lets see... my first FT EMS job: everyone wore white class B shirts, with black 4 pocket pants, agency purchased. supervisors got gold nametags, fieldstaff had silver. jobshirts were approved, as were sweaters, but they were at the employees expense; both needed agency patch on one shoulder, and certification patch on the other. jacket was agency purchased, and black with appropriate patches.
second FT EMS job: staff wore light blue class B shirts, with supervisors wearing white; all agency provided. if jobshirts were worn, either a uniform shirt or turtleneck needed to be worn underneath.agency patch on one shoulder, and certification level on the other, and all was at the employees expense. 4 pocket blue pants were provided; if you wanted to upgrade to EMS cargo pants, the employee could at his expense. polos were allowed during the summer, at the employee expense. comms personnel could wear either class b or polo year round. Jacket was issue but crappy, and not warm; we did upgrade to a better jacket as I was leaving.
no agency has ever provided belts or shoes; however they needed to be black to conform to uniform standards. Hats were not provided, always at the employee expense.
My current FT: standard uniform is a blue T shirt, and navy pants. navy EMS shorts are permitted, and gym shorts are issued for sleeping and workouts. we also allow FD issued hoodies, sweatshirts, jobshirts (but these are buy your own), winter hats, baseball hats, crappy jackets, new jackets, dress uniforms (the chief is usually the only one in a button down) if there is a need, and polos. And turnout gear is issued, and mostly standardized
Part of the issue with uniforms is what you call uniform. At my first volunteer EMS agency (from back in the day, before I started), the "uniform" was white jumpsuits, agency provided, as well as a green jacket. Then they approved black 4 pocket pants and white class B shirt, if the member wanted to purchase them. Then someone decided to order black silk screened T shirts. Then they ordered navy blue jumpsuits, agency provided. We then had forest green silk screen T-shirts, as well as black. and someone ordered slime green t shirts, which looked horrible. We purchased some 5.11 white tactical polos, which were awesome, and later someone ordered t shirts with the agency logo embroidered on the left chest, which looked horrible. all were uniform, but, as you can imagine, lacked uniformity.
Honest question to
@NomadicMedic: why does it matter? Does it really matter if your crew prefers straight pants or cargo pants? If everyone has different types of footware, as long as it meets the standards, does it matter? If someone prefers a vest to a jacket, does that really impact performance?
My personal preference: Issue me a few polo shirts with my name on it, with a different color for field staff and supervisors, that has pen pockets on the sleeves, like a 5.11 tactical style that is comfy and breathes. Pick your color of EMS pants, and give me a few. I have so many pairs of EMS pants from over the years, in both black and blue, that I might not even need them. If someone prefers 4 pocket pants, get them those, but I like my cargos, especially ones with zippers so I don't have to leave my wallet in my back pocket. Allow jobshirts, with agency patches and embroidery, as well as name. or commando sweaters. personal preference, so let people chose what they want. Give me 5 department issue undershirts, with silk screening, that can be worn under my jobshirt or polo, so I don't need to wear my collared shirt under my jobshirt, but if I need to take if off, I am still identifiable. And give me a 3 season jacket, with a concealable hood, that meets ANSI requirements for highway visibility, and will keep me warm and dry. Oh, and give me a $100 uniform allowance every year, that can be spent on footwear, department approved embroidered apparel (
http://trdesignsinc.net was who we used, because they were able to make one-off silk screen T shirt or polo shirts for relatively cheap), jobshirts, etc, so if I wanted something else, I could get it, but the agency didn't have to spend money on something that I was never going to wear. Oh, and if something is getting worn out, either with holes or color changes, make them dispose of that shirt, and either issue them a new one, or that's what their uniform allowance is for (might need to up it to 200 a year in that case).
