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Emergency Spanish for 9-1-1

By Frank Kiernan posted 03-06-2013 13:35

  
I am interested in finding out if any agency has used the Emergency Spanish for 9-1-1 by Command Spanish, Inc. and if you had any success with it.  Please give me pros and cons and if you used a different program.
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Michael DeOrian
03-15-2013 05:53

I have heard of some agencies using this, however, there is a high level of erroneous liability in allowing your staff to attempt to speak a language that they have not been formally taught. These trainings are OK for police officers, but I don't see how it would be wise to train dispatchers to speak Spanish. I would imagine that your safest bet is contracting with a translation service, such as Language Line, 911Translate, or one of the other companies. If you attempt to communicate with someone in Spanish, and you are not sure of what you are saying-- there is a high possibility of transposing a number, or a street extension - anything could happen.... so I would personally think to avoid this. Go with a translator.