Should emergency personnel only speak Spanish?

Question

I heard a report on the radio news that said there is a problem in Miami, Florida (and some other cities in the U.S.) pertaining to the fact that some policemen and paramedics ONLY speak Spanish and therefore a life threatening situation can arise when they are called to a home that doesn’t speak Spanish. It sounds like the tables have turned.

My opinion is that in Miami, police & paramedics should speak both English and Spanish since a large part of Miami’s population only speaks Spanish. HOWEVER, they most certainly need to speak English. This is the United States of America right? What is your opinion?

Answer 1

Although English is not the official language of the US (there is no official language) it is the lingua franca, and should be spoken by the emergency services - even if it's only basic or otherwise pertinent English.

However, the emergency service personnel should also speak basic Spanish in areas where there is a large Spanish speaking population.

Answer 2

Unless you can provide a source other than 'Heard it on the radio" I'd have to say the story is total BS. Someone who was trying to play a race card cooked up the tale. The moron repeating it may not have realized it was fake.

There are a lot of reasons why I doubt this story. For starters having police officers and paramedics that ONLY speak Spanish would be a major liability issue in the United states.

If this were true, why haven't I heard about it in the media? Don't think for a moment that FOX news would bypass something like this. I tried to find a source, but everything I saw were about the problems Spanish speakers faced when dealing with doctors or the police, and the need for medical translators and bilingual police officers.

No, I suspect you either made this up yourself, or you were listing to a talk radio show more interested in stirring up fear and anger than in reporting the truth.

Answer 3

Trust me on this one - there is absolutely no way that a paramedic could ONLY speak Spanish and obtain a state or national certification. For one thing, all the exams are in English - also, it would be a requirement of the employer for the potential employee to speak English. The vast majority of med control docs speak English as a primary language, so a medic who only speaks Spanish would be useless.

In a state with a large number of Spanish speakers, some bilingual skills are a must, but it would be impossible for a medic who speaks only Spanish to get hired at all.

Answer 4

To be licensed as a paramedic or a police officer in Fla. one MUST speak English. The exams are in English. However some may speak Spanish as their first language & in some parts of Miami Spanish is the default language as a matter of practicality. Still, if I was in the throes of a heart attack, I'd prefer not having to repeat things three times to be understood.

Answer 5

WOW really? That is awful. How did they get the jobs without being able to speak english?! That is sad. They should speak english or both languages but not spanish only. Well I guess I wont travel to miami again.

Answer 6

I think you are right.. they suppost a least know the basic... in English to communicate with the person... that they go to interact... however... Miami population is diversity... many Spanish people move there for that because mostly of the people speak only Spanish... city departments had to have people to speak both languages...

Answer 7

My opinion is if you live in a country, you should abide by the majority's language. If a person comes to the US, they should be required to learn to speak English. Everyone else does it, why not the Spanish speaking people?

Answer 8

To me, and it is a personal opinion, I feel that whatever Country you go to you speak their language. If we go to France we speak French, if we go to Spain, we speak Spanish, if people come here they should be expected to buy those little books and cds like everyone else who is visiting another country and speak their language. It would save time and money if you spoke the native language of the country you are visiting or moving into - instead of expecting the country to change everything to accommodate the language that the person knows. Just my stand on it.

And that we as the greatest country need to teach our children starting in kindgergarten another language.

Answer 9

I question the accuracy of that story (not your veracity). I have a friend who's a paramedic in south Florida. She's a bilingual Hispanic and she tells me that emergency service workers down here need to be bi lingual.

Answer 10

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