Video interpreter in Linz hospital

„Videodolmetsch“ in Linz AKh

20/10/2013

In the General Hospital of the City of Linz (Akh) in Upper Austria, doctors have recently been able to resort to a new kind of help with language problems. Video interpreting allows multiple language interpreters and sign language to be connected to the emergency room.

pilot project „Videodolmetsch“
Doctors of the General Hospital in Linz will find it easier to communicate with their patients in the future. The clinic has been involved in the project since last Friday „Videodolmetsch“. A video leased line is used to establish contact between the emergency department and a Viennese interpreting center. Within two minutes, doctors and patients have the opportunity every day from 6 to 22 o'clock to contact interpreters who speak Turkish, Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian and sign language.

Increased patient safety
Often in emergencies every minute counts. Doctors have a problem especially if the patients speak little or no German or are deaf. Because then communication about the complaints or the necessary treatments is often impossible. The translators of the pilot project are specially trained in the field of health, thereby increasing the quality of treatment and patient safety.

Professional interpreters necessary
Denis Hrncic, the ward physician at the emergency department, explained that they are very dependent on the taking of the medical condition when creating the clinical pictures: „It is enormously helpful to hear what a patient has.“ In addition, it is important to know which pre-existing conditions are known or whether certain vaccinations were made or which drugs are taken. „The more we know about patients, the more accurate we can help“, so the doctor. For this, professional interpreters are necessary, who also know the medical terms.

Relatively high demand
Across Austria, eleven hospitals have been involved in the project, which was launched by the Platform for Patient Safety, together with the University of Vienna and the Ministry of Health. For the time being, the „Videodolmetsch“ tested for six months and then evaluated. Whether the video direct line in the Akh then a permanent institution, decide only afterwards. Hrncic estimates the need for this relatively high: „There is hardly a service that does not involve linguistic hurdles.“ (Ad)

Image: Dieter Schütz