Google Translator App for Emergencies!

Fire, Police and EMT's respond to service assistance calls and emergencies every day and night, many will run into situations where the victim of a crime, injured person or person is ill; does not speak English, so now what. Field personnel in the emergency services now have a communications problem with the victim or patient.

I am a member of the Alamo Area Community Emergency Response Team (TEAM) and an instructor of CERT. Many of training takes place at small communities or at the San Antonio Fire Academy where some CERT candidates are trained.

Some communities are blessed to have in-house translators or special services that they can call to have a translator assist first responders and hospital personnel. In a large-scale field exercise, we had over 12 agencies involved in a mock disaster of heavy rains and several tornados hitting the San Antonio area, with two different fire departments and University Air life EMS helicopter. We used applications like messenger and hangout to provide a real-time view of several mock emergency operations going on in the field to the incident commander during the exercise; including the use of amateur radio communications network to act as a primary to help make our communications more resilient.

The next step in helping first responders was how do we communicate with someone who does not speak English; the solution was not only obvious but straightforward. Google LOC has a Google translator free app from the Google Play Store, where you can download your free Google app. What is impressive about this Google app; you have access to about eighty of the most spoken languages of the world.

I have used the Google translator in the field for Arabic, French, and Portuguese to communicate with people who did not speak English at all. You can select your language and switch the application between English and another language to be able to communicate with that person and ask them questions and then they can talk in their language and here it in English.

When it comes to a free and straightforward language translator; Google has made it easier for first responders and emergency hospital personnel to communicate with the person in real time. If you have a smartphone with internet data capability; no matter if you work as a first responder for the City of San Antonio or in New York City where over 80 languages are spoken, or small town in Texas, you have a better chance of communicating. Google is working on adding more languages to Google translator because they are a progressive company in providing the best applications and services to customers worldwide.

First responders have asked me and emergency room personnel to develop a seminar to show and education first responders and emergency hospital personnel on how to use the Google translator efficiently to support their emergency response and treatment of victims and patients. This Google translator would be an additional go tool for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to have at the service center sites to assist disaster victims during or after a disaster.

Due to the interest of first responders and hospital personnel, a PowerPoint of how to apply the Google translator is in the making; this short seminar show takes about 30 minutes to present. As part of the Masters of Disaster at American Military University master’s degree in emergency and disaster management program, we are not only examining disaster and its theories but how to make emergency and disaster response more resilient and sustainable. I will continue to support this Google product and other applications that can help first responders and emergency hospital personnel to do their jobs more effectivity.