Local sign language class attendees hope to gain skill, help others
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Gabrielle Jansen / The Outlook Students go through a sign language class at Adelia M. Russell Library on Tuesday.

 Gabrielle Jansen

Knowing a second language is a valuable skill but it can also make a difference in an emergency situation. Paramedic and instructor Jessica Duncan once responded to a patient who could communicate only through American Sign Language (ASL) and didn’t have an interpreter with them.

Duncan and her co-workers had to write with the patient in order to give them treatment. After that call, Duncan was committed to learning ASL to be well prepared in the future.