Language a potential challenge on 911 calls

MMiz

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Language a potential challenge on 911 calls

A major problem facing area communities is how to respond to issues when emergency dispatchers cannot communicate with callers.

Morgantown Police Chief Billy Phelps said he recently ended up delivering a baby because the 911 communicators had a language barrier with a Hispanic caller.

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I can really see this being a problem in the small community I lived in last year. They had an ever increasing Hispanic population, and had difficulty finding qualified bilingual for a variety of jobs.
 

Bosco578

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Language a potential challenge on 911 calls

A major problem facing area communities is how to respond to issues when emergency dispatchers cannot communicate with callers.

Morgantown Police Chief Billy Phelps said he recently ended up delivering a baby because the 911 communicators had a language barrier with a Hispanic caller.

Read more!

I can really see this being a problem in the small community I lived in last year. They had an ever increasing Hispanic population, and had difficulty finding qualified bilingual for a variety of jobs.


So True, happens here ALL the time.
 

firecoins

IFT Puppet
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guess its time we all learn to speak espanol.
 

NJN

The Young One
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guess its time we all learn to speak espanol.

Whenever i encounter a Hispanic Pt. and their family (40-50% of my calls) it makes me want to kick myself for being a French and Italian student.
 

CFRBryan347768

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MMiz

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
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Or they learn to speak english
Of course we'd like all immigrants to speak English right after crossing the border, but that's not an option.

A couple of years ago I taught several students who literally just crossed the US/Mexican border, and landed up in my class. They had many other changes and issues to deal with. Ideally EMS should be able to communicate with every person, but of course that's not always a possibility.
 

Hastings

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At least we have ways to work around it once we're on scene. Both myself and my partner have field guides with us at all times that, among other things, have a long list of common/useful Spanish phrases. While neither of us speaks Spanish, we're able to point to the phrases in the book. Surprisingly, it works extremely well. Of course, the book doesn't include everything I'd like to know, but it knows enough to treat the patient as is necessary.
 

CFRBryan347768

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Of course we'd like all immigrants to speak English right after crossing the border, but that's not an option.

A couple of years ago I taught several students who literally just crossed the US/Mexican border, and landed up in my class. They had many other changes and issues to deal with. Ideally EMS should be able to communicate with every person, but of course that's not always a possibility.

All they have to know is the basics.

Name
Age
Address
SS#
Telephone Number
What Hurts
When Did It Start
Do You Know How It Could Have Started
Dr.'s Name
Previous Med. Conditions/surgerys etc.
Allergys

Why do we have to take time out of our sched. to learn their language. Espically when some of us have to work 3 jobs and come home and raise a family.
 

mikeylikesit

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I don't mind those calls as long as the children are not hurt. mainly because the children can speak fluent engilsh almost always.
 

CFRBryan347768

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I don't mind those calls as long as the children are not hurt. mainly because the children can speak fluent engilsh almost always.

Yes this is true in my area also. Unless their crying then penlights go missing and anything else you can get to calm them down to get them to talk so you can understand them ha
 

Jon

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My County has a town which brags about being the "Mushroom capital of the world" - they hold a yearly Mushroom Festival with a Mushroom parade, a Queen... the whole 9 yards.

The growing portion of the county has a HUGE migrant population.

My county's 911 center uses Language Line (http://www.languageline.com/ - there are also other services out there). The 911 calltaker can patch in the Language Line folks and use them as an interpreter. Most of the local hospitals use Language Line or a similar service, and they have special phones with a 2nd handset so that they can have a 3-party call with a patient, medical provider, and the interpreter.

A lot of places have a list of in-house interpreters... but use Language Line when they can't get their own interpreter.



These services cost money... but given that the US has a lot of immigrants who don't speak english as a first language (not to mention fore gin tourists and guest workers).

Jon
 
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MMiz

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
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Yeah, LanguageLine is good, but costs about $3 a minute.
 

CFRBryan347768

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No. This isn't some national political issue.

No? So you are saying that we need to take the time to learn their language? You said it your self you have no life going through Paramedic school so is any one that works more then 1 job going to have time? NO! Thats absolutely ridiculous! It is not my job to understand them, or is it to take time out of my much needed work sched to take classes. And then you have the whole issuse of paying for it, theirs too much involved; they should learn the language or take a taxi.
 
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MMiz

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
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No? So you are saying that we need to take the time to learn their language? You said it your self you have no life going through Paramedic school so is any one that works more then 1 job going to have time? NO! Thats absolutely ridiculous! It is not my job to understand them, or is it to take time out of my much needed work sched to take classes. And then you have the whole issuse of paying for it, theirs too much involved; they should learn the language or take a taxi.
People have been using the "Learn the language or go home" argument for decades. Of course you're not obligated to learn any language beyond your own, but it's becoming an important skill in today's world.

When it comes down to it, it's about serving your community. If I worked and lived in a Hispanic community, it would be helpful to learn Spanish. I grew up in a community with a large Russian population, and I learned the basics of Russian. I think you'd find the same thing in many ethnic communities.

As a nation we've always hated the new guys. Whether it be Hispanics, Asians, Italians, or the Irish, our history shows that no matter who they are, we don't like the new guy.

Maybe you can expand your horizons a bit and think of the added benefit of learning a new language. Pick up a book, or just google online for medical terms. It would make you an even stronger medical provider in our diverse world.
 

Airwaygoddess

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Agreeded, what ever service you work for, and the population that you work in, it will benefit you for as a patient care advocate.
 

BrianJ

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All they have to know is the basics.

Name
Age
Address
SS#
Telephone Number
What Hurts
When Did It Start
Do You Know How It Could Have Started
Dr.'s Name
Previous Med. Conditions/surgerys etc.
Allergys

Why do we have to take time out of our sched. to learn their language. Espically when some of us have to work 3 jobs and come home and raise a family.

I'm curious to which part of the country you are in, I'm in Tucson, AZ where we have an enormous spanish speaking population. Yes it would be nice if no language barriers existed, but if your patient can learn the above information how hard is if for you to learn the questions in spanish? For almost all the questions you require them to learn the answers are going to be the same in spanish or english, Doctors names don't change from spanish to english. Where it hurts can be (and often is) indicated by body language as opposed to vocal anyway.
Regardless of if you are fluent in spanish or not, spanish speakers will be very appreciative of your attempt to communicate with them in their native language.
 

mikie

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I've seen courses for Spanish for EMS/healthcare providers. It definitely didn't help learning French in highschool (although I'm hoping one day I come across a French-only speaking patient!!). I'll probably look into taking one, as it is inevitable that Spanish is becoming a more prominent language in the states (north, south east and west!).

Though once I had a patient who didn't speak a word of English...just Mandarin Chinese. I knew a few words in that dialect, so once I started speaking, the rest of the crew in the ambulance's jaws dropped. Who knew!
 

ulrik

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Foreign speaking patient

and you don't know the language nor have a translator on call. what do you do ?
 
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MMiz

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
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I think you'll find that most patients know a few words of English, even if your questions are simplified. I've only used Spanish in the field once. Many services use a telephone translation service where you put the patient on speakerphone and the translator will translate questions and responses.
 
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