Use of English inside Urgences-Santé a hot potato
Because some calls to 911 are in English, Urgences-Santé’s computer system means some of its calls are dispatched in English even though some of the drivers and paramedics only speak French. Not a great situation from several angles.
Beeper 21:21 on 2011/12/07 Permalink
People learn to speak a language by being exposed to it. When they hear it, they learn it. That’s how I learned French. It was hard at first, but everything that’s easy was once hard. If someone can’t learn a language after constant exposure they’re clearly to dumb to have been hired in the first place. So what’s the problem?
Kate 22:16 on 2011/12/07 Permalink
The problem is that when someone’s health is on the line in an emergency situation, you want people’s understanding of descriptions and instructions to be crystal clear, and not have them fumbling as you do in a second language you don’t know well.
joe 00:04 on 2011/12/08 Permalink
Most cashiers at Tim Horton’s are bilingual and paramedics aren’t required to be fluent in both official languages?
Kate 00:09 on 2011/12/08 Permalink
English is not an official language.
MB 01:26 on 2011/12/08 Permalink
Beeper, Montreal is hardly the place to find constant exposure to French (i.e. immersion). You shouldn’t equate bilingualism in this town with intelligence, just sayin’.
Matt 02:06 on 2011/12/08 Permalink
Truth is, I take those calls. I have a protocol to respect. When callers tell me they have chest pain, I type chest pain. I don’t have to translate anything. The software then sends a summary to the CAD (computer assisted dispatch, right?) that looks like this: ’45 year-old male, conscious, breathing, problem description: chest pain’. The software we use at Urgences-santé can be used in two languages and is meant to be adapted to the language of the caller. The information sent to the ambulance is thus in the language of the caller. When we take that call in French, the summary is in French. The sending of such information can easily be configured to be ‘on’ or ‘off’. In a previous version of the CAD, this information was not shared. Anyway, what’s happening can be inferred from the code and descriptor assigned to the call, example ’10C04 Resipration normale > 35 ans’. Anyway, francophone paramedics arriving on the scene have to interact with the patient somehow. If paramedics have no idea how to interpret the codes of the protocol, that’s their problem.
MB 10:40 on 2011/12/08 Permalink
‘If paramedics have no idea how to interpret the codes of the protocol, that’s their problem.’
Unfortunately, it’ll end up being the caller’s problem. Thanks OQLF. My French isn’t even bad, but maybe I should keep my pocket Larousse & Bescherelle handy at all times just in case I can’t remember how to say “douleur thoracique” whilst dying.
Kate 01:16 on 2011/12/09 Permalink
Thanks for replying with that clarification, Matt. Truly it sounds like a software issue, and not like people are being oppressed by being forced to deal with English.
A couple of months ago I was walking along Côte-des-Neiges when a man had a seizure on the sidewalk. It was a nice afternoon and there were a ton of people around so 911 must have been ringing off the hook – we had Urgences-Santé and the fire department’s first responders all converging at once, probably because there are two major hospitals and a fire station within a few blocks. Anyway, I have no idea what language the guy spoke, because even when he came out of it he wasn’t able to say anything in English or French, both of which the ambulance guys tried as they got him into a gurney. They were so nice and gentle with him – it was clear he’d totally blacked out and was badly shaken up because he had no idea what was going on.
It’s hard for me to believe that these guys who essentially drive around rescuing people would not want to do it in the most effective way possible.