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A 4-year-old girl drowned in Columbus, Ohio, in early May 2007 after her Spanish-speaking parents reached 911 but could not immediately make a dispatcher understand what had happened, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

The child had gone into a backyard pond. Her mother called for help but was unable to communicate with the call-taker in English. She spoke Spanish for about two minutes before the dispatcher was able to bring an interpreter onto the line, according to the newspaper.

When the interpreter joined, she told the mother that emergency crews were on the way. About 50 seconds later the mother hung up, and the parents drove the girl to a nearby hospital themselves. She was pronounced dead there.

A recording of the call later circulated among 911 professionals and was posted on a trade website for dispatchers, where it was presented as an example of the difficulties that language barriers can create for emergency call centers.

The available account did not identify the family or say whether the time spent reaching an interpreter affected the girl's chances of survival.