Reference no: EM133512968

Case Scenario: Seventeen-year-old Ramon was taken to the ER by ambulance in a coma. He was met in the hospital by his mother a first-generation immigrant from Costa Rica and 16-year-old- sister, Lucia. Lucia found her brother on the floor of the bathroom unconscious. She called 911 and had difficulty describing the situation because she was in shock. The 911 operator tried to get her to perform CPR, but she was too traumatized to make an impact. Once the EMTs got to the home he was resuscitated but remained unconscious. At the hospital, the ER physician did not speak Spanish. The doctor assumed Ramon was suffering from a drug overdose. His mother said, in broken English, "he is intoxicado." In Cuban Spanish, "intoxicado" means "poisoned." When the ER physician told the family he would treat Ramon for an overdose, they were upset. In Spanish, his mother said, "That's impossible. He would never take drugs. He is an all-star baseball athlete! He is opposed to drugs and drinking." The doctor asked Lucia to translate. She translated what the mother was saying, but the ER staff did not think she knew what she was talking about, and the situation became intense. Lucia began to shout, became verbally abusive towards the staff, and was removed because of her behavior. Neither the doctor nor the mother (his legal guardian) asked for a professional interpreter.

Question 1: Explain how the issues/problems seen in Ramon's case are examples of inappropriate uses of an interpreter.

Question 2: Evaluate any alternatives the doctor could have used to help him understand the family's concerns besides relying on the younger sister to translate.

Question 3: Outline a plan that hospitals and/or other medical facilities could use to ensure families are aware of their options when it comes to things like interpreters and language access services. Describe what smaller facilities might be able to do to ensure they are best serving clients and patients from a wide variety of linguistic backgrounds.