Ark. Agency First In State With New Translation Devices

March 31--Fort Smith EMS workers now have new push-button devices that help break down language barriers between emergency personnel and patients.

The system, called ELSA, allows paramedics to communicate with a translator who can listen in on conversations between caretakers and patients via a cellphone sized device, Fort Smith EMS director Tim Hearn said. RTT Mobile Interpretation provides the service for a $20 monthly fee with a $1.50 per minute charge for four devices.

Fort Smith EMS is the first ambulance service in Arkansas, and one of the first in the nation, to have ELSA, Hearn said. The ambulances received the devices last week.

"It's one of these things where it's like, 'Why wait until everyone else does it?' We like to kind of set the standard at Fort Smith EMS," Hearn said. "We like to try to provide everything we possibly can for our citizen group."

Some staff members of Fort Smith EMS speak Spanish, but if a worker encounters a patient who speaks a language he or she does not understand, the device is equipped in the ambulance and can be worn on a paramedic's body, Hearn said.

ELSA enables two-way communication, an invaluable resource in emergency care, Hearn said.

"You can get something that lets you speak to them in their language, but if you can't understand them, then you still have a barrier," Hearn said. "You can say, 'Point to where it hurts,' in a different language and they point, but if you want to understand what they're saying you have to have an interpreter present. This puts basically an interpreter with an extra 180 languages right in our ambulance with us."

The translators on the other line are trained in basic medical terminology, Hearn said, ensuring quality care when it is needed most.

"I worked as a paramedic for many years in Fort Smith, and that was one of our biggest problems -- finding someone, or hopefully having someone at the house who could translate for us, or just trying to figure out what was wrong with them," Hearn said. "That's tough, and that delays care and costs lives."

Copyright 2013 - Times Record, Fort Smith, Ark.