Lack of Translators in Medical Settings

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News from our treasurer, Marjorie Kaplan

By Marjorie Kaplan

While scrolling through Twitter I saw a post from a medical doctor. She talked about a patient who was described to her as confused and unresponsive. “Does she speak English?” “Oh, yes, we’ve been talking to her in English, but her answers are slow and confused.” The doctor started speaking to the patient in
Spanish, and suddenly she was clear and coherent.

What followed this post was an avalanche of comments from doctors, nurses, and patients’ relatives recounting episodes in which patients were on the verge of being drugged with heavy antipsychotics and sent to the psych ward.

In one case, a man was reported to be lying in his bed chanting gibberish. He turned out to be saying his morning prayers in Apache. Another patient was reported to be demented when she was speaking German. Even after a relative told the attendants that German was her language, they waited until they
found a German doctor to confirm before locating a translator.

There were dozens of stories like this. There was a woman who couldn’t communicate with the Spanish language translator provided by the medical facility. This translator pointed out that the patient was Hungarian. And the many incidents of medical professionals continuing to speak English, just louder and slower.

Title 6 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that all programs that receive federal funds must make every effort to provide those services to people with limited English ability. If local translators are not available, there are several apps the offer translations such as Google Translate, as well as telephone translator services. But first health care professionals need to understand the importance of language proficiency in more than one language.

If you are interested in seeing some other examples, see the original tweet thread below:

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Fanni is Radnóti's wife
Located near the Tang capital city of Chang’an, site of the modern city of Xi’an in Shaanxi province, in central China.
Soldiers of that time commonly wore a white head cloth, similar to what is still worn by some peasants in China today.  The implication is that the conscripts were so young that they didn’t know how to wrap their head cloths, and needed help from elders.
Before China’s unification under the Qin dynasty in 221 B.C. there were several competing smaller kingdoms.  Han and Qin were two of these kingdoms. Han was located east of famous mountain passes that separated that area from the power base of the Qin dynasty, with its capital in Chang’an. The Qin dynasty itself only lasted about 15 years after unification due to its draconian rule, but soldiers under Qin rule retained a reputation as strong fighters.
The area of Guanxi, meaning “west of the passes”, refers to the area around the capital city of Chang’an.
This is an alternative name for a province in western China, now known as Qinghai, which literally means “blue sea”.  Kokonor Lake, located in Qinghai, is the largest saline lake in China.  
Before China’s unification under the Qin dynasty in 221 B.C. there were several competing smaller kingdoms.  Han and Qin were two of these kingdoms. Han was located east of famous mountain passes that separated that area from the power base of the Qin dynasty, with its capital in Chang’an. The Qin dynasty itself only lasted about 15 years after unification due to its draconian rule, but soldiers under Qin rule retained a reputation as strong fighters.
Oulart Hollow was the site of a famous victory of the Irish rebels over British troops, which took place on May 27, 1798. The rebels killed nearly all the British attackers in this battle. (Source: Maxwell, W. H. History of the Irish Rebellion in 1798. H. H. Bohn, London 1854, pp 92-93, at archive.org)
The phrase "United Men" is elaborated upon in the Notes section below.

Ghetto

An Italian word meaning “foundry.” It originally referred to a part of the city of Venice where the Jews of that city were forced to live; the area was called “the ghetto” because there was a foundry nearby. The term eventually came to refer to any part of a city in which a minority group is forced to live as a result of social, legal, or economic pressure. Because of the restrictions placed upon them, ghetto residents are often impoverished.

"You’re five nine, I am do-uble two"

A reference to the year 1959 and the year 2020.

"The Currency"

Meaning US dollars - this is drawing attention to the fact that Cuba is effectively dollarized.

"Sixty years with the dom-ino stuck"

This sentence is a reference to the Cold War notion that countries would turn Communist one after the other - like dominos. Cuba was the first domino, but it got stuck - no one else followed through into communism.

رحلنا

رحلنا, or "rahalna," means "we have left."

Habibi

Habibi means "my love."

Ra7eel

Ra7eel, or "raheel," means "departure."

3awda

3awda, or "awda," means "returning."

أهلاً

أهلاً, or "ahalan," means "welcome."

a5 ya baba

a5 ya baba, pronounced "akh ya baba," means "Oh my father."