Emergency service dispatchers in Sioux City, Iowa, say that language can be a major hurdle in conversations, and may even stop people calling for emergency help altogether.

A report appearing in the Sioux City Journal this week revealed that none of the dispatchers at Woodbury County Communications Center was bilingual, and had to rely on an on-call interpreter to translate conversations with non-English speakers.

Supervisor Wendi Hess told the publication that "it takes twice as long to understand what's going on because everything you're asking is being relayed. It just takes patience and it takes a little more time to determine what's going on when you don't understand them."

She said that although Woodbury County seeks bilingual skills in prospective employees, bilingual dispatchers have been difficult to find.

On the city's police force, only six officers speak Spanish, the most widely spoken second language.

"You can imagine a highly volatile, rapidly evolving, high-stress situation where you're unable to communicate orders to someone who poses a threat to you," Lt Mark Kirkpatrick told the Journal. "It can be life-threatening."

The Catholic Sentinel (Portland, Oregon) also reported this week on the potentially tragic consequences of the language barrier.

In an article highlighting the obstacles facing Hispanic victims of domestic abuse, the paper named language, among other cultural barriers, as a reason why some women failed to report being physically abused by their husbands.

Project UNICA runs a 24-hour Spanish-speaking crisis line in Multnomah County, Oregon, to address the problem.

15 November 2009

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