A recently published study provides us with some very interesting facts regarding issues in healthcare for people with limited English proficiency (LEP’s).
The study presented in April at the American Heart Association's 10th Scientific Forum on "Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke" in Washington, D.C. seems to show that the survival rate in heart attack victims with limited English proficiency is lower than in those who are fluent in English. Some of the findings of the study are that
- only 50 % of LEP’s compared to 73% of those fluent in English received help from a bystander,
- the time for dispatchers with limited English proficiency to recognize the need for CPR was 33 seconds longer,
- the interval from when a call was made to initializing CPR is 82 seconds longer for LEP callers.
These delays in CPR are considered to be the cause for a survival rate of only 4% in LEP’s compared to 14% in fluent English speakers. The results of this study are horrifying but not necessarily surprising to the interpreting community. Once again they demonstrate the urgent need to invest in language access.