Effective Communication During Emergencies

This week, I attended a webinar hosted by the American Translators Association called “Best Practices in Emergency Response Language Services.” In the wake of the Los Angeles fires, this matter is top of mind, and people are discussing ways to improve communication by reflecting on what works and what doesn’t.

Eight professionals working emergency response situations took part in a roundtable discussion about how to ensure effective communication during emergencies. They included an emergency 911 dispatcher from Atlanta, a law enforcement officer trained in responding to gun violence, an ASL interpreter for FEMA, and several others.

Here are my takeaways:

1. Speed is key. Emergencies happen quickly, and the concept of “the golden hour” (or, as one presenter put it, “the golden minute”) is real. These are the first moments when communication needs to be gathered and distributed before confusion sets in.
2. Accurate, real-time information is necessary. It’s important for authorities and language services providers to know how a community gets its information: Radio? Internet? Text messages? This knowledge helps to make sure folks get information quickly. Also, regional dialects within one language can mean that one word can signify different things to different people, so having staff who can use the dialect people speak (Haitian French or Québécois French, for example) makes a big difference.
3. Have empathy and understand the role emotions play. Sometimes there is a need to really communicate emotions such as shock, grief or sadness. A trained language professional can provide comfort and clarity when everything else is unclear.
4. Respect a language professional’s abilities and limitations. If you normally work with a specific translator or interpreter for, say, outreach during a wildfire, don’t assume that person is comfortable with medical emergencies. A true professional knows their own strengths and weaknesses, so respect when someone says they can’t provide services for a specific topic. On-call services like LanguageLine are good tools if you need, as one person put it, “a spare tire and backup.”
5. Hire a professional! Individuals with limited English proficiency have the right to request language access during an emergency. They should not be required to rely on friends and family to be their interpreters. Having staff members, contract workers, or an on-call service ensures you are complying with the law.

Has your community experienced an emergency that required language services? What worked, and what didn’t? Do you have anything you would add to this list? Let me know in the comments.