Timely Emergency Assistance

Years ago I worked for a large 911 Dispatch Center as a 911 call-taker. It was a quite, late night when I received a call I will never forget. The call was from a gentleman who was foreign and contacting me from a cell phone. Unlike what the television show CSI would like you to believe, it is not possible for 911 Call Centers to “triangulate” an exact location on a cell phone. A person calling on a cell phone must be able to give the location they are at, unlike a home phone number that will automatically display on a 911 call-taker’s computer screen. Normally we had a translator service we would go through for people calling in a foreign language and these types of calls generally went smoothly, however, the service could not help us unless we could tell them what language we needed translated. This gentleman was speaking a language I had never heard before in my life and he did not know a single word of English. I tried asking in every way possible what language he spoke and he kept trying to tell me what was wrong in a language I did not understand. His voice became more panicky and strained the longer we took, fighting for communication. I sought help through the other call-takers and supervisors but to no avail. The urgency in his voice was heartbreaking the few minutes before he hung up the phone in utter frustration. I never knew what happened to him, what his emergency was and if he was alright. Honestly, I don't care if there is, or isn't, a law making English the official language. People are going to speak whatever language they want, which I believe is fine and can not damage our country. I worry about immigrants that have come to this country illegally, however, and not required to learn English as soon as possible, as they would if they had come legally (Yes, I know that there is a huge majority of illegal immigrants that learn English of their own accord and in a timely manner. This is not the case 100% of the time, leaving many people without timely emergency assistance). It is essential that immigrants learn the language of the country they are coming to, at least enough to receive fast basic help from 911, police and hospitals. It may save their life some day. How I wish this gentleman just understood one phrase: “What language do you speak?”