More than 42 million people in the United States speak a language other than English. Blaine County Emergency Communications has made a great effort to ensure that all segments of the communities we serve have unobstructed access to public safety services. To address the needs of the multilingual community the Center has contracted with Language Line Services which provides telephone interpreters for over 150 languages, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
When a call for service is received in a language other than English, a button is pushed and within seconds there is a three-way connection between the caller, the call-taker and a Language Line Service interpreter. The reception interpreter identifies the language then connects the call to an interpreter who is fluent in the language of the caller. The Language Line interpreters are trained to give clear, calm, precise interpretations between the 911 telecommunicators and the caller.
