by Margaret M. Duffy, EdD, RN

The MUSC Medical Center has joined AT&T's language line, a network that will provide immediate access to 140 languages. It becomes operational on June 1.

To access language assistance during normal working hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.), a staff member should contact the social worker for that area. After normal working hours the hospital operator is called. The staff member will need to provide the following information—language needed, patient's medical record # and the name of the person requesting the service. The hospital operators have the AT&T language line number, the client ID number and a personal code.

All of these are needed for access to the AT&T language line. This service may be used for:

• outbound calls—you need to call a foreign country or non- English speaking person to give or get information,
• inbound calls—you receive a call from a non- English speaking person
• non-English speaking patients or family members- you will need to get a speaker phone from the hospital operators (room 243 NT) for use with the patient or family member.