LISTEN LIVE: Loading...

Advertisement

 

What Happens When Callers To 9-1-1 Speak No English?

06:07
Download
Play
This article is more than 8 years old.

In an emergency, the last thing you want to hear is, "I can't understand you." The reality is emergency dispatchers in most of the U.S. speak one language, English.

But in our increasingly polyglot society, some people in distress inevitably can't communicate in English.

From the Here & Now Contributors Network, Tom Banse of Northwest News Network takes us inside a 9-1-1 call center to find out what happens then.

Reporter

This segment aired on August 28, 2014.

Advertisement

 
Play
Listen Live
/00:00
Close