Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes when you get injured abroad? Read about how linguists work to help get patients repatriated and what skills are involved in our day-to-day work.
Taking out travel insurance is a routine activity when planning a holiday, but have you ever thought about what actually happens if you get ill or injured whilst abroad? Some of the freelance work I do is for a medical insurance company as a linguist helping to organise repatriation for British residents falling ill in French and Spanish speaking countries.
The linguist role
When you fall ill and you contact your insurance company, behind the scenes the medical insurance doctors and nurses need to monitor your condition and prepare for any special repatriation arrangements. They often don’t speak the necessary languages and that’s where I come in.
The linguist role involves calling the hospital, finding out which ward the patient is in and speaking to the treating doctor to find out the working diagnosis, how the patient is, what treatment they are receiving, whether surgery is required, how long they are likely to remain admitted and any particular repatriation recommendations.
My questions depend on the diagnosis and will vary wildly from one condition to another. Part of the role is learning the relevant questions to ask to be able to provide our doctors and nurses with enough information to make informed recommendations about how to repatriate a patient. For example, if a patient is on supplementary oxygen we need to know how many litres they are on at ground level and then take into account the aeromedics. More oxygen is required during a flight to compensate for the decrease in pressure. In some cases we will have to delay repatriation until the patient is on less oxygen, or they will need to be transferred by other means (road, train or air ambulance).
Finding out about patient mobility is also key. Do they have a splint? Will they need wheelchair assistance? Will they need to travel with their leg elevated or with an extra seat or two? This all affects what kind of flights home the company will book.
It is my responsibility to translate the medical reports that are sent in by the treating hospital. These range from general updates and discharge reports to the more technical surgery reports. It is vital that these are translated quickly and accurately as our team will be making repatriation arrangements and in some cases need to organise direct admission into a UK hospital based on this information.
I keep the relevant ward in the treating hospital informed of repatriation plans, such as when the medical team will arrive to collect the patient, and make sure that the medical team are up to date with the patient’s location.
You begin to notice seasonal trends. From December to April the French and Swiss cases are mostly ski injuries and it really makes you appreciate the additional cost of ski insurance.
Skills
From a linguistic perspective I am learning every day. Research is an important part of the role and knowing the possible implications that procedures may have on repatriation is critical. For instance, knowing that treatment of a detached retina may involve inserting air into the eye is really important, as if this happens the patient will have to wait for the gas to be absorbed before travelling by plane or the pressure change could cause severe damage. An increase in altitude causes a reduction in air pressure which can result in expansion of the air or gas trapped within the body.
Sector-specific knowledge and experience is imperative. Medical reports often have acronyms in which are sometimes the same as the English and sometimes not. Idiomatic expressions can be confusing when you come across them for the first time: seeing a ‘coup de hache’ (an axe blow) in a French report relating to a ski injury was bewildering at first, but from experience I know this is the term used to describe the hollow shape in the back when someone has a dislocated shoulder.
As a linguist it is essential to work quickly without compromising on accuracy. Repatriation plans cannot start without this information and it needs to be correct.
Planning is another important skill for my role. I cover French and Spanish cases worldwide which can often include countries far and wide as Mauritius and Peru. I therefore plan my day based on urgency as well as country location, aiming to catch the treating doctors in the morning.
This is just a brief insight into some of the language work I perform on a regular basis. As a role it’s varied, interesting and I learn something new every day. The combination of speaking French and Spanish, as well as translating from it, is also incredibly rewarding.