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

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: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.)