CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Panicked neighbors called 911 Sunday afternoon when a mother and her daughter were found floating in a pool at the Ramble Wood apartments in Coral Springs.
But some of the anxious callers had trouble communicating when they got through as they hit a language barrier.
The dispatcher responder with "OK, do not have anybody that speaks Spanish right now."
Coral Springs police Sgt. Carla Kimiotek said language does not affect response times because the city runs its own 911 dispatch center.
"We are dispatching somebody immediately anyway," she said. "Whether there are coordinates off the call they are getting locations to send officers to the area, or the person is at least able to give us a location."
The city does have Spanish speakers on staff; however, they cannot guarantee each shift.
About 25 percent of Coral Springs residents identify themselves as Hispanic.
Emergency responders are faced with a variety of different languages every day and dispatchers have a translation tool when facing a roadblock.
"The language line is an interpreter and so we call in and link the line," Kimiotek said.
In the case on Sunday first responders arrived in less than two minutes.