http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/ ... 9302c.html

Agencies tackle growing language barrier
BY DIANE KNICH, The Island Packet
Published Tuesday, August 16th, 2005


Deputies, paramedics and other first responders in the Lowcountry are dealing in different ways with a problem they face more and more often -- communicating in emergency situations with residents who only speak Spanish.
In some cases, for example, emergency workers have taken Spanish classes where they've learned to ask injured people basic questions about their condition. In other cases, telephone interpreter services are being used to bridge the language gap.

Most emergency workers in Beaufort County and on Hilton Head Island have taken classes in basic Spanish, according to Joseph Allen, director of Beaufort County Emergency Medical Services, and John Thompson, chief of training for Hilton Head Fire and Rescue.
In Jasper County, basic Spanish classes have been offered to emergency workers, county administrator Andy Fulghum said. In addition, the county recently hired a company that provides translation service over the phone.

Jasper County has been struggling with the language problem as more Hispanic residents move into the county. In 1990, only 69 Hispanic residents lived in the county, Fulghum said. Now the county has 1,567 Hispanics, according to a study by the Lowcountry Council of Governments.

"The Hispanic community is the fastest-growing community in Jasper County," Fulghum said. "We need to understand the language and the culture and provide services to these folks adequately."

Beaufort County's Hispanic population also has mushroomed. The county had 2,168 Hispanic residents in 1990, but the number jumped to 8,208 in 2000, according to census figures. Janeth Miller, president of the board of directors of Latin American Council of South Carolina, said her organization conservatively estimates there are about 10,000 Hispanic residents in Beaufort County today.

Lt. Steve Mendoza of the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office said six of the department's 188 officers are bilingual and often are called on to translate. The Sheriff's Office recruits bilingual deputies and other personnel, and those fluent in Spanish receive an additional $1,200 a year.

The Latin American Council helps deputies and residents who need translating assistance, Miller said. She received a phone call in the middle of the night from a man whose car was being searched by deputies and another from a woman trying to talk to officers about a violent incident that occurred in her home.

William Winn, director of Beaufort County Emergency Management, said all 911 calls made in Beaufort County can be forwarded to Language Line Services. The county is paying the company $18,240 this year to handle translations over the phone. Language Line Services not only translates Spanish, but 164 other languages, too.

Bluffton police officers also can use the telephone service, but some are trying to learn to speak Spanish on their own, said Chief John Brown. Two of the town's 16 officers are bilingual.

Brown and another officer took a basic Spanish class last spring to learn phrases they probably would use. Brown said he learned to say things like, "Stop and turn around" and "May I see your license?"