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CATEGORY: Manpower and Personnel 
 
ISSUE ITEM t: 
 
SUBJECT: Foreign Language Requirement 
 
BACKGROUND: Several patients seen in the 609th Contingency Hospital did 
not speak English. To meet language needs, especially Spanish, native 
speakers within UTCs need to be identified to provide for the 
communication needs of non-English speaking patients. Had we received 
several coalition forces casualties we would have had a difficult time 
communicating. 
 
DISCUSSION: Inability to communicate with several patients jeopardizes 
the medical care we are able to provide, as well as our ability to 
provide for the non-medical needs of our patients. 
 
ACTION RECOMMENDED: A method of early identification of staff members 
fluent in another language should be standard procedure at contingency 
hospitals. Also need to identify language requirements based on expected 
patient workload and ensure the facility is augmented with the required 
language specialist. 
 
SUGGESTED OPR: HQ USAF/SGHR, HQ USAFE/SGAX 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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