Tattoos on the job

[spenac]

Again for arguments sake, it's not really them, but their insurance. We all know "self pays" typically don't.

Personally, I really don't have an opinion either way on tatoos, I form my opinions on partners based on their performance.

Your opinion does not matter only our customers, paying or not, have opinions that matter. And there are still enough customers that find tats offensive that it should move any real professional to either not get a tat or to cover them when at work. As to insurance it is still paid for by our customers. If government benefits they to are paid by our customers taxes. Our freedom of expression ends when it has any chance of affecting patient outcome. A patient nervous about the tat covered thug trying to touch them may not respond to treatment or even make themselves worse. Does not matter how good you are in a short transport they will not have time to get past tat phobia.

[letmesleep]

As I have stated before, I have 5 very large tattoos which are all covered by by uniform. Basing how good a partner is or isn't off of the amount and/or size of their tattoo is just plain wrong for one of us to do to each other, agreed. The fact that there are Pts out there that may not feel comfortable with one of us covered in ink is the real issue. We don't walk through any door to see a Pt, holding our resume in our hand, Pts don't always understand what all those letters on your collar mean. With that said how you present yourself initially is where the Pt builds their confidence in you. If we come through that door with jelly donut stains on our shirt, a faded T-shirt full of holes, gym shorts, flip-flops, piercings out your ying yang, or totally covered in tattoos we are going to have one hell of a time getting a Pt to trust us enough to allow us to affectively do our job in their time of crisis. This is where I get back to simply using some "god given" common sense. It may not be every Pt out there, but there are those who will shy away from you based on your appearance because they expect us to look professional. How many african-American medics still struggle with the race issue in the deep south? Pts will have their issues with the way we look as long as they are still alive, and have a mind that functions. It is up to us, as professionals, to take these issues in to consideration, and adjust our "freedom of expression" to do the best we can for our Pts.

[Arizonaffcep]

Ok...so how would that apply to someone, who wasn't in EMS/public service before, has a lot of tatoos (nothing that they'd be afraid of showing to their mother), and decides for a mid-life career change to EMS. Where does that leave them?

[Arizonaffcep]

I guess what I'm dancing around is, where do you/the company/whoever draw the line between this is appropriate/this isn't and could it be construed as discrimination? Which of course if your service gets any money from the state/feds/whatever can be a HUGE deal.

[spenac]

Companys already do have no exposed tats rules that have stood up thus far. If a person already has them they can cover them if they want a job with companys with those rules. They are not denied employment as long as they cover up. If tats are where they can't be covered then person has removal option and makeup so they can qualify. So there is no discrimination. That is why a person needs to really think clearly about all choices in life, as those choices can have profound affects on their future.

It is not about our rights, it is about our patients rights.

[Mateo_1387]

Our freedom of expression ends when it has any chance of affecting patient outcome.

How many african-American medics still struggle with the race issue in the deep south? Pts will have their issues with the way we look as long as they are still alive, and have a mind that functions. It is up to us, as professionals, to take these issues in to consideration, and adjust our "freedom of expression" to do the best we can for our Pts.

My freedom of expression does not end when it affects patient outcome ! Their prejudice is their own fault, their assumptions about a person just because they have tattoo's is their own ignorance. :shock: Patients are going to be offended whether it is a black medic, or a medic covered with tattoos, or one covered with rings, or one that has nothing but a rotten tooth !

It is not about our rights, it is about our patients rights.

My personal rights are not trumped by my patients. What are the "rights" of a patient that trump my rights? I can see the patient having certain expectations, but not rights, when it comes to medical care.

A patient nervous about the tat covered thug trying to touch them may not respond to treatment or even make themselves worse.

Their own damn fault. I am who I am, it is not my patient's "right" to have me changed. Again, their ignorance will be what kills them, not mine. You said it right, they make themselves worse.

[spenac]

My freedom of expression does not end when it affects patient outcome ! Their prejudice is their own fault, their assumptions about a person just because they have tattoo's is their own ignorance. :shock: Patients are going to be offended whether it is a black medic, or a medic covered with tattoos, or one covered with rings, or one that has nothing but a rotten tooth !

My personal rights are not trumped by my patients. What are the "rights" of a patient that trump my rights? I can see the patient having certain expectations, but not rights, when it comes to medical care.

Their own damn fault. I am who I am, it is not my patient's "right" to have me changed. Again, their ignorance will be what kills them, not mine. You said it right, they make themselves worse.

Selfish people always thinking of themselves first. Be a darn professional or get out of my profession. Cover up the tats, remove piercings. Race is whole other issue that should never have been brought into this discussion.

[letmesleep]

First of all the race card was played here as an example of Pt ignorance, and does have a place in this thread. It shows the different types of discrimination that a Pt might have about you when you walk through the door. Isn't that OUR argument Spenac?

Mateo_1387, I understand what your saying, however the point of us being there is to do NO harm. If there is something like a tattoo that potentially may cause harm to a Pt because of their ignorance, should we NOT try to do something before hand, to better their outcome? There is no way you will know, as your walking up that sidewalk, if your next Pt is going to get bent out of shape because of your tat. Do we not take measures in other areas to prepare for the worst case scenario? If any Pt that you walk up to worsens because of their own ignorance towards your ink spot, have you not done harm to that Pt since you could have prepared for the situation?

Arizonaffcep, Your point is a good one, but I'll have to agree with spenac here. If you decide to spend the first half of your life getting covered in ink then decide to go to school (either for the first time or not) and become a medic (EMT), there may be a chance that the company will ask you to wear long sleeves and pants to cover your tats. This is reality, and might be the only way for you to work in this field. There would be no discrimination here due to the fact that a policy may already exist, and you were hired. So my question to you is: What would you do?

[Mateo_1387]

To Spenac......The "My Profession" comment is selfish.

Patient's who are offended by tattoos exhibit prejudice. Our profession is to deliver medical care. Tattoos do not define our profession.

To Letmesleep.......How are tattoos going to cause harm to a patient? Is there any evidence to support that tattoos are harmful to patients?

[letmesleep]

Good question! Lets try it this way, when a Pt has an "emergency" they typically are upset, scared, what have you, correct? It is our job to put that Pt at ease, correct?

If a Pt gets bent out of shape because of the prejudice against tattoos they can be upset, scared, what have you, correct?

When a Pt remains or gets upset, do we not see anxiety, causing increases in respirations, HR, so on and so forth? What GOOD have you done for this Pt? How have you helped? Could you have changed anything to better the situation? What kind of preparations could you have taken to better this Pts out come?

I do agree with your statement that it is their OWN prejudice, and that alone will cause their OWN anxiety, which may also lead to their OWN worsening in health if any. As a "Professional" is there anything that you can do to put this Pt at ease to better their out come? There is if you, me, or any one else out there that have ink would simply bite the bullet and cover them up during our shift. It may only be one Pt in every 2000 that you effect because of your tattoos, but isn't that kinda the point any ways?

My question to you is simple, Is there any research that shows that tattoos are not harmful?