Uniforms?

[Dustdevil]

In my experience (8 years) it seems that the public looks to the person that looks LEAST like everybody else to be the professional i.e. the fire lt. in the white shirt as opposed to the 2 medics and 2 firemen both in blue.

Wow, that's an impressively astute observation. I have long promoted the importance of uniqueness in EMS uniforms, but that illustrates the perception of uniqueness from a completely different angle than I had previously considered. :thumbright:

[MedicTroll]

[/font:4d3aa622c9] Well, we can back to the days of the ambulance driver and wear white pants, white jackets, no marking or patches. Then we will look the part and not blend in with the cops, fire fighters, gas station attendants, or anyone else.

[Scaramedic]

Ok I'll take a shot. It has to be different than Fire & PD. How about we steal some Military concepts.

First the shirt.

(My short sleeve photoshop job)

You standard ACU Jacket. Except...

Make it a cotton button shirt.

Keep the slanted pockets and pocket in the arm.

Do away with the velcro and name strips.

Add Solid Hunter Green epaulets and a button down collar.

Color: Solid White

Pants

Basic ACU pants.

Minus the drawstrings at the bottom.

Add permanent creases.

Color: Solid Hunter green

[zippyRN]

scara you've just described some of the uniform styles worn in the UK there

http://www.stjohnsupplies.co.uk/products/l...roductId=U17075

http://www.stjohnsupplies.co.uk/products/l...roductId=U14450

http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafmarham/stationfac...es/uniforms.cfm

http://www.tks-uniform-insignia.co.uk/pics/wreath-pip.gif

http://www.tks-uniform-insignia.co.uk/casestudy.htm

[Dustdevil]

scara you've just described some of the uniform styles worn in the UK there

I like the UK Johnny uniform. Although, I do prefer the darker Hunter green to that brighter, grass green the Johnnies use. But, overall, that is exactly what I would lean towards. Not a fan of the monotone NHS uniform, but at least it's green.

Scara, would you tuck in the ACU style shirt, or leave it out as the ACUs are worn?

The shirt pockets are not functional for me, so the slants are no better -- and no better looking -- than standard flap pockets. I have mine sewn shut. I don't smoke, and pens fit just fine in my pants pockets, so there is nothing I need to put in them. Too many people stuff all sorts of bulky crap in there, including their Marlboros, which is unacceptable to me. Sew them shut.

[akroeze]

When I have a uniform which actually has pockets on the shirt, I'll keep one of those really thin notepads in one. When I don't have a shirt like that, I keep it in the pants. I find though that reaching into cargo pockets you always have to dig to find the thing you want. Much prefer to know exactly where the notepad and pen are.

[Scaramedic]

Tucked in, at least in my opinion. I like a sharp look and I think loose tails would get caught on things. Also the more I thought about it the sleeve pocket would have to go. It is a shirt, if you wore a jacket over it the pens would get caught on the jacket and be unaccessible. I think the slanted packets would looks sharp and definitely distinguish us from FD, PD, Security, and the Mailmen out there. Also hardly anyone in the states wears green, seems like everyone is stuck in black or blue nowadays. I like green, kind of like Patton's Tank uniform he designed if anyone remembers that. Minus the gold football helmet.

Also we could drop the cheesy patches and go with white stripes on the epaulets, ala our neighbors to the North.

[Dustdevil]

Tucked in, at least in my opinion. I like a sharp look and I think loose tails would get caught on things.

Definitely.

Also the more I thought about it the sleeve pocket would have to go. It is a shirt, if you wore a jacket over it the pens would get caught on the jacket and be unaccessible.

Yeah, there are plenty of places to keep pens without creating more pockets just for them. And pen pockets on white shirts always lead to bad juju. Yeah, if you're wearing those ugly cargo pants, then you do need a better place for your notepad. Back pocket of my pants works fine for me. Although, I can't think of any reason I need a notebook on duty. I have a clipboard, a stretcher sheet, and two gloves, as well as tape on my pants to write on. I never understood the need to carry unneeded shit like that and weigh yourself down.

I think the slanted packets would looks sharp and definitely distinguish us from FD, PD, Security, and the Mailmen out there.

I dunno. The slant is supposed to be functional for people low crawling and wearing body armour, but there really is no function for us in EMS. The velcro on those specific pockets makes them bulky and sloppy looking. Buttons wouldn't be as bad, but again, I don't like to tempt people to stick things in white shirt pockets. It looks like shit. It looks like shit on dark shirts too, but at least it doesn't show as much from a distance.

Also hardly anyone in the states wears green, seems like everyone is stuck in black or blue nowadays. I like green, kind of like Patton's Tank uniform he designed if anyone remembers that. Minus the gold football helmet.

Agreed. Going with standard dress uniform slacks, there is plenty of Hunter Green available from uniform suppliers under the name, "Florida Sheriff's Green". If you went with EMS pants, you'd have to have them special made, which is really no problem. And it keeps posers from buying our uniform off the rack.

A couple of larger agencies use green. Acadian and East Texas Medical Center (which also runs OKC and Tulsa, although under a different name) both do. But both use a baby-shit green that isn't that good looking. Definitely have to go with dry clean only pants to avoid them turning all sorts of light green shades over time.

The shirts don't have to be custom jobs, except for the embroidery. The Van Heusen Aviator shirts are perfect off the rack, and not available through Gall's and other public safety suppliers, so again, not readily accessible to posers.

Also we could drop the cheesy patches and go with white stripes on the epaulets, ala our neighbors to the North.

Absolutely. I'm not down with patches. Maybe a small, classy looking embroidered crest on the left chest, identifying the agency. I do like the epaulette stripe thing. I started that at a small county service back in the mid 80's and everybody thought it was stupid. Within three years, all the big boys had gone to the same thing, and suddenly it wasn't so stupid anymore. I'm not really about name tags or anything else that pins onto the uniform. For that matter, I'm not really about names on uniforms at all. If, for some legal reason, we have to, then I'd go with small embroidered names above the right pocket to avoid nametags and badges.

[brentoli]

I am down for the small logo. As far as ID's go... just have a name badge on a clip. At situations when it is needed, you can clip it on the pocket, every other time just tuck it out of the way in a pocket or in the truck.

Badabing badaboom.

Identification for places they want it, and classy looking any other time.

[Scaramedic]

I dunno. The slant is supposed to be functional for people low crawling and wearing body armour, but there really is no function for us in EMS. The velcro on those specific pockets makes them bulky and sloppy looking. Buttons wouldn't be as bad, but again, I don't like to tempt people to stick things in white shirt pockets. It looks like shit. It looks like shit on dark shirts too, but at least it doesn't show as much from a distance.

I agree go with buttons but I still like the look. Maybe it's because I've spent to many years with normal pockets and want something different.

...East Texas Medical Center (which also runs OKC and Tulsa, although under a different name) ...

Don't forget Sunstar in Pinellas County, Fl. They've got that now too.

The shirts don't have to be custom jobs, except for the embroidery. The Van Heusen Aviator shirts are perfect off the rack, and not available through Gall's and other public safety suppliers, so again, not readily accessible to posers.

Sharp looking shirt. Looks great with the epaulet sleeves too.

Absolutely. I'm not down with patches. Maybe a small, classy looking embroidered crest on the left chest, identifying the agency. I do like the epaulette stripe thing. I started that at a small county service back in the mid 80's and everybody thought it was stupid. Within three years, all the big boys had gone to the same thing, and suddenly it wasn't so stupid anymore. I'm not really about name tags or anything else that pins onto the uniform. For that matter, I'm not really about names on uniforms at all. If, for some legal reason, we have to, then I'd go with small embroidered names above the right pocket to avoid name tags and badges.

I agree I put name tags up there with badges. Brentolis right with most systems wearing ID cards do we even need our names on our shirts? What are we McDonalds?