Badges

[Hastings]

wear it on my belt whenever I'm at work.

I work as a Set Medic, the badge, as well as the uniform help to keep us separated visually from the rest of the film crew which is preferred. Given how casually a typical crew member dresses, the uniform and the badge and the shoulder patch lets the people who hire us, mainly producers, know that we take the job seriously. It also helps to identify us to the rest of the crew so they know who to go to when they need assistance. Given that I typically work with crews and casts of over 100 people at any given location, standing out a bit is a plus. I get regular comments about how nice it is that we take our jobs seriously enough to wear a uniform.

I'm also proud to be an EMT, happy to wear the insignia that states that I'm an EMT.

Have to laugh at some of the attitudes here, especially the folks who claim that they wouldn't wear a badge if required.

John E.

I actually find the safety excuse to be a very valid one. When working in Flint and Detroit, the last thing you want to be confused for is a police officer. It's a safety issue. People know medics are there to help. People know that cops are there to cause trouble for them.

Aside from that, if you think it's hard to get information out of a drug overdose as an identified medic, try doing it when they think you're a cop.

Point is, there are so many benefits - both from a safety and patient care standpoint - to not wearing a badge. Uniform yes. Badge no.

 

[BLSBoy]

I work as a Set Medic, the badge, as well as the uniform help to keep us separated visually from the rest of the film crew which is preferred. Given how casually a typical crew member dresses, the uniform and the badge and the shoulder patch lets the people who hire us, mainly producers, know that we take the job seriously. It also helps to identify us to the rest of the crew so they know who to go to when they need assistance. Given that I typically work with crews and casts of over 100 people at any given location, standing out a bit is a plus. I get regular comments about how nice it is that we take our jobs seriously enough to wear a uniform.

I'm also proud to be an EMT, happy to wear the insignia that states that I'm an EMT.

Have to laugh at some of the attitudes here, especially the folks who claim that they wouldn't wear a badge if required.

So you work as an EMT on a movie set? Is that what I am understanding?

You don't work in an urban setting?
You have never been mistaken for a cop, and had patients get violent because they think you are a LEO?
Shoot, I would prefer to dress in pink BDUs and drive a VW Bug if I thought it would prevent me from getting mistaken for a LEO again.

Have to laugh at some of the attitudes here, especially the folks who have never gotten an arse whupping from a violent patient who mistook them for the Police.

 

[wolfwyndd]

got two. . . . sort of.

For the EMT side of the house our duty uniform has an embroidered small round badge on one side of our shirt and on the other side has our last name embroided on. While I'm generally not a huge fan of badges for NON LEO units, this one isn't bad because it's so small it hardly ever gets noticed and its CLEARLY not a LEO style badge. Obviously, the only time I wear it is when I'm on duty.

For the fire side of the house the only badge we have is on our class A uniform so the only time we were that is when we do a formal event and / or a parade and that's only two or three times per year. As a matter of fact, I think I posted a picture of me in that uniform over in the 'pictures behind the post' thread.

In regards to 'casual' or 'off duty' wear. Oh h%ll no, I don't wear or carry a badge. I don't see any reason too. I'm not a cop so I don't need one.

 

[rmellish]

wear it on my belt whenever I'm at work.

I'm also proud to be an EMT, happy to wear the insignia that states that I'm an EMT.

Have to laugh at some of the attitudes here, especially the folks who claim that they wouldn't wear a badge if required.

John E.

These "attitudes" are for the most part a result of experience. For quite a few Psych runs, and calls involving rec. drugs or illegal activities its better to be identified as EMS, neutral, than to be seen as a LEO who is out to bust them.

Most of us are proud to be professionals working a field we excel in. I wouldn't equate a refusal to wear a badge as not being proud or professional when it comes to our jobs. I don't need a shiny piece of metal for the patients to know I take my job, their care, seriously.

 

[Oregon]

So you work as an EMT on a movie set? Is that what I am understanding?

You don't work in an urban setting?
You have never been mistaken for a cop, and had patients get violent because they think you are a LEO?
Shoot, I would prefer to dress in pink BDUs and drive a VW Bug if I thought it would prevent me from getting mistaken for a LEO again.

Have to laugh at some of the attitudes here, especially the folks who have never gotten an arse whupping from a violent patient who mistook them for the Police.

I'm trying to figure out how transport would work in a VW Bug
It's not just urban settings where you don't want to be seen as a LEO. Out in the woods, we've come across some "produce" growers who have had a hard time figuring out we were just looking for a missing kid or overdue hiker.
Tense moments with armed "farmers" would not be helped with badges.
Missing teens, too...we frequently add to our sound sweeps "we're not the cops."

 

[Sasha]

I didn't even realize some areas assigned badges to their medics.

We already have such a problem with medics being shot at by gang members who think they're LEO, that anyone who tried to assign badges would be out of their stinkin' mind!

That is a BIG reason why my service doesnt use badges. The only one who wears badges are the supervisors who dont leave the station unless its to get your bum and chew you out.

 

[Paladin]

All three services I work for have them. Each department rules on them differently. The Vollie squad only wears them on the dress uniforms. At the Hospital, I wear it because as a part of the Special Ops Group, we can work with other departments including LEOs and need to be identifiable. Now this badge is not metal but a direct embroidery on the uniform shirt itself. The third service I work for is EMS for a Police dept. Our Patches say UCPD EMS all spelled out. The ambulances all say UCPD EMS and the badges all say UCPD EMS and "badge" number. It is almost like the NYPD Det badge but silver and has the state seal in the middle.

 

[mikie]

So for those with badges...what color are they?? I've mostly seen silver EMS ones. Do they say anything fancy on them? And special emblem?

 

[Code 3]

So for those with badges...what color are they?? I've mostly seen silver EMS ones. Do they say anything fancy on them? And special emblem?

Nothing fancy at all. Just a silver shield with company logo in the middle and employee # at the bottom.

 

[reaper]

The same, except ours are a star of life design.

 

[KEVD18]

most of the time you see silver for field personel; silver, silver/gold, or gold for supers and gold for the brass.

some depts are silver for bls, two tone for als, and gold for management(supers wear the appropriate badge for their rank)


on the topic of badging your way out of a ticket, i find that its monumentally easier to just obey the laws and not be pulled over in the first place. i dont believe that as an emt, i have any right to not be fined for my misbehaviors. in mass, the vast majority of emts are either paper emts(emts that have the card but dont actually work) or private service emts. sorry but doing dialysis calls doesnt make youabove the law. for that matter, neither does doing urban 911. i find the whole theory a significant part of what is wrong with ems today.

 

[BossyCow]

I have one for SAR because its what grants me entrance into the EOC in the case of a MCI. I don't wear it because I don't need to. I do have an ID tag that is our passkey into the doors of the ER. I'm not against badges per se, just don't need to wear one. I'm sure if you are working a non 911 response, you would need something to identify who you are. Personally I find that the Sweatshirt/hat with the big EMS on it works. Which is why I wear it when doing EMS standby. Otherwise my id is the big blinky lights

 

[JPINFV]

I'm sure if you are working a non 911 response, you would need something to identify who you are.

A badge in this sense (police style badge) does nothing to identify you either. Personally, I'm for photo ID badges for all prehospital providers. After all, why is it an emergency physician who works in the same location with the same people day in and day out has to wear a proper photo ID badge yet prehospital providers who go in and out of numerous facilities day in and day out (my old county had over 20 acute care hospitals and I could have found myself in any number of them in a single day) are accepted at face value at who they are?


As a note, having your name on your shirt does nothing to identify you. Anyone can pick up and wear a shirt with someone's name on it.

 

[fortsmithman]

If I were ever asked to design a badge for my agency then it would be a 3 inch star of life. I wouldn't go for a more traditional type of badge as I am no in law enforcement. My agency ever using a breast badge is highly unlikely as even most police agencies in Canada do not use a breast badge the only badge they use is on their service caps.

 

[fortsmithman]

A badge in this sense (police style badge) does nothing to identify you either. Personally, I'm for photo ID badges for all prehospital providers. After all, why is it an emergency physician who works in the same location with the same people day in and day out has to wear a proper photo ID badge yet prehospital providers who go in and out of numerous facilities day in and day out (my old county had over 20 acute care hospitals and I could have found myself in any number of them in a single day) are accepted at face value at who they are?


As a note, having your name on your shirt does nothing to identify you. Anyone can pick up and wear a shirt with someone's name on it.

I agree Photo ID clipped to the uniform should be the only badge we wear.

 

[medic258]

Issued and required to wear.

 

[el Murpharino]

Thank Goodness we don't have badges...They don't belong in EMS.

 

[karaya]

EMS personnel who wear badges are compromising safety for they may be confused as law enforcement? That should be added to the top ten list of EMS myths.

Since the late seventies I’ve heard similar remarks that uniforms with badges will confuse one as being law enforcement and subject to getting assaulted. Over those 30 years, I’ve asked the “expert” if he or she could support their claim about badges. None could. “Uh, well, uh, I heard it somewhere,” was a typical reply to my query.

Actually, research has shown that uniforms, such as what law enforcement wear, have reduced assaults on officers as well as citizens. In the article Psychological Influence of the Police Uniform, the author cites a California police department that abandoned the traditional navy blue paramilitary style uniform and replaced it with a blazer and black slacks with the badge displayed on the blazer and weapons concealed.

After eighteen months the police department’s assaults steadily increased until it doubled the amount the year before the uniform change. The department returned to the traditional uniform and over the course of four years the assaults on their officers has dropped steadily.

While conducting interviews for an upcoming article, I asked the EMS chief in a large city about his medics wearing traditional uniforms with badges. Keep in mind; this city has one of the highest violent crimes per capita in the nation. In his years of EMS within that city, he has never seen or known of an incident whereby a medic’s uniform was the direct result of an assault on the medic. He also agreed that the uniformed medic complete with shoulder patches and badge garnered more respect from the citizens of his city.

Those who claim to be mistaken for police sounds to me they didn’t properly identify themselves to begin with. Others sound like they already walked into an unsafe scene and no matter what you wore the whole scene was going sour.

So far I have not found any evidence to support the claim that badges will get a medic shot (although I’m all ears if someone can find something). I’m sure Boston EMS and many other large crime ridden cities would have pulled the badges off their medics if evidence supported this myth. Where I live two medics were shot and neither were wearing a badge. One was in the ambulance driving down the highway with a patient when the rig was sprayed with bullets. The other was when he pulled up to a car fire and he was shot through his helmet killing him instantly.

Anecdotal EMS is alive and well here at EMTLife and it seems to have found its way to a few posters on this thread.

Ray

 

[Ridryder911]

Albeit it may not produce "assault" is there a study on developing "trust" and having the patient "opening" up?

I used to be a Police Paramedic, our uniform was exactly the same as the patrol officers, except that our badges had a SOL in the middle instead of the state insignia, all the way down to the stripe on the pants.

I do know and realize that patients that had any suspicious wrong doings, were very hesitant in divulging information that was needed. We all have seen the tight lips when an officer enters the room. As well, as those that are inibreated will not offer any more information or even discuss anything more than asked.

Badges are a symbol of authority. We have no authority. We are NOT authority figures, we have no legal bounds anymore than any other common citizen.

I always wondered who and why they would consider anyone in the health field would ever need one? Even bus drivers used to wear them.. again, why?

 

[firecoins]

An EMT for a volunteer organization in NYC was arrested for impersonating a cop as he walked into a Federal Courthouse with his agency issued EMS badge in his suit case. The person had made no actual attempt to impersonate a cop but had simply had the badge in his suit case as he conducted unrelated business in the courthouse. Several similar situations have occurred in the NYC area.

NY Remsco, the council that regulates EMS in NYC had a meeting on it. I haven't been able to find the results of it for this post.
http://www.nycremsco.org/images/articlesserver/9-26-06 RC Minutes.pdf

I am against have badges, actual ones or embroidered as well as any uniform item similar to that of a cop's uniform. Patients sometimes believe they are being arrested or are in trouble when of course this is not the case. This happened used happens regularly to me.

My being against the badge has nothing to with badges causing EMS to be assaulted. This has not been my experience.