Whether it’s coming to the aid of a lost Chinese tourist, helping a passed-out East Indian woman, or racing an expectant Filipina mother to hospital, it’s all in a day’s work for Richmond paramedic James Fang.
Fang, a primary care paramedic of 19 years (seven in Richmond), is one of the real-life stars of a new, 10-part TV series on the Knowledge Network called Paramedics: Life on the Line, which follows the everyday dramas of paramedics and dispatchers in the Lower Mainland.
The first episode aired last week and Fang, alongside colleague Kin Leung, will feature in episode four, called “Connections.”
The hour-long show has scenes many Richmondites will recognize, including the Middle Arm Dyke, Granville Avenue and No. 2 Road, as well as, obviously, Richmond Hospital.
In the episode, communication barriers in Richmond are in the spotlight, with Fang and Leung having to utilize a sophisticated, 200-language translation service to help an elderly Chinese tourist, despite both of them speaking many dialects of Cantonese and Mandarin.
“She was visiting from another country and spoke a version of Chinese, but we had no idea what it was,” said Fang, who was born in a small rural village in China.
“We were using the interpretation tool to try and figure out which dialect it was. My partner and I are both of Chinese descent; I can speak three different dialects of Cantonese and he can speak a little bit of Mandarin and several different dialects of Cantonese.
“We went through the spectrum of what we knew to try and figure out what this lady was saying, but we didn’t know.”
The paramedics put the lady on speakerphone with the interpreter, just as her grandson, who had been out looking for her, appeared.
“We were on scene for about half an hour,” Fang explained to the Richmond News.
“The family member said she was lost, she didn’t know the area. She had been standing at that intersection for more than two hours.
“It’s not just about medical help, it’s about being able to relate and communicate with everybody.”
Fang said there are many language barriers prevalent in Richmond, but “it’s not just Chinese, there are so many languages spoken here.”
Case in point, in the same episode, Fang and Leung are dispatched to a Sikh temple at the eastern end of Westminster Highway, where an elderly woman had collapsed in the kitchen.
The pair can be seen having difficulty trying to ask questions in English about the patient through another woman, until her son arrives to interpret.
“Language is one of the larger (challenges), but we hone in on body language and facial expressions,” added Fang.
“We can figure out a lot of things without verbal communication, we’re very good at it. We can interact with people and assess patients quite well without language.
“We use (the translation service) all the time; so many languages being spoken in Richmond, it’s quite invaluable.
“But every day is entirely different, there are never two days the same. Some days, you don’t speak English at all and some days only English.”
The series has been two years in the making and focuses frequently on Richmond, which attracted more than 14,000 9-1-1 calls in 2018, the 8th busiest city in the province.
In another scene, Fang and Leung transport a woman to Richmond Hospital because she complained of chest pain at work, after watching a co-worker flirting with her husband.
And the pair came to the rescue of a pregnant lady, of Filipina descent, who was bleeding and fearing for her unborn child.
“My episode is about language barriers and building connections with the patients,” said Fang.
“Even if there’s no medical emergency, we’re still looking after them.”
Fang said, although the crew followed him around for about two weeks, he started forgetting they were there.
“I actually quite enjoyed it, it was quite exciting. But I was so focused on the patient’s care,” he said.
The series also follows two other Richmond paramedics, Rob Whincup and his colleague Kelly Sinclair.
Episode four of the show is set to air on Tuesday, April 23 on the Knowledge Network.
