Knowing Spanish, using interpreters increasing in importance - Peoria, Illinois

“Police aren’t the only ones dealing with a language and cultural barrier.

As more Spanish-speaking people move to central Illinois, providers of other public services, such as firefighters, emergency dispatchers and social workers, are having to adapt to the changes in populations.

With any urgent situation, minutes and seconds matter. And every moment spent looking up words in a dictionary is one not spent on finding out where someone is wounded or if anyone else is trapped inside a burning building, officials said.”

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