Regarding cultural competence, several points within National CLAS Standards consider culture directly. Firstly, according to the standards, all employees and managers are to be educated and trained in culturally and linguistically appropriate policies and practices1. Secondly, individuals should be offered well-educated and trained language assistance services. Thirdly, all policies, practices, services, and goals of the organization should be culturally and linguistically appropriate. Finally, the CLAS Standards establish the norm to constantly collect data on the community’s demography and health assets to be able to adjust cultural and linguistic policies accordingly and in a timely manner.
Unfortunately, for the 911 telecommunicator occupation, there were no universal cultural competence standards in open sources. Most of the dispatcher employers require small training in cultural competence designed by the company itself or outsourced2. Different companies that provide certification and standards for emergency services develop their own behavior, ethics, and conduct standards. For instance, The International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED) – one of the biggest and oldest companies in the field – develop its own standards for emergency call takers; however, these standards do not mention cultural competence often. IAED standards that consider cultural competence only include not using discriminatory language and adjusting for a person’s culture3.
Another prominent company in the field – APCO International – in its training standards for public safety telecommunicators, only mentions that telecommunicators should be provided with information on cultural diversity by their employer4. In addition, within these standards, the call taker is expected to communicate with callers who have limited English language proficiency. Overall, it can be witnessed that there is a significant difference in the way standards are treated in different industries. There are universal and transparent standards for the whole sector of healthcare, while in emergency services, different standards are developed by private companies, and they are not as transparent and well known across the industry.
The reason for this difference in standards of communication is the different nature of communication between a company and a client in these two cases. In contrast with a healthcare worker, a 911 telecommunicator will mainly communicate with people when the situation is acute; thus, the dialogue will be as short and efficient as possible. While it is more important for healthcare workers to build a rapport with the client, for 911 telecommunicators, it is vital to gather information while consulting and coordinating the caller quickly. On the other hand, healthcare workers mostly have longer relationships with their clients, and they need to collect much more information about these people.
The main similarity between the fields of healthcare and emergency services is the necessity to understand the client clearly at the moment; therefore, using language assistance or hiring employees able to speak several languages. This similarity between standards within healthcare and emergency call-taking can be explained by looking at the nature of both fields. Both 911 and healthcare are services where communication with clients is key.
Moreover, in both cases, communication is not just a tool for profit gaining. On the contrary, it may be a much more important tool for vital information gathering and coordination, as in many cases, people’s lives can be at stake. Furthermore, in both instances, dialogue can be to some extent stressful, as the communication may cover subjects directly linked to people’s well-being.
References
National culturally and linguistically appropriate services standards. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Becoming an Exemplary Public Safety Dispatcher: An Introduction to Public Safety Dispatcher Training. Glendale California.
The International Academies of Emergency Dispatch. The Official ED-Q Performance Standards. Austin Med-Comm Intranet. Web.