VGCC Offers Sexual Assault Response Training To Medical, Public Services

A three-day course, “Responding to Sexual Assault in the New Millennium,” will be offered at Vance-Granville Community College April 10-12.

Classes will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday-Friday, in Room 9206 on the main campus in Vance County.

The course is designed for doctors and nurses, law enforcement, emergency medical services and fire personnel – all those who might respond to, investigate or treat victims of sexual assault. Wendy Mellon, a registered nurse who is the sexual assault examiner at Maria Parham Hospital, will teach the course.

Classes will cover evidence collection and interrogating suspects, the three patterns of rape, the mind-set of perpetrators and types of offenders, reporting of offenses and reactions of victims, privacy and confidentiality, and many other facets of this crime.

Enrollment in the class is limited. Persons interested in attending should call Tony Pendergrass, VGCC coordinator of Law Enforcement Training, for more information and to register. He can be reached at 252-738-3263 or 252-492-2061.