Ayúdenos
By David Julian Avila
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 David Julian Avila
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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“911.
State your emergency,” Don checked the screen for the callers
location information. The screen was blank where the address should
be.
A
frantic woman speaks, “Oh, Dios mío. Por favor, ayúdenos. Mi hija
está muy enferma. Ella sangrando por entre sus piernas y su no
parar. Ella acaba de tener un bebé, y creo que algo anda mal. Por
favor enviar ayuda. Tienes que ayudarnos.”
Don
tries to calm the caller, “Hold on Ma'am. Does anyone there speak
English?”
“Por
favor enviar ayuda. Tienes que ayudarnos. Hay tanta sangre y no
podemos conseguir que se detenga,” the woman pleads with the
operator.
Don
was a 10 year veteran emergency response operator and has heard
everything that could go wrong over the phone. He could calm a raging
bull if it called in an emergency. He never bothered to learn
Spanish. It was never a requirement. All the new hires were bilingual
and at least one were required to be on shift. Today, Miguel went
home sick and Tony wasn’t due to be in for another 30 minutes to
cover Miguel’s remaining shift.
Don
looked to his partner, Scott, not sure what to do. The little
county’s demographic was changing and changing fast. English was
quickly becoming a second language. Changes were made in all levels
of community service but their were still holes in the system. There
is always someone on staff that speaks Spanish but today was a slow
day. They had less than a normal amount of calls today. Miguel
pleaded to go home before Tony got there. He reasoned with Don that
no Spanish speakers have called all day and he was sure they weren’t
before Tony got there. Don wished he didn’t give in to Miguel. This
was all on him.
Don
asked using what little Spanish he knew, “Ma'am, is there anyone
there that speaks English? I don’t speak Spanish. Are there any
ninos habla English?”
“¿Qué?
No entiendo lo que está diciendo. ¿Hay alguien allí que pueda
hablar con quien habla español. Es mi hija. Ella es la hemorragia.
Necesitamos una ambulancia.”
“Ambulance?
Do you need an ambulance?”
“Sí,
Por favor, apúrate, necesitamos una ambulancia para llegar a
diecisiete de nogal sur treinta y cuatro.”
“Wait,
I don’t understand. Can you get someone who speaks English,” Don
flips up his mic on his headset, turns to Scott, “Their address
isn’t coming up. It must be a cell phone. The computer is trying to
triangulate its coordinates but it being a dog. Scott, can you try
and see where Anthony is at. If you can’t reach him, then call the
police and see if they can translate.”
“Policía?
No necesitamos a la policía. No hicimos nada malo. ¿Por qué
estamos enviando a la policía?”
“Yes,
we are calling the Police and they will hopefully have a translator.
Please hold on the line for the Police.”
“No,
la policía. No puede ser que la policía viene aquí. No quiero
problemas. Sólo quiero que mi hija al hospital. Mi esposo está
trabajando en ello y no se ejecutará. Por favor, Dios mío,
ayúdanos. Tenemos que llevarla al hospital. Ayúdenos. Ayúdenos.”
Scott
interrupts, “Anthony is about 15 minutes away and the police says
they’re in the same boat. All their Spanish speakers are tied up on
a call and they are trying to locate someone on the next shift. They
think they can scrounge up a night janitor but she’s not due for
another hour when the office closes. What do you want me to do?”
“Ma'am,
help is coming but I need your address. The police doesn’t have an
interpreter. Is there a neighbor that speaks English?”
“Te
dije que no la Policía.
Voy a tratar de un operador diferente. Adiós.”
Click!
“Hello?
Ma'am are you still there? I think she hung up.”
The
light board lights up. Don and Scott stare at the blinking light.
Every time before they had never hesitated to answer the call. They
know that every second is precious. Lives are saved or lost because
of them doing their job quickly and efficiently. Every call is
treated like it’s their own family calling in. But now for the
first time, they both hesitate. For the first time they don’t know
what to do and waste valuable life saving seconds. Scott answers,
“911, State your emergency.”
“Traté
de llamar antes, pero nadie hablaba español. ¿Me pueden ayudar? Mi
hija está muy enferma. Ella dice que ella está muy cansada y fría.
No podemos darle calor. Ha perdido mucha sangre. Ella acababa de
tener su bebé y creemos que puede ser algo salió mal. ¿Hola?
¿Hola? ¿Hay alguien ahí?”
Scott’s
eyes show panic as he looks at Don, “I think it’s her. Ma'am,
please hold on, we have someone coming right now.”
Don
asks, “Is she still using a cell phone?”
Scott
looks at his monitor, “Yes, there is no address. It’s trying to
locate the phone but the computer is still dragging. Where is
Anthony?”
“¿Hola?
¿Hay alguien ahí. Necesito una ambulancia. Por favor, ayúdenos.”
Scott
didn’t say anything to her. He just sat in his chair as the woman
pleaded with him in a language he didn’t understand. What he does
understand clearly is that they need help and he can’t provide it
to them. In the background are cries from children and men yelling at
the woman on the phone. He can only imagine that they are as
frustrated as he and Don.
Every
call that came into the office was a story about someone’s worst
day. Don and Scott do their part quickly and smoothly. They are the
beginning of a chain of events that work toward a goal to save lives.
People call devastated and emotional wrecks and it’s their job to
calm them down so that they can ask the information they need to send
help.
In
the background, Scott hears a man speak to the woman.
The
woman drops the phone.
Scott
hears nothing.
It’s
silent.
No
one speaking.
The
woman screams.
Then
Scott hears more screams, crying and chaos from faceless people,
“¡Oh, Dios. Ella no está respirando. Maria! ¡despierta!”
The
office door swings open and Tony runs in, “Are they on the line?
Did you get an address?”
“We
got nothing, Tony”
Tony
takes the phone from Scott, “¿Hola? 911! Estado de emergencia.
¿Hola?”
A
man’s voice answers angrily in Spanish, “Now that my daughter is
dead you can speak Spanish now. We’ve been on the phone with you
for almost 30 minutes and no ambulance. My daughter is dead because
of you. My wife said in America they send help. All you have to do is
call and they send help, she said, but no one came. Why didn’t
anyone come? I wanted to drive her myself but she said the ambulance
has medicine that will help. But we will never know. We called for
help and no one came. She has four children and now they have no
mother. You go to hell.”
The
angry man hangs up.
“I
drove as fast as I could.”
“What
happened, Tony? What did they say,” Asked Don
“They...
hung up,” answers Tony in disbelief.
Don
sees his monitor light up with a call, ”911. State your emergency”
A
young man pleads with Don to send an ambulance because his mother
isn’t breathing.
“I
drove as fast as I could,” says Tony to anyone who will hear.
* * * * *
About the author:
Hi, I'm your author. I loved to write like nobody's business as a child. Then one of my teacher's said something that discouraged me from writing. It took me a long time to believe that someone might appreciate something I have to write about. I hope I can count you as one of those people. Please check back to my Smashwords page or my website for info on more free short stories for 2011.
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