Almost a dozen first responders in the city of Racine recently completed an introductory Spanish language course tailored to their line of work.
From January to April, once a week for three hours police officers and firefighter-paramedics go to the class, “Spanish for First Responders” at Gateway Technical College.
Racine Fire Department (RFD) Captain Jeff Ayres was also among those who participated. He said he’s been with RFD for about 18 years and can’t remember an initiative like it.
“It was an amazing class,” he said.
Fellow firefighter-paramedic Ben Stephenson said he took the class to brush up on the Spanish he took in school knowing that would come in handy at work, especially with Racine's growing Hispanic community.
“It has come up in the past I wish I would have known more,” Stephenson explained. “I basically was able to stumble through some of the conversations and get the information.”
Ayres also said in those situations children are often acting as translators for their parents which can be a challenge with medical terms but also puts a lot of pressure on kids who don’t always understand the situation.
Spanish Center of Racine Community Engagement Director Samantha Altamirano said she’s thrilled to see first responders looking to better connect with Racine’s diverse Spanish-speaking community.
"Quite frankly, that is a big disparity in our city where a lot of our community were hesitant in calling or reaching out in an emergency,” Altamirano said, ‘because we’re not sure who may be receiving that call on the other end and if they’re going to be able to understand what’s going on with that situation.”
She was especially excited to learn the class wasn’t just limited to vocabulary but included cultural competency as well.
Racine Police Department officer Chase Vela believes there’s an even bigger benefit to understanding cultural norms.
“Not only do we listen to what people say, we also read body language we read facial expression, we read tones in voices, which doesn’t always compare to American culture,” he said.
He gave the example of customs around personal space that they learned about in class which can vary across cultures.
It’s something that has stuck with Captain Ayres.
“Americans have the largest personal space in the world,” Ayres said he realized. “In the past, I was a little bit reticent to let people get too close to my personal space but after the class I now understand, stand still let them be close to you. They're looking for some confianza. They want to build some confidence and some trust in you.”
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