Episode 3.
SILENT SPEAKERS
Interpreters and translators, the backbone
of language access.
Chapter 3.
Assuming an essential role in the fight for language access, interpreters and translators carry on their backs a heavy yet unseen weight. This chapter focuses on the enormous yet often underappreciated work of interpreters and translators. From emergency calls to business conference interpreting, interpreters keep our world moving.
11,440
Less employees in interpreting and translating services in the United States from 2012 to 2022
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (April 15, 2023)
Language access needs patients
adverse events that involved some physical harm were
Language proficiency and adverse events in US hospitals: a pilot study (Divi et al, 2007)
49%
3.7-fold
higher risk of mortality Latinx
children had in a pediatric intensive
care unit compared to White and
African-American children.
Pediatric intensive care unit mortality among Latino children before and after a multilevel health care delivery intervention (Anand KJ, Sepanski RJ, Giles K, Shah SH, Juarez PD, 2015)
ABOUT NAYHELI
Nayheli Irribarren Mur
Spanish-English Medical and Financial Interpreter
Peru
Nayheli Irribarren Mur is a medical interpreter from Lima, Peru. She is an English-Spanish interpreter for U.S. clients, taking medical calls, 911 calls, and sometimes legal calls. She has been in this industry for three years. From her desk in Lima, Peru, Nayheli's work makes language access in the United States possible. Without people like her, millions of people would not be able to go to the doctor or get assistance during an emergency. She is part of the backbone of language access in the United States, without even being here.