"When Seconds Count, Speaking the Right Language Can Make All the Difference"

By Greg Holt for Emergency Number Professional Magazine


As health care and public agency managers are aware, limited English speakers seeking assistance in the U.S. have a legal right to equal access to government services. However, emergency dispatchers and first responders know all too well that language assistance is more than a legal issue; it is a human necessity that can spell the difference between life and death when every second counts.

The fact is, the most experienced dispatchers, equipped with the best technology, still face a challenge if the right procedures are not in place to communicate with our diverse population.

From the largest urban centers to the most distant rural communities, more and more residents are speaking a greater number of languages—from Spanish to Somali and many others. Therefore, public safety communication centers are taking a number of critical steps to be prepared. At the same time, dispatch managers must understand how best to use the language resources that are available.
 
Emergency communication officials across the country are building language access capabilities that vary in scope and strategy. In general, most emergency centers offer language support to callers using a combination of resources, including bilingual staff, “survival level” language training for dispatchers and telephone interpretation services.

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