Design a distinct uniform to identify professional EMS

[Dustdevil]

Nick, I'll pay you twenty bucks to post here a lot more often. :thumbright:

[Kim_Possible]

I did enjoy having a jumpsuit. Unfortunately, my company has strayed away from them. Of course as a girl getting in and out of them was a little difficult. Sorry we need a little more then a peek a boo hole. LOL Scrubs yes, but I like the thought of polo shirts or maybe turtlenecks in the winter time. The blouse thing....yea just seems to fancy for out in the field. Pant wise I'm so use to cargo pants, it's all I've ever worn.

Kim

[firespec35]

No I really don't want to wear a dirty shirt either but want to look decent too and I don't have a station to go back to. So I'm stuck in a truck for 12+ hours on the street How many shirts can you carry on an ambulance. I know I sure as hell don't have room for more than 1 extra. I'm sorry it's the street things happen. You brush against the wrong thing and you screw up a white shirt.

[Richard B the EMT]

Just a thought: The public expects the fire fighters and LEOs to be in somewhat similar uniforms. Do they expect us to wear, although we are EMS, yet another similar uniform?

[spenac]

Just a thought: The public expects the fire fighters and LEOs to be in somewhat similar uniforms. Do they expect us to wear, although we are EMS, yet another similar uniform?

Thats the problem they think we are FF's. We need to do something that shows we are healthcare professionals. Really the high quality scrub top with our BDU's could work great.

[firespec35]

Thats the problem they think we are FF's. We need to do something that shows we are healthcare professionals. Really the high quality scrub top with our BDU's could work great.

Well there are 2 problems there #1 EMS and fire are so intertwined from the beginning stages of EMS that it will be almost impossible to separate in the larger public's mind. Look at all the major shows "Emergency!" "Third Watch", All the EMS crews that are on the show "ER" and even the ill fated "Rescue 77" show EMS as part of the FD. What do we have that shows us as separate? "Mother, Juggs and Speed" ? and do we really want that to be our image to the public. Hell half the crews that the show "Paramedics" ran with were FD EMS.

The other thing is along with being healthcare professionals, we are public service professionals so the public almost expects us to be in a similar uniform but that could link back to my first point.

[Dustdevil]

Well there are 2 problems there #1 EMS and fire are so intertwined from the beginning stages of EMS that it will be almost impossible to separate in the larger public's mind.

Well, there is one problem there. EMS and fire had nothing to do with each other from the beginning stages of EMS. When I was a kid, the ambulance either came from the hospital, with guys wearing white coats, or from the funeral home, with guys wearing a suit and tie. Unless you happened to be on fire, the FD was nowhere to be seen. I'm only fifty years old, and I can remember that, and it began many decades before I was born. I was nearly in my twenties before any fire departments around me started running EMS. And in much of the country, it still doesn't happen.

I agree with you about public expectations, thanks to television. And I agree that public expectations are definitely part of the problem. But expectations have changed multiple times in our history. They can change again just as easily. In fact, they must change in order for our profession to grow.

[spenac]

I agree with you about public expectations, thanks to television. And I agree that public expectations are definitely part of the problem. But expectations have changed multiple times in our history. They can change again just as easily. In fact, they must change in order for our profession to grow.

Amen

[Richard B the EMT]

If I am repeating myself, I apologize in advance. I'm not taking the time to see if I mentioned this in the string already.

One of the problems with a scrub suit, or even just the shirt, is, as they are available to the general public, and are comfortable shirts, a lot of non-medical persons wear them.

Is that person looking over your shoulder at a "street-side job" an off duty member of your service that you don't yet know, or one of the "lookie-lookies" (spectators at the scene), just wearing a similarly colored scrub shirt?

With that in mind, while someone can get a shirt that makes them look like a member of your department, the majority of the stores that sell them won't sell the patches, or embroidery, to someone not able to show the store clerks ID indicating their legal authority, or legality, to wear such things.

[JakeEMTP]

I can't argue that fact Richard. I never really even considered it.

I think though, that is why we ( ok me ) would advocate the need to have some identification ie: embroidered or sewn on patches to distinguish us from the " Lookie Lookies '