Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
NESTing Instinct: Tim Jew took the lead in creating the county fire department's new Non-English Speaking Tool, or NEST, a book of key phrases translated into more than a dozen languages. Non-English speakers can communicate with firefighters and paramedics by pointing to translations in the book.
Breaking the language barrier
County fire's new Non- English Speaking Tool makes it easier for fire crews to communicate
By Steven Raphael
The call came crackling through the radio: a woman had been hit by a car while crossing the street. She was conscious, but not moving.
Within minutes, firefighter Tim Jew arrived on the scene to provide medical care. But there was a problem: the woman didn't speak English and couldn't explain where she had been hurt.
"She wasn't able to communicate with us to allow us to properly treat her for her specific injuries," Jew said. "We had to just pack her up and send her off to the hospital."
There are many recent immigrants living in Silicon Valley, and that means language barriers can often complicate the jobs of emergency workers.
Santa Clara County Fire Department's new Non-English Speaking Tool (NEST) may be a solution to this problem. With the help of community members, Jew said, the fire department has translated key phrases into 13 different languages--Chinese, Farsi, Spanish, French, Tagalog, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, German, Polish, Armenian, Japanese and Korean.
"This idea came about from a need," said Jew, who first proposed NEST. "A need to better serve our non-English-speaking citizens who happen to have an emergency."
After two years of development, the book is now being distributed to county firefighters in Campbell and other cities served by the department.
On Nov. 11, county Engine One at the Cupertino station was the first truck to get the book. Soon, Jew predicts, every county engine will carry its own copy of the book. He said the books should be distributed by mid-December, at the latest.
"We have hoses, we have water, we have axes. These are all tools," Jew said. "This book is a tool to help us communicate. We need to ascertain information to allow us to proceed with proper techniques, to allow us to save their lives or their property."
Once firefighters determine that a language barrier exists, their first step is to learn what language the victims speak. Toward this end, the first page in NEST is a cover sheet featuring numerous translations of the phrase, "What language do you speak." Firefighters show the page to the victims, who point to their native language.
Next, firefighters turn to the page corresponding to the language and situation. According to Deputy Chief Steve Stump, 65 percent of the department's calls are for medical emergencies. The book contains three sections: fire, medical and trauma. Each section contains essential questions for specific situations.
For example, when a building is on fire, Jew said, the most important thing for firefighters is to determine if everyone is out of the building.
"As firefighters, we know to put the wet stuff on the hot stuff," he said. "However, we need to perform an effective search and that requires information."
If everyone is safe, Jew said, firefighters can concentrate on dousing the flames. But, "there are times when we have come across citizens who are not able to communicate with us ... whether anyone is still in the building," Jew said. "We cannot effectively perform our operations if we cannot ascertain that information."
Firefighters need to know as many details as possible: how many people are inside, whether they are adults or children, and exactly where in the building they are.
Victims who don't speak English can't tell firefighters these crucial facts. However, by pointing to NEST phrases written both in English and the native language of the victim, firefighters can learn these specific facts.
"When it comes down to it," Jew said. "We want to rise to the occasion."
Another method of translation is a phone service provided by AT&T that, for a monthly fee, provides translators over the phone. This is the method used by many police and ambulance services, including Campbell Police and American Medical Response.
"Nothing is wrong with the AT&T service," Jew said. "But it takes time and time is of the essence."
NEST allows firefighters to receive instant, concise answers, Jew said. The AT&T service would necessitate finding a phone and passing it back and forth between victims and firefighters. This would limit one firefighter to monitoring the phone, instead of working on the situation. Furthermore, Jew said, speaking to a translator often leads victims to "rattle off a whole story instead of just giving the pertinent details we need."
NEST may be a revolutionary idea for firefighters, but, according to Jew, the idea is centuries old. "There's nothing new about translations," he said. "It's how you use it and tailor it to your needs that makes it useful."
Jew said his inspiration for NEST came in 1995, as he was passing through U.S. customs on his way back from a trip to Japan.
"I was standing in line listening to a guy, who couldn't speak English, get questioned by a customs officer. The officer pulled out a paper that asked [the essential questions] in different languages," Jew said. "I thought, Why can't we do this for the fire service?"
Particularly in Silicon Valley, the need for NEST has grown exponentially in recent years. "The demographics are changing pretty rapidly," Capt. Kendall Pearson said. "Families are immigrating and bringing their families, and a lot of time they don't speak any English, at all."
As the technology industry has caught fire, so to say, high-tech companies have imported skilled workers from around the world. "We have people who can barely speak English," Jew said. "I know they will be able to get by in their daily lives, and that's fine. But accidents do happen."
Pearson praised Jew for the idea. "It's typical of a firefighter. You know your community, you find a need, and you figure out how to fill it," he said.
"NEST is a neat attack on an old problem," Pearson added. "It can be really effective."
Campbell, California
