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Local Voices

BE HEARD.

Foreign language, translation, interpreting, and sign language (ASL) services.

Unless you have traveled to a foreign country where you didn’t speak the language, it is difficult to put yourself in the position of someone who does not speak English and who lives in the United States. Perhaps while visiting another country on vacation and you have fun dabbling with words and short phrases that help you to get around, such as, “Where’s the bathroom?”  “Another drink, please.”

While it’s fun and exciting interacting with natives from that country, it is a dramatically different scene when you (or your family member) are laying in a hospital bed, terribly ill, and are not able to tell the physician what is wrong, nor can you understand what he or she says to you. Most people would feel upset, nervous, scared and extremely frustrated in this situation.  Unfortunately, these are situations in which immigrants and refugees find themselves everyday in the United States, unless a professional trained interpreter is provided.

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Interpreters, in their professional role as verbal and cultural communicators, help patients to understand the medical problem facing them, as well as help providers to more fully comprehend the scope of the problem by offering the opportunity for direct dialogue with the patient. Professional trained interpreters do not interject their personal views or beliefs, but merely offer the exact meaning of what is said in one language into another language.

LAMP is the most prominent provider of medical interpretive services in the Saint Louis region.  Its foreign language interpreters are trained in Bridging the Gap, an internationally recognized medical interpreter training program developed by the Cross Cultural Health Care Program in Seattle, Washington. Additionally, several LAMP interpreters are Court Certified for the state of Missouri and have the newly created national medical interpreter certification from the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters. Eduardo Vera, Executive Director of LAMP, also teaches a Mental Health Interpreting course at Meramec Community College during the fall and spring semesters, highlighting the specialized situation of interpreting for an individual who is not mentally stable.

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While LAMP’s original emphasis is in the healthcare interpreting field, the demand for interpreters within the legal, educational, and other fields is growing, for which LAMP is dedicated to providing accurate and culturally competent services. Starting this April, LAMP will host the state court certification orientation, put on by the Office of State Courts Administrator. LAMP is also working with schools and social service agencies to promote better services in those areas as well.

An integral part of LAMP’s non-profit business is that of education at all levels, including interpreter, customer, and patient/client education. LAMP prides itself on its well-trained staff and highly educated interpreters, many of whom were physicians, dentists, engineers, and scientists in their native countries. Most interpreters are native speakers of the target language and therefore are 100% fluent in both terminology and cultural barriers that may arise during an interpretation session.

The demand for professionally trained interpreters continues to grow at an incredible rate, and LAMP is dedicated to provide the most highly qualified and culturally competent interpreters for a variety of situations. LAMP’s incredible staff of interpreters break down barriers one appointment at a time, allowing those patients and providers to  be heard. 

p: 314-842-0062 
visit:  www.lampinterpreters.org
https://twitter.com/LAMP__LAMP
https://www.facebook.com/LAMPinterpreters


 

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