A Notice from the Fire Department

Starting 2019 October 1, calls to the emergency number 119 and emergency phone calls made at the scene by responders will have multilingual support in five languages: English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. This language support system is expected to improve interactions between emergency responders and foreign residents or visitors experiencing an emergency in Seika.

When a person that is unable to speak Japanese calls 119, the dispatcher at the fire department will connect to a telephone interpretation center who will then act as an intermediary in a 3-way call.

For language support at the scene of an emergency, the emergency responder will call a telephone interpretation center who will interpret the conversation as the responder and witness or victim pass the phone between each other.