-trafficking victims.

Results: Researchers surveyed 99 emergency departments in south Texas, which includes 21 counties bordering Mexico. Twenty-seven ED leaders responded (27.3%). Despite being located in an area with high rates of human trafficking, these leaders stated that few trafficking victims were identified in 2017. Eleven (40.7%) of the responding emergency departments specifically screened adults for human trafficking, and 10 (37.0%) specifically screened children for human trafficking. A variety of methods were used by each of these emergency departments to identify human-trafficking victims.

Discussion: The failure to recognize human-trafficking victims prevents assessment of the victim's status and further delays referral to appropriate resources. Barriers to screening for human trafficking included lack of awareness of the human-trafficking experience, need for clinical education related to evidence-based protocols, and need for validated screening instruments and standardization of processes that promote action and provide victim assistance.