Human Trafficking: the Implications for EMS Personnel

A young woman has gone into early labor. A man with a broken hand seems frightened and doesn't speak English. A little boy is suffering frequent respiratory problems.

The average EMS worker could treat any of these people on any given day.

And, according to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, any of these people could be victims of human trafficking.

According to research from the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, as many as 800,000 victims are trafficked across international borders annually, and between 14,500 and 17,500 of those victims are trafficked into the United States each year.

Once they have been illegally smuggled into the country, victims of human trafficking are modern-day slaves. They are often beaten, raped, lied to and malnourished. They can be exploited for the use of domestic servitude, migrant farming or even sex tourism. They can be children, teenagers or adults. But most importantly - they can never say a word about what they are going through.

Martha E. Newton, Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement at the Department of Health and Human Services, says that is because victims are intimidated by their captors.

"A trafficking victim is never going to say 'Help, I'm a trafficking victim,'" Newton says.

She says that captors can intimidate their victims by persuading them that the captor is the only person the victim can trust. They can take advantage of the fact that victims don't have proper legal documentation and threaten to turn them over to the government where, they say, the victim would be treated far worse.

"They may be under such psychological trauma that the captor is someone in their mind that they know and trust."

And that's where, she hopes, EMS workers come in.

"The health care system is an ideal entry for identifying victims of trafficking," Newton says.

That's because they can get closer to victims than anyone else in the outside world. Trafficking victims are often kept hidden from the public - but they also lead hard lives, and can incur injuries that could put them in the hands of an EMS worker.

Newton says EMS workers can be trained so that they know when they are working with a human trafficking victim.

"An injury isn't just taken as an injury at face value - it's looking for clues."

She said some clues can be:

• Fear and anxiety
• the inability to move or leave freely
• ignorance of where they are, or what time or day it is
• sexually transmitted diseases
• chronic back, hearing, cardiovascular or respiratory problems
• the presence of another person who seems aggressive or controlling

Newton says the Department of Health and Human Services is making it easier for rescue workers to learn about and identify human trafficking victims. She says the department has set up a website with further information, including questions to ask and clues to look for.

The department has also set up a 24-hour, seven-day-a week hotline for anyone who feels they may know of a human trafficking victim. That phone number is 1-888-373-7888.