In our globalised world, immigrants and expats are growing in number in every country. According to searches, healthcare issues topped a list of major concerns for expats. Considering the differences in surroundings, language and culture, worries about health can be magnified. Pharmaceutical translation and interpreting services are one of the solutions to bring comfort and even save lives.
Interpreting in emergency situation
Health care interpreters are a vital asset for every patient communication from routine medical appointments to laboratory and hospital procedures in normal situation. They are even indispensable in emergency medical situations as people are facing life threatening illness or injuries. From illness such as heart attack, traumatic head injury and severe bleeding to environmental externalities such as natural disasters, pandemic and national scale alert, problems of such medical emergencies need to be understood and taken care of right away. It is of paramount importance to have a professionally trained medical interpreter on hand in an emergency room, who is able to accurately and coherently interpret for the foreign-language speaking patients and families. Without medical interpreting services in such situation, the patient runs the risk of harm, or even death, due to an inability to communicate. In-person interpreting or remote interpreting should be available in hospitals within seconds to facilitate communication.
Machine translation helps despite defects
Although awkwardness is a known drawback for machine translation, it can convey the general meaning of the message and information to physicians. Knowing the limitation of machine translation, healthcare providers make use of the technology to alleviate huge workload by improving work efficiency. Machine translation can be used to clarify patient histories, review a clinical diagnosis and to restate the treatment plan and follow-up to facilitate comprehension. Implementing the technology into chatbot, it can provide standard information to patients 24/7, such as information for an upcoming procedure and preparation for a routine check-up. While healthcare providers are able to collect a high volume of relevant information, patients can receive instant response and request for live chat with staff through the platform.
Things to note
Medical interpreting services are used to break down language barriers between healthcare providers and their patients. The interpreter must be well-trained and have in-depth knowledge of medical terminology in two languages, as a matter of course, but not for the patients. As a layman, technical terms describing the medical situation are difficult for the patient to comprehend. This emphasises the need for translated messages and information to be simple and intuitive. Translation of medical terminology plus explanation using simple wordings is a better approach, especially for emergency situation and elderly individuals.
Elite Asia’s FUZON over-the-phone interpreting platform allows healthcare providers to utilise the interpretation tools and services with over 350 plus languages. It allows user to quickly connect to a qualified medical interpreter within 10 seconds. Not only does it help in emergency situation, users are also able to schedule and coordinate interpretation appointments with various interpreters, fulfilling the regulations implemented by the authorities and delivering care safely during the pandemic.
