‘A delay between life and death’: Latino forum highlights lack of bilingual dispatchers as one of many communication issues in Garfield County

Garfield County Emergency Services operates with 21 people directly responsible for dispatching, but only two speak Spanish, a Garfield County official told the county’s Latino community committee on Wednesday.

“But we don’t speak very fluently,” said Tom Holman, director of operations for the Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority.

Instead, when the Garfield County 911 dispatch center cannot communicate directly in Spanish, it uses a third-party interpreter service.

Garfield County’s Latino population makes up about 29.3 percent of the community, or nearly a third of its 61,685 residents, according to 2020 U.S. Census data.

Garfield County Emergency Communications also uses the language line approximately 100 to 135 times per month.

“There are so many questions and instructions that if a dispatcher has to go through an interpreter, it slows down the process considerably,” Holman said.

Sometimes first responders or family members on site need to translate from Spanish to English.

“What happens is that a household may not have anyone who speaks English, except maybe an eight or nine-year-old child,” Holman said. “This kid ends up being the interpreter of this whole incident.”

Hiring more Spanish-speaking dispatchers is unlikely to happen overnight as fewer candidates apply for open positions. Holman said the recruiting process in general — whether Spanish-speaking or not — has diminished over the years.

“In years past, when we had openings, we could sometimes have 100 people apply for a job,” he said. “In today’s environment, where we worked very hard and advertised early, we still only received 43 applications for two open spots.”

Of those 43 applicants, between 3 and 4 were Spanish-speaking, Holman said. Recruitment is done through paid advertisements on social media and an online recruitment network.

Additionally, the county does not offer incentives to send-off candidates with “additional or additional skill,” Holman said. This includes being bilingual.

Despite the lack of applicants, Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority executive director Carl Stephens said the 911 center typically has very few openings.

“We have been fully staffed for several years,” he said.

Yesenia Estrada, board member of the Latino Committee, suggested that the county might reward or incentivize job applicants or 911 call center operators who speak Spanish, which could boost recruitment.

“Probably what concerns our Latino community the most is a delay between life and death,” she said. “I think it’s definitely a skill that has to be paid for to attract more applicants.”

“I don’t think that many bilingual people will want to take on this position knowing that they will be doing additional tasks, with additional skills, without being paid.

Latin American Community Committee board member Paul Lazo, a Carbondale police officer, asked how the Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority board could raise the funds needed to possibly include incentives for bilingual candidates.

Lazo also pointed out the benefit of using live Spanish-speaking dispatchers as opposed to a third-party language service.

Lazo said there were times when, during live situations, he would essentially bypass Voiance, a 911 interpreting service, and ask questions himself in Spanish.

“Sometimes Spanish-speaking calls through Voiance, no matter when and where, the translation is going to get lost,” he said.

Stephens said Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority operations officials plan to have further discussions with the Latino community about how to strengthen its bilingual services.

Journalist Ray K. Erku can be reached at 612-423-5273 or rerku@postindependent.com