Officials See Safety in Numbers (of Bilingual Workers)

Garden Grove Fire Chief Warren Hartley sorts his firefighter candidates into three groups. The first is a pool of those who have passed the basic skills test. Another has firefighters with paramedic training, and the third is composed of men and women who have a working knowledge of another language.

For the last few years, the bilingual speakers have tended to get the jobs. When Hartley swore in five new firefighters this month, all of them came off the bilingual list.

In Hartley’s eyes, this is not about affirmative action. It’s about public safety. Firefighters must be able to talk to the people they’re trying to help.

“It’s a matter of servicing the community better,” said Hartley, who joined his department in 1969. “If you look at the demographics of Orange County, it’s ethnically diverse. The need was there and we were slow to deal with it.”

Union heads see the movement toward bilingual employees as a boon at the bargaining table. Many cities have bilingual incentive pay that can be a flat monthly sum of $50 to $150 or a salary percentage that can reach 5% of an employee’s annual income.

Spanish is a relatively easy skill to find, but Vietnamese and Korean speakers are a scarce and precious resource, agency officials said. Sign language also merits extra pay.

The stress on hiring bilingual workers comes as fire departments focus more on hiring for paramedic skills, which involve interacting with the public, than on firefighting ability. Stricter building codes have reduced the number of fires that departments must battle.

In 1995, the last time the Huntington Beach Fire Department hired, officers actively recruited bilingual paramedics, Capt. Robert Brown said.

While they get a handful of bilingual speakers each time, they do not have nearly enough in the 140-member firefighting force, he said.

“We end up making do,” said Brown.

Like his colleagues, Brown picks up Spanish terminology on the job and relies on family members or nearby residents who speak the language. But when responding to traffic accidents, where the victim often is alone, paramedics just “muddle through,” Brown said.

“I’ll ask the person where they hurt,” he explained. “They might hurt in the chest and say, ‘Pecha.’ I’ll remember that and file it away. . . . If they are critically injured, I’ll show them the needle and point to their arm. We use a lot of visual techniques.”

Police, both civilians and sworn officers, need an even wider range of vocabulary on the job.

“If you can communicate with folks, they are much more comfortable,” said Buena Park Police Chief Richard M. Tefank. “We typically are the first line of contact with the public. The reality is we can’t change the various segments and demographics of the community; we have to be responsive to it.”

In Anaheim, where police deal with visitors speaking just about every language known to humankind, any bilingual skill is rewarded. About 90 officers out of 570 are receiving the department’s 5% bilingual incentive pay, Sgt. Richard Zschoche said.

“We have always looked for officers with bilingual abilities, but we are much more conscious of it now,” he said. “Over the last few years, we’ve probably doubled the number of bilingual officers.”

To boost that number, training officers began Spanish classes at the department. About 75 people have taken the classes, which began last year.

“It is a conversational Spanish class specifically for law enforcement,” said Sgt. John Quinzio, training manager for Anaheim police. The conversational aplomb of the class’ graduates varies, but all get at least some basic skills.

“Teaching someone language is like teaching someone to paint--some will grasp it better than others,” he said with a laugh. “Not all come out with the same level of expertise, but all come out of it ahead of where they were.”