Target 12 Investigator Alexandra Leslie takes an in-depth look at how these substances are putting lives at risk in Rhode Island.

"This was the first initiative to have an expert team of trained nurses and advance practice providers," said Dr. Susan Duffy, the medical director of the SAFE program.

Sexual violence is demographically unbounded: no age group, economic or educational identity, or geographic location is unaffected. And these are among the reasons that Brown University Health’s SAFE program serves a vulnerable population.

The practitioners responsible for creating and overseeing the Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) program, as it’s formally known, nurse, Lori Clements and Dr. Susan J. Duffy, recently took the time to explain the pioneering program for Ocean State Stories.

Amid cresting heat waves around the globe, Dr. Katelyn Moretti of the Warren Alpert Medical School relays the risks of high temperatures and how to keep cool and prevent dehydration.

As of January 2024, 24 states have legalized cannabis for recreational purposes with five more pursuing legalization. Even more have legalized cannabis for medical use. This has led to an unforeseen and alarming consequence: an increase in unintentional ingestion of edible cannabis products (known as “edibles”) by children. At Hasbro Children’s Hospital alone, there has been an over 700% increase in emergency department visits for younger children with unintentional cannabis exposure since the passing of the state law and opening of the first recreational dispensary, with rates continuing to rise.

"Drowning is silent. I think movies and media sometimes make us think that drowning is a big splashing event with a lot of noise but that is not the case," said Dr. Rebecca Wingerter, an emergency medicine pediatrician at Hasbro Children's Hospital. "We know from an abundance of data that when children drown it's largely quite and they go under and you don't necessarily know."