Episode 15: Potential Victims of Human Trafficking in the Clinical Setting

This is a very “quick and dirty” overview of human trafficking, what it encompasses and what to do if you come across a victim in the healthcare setting, specifically, in the emergency department. Danielle goes over brief definitions of human trafficking, how to identify potential victims and what to do If you’ve confirmed a victim in your clinical setting. Danielle graduated with a doctorate in nursing practice from Wayne State University in 2018 with a specialty as family nurse practitioner. Her doctoral research was focused on human trafficking. She designed and implemented a protocol for identifying and treating potential victims of human trafficking in the emergency department while working as a registered nurse in the ED at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI. This was the first project of its kind within the system; 19 victims including 4 minors were identified in the first year of its use. The algorithm was so successful it has since been adapted and implemented at institutions across the US and Canada. Danielle currently works as the coordinator of advanced practice and also as a nurse practitioner in oncology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI. She has won several awards for her work in human trafficking including being named a 2019 Health Care Hero by Crains Business Detroit, New Nurse Practitioner of the Year in Michigan 2020 (MICNP), System Innovation Award by ANA 2020 and several others. Danielle continue to improve and disseminate her work in trafficking as well as pilot community projects on trafficking in the city of Detroit. It is her ultimate goal to assist in finding a ‘gold standard’ of care for victims across the country. There are several resources I use regularly: UNODC Trafficking in Persons Report Department of Justice ILO Department of Homeland Security, Blue Campaign National Human Trafficking Hotline Polaris Project Department of Health and Human Services Toolkit Resources: HEAL Trafficking ICMEC Toolkit (Improving Healthcare Services) Genesee County, Victim Identification