Police 110 service goes multilingual
- Source: Global Times
- [08:30 July 20 2010]
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By Craig Curtis
Foreigners should find it easier to summon emergency police assistance with the recent addition of multilingual services to the 110 police emergency response number, although the lack of publicity surrounding the move and reports of similar initiatives in the past could leave many potential users of the service confused.
The Shanghai Public Security Bureau recently announced that the 110 service now caters to English, Japanese, Russian, German, French, Spanish, Arabic, Korean and Italian speakers.
Although touted as a "new" addition to the previously Chinese-only 110, a Xinhua report from January 8, 2007 references the launch of multilingual 110 services in 2003, including all of the recently-announced languages, minus Italian.
The report adds that Shanghai police set up a pool of 33 bilingual or multilingual operators for its 110 service in 2007.
The Global Times faxed questions regarding the new service to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau at their request Monday morning. As of last night, there had been no response.
A French resident of Shanghai for the last seven years, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Global Times that he had been put off the 110 service after a bad experience. "When you really need it, no one speaks English. I speak fluent Chinese, and when I called, they couldn't help me," he said. "When I was finally put through to someone who could understand me, the first thing they asked me was my visa status. This was an emergency situation, and they asked me my visa status."
Another source of confusion for expats is that emergency service numbers in China remain decentralized, with police reachable via 110, the fire service through 119, and emergency medical services at 120.
Of 20 Shanghai expats surveyed by the Global Times, only 10 knew the number for police, and none knew the numbers for fire or medical responders.
The Shanghai Emergency Medical Center routes medical emergency 120 calls. An official at the center, who refused to reveal his name, said 120 calls are dealt with in district offices, and offer services in Chinese and English, although if the operator does not understand the caller, the call will be redirected to a 110 operator.
A member of staff at the Shanghai Fire Protection Association, who asked to remain anonymous, said there would "definitely be someone available who understands English" for 119 calls.
The Shanghai Call Center offers 24-hour assistance in English on 962288. Information available from operators includes directions, the location of nearby shops, restaurants and amenities, help in communicating with taxi drivers and other non-English speakers, as well as other general information. The service recently announced that it was expanding the number of languages it supports to over 10, to help with the large influx of Expo visitors.
