How do German emergency services handle language barriers

German emergency services handle language barriers primarily through technological aids, improvised interpretation, and staff training, although professional interpreters are rarely available on scenes.

Key approaches include:

• Use of specialized fixed-phrase translation apps developed collaboratively with paramedics, featuring about 600 phrases in 18 languages. These apps improve communication with patients who speak limited or no German, enhancing the quality of care and information exchange despite adding a few minutes to scene times for better understanding. ^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

• Reliance on informal interpreting methods such as bilingual staff, family members, or bystanders, due to lack of immediate availability of professional interpreters in emergency situations. ^{6, 7}

• Attempts to collect essential medical information despite language discordance, using simpler communication strategies or documentation analysis, although this can affect information quality, especially with foreign-language pediatric patients. ⁶

• Training and developing digital tools to better equip paramedics for multicultural and multilingual scenarios they face in the field. ^{4, 5, 1}

• Overall, formal professional medical interpreters are more commonly accessed in hospital settings rather than pre-hospital emergency services due to the urgent and unpredictable nature of EMS work. ^{7, 8}

In summary, German emergency services mitigate language barriers mainly through technology (translation apps), informal interpreters, and ongoing efforts to improve communication strategies, with professional interpreters being less commonly available during emergency pre-hospital care. ^{2, 8, 1, 7}

References

• Overcoming language barriers in paramedic care: a study protocol of the interventional trial ‘DICTUM rescue’ evaluating an app designed to improve communication between paramedics and foreign-language patients

• Overcoming Language Barriers in Paramedic Care With an App Designed to Improve Communication With Foreign-Language Patients: Nonrandomized Controlled Pilot Study

• Overcoming Language Barriers in Paramedic Care With an App Designed to Improve Communication With Foreign-Language Patients: Nonrandomized Controlled Pilot Study

• Designing an App to Overcome Language Barriers in the Delivery of Emergency Medical Services: Participatory Development Process

• Designing an App to Overcome Language Barriers in the Delivery of Emergency Medical Services: Participatory Development Process

• Lost in translation? Information quality in pediatric pre-hospital medical emergencies with a language barrier in Germany

• How do hospitalised patients with Turkish migration background estimate their language skills and their comprehension of medical information – a prospective cross-sectional study and comparison to native patients in Germany to assess the language barrier and the need for translation

• Community interpreting in Germany: results of a nationwide cross-sectional study among interpreters

• Multilingual competencies among ambulatory care providers in three German Federal States

• Increasing emergency number utilisation is not driven by low-acuity calls: an observational study of 1.5 million emergency calls (2018–2021) from Berlin

• Access to Healthcare Interpreter Services: Where Are We and Where Do We Need to Go?

• “It’s the First Barrier” – Lack of Common Language a Major Obstacle When Accessing/Providing Healthcare Services Across Europe

• Cross-border simulation training for German and Polish emergency medical teams is feasible: conception and evaluation of a bilingual simulation training

• The Need for More Prehospital Research on Language Barriers: A Narrative Review

• Influence of appropriate emergency department utilization and verbal communication on physicians’ (dis)satisfaction with doctor–patient interactions with special consideration of migrational backgrounds

• Access to Healthcare Interpreter Services: Where Are We and Where Do We Need to Go?