How would you calm down somebody if neither of you speaks the other’s language?

Body language (not necessarily gestures or charades) can be hard to control, but if you can pull it off it’s most universally recognizable. Deep breaths, arms down, and a look of focus and confidence to take care of the situation. They have your attention; they’ll notice.

I work in 911 dispatch, so getting people to calm down, stop what they’re doing, and listen to me is kind of a big part of my job. Things are of course a bit different in-person than over the phone, but here’s generally how I’d approach something like this.

If you know their name, use it. A lot. People respond to their name, that’s kind of the whole reason names exist. It will get their attention which is half the battle.

Getting them to calm down from there is the other half, and it’s not easy, especially if you don’t speak their language. Body language and tone of voice goes a long way though.

Not that they’re going to understand you in this situation anyway, but remember that no one in the entire history of calming down has anyone ever actually calmed down after being told to calm down. Don’t even bother trying that.

Try to get them to take some deep breaths, use some gestures.

Your hospital really should have access to some sort of translation service, either humans on location there in the room with you who speak the language, or some kind of service like languageline (not plugging them specifically, I have a lot of complaints about some of their interpreters, they just happen to be who we use at work) that you can call up and get on speakerphone. Google translate and such are wonderful tools, but they’re not perfect and sometimes you really want that bit of a human touch. I’ve also occasionally had some great interpretors who will chime in with some helpful bits like “they’re saying’this’ but in our culture that usually really means ‘this’”

If you can find an excuse to hand them something, maybe some paperwork, that can also sometimes kind of create a little bit of a break in whatever they’re doing for you to work with. They’ll probably stop screaming for a second to look at what was just handed to them, and then you can try to work on something.

I have been in a couple of critical situations and the only suggestion I remember each time from my first aid course is : preach by example. If you’re calm and confident people will calm down.

« Ok » and thumbs up are a well established symbol too

I fell like speaking calmly might help even if the person doesn’t understand your words. Hugging someone is probably going to be weird if they can’t understand you at all, and especially if your a man hugging a woman. Maybe a pat on back though?

Also, as others said, try to look as calm as possible. Apart from that maybe a hand on your heart? (Is that how you say that in English?) I don’t see that being misinterpreted

Some people are just hysterical. It’s just how such emotions are expressed in their culture.

My first step would be seeing if I can get them to sit down with me. Start with pulling up two chairs, sit down in one, and gesture at the other.

Once that’s done, try to get Google translate pulled up in conversation mode if you recognize what language it is. If not, step 1 is figuring that out. Try the app as a stopgap, then reach out to your organization’s translation resources.

Sing.

That sounds extremely stressful to witness!