Paramedics Use Google Translate While Delivering Baby

First time accepted submitter myatari writes Irish paramedics transporting a pregnant Congolese woman to a maternity hospital in Cork had to use some quick thinking when the mum-to-be went into labor en-route. The two paramedics (neither of whom speak Swahili) fired up Google Translate to communicate via English-Swahili and successfully delivered baby girl "Brigid" (named after an Irish Saint no less!).

Comments

Would French not have worked?

[Anonymous Coward]

Given that the official language of both Congos (DRC and RC) is French, couldn't they just have tried that?
Swahili is not a language commonly spoken in either Congo.

Re:Would French not have worked?

[Anonymous Coward]

Swahili is one of the 4 official non-European languages in DRC with approximately 33 million DRC citizens speaking the language.

So... the story makes sense... kind of. I agree though, French would have been my go-to language for someone from DRC. I've traveled in DRC (eastern side) and French was always the first thing anyone spoke to me.

Re:Would French not have worked?

[Anonymous Coward]

Swahili is an old-ish trader language. It has very distinct links to Arabic (lots of common words). It was big in the EA region for a long time in addition to the local/tribal languages. The Germans and British did a lot to bring it into more common use and institutionalized its use in the late 1800s through to around 1930.

The spread of Swahili into DRC? No clue. Probably just the natural fluid-like progression of languages. Political borders don't always define language groups.

In terms of use, it makes sense in some regards that the uptake of the language is increasing in DRC... easy to conduct business when you have a common language, and given the countless tribal languages spoken in Africa... having at least one common makes sense. Going international, countries are focusing on English (example, Rwanda used to be primarily French and Kinyarwandan... recently though the government switch grade school focus to English instead of French . Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/oct/14/rwanda-france )

Re:Alternative

[swillden]

I wonder what would have happened had they not had Google Translate. A boy?

Depending on the circumstances, the alternative could have been death of mother and/or baby. The alternative almost certainly would have been an even more unpleasant experience for the mother, with no ability to communicate with the EMTs about her state or the progress of the birth.

(Now let's see if my AC stalker shows up to crapflood responses to this post, too.)