Breaking Down Language Barriers in Emergency Care: Perspectives of EMS Providers

You arrive on the scene with your EMT partner and are immediately met by the patient and their family, obviously in distress, staring at you for help. As you begin your assessment, you realize you are unable to speak to the patient due to a language barrier. Your mind begins to race for what you can do while you hope someone on scene can help with translation. Every EMS provider has struggled to communicate with his or her patient at some point in an attempt to deliver great patient care. However, little empirical evidence details the barriers to patient care when the provider and patient do not speak the same language. Join the PCRF Journal Club as we review a qualitative study identifying the EMS-perceived barriers to providing patient care for those with limited English proficiency.