SOB – Testing & Treatment [for ER Providers]

Medical Spanish Dialogues

Topic: Shortness of Breath Testing / Treatment

Target Audience: Emergency medicine clinicians (doctors, PA’s, or NP’s)

Format: Mainly yes/no questions, a few with short answers

Video Version

First, I’ll walk you through the medical Spanish phrases for Shortness of Breath – Testing / Treatment in video form.

You can listen to the pronunciation, and quiz yourself as you go along.

(FYI, this video is also available as a podcast. Details below.)

Written Version

If you prefer, here’s the written version of Shortness of Breath – Testing / Treatment in Spanish.

Note: Parentheses mean the word(s) can be left out, and the phrase should still make sense.

English	Spanish
We will do…	Vamos a hacer…
Blood tests	Pruebas de sangre
An EKG	Un electrocardiograma
X-ray / imaging / ultrasound	Rayos equis / radiografía / ultrasonido
Did you take aspirin today?	Tomó aspirina hoy?
How much?	Cuánto?
We will give you…	Le vamos a dar…
Medicine / a pill / pills	Medicina / una pastilla / pastillas
An injection / injections	Una inyección / inyecciones
(Intravenous) fluids	Suero (por la vena)
A breathing treatment	Un tratamiento respiratorio
A mask to help you breath	Una máscara para ayudarle a respirar
Medicine to relax you	Medicina para relajarle
We need to intubate you.	Le necesitamos intubar.
First we will sedate you.	Primero le vamos a sedar.
Is that ok?	Está bien?
Wait here, please.	Espere aquí, por favor.
The nurse will come.	Viene la enfermera.
I will come back later (to tell you the test results).	Regreso más tarde (para avisarle de los resultados).
(Do you feel) better?	(Se siente) mejor?
The same?	Igual?
Worse?	Peor?
Do you still feel short of breath?	Todavía siente falta de aire?
It looks like you have…	Parece que tiene…

Wrapping Up

Thanks for checking out my Shortness of Breath – Testing / Treatment dialogue. You’ll probably find these medical Spanish translations particularly useful if you work as a provider in emergency medicine.

For additional medical Spanish dialogues, or to check out my podcast, see below. 🙂

The "Learn Medical Spanish" Podcast

To hear these medical Spanish dialogues as a podcast, subscribe on your favorite platform!

(You can also find it by searching “Learn Medical Spanish” on just about any app.)

Ben

Ben has been practicing as a physician assistant, or PA (similar to a doctor) in emergency medicine, family practice and urgent care since 2014. He became fluent in Spanish while living in Guatemala for 2 years, and now tries to help other healthcare professionals learn medical Spanish so they can care for their patients more effectively.