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Irish paramedics rely on Google Translate to deliver baby

From Swahili to English and back again.

 

Dylan Love

Tech

Posted on Feb 11, 2015   Updated on May 29, 2021, 1:51 pm CDT

All the medical know-how in the world can’t bridge the language barrier, so it’s a good thing that paramedics Gerry McCann and Shane Mulcahy were able to use Google Translate to help a Congolese woman deliver her child.

The paramedics who delivered the baby.

The paramedics who delivered the baby.

The Corkman

The woman was already en route to the hospital in the back of the ambulance, but things couldn’t wait any longer. Her limited English complicated matters, so McCann launched Google Translate on his smartphone, and the pair began communicating back and forth with help from the app.

This story thankfully has a very happy ending: The woman’s child was successfully delivered in the ambulance at 6:23am on Feb. 2.

H/T TalkAndroid | Photo via MPD01605/Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0)

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*First Published: Feb 11, 2015, 11:48 am CST