Bridging the (Language) Gap Due to the advances in medical science people can now survive horrific accidents

and virulent illnesses. The one area which is still causing a massive hurdle it that of language; doctors, nurses and emergency personnel often struggle to treat a patient effectively if they cant understand each other. The Herbrew, English, Arabic, Amharic Divide Over the past few years thousands of Russians and Ethiopians have immigrated to Israel many of whom speak Hebrew or English as a second language or, not at all. Predictably this has lead to frustration for both the medical personnel as well as their patients, not to mention the fact that these language gaps could prove dangerous. In an effort to improve matters the Health Ministry has now launched a pilot medical translation project. According to The Jerusalem Post the project will be running at selected departments at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya and Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, in some units of Kupat Holim Meuhedet and in a number of the Health Ministrys family health centers (tipot halav) in Ramle. How it Works Essentially the system works as follows; should a patient not speak Hebrew or English fluently enough to have a medical consultation the hospital staff member present will call the designated translation service. All translators at the company have undergone a special course in order to offer medical translation services and been provided with medical dictionaries in their native languages. These translators will then act as a go-between for personnel and patients. A Continent Removed On the other side of the world RTT Mobile, based in Chaska, Minnesota, North America, has developed a translation tool which is making the lives of emergency workers like firemen and paramedics much easier: ELSA (Enabling Language Service Anywhere) is essentially a device which enables emergency personnel to conduct a three way conversation between themselves, their patient and a translator. ELSA is more or less the size of an index card with three buttons, built-in speakers and a microphone, encased in a tough exoskeleton to weather all kinds of conditions. Sgt. Jason Burke, a training officer for the St. Cloud Police

Department, told MPR News that the device has made a significant difference in how officers interact with the public. He explained that the difference is in getting access to an interpreter immediately whereas they used to have to rely on bilingual officers or scheduling appointments with translators. Who knows, if these projects are successful it may open the door to the legal translation of medical documents and forms. Image courtesy: Bill Branson