Ambulance with Chinese language service offered in Brooklyn

In the back of an ambulance the other day, an anxious father-to-be rattled off his wife's medical history in Cantonese as she went into labor. It took the two emergency medical technicians onboard, both fluent in Chinese, just seconds to act, and they pulled the ambulance over to the side of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive in Manhattan after learning that the couple's first child had been born quickly. In less than two minutes, they delivered a howling baby boy.

不久前的一天，在一辆_救护车里，一位焦急的准爸爸急促地用粤语说着妻子的就医史。她即将临盆。车上的两名急救医务人员都能说流利的中文。在得知这对夫妇的第一胎生产过程很快时，他们只用了几秒钟时间便采取行动，将救护车停在了曼哈顿富兰克林·D·罗斯福大道的路边。过了不到两分钟，一个嚎啕大哭的男婴降生了。

"The fact that I can speak their language was a tremendous help," said Jason Lau, 26, one of the medical technicians who helped deliver the baby.

"我会说他们的语言这一点帮了大忙，"26岁的贾森·刘说。他是帮助接生的医务人员之一。

The dramatic birth was a first for a new service started by a private ambulance company in Brooklyn that provides Chinese language emergency medical care to New York City's growing population of Chinese immigrants. The company's three amubulances with Chinese-speaking health care workers have already responded to calls beyond Brooklyn — including Chinatown in Manhattan and Flushing, Queens.

这是布鲁克林一家私人救护车公司推出的新服务第一次遇到这么惊心动魄的生产。该公司为纽约市日渐增多的中国移民提供中文紧急医疗服务，拥有三辆配备了会说中文的医护人员的救护车。这三辆车的服务范围已经扩大到了布鲁克林之外的地方，包括曼哈顿的唐人街和皇后区的法拉盛。

Alonzo Rapisarda runs Midwood Ambulance. He started hiring Chinese-speaking dispatchers and other employees several years ago.

先锋救护车公司的老板阿隆佐·拉皮萨尔达。几年前，他开始招募会说中文的调度员和其他工作人员。

The service was started last month by Alonzo Rapisarda, 42, who lives in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn and traces his family's roots to a great-grandfather who immigrated to the United States from Italy. During the three generations of Rapisardas who have run the family business, Midwood Ambulance, the south Brooklyn area has changed, from historically Jewish and Italian to largely Chinese.

这项服务是42岁的阿隆佐·拉皮萨尔达在上月推出的。拉皮萨尔达生活在布鲁克林的湾脊，其曾祖父是来自意大利的移民。名为先锋救护车的这个家族企业，在拉皮萨尔达家传承了三代人，在这期间，布鲁克兰南区变了，从历史上以犹太人和意大利人为主变成了中国人的天下。

Bensonhurst, one of its main service areas, is now home to one of the city's largest concentration of Chinese residents. From 2000 to 2013 the number of foreign-born Chinese in the borough increased by nearly 50 percent, to 128,000 from 86,000, according to the census.

本森赫斯特是该公司主要的服务地区之一。聚居在那里的华人规模在该市名列前茅。根据人口普查数据，从2000年到2013年，该行政区的华裔增加了近50%，从8.6万增至12.8万。

Unlike city-run ambulances, which respond to 911 emergency calls, private ambulance companies have their own direct phone numbers and will, among other services, transport ill patients from their doctor's offices to hospitals or take women in labor to hospitals.

市政运营的救护车会在接到911急救电话后出车。和它们不同的是，私人救护车公司有自己的直线电话号码，提供的服务包括将病患从医生的办公室转移到医院，或是送临产孕妇就医。

Over the years, Mr. Rapisarda's regular crews – 107 ambulances in all – found that they were frequently unable to speak with their patients.

此前的多年里，拉皮萨尔达的常规团队（包括总计107辆救护车）发现，自己常常无法和患者交流。

"If you can't communicate with your paramedic, you could leave out something, or the paramedic could misunderstand something," Mr. Rapisarda said.

"如果无法与急救护理人员沟通，就可能会有遗漏，或是导致急救人员产生误解，"拉皮萨尔达说。

He said patients sometimes confused chest pain for indigestion, particularly older people. His workers, he feared, "might miss something if you're not fully able to understand them, or them, you."

他表示，患者有时候会误以为胸痛是消化不良，尤其是上了年纪的人。他担心手下的工作人员"如果不能完全听懂他们的话，或他们不能完全听懂工作人员的话，便可能会漏掉某些信息"。

Several years ago, he started hiring Chinese-speaking dispatchers, paramedics and emergency medical technicians. But it was only last year, after Mr. Rapisarda heard a story from a local doctor, that the idea of a dedicated fleet and a 24-hour Chinese dispatch was born. The doctor, Gary Chen, an internal medicine specialist in Bensonhurst, said an older couple who were sick waited through the weekend for a Monday appointment with their Chinese-speaking doctor rather than call an ambulance because they were afraid they would not be understood.

几年前，他开始招募会说中文的调度员、护理员和急救医务人员。但直到去年从当地一名医生那里听说一个故事后，拉皮萨尔达才萌生了成立一支专门的队伍，24小时派遣会说中文的医护人员的想法。他从本森赫斯特一位名叫加里·陈的内科医生那里听到的故事是，一对患病的老年夫妇宁可等上整整一个周末也不愿叫救护车，就为了到周一去看会说中文的医生，因为他们害怕对方听不懂他们说的话。

Jason Lau, seen in the rear-view mirror, inside one of Midwood Ambulance’s new ambulances staffed by Chinese-speaking health workers.

出现在后视镜中的是贾森·刘。他正坐在先锋救护车公司的一辆新救护车里，该车配备了会说中文的医务人员。

Dr. Chen's neighbors suggested that the community needed its own ambulances, and Mr. Rapisarda agreed. Now Mr. Rapisarda has three ambulances emblazoned with English and Chinese characters traveling around the city.

陈医生的邻居表示，社区需要有自己的救护车。拉皮萨尔达也同意这一点。如今，拉皮萨尔达有三辆印着英汉双语标识的救护车，在全市穿梭。

He said the response had been so positive that he was hiring more Chinese-speaking workers and had ordered three more ambulances, each of which costs $76,000. On a recent day in the company's parking depot in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn, newly hired employees practiced carrying a dummy strapped to a chair up and down a steep staircase. He said this was an essential skill in the city.

他说反响非常积极，因此他正在招聘更多会说中文的工作人员，并且又订购了三辆救护车，每辆7.6万美元。前不久的一天，在该公司位于布鲁克林格拉夫森德的停车场，新招来的员工正在练习抬着一个被绑在椅子上的假人上下陡峭的楼梯。拉皮萨尔达说，在该市这是一项必备技能。

In New York and around the country, emergency responders have historically been white and male, said Scott Moore, a human resources and operations consultant with the American Ambulance Association, a national trade organization, and an emergency medical technician for 26 years. Beyond translating words, Mr. Moore said, a diverse emergency response fleet can add cultural competency to how their work is done.

全国性的行业组织美国救护车协会的人力资源与行动顾问、有26年急救经验的斯科特·穆尔说，在纽约和全美，急救人员历来是白人和男性。他表示，除了翻译外，组建多元的应急响应队伍可以增加他们在工作中的文化能力。

Last year, Mr. Moore's organization issued its first handbook for intercultural communication. "Demographic trends across the United States indicate a growing need for better cross-cultural communication skills among health care professionals," the guidebook begins. The profession is "becoming more aware of the challenges" that a diverse patient population presents, Mr. Moore said, "and understanding that care is something more than maybe just taking medical care of them."

去年，穆尔所在的组织首次发布跨文化交流手册。这本指导手册开篇写道，"全美的人口变化趋势表明，越来越有必要提高医护专业人员的跨文化交流技巧。"这个职业"更加意识到"多元的患者群体带来的挑战，"并认识到护理不仅仅是对他们进行医疗护理。"

The Midwood Ambulance service has teamed up with the United Chinese Association of Brooklyn, a community organization, which is helping spread the word about the service. Steve Chung, the association's president, said the service was drawing rave reviews from the community and, in particular, accolades for Mr. Rapisarda. Mr. Chung noted the only-in-New-York factor that the new Chinese-language ambulance fleet was started by an Italian-American.

先锋救护车公司推出的服务与社区组织布鲁克林华人联合会合作，后者正在帮助宣传这项服务。其会长钟承楚称，社区对这项服务好评如潮，尤其是对拉皮萨尔达的称赞。钟承楚指出了一个纽约独有的因素，即新的中文救护车队是由一名意大利裔美国人成立的。

"Think about it, in Marco Polo's time, he visited China and we gave him good things: spaghetti and pizza," Mr. Chung said with a laugh. "I think this is the best thing about human culture — we know each other and we're sharing and who knows what good things pop-up."

"想想，在马可·波罗时代，他去中国，我们给了他好东西：意面和披萨，"钟承楚大笑着说。"我觉得这是人类文化最好的一面，我们相互了解，共同分享，谁知道会出现什么好东西呢。"