Nancy Benabou

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

A lawyer for the CSN union representing paramedics sent Côte St. Luc councillor Mike Cohen and resident Nancy Benabou letters of demand that they take down a now very widely seen video on Instagram of an Urgences Santé paramedic after she allegedly declined to speak English while in the process of treating a patient.

The paramedic was treating CSL resident Rachel Benabou, 91, and was speaking to her and her daughter Nancy in French. But when neighbour Lana Mastromonaco asked the paramedic to clarify something in English, the paramedic allegedly refused. It was at this point that Nancy Benabou began filming. They allege the female paramedic said, “Madame, nous sommes au Québec.” Cohen was alerted about the incident by the residents, who live in his District 2.

Urgences Santé has defended the paramedic, saying it was agreed that the exchange with the patient would be in French, and also cited patient confidentiality in the paramedic declining to translate.

Cohen told The Suburban Friday that the video of the dialogue with the paramedic received 1.6 million views. He and Benabou, after receiving the legal letter, took down the video. We are told the letter contended that the reputation of the paramedic was being harmed. Cohen made a new Instagram video explaining this latest development.

“With the video and the publicity we generated of this incident, I think we made our point,” Cohen told The Suburban. “We’ve spoken to Urgences Santé and they’ve been very attentive.”

Cohen, CSL Mayor Mitchell Brownstein and Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather also sent a letter in English and French Friday to Urgences Santé on behalf of Rachel Benabou and “all our constituents who would prefer to express themselves in English when interacting with your staff during a medical call.”

The three explained the paramedic’s alleged refusal to speak English, and added, “as you are aware, the current Quebec government has stated on several occasions that health care services are exempt from Law 96 and has revised the recent directive to make clear that anyone can ask to receive services in English.

They added that it is difficult to imagine “that any paramedic working in the western sector that includes CSL where the minority language population is approximately 70 percent, is not sensitive to the fact that they may need to address a patient, or anyone in their entourage in English.

“Indeed, the paramedic in question apparently had spoken in English earlier, so irrespective of whether it is the patient or someone in their entourage trying to help them, there is no legal impediment for your paramedic to comply, especially considering the pressure of the situation and desire for someone to help a 91-year-old.”

Cohen, Brownstein and Housefather are seeking “clear confirmation” from Urgences Santé that those who contact the ambulance service and ask to receive responses in English “will indeed receive responses in English”; that employee and contractors of Urgences Santé “will be trained on how to respond in this type of situation and that it will not reoccur. As this has received a considerable amount of publicity, we encourage you to respond to us as quickly as possible.

“As you know, we are available to meet with you and would like the signatories of this letter to be present, as our aim is to work together in a spirit of mutual respect to ensure that this type of interaction does not happen again.” n