title: Emergency communications within the limited English proficient Chinese community.
abstract: Limited English speaking communities face communication challenges during emergencies. Our objective was to investigate Chinese limited English proficiency individuals' perceptions of and inclination to interact with emergency communication systems. A telephone survey was conducted in Mandarin or Cantonese with 250 ethnic Chinese individuals who spoke little or no English. Respondents who spoke no English were less likely to name 9-1-1 as their first source of help for a medical emergency than those who spoke some English (p < 0.01). Those reporting higher levels of confidence in handling the situation were more likely to name 9-1-1 as their first source of help, as were those who listed 9-1-1 as their most trusted source of help (p < 0.01). For this group, the results indicate that calling 9-1-1 may require a sense of self-efficacy. Not calling 9-1-1 in a medical emergency can have serious health consequences, thus interventions are needed to increase confidence in accessing 9-1-1.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA, yipm@u.washington.edu.
authors.forename: Mei-Po
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Yip
authors.forename: Rebecca E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Calhoun
authors.forename: Ian S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Painter
authors.forename: Hendrika W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Meischke
authors.forename: Shin-Ping
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Tu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003144:Communication Barriers; D004631:Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014861:Washington