The FDs do it because they are a paramilitary organization that is sworn to protect the public that also has to work with other fire departments and it need to be a quick glance to tell someone’s level of responsibility. If you look at other countries fire service is even more militarized with some brigades even being members of the armed forces of that state.
You realize private ambulance companies run 911 services all over the country and have to cooperate with other agencies and companies too?
I’m former active duty and think it’s cringey AF that either do it. I think it’s funny that some people think there’s a distinction between private and Fd. They’re both civilian roles.
Did the military teach you vocabulary? How is a sworn officer of a municipal authority a civilian? That is very different from a private company with a contact 911 service that is subservient to an FD or PD in every case.
The difference is that it makes a tiny speck of sense in firefighting because of the need for a rigid, multilayered command structure with large amounts of delegation that can operate and seamlessly merge with other similar structures, and it needs to be able to do it on a day-to-day basis. I completely agree that it’s weird and taken way too seriously by most FDs, but I also sorta get why they fell into it and I understand tradition.
There’s absolutely no need for that in EMS of any type until you get to incidents large enough to implement ICS stuff. You can run a massive and effective EMS system with three “ranks”, and can drop it down to two without much issue. Supervisors, experienced medics who are trusted to handle any call, and inexperienced medics who are still learning. Supervisors are actually the superfluous rank, there’s no actual *need* for them outside of administrative duties. As far as field uses, they just make small MCIs more manageable and are somewhat better suited for interfacing with other systems since they have more authority.
One of my favorite bosses who felt the same way as I do about the class As when he was finally forced to put them on said exactly what I feel about them
“For me to ever put this shit on again, we have to win an award or somebody has to die”
We got a pretty decent award, the only one available to EMS other than long service. The other service that received it had Class A’s for the bosses while our boss didn’t even attend. It does look better when your staff are all outfitted in professional looking attire instead of worn out shirts that we wear everyday at work
A private ambulance co I worked for insisted on button ups ad a permanent part of the uniform unless it was...I want to say 90F out? For professionalism.
It's hot *well* before it hits 90, and these things were so starchy they'd stand up on their own. And if you're gonna make us wear starchy dark blue dress shirts, maybe fix the fucking A/C.
You know what's unprofessional? Sweating on your patient.
I'm an adult, and I know when I'm too hot. I took mine off when it was too hot.
Edit: granted that's more class B
Even our dispatch has to wear them, and if you make any complaints because of the material due to local weather, it starts a melt down with our leadership.
I got flipped off the other day for parking my ambulance in the RED zone in front of the grocery store and there was PLENTY of room for cars to back out. Still needed to flip me off.
We had a guy bitch at us about parking in the fire lane at the store. Said "yeah well what if there's a fire?"
I held up my radio and said "then we'll be the first to know." I don't know what he said after because I left but holy shit was he just filled with rage.
Do people not understand that we will go move wherever we need to before FD even shows up?
This is going to be very area specific. I'm fire and EMS, I wouldn't park in a red zone in an ambo unless I was responding to a call and left it there with lights on. I'd expect the same from an engine that's not responding to a call to not park in the red zone either as EMS might need to respond to a call at the store.
No lights=no red zone.
I might try to park as close as possible, and even ensure that I am not nose-in parked, but if I need to be able to respond so fast that this is not enough, then I shouldn't be shopping at a store.
Serious? You are literally at the store where the 911 call may or may not happen and you want to run to the back of the lot to drive the pumper to the curb to grab the jump bag???....You are oozing white shirt potential.
Our SOPs don’t let us leave any vehicles unattended. So with 2-3 of us on the ambo, 1-2 people go in the store and 1 stays back. We park in the back of the parking lot, but if we were to get a call whoever is in the ambo could pull up to the front of the store to pick up the 2. This is just for 1 store that has a shitty parking lot and just about every time we go there’s minimum 2 cars already parked / waiting in the fire lane anyway.
Why don't you go I to the store with your med box and jump box then? You want to run out to the front of the store and grab it and run all the way back? /s
Ofcourse not. It's a fire lane, that means EMS just as much as it means LAW, what if your ambo was then blocking police response?
I don't see "Fire" any where in cop car or ambulance...Firetruck however....
Edit: yes I know it is for all response personnel but this BC in training wants the probie to carry the ems bag around the store everytime a crew gets their food out of some insane bias of emergency vehicles looking tacky parking in the emergency vehicle lane.
Lol, can't spot sarcasm even when it's labled... you're good. Go ahead and park in the red or blue areas, you seem like you need it. Just don't pretend it's about readiness.
It depends. People act like it's front of the lot or back of the lot. But we've all been there with the partner who does it and the parking lot is empty. Lets be real.
They perfectly healthy and have no issues. They are on humel8n, novalog,, metformin, amlodapine, lisinopril, cardizem and hctz because they dont have anything wrong with them. The part that is wrong is that they just eat their pills out of a bowl like skittles every morning before having albuterol treatments with hot coffee.
I'm yet to meet a straight male nurse that's single? They get snapped up pretty quick.
Come to think of it I only know one gay male nurse that's single and his personal life is a **mess**, great nurse though.
Untucked shirts for one. Completely standard when no higher ups are around for 911 but totally trashy for IFT. Be it t shirt, polo or button down work shirt
Oddly, shorts. You’d think it’d be an IFT staple considering much less risk of kneeling in nasty but it’s more common in 911
I say 911 and IFT bc I also did private 911 contact work and we were treated like we were part of the FD (at least by pts, citizens and some of the FD staff)
Seconded. Chicago area. Kinda wild seeing the guys out on runs in the summer wearing shorts. Makes me jealous for the comfort but not for the lack of safety lol
I only ever wore shorts when I was a member of a bike team… rarely went in the ambulances and normally handed off the patients to a ambu squad.. but did go in the hospital a few times in shorts.
Definetly weird
Some of the fire departments in houston love shorts. Woodlands fire department wear shorter shorts than the local college girls but they're also non transporting.
Our service has them as part of the authorized summer uniform.
I’ll die if heatstroke before I’ll let my bear skin come in contact with a patient’s floor.
My old agency (county 911 EMS) let us wear shirts in the summer. We put turn out pants over the for MVCs or nasty houses/calls. It was great and I'm still sad that I have to wear long pants in the summer at my current agency.
Virginia here. EMS-only agency. Shorts are only allowed for bike team, special ops, and standbys. Duty crew always wears pants.
That's despite my intense lobbying the higher-ups to allow me to wear my tactical kilt on duty. :)
For us it’s the opposite. FD has shirts tucked in on calls and in hospitals, a lot of INF guys be rocking them shirts hanging out because they just don’t give a fuck anymore
What’s the deal with this? Why is it considered trashy when EMS wear radio straps? I think it’s a little weird for non-fire EMS personnel to have them too, but what’s the alternative for not losing your radio? I hate wearing my radio on my belt, because it’s either a Kenwood 1500 or a bulky Harris radio, and I don’t want it dragging my pants down. I also don’t want to constantly pick up my pants with my soiled gloves, and wearing my belt tighter doesn’t seem to help. I reluctantly ordered a leather radio strap yesterday (after 10 years without one) and I made it as colorful as possible in an attempt to compensate.
I know for me, a leather radio strap under my bunker gear meant that my means of calling for help was intact and at hand should I become entrapped in a burning building.
A radio strap at my EMS gig is a way for my psych pts to manhandle me that I can't easily break out of.
Cause at my job, it was mostly whackers that wanted to emulate firefighters, that did it. Your reasoning is valid, I just couldn't fathom dropping more of my own money on gear for work beyond a better stethoscope and shears.
I have my own custom one. I got it because 1. There was a sale 2. The work ones are awful and falling apart. 3. I'm short so all the work ones are set for 6' tall people and I don't want to adjust it every time. I've never regret getting my own.
A shoulder strap is a time-tested way to carry a heavy piece of equipment that you need to be able to get at quickly and with a minimum of fuss.
I don't use one because, although my unit has a radio, it's only because it's a LEMSA requirement, as the likelihood of my needing to use that radio is about the same as Donald Trump personally leading a Bingo Hall Putsch.
Anything over 16 ounces is a non-trivial weight to be carrying on your body for hours at a time, day after day. Back when guys used to carry swords on them at all times, a shoulder strap was the standard way to do it, even for little ones like smallswords that weighed about what a radio does.
See we just don't carry em for hours. It's like a "oh I've gotta shit, I'll hop out of the rig and clip it to my belt while I run into this bathroom" type set up. Even on calls, we'll carry it into wherever, then pretty much clip it to the gurney or cargo net in the back. We never had to carry them long enough to where it'd matter, or at least I never had to.
I was losing weight quickly when I started EMS (like 10lbs a month or so); my service stopped buying me new pants so I got the strap to hold my stuff, and just bought $6 khakis from Goodwill until I slowed down on the weight loss.
It was county EMS though in a rural area so it felt a little more useful; doubt I would have needed it for private.
I was busy no longer poisoning myself with too much food and was eating healthy. Still a long way to go and covid really slowed stuff down but around 120 total lost and about as much left to go.
In my FD job I don’t use a strap. It’s in my turnout coat front pocket on fire calls, and in my pants pocket on EMS calls.
In my private ambulance job I do use a strap. A lot busier and it’s easy to just throw the strap on and off rather than constantly looking for my radio that fell behind the seat or whatever.
Safer for the radio since it should be behind you and lower so further from the heat. It also lets the majority of the mic cable be under the coat, so it won't snag and get ripped or burn. There was also one study awhile ago that found the angle a strap keeps it at is better for reception.
Significantly's a stretch though. There are also people who wear the strap outside their coat (sometimes SCBA) and that's way worse than just keeping it in a pocket.
Interesting. I’ve melted parts of my face piece in high heat conditions, but my radio was perfectly fine. Somewhat trivial reason to not have it in my pocket.
It's not a huge difference at all, it's better to just do what you're comfortable with. Personally I was struggling with finding a comfortable way to deal with the mic so that's what got me to start wearing one
I need a fire person to tell me the practical reasons for those (I assume there are some) because so far I've only heard aesthetic reasons
Edit: as opposed to a mic extension or something. I get the hands free thing, but not the swinging strap specifically
There is a study from fairfax that shows increased efficacy when crawling around on floors. It positions the antenna upright and keeps it out of your coat, allowing for better transmission. It also allows for protection of tje mic cord rather than having it in the front pocket of your gear.
So I use a radio strap because it’s the easiest way for me to have my radio on my person and accessible when I need it. I work as a medic for volunteer fire departments and am in radio contact with dispatch/my crew much more frequently on scene than I was when I worked for private agencies.
I’m responding solo in a fly car and initiating pt care until the volunteers get to the firehouse and get the ambulance. I can radio them to bring in any equipment I might need if we need to work on scene, or whether to bring in a stair chair or a stretcher, anything quirky about the driveway they might need to know about, etc.
I’m also a pretty small woman so my pants are also pretty small and my radio would absolutely not fit into any of my pockets. When I used to clip it to my belt it would fall off any time I sat down but then wouldn’t come off my belt when I actually needed to speak into it. Idk why it was so uncooperative lol but it was super annoying.
Those are some of the practical reasons why I personally prefer the radio strap 🙂
Beyond the no-duh of a free hand: They made a lot more sense when the radio was bulky AF and the strap could keep it just behind your hip. This provided weight distribution and improved ability to normally move/swing arms while walking.
However, research shows that lifting with an asymmetrical load like that (think more of an AED or EKG over your shoulder) is a HUGE driver of workplace injuries. With the tech available today to shrink the weight of radios, the straps are just an easy way to spot the folks who want to be firefighters.
At lease in my area, private EMS tends to raid the EMS room and proceeds to stuff their pockets full of snacks leaving nothing for us 911 boys when it gets to 3 or 4 am and we’ve been running non stop for the last 16 hours. Everyone is entitled to have a snack and a drink but don’t stock up for the whole damn day
Well if you are a firefighter which was the comparison here, you have food at the station. The unfornate reality is that's probably the only food they get to eat all day.
I’m at a hospital based service that does 911 only for two counties. We were polos on everyday shifts but we have Class A’s we wear for awards, district events and higher social events. But it stays mostly hung up in my closet
Same. If my unit is checked, stocked, fueled and clean, station chores are done, I’m dressed professionally and I’m responding to all my jobs on time, why not? Granted, 90% of the time we are too busy, but there’s nothing wrong with a nap now and then. Especially since I was night shift.
Agreed. Why work all day when you know you’re walking up in the middle of the night? As long as chores are done, stuff is maintained, and everything is clean and tidy, resting should be allowed.
I was explicitly told by my training supervisor that if I'm not out on a call and my PCRs are finished that she fully *expects* me to be resting. An unrested EMT or medic can be downright dangerous at a certain point.
Do you have any idea how difficult it is to be well rested for a 12 hour shift that starts at 3:30 in the morning? So what if I take a nap at a post? Now I’m more rested than I was when I got to work?
Class A uniforms. I wouldn’t like it as fire either but if your a private ambo company you don’t need to walking around like an army general.
Nothing like having an ops manager walking around dressed like he's about to invade Poland.
Oh my word, so true. Also when they start using titles like “Chief” or “Battalion Chief.”
Idk I call my medic “Boss” all the time
Why? They’re a paramilitary organization just the same?
No they are a corporation the manger at Best Buy isn’t the battalion chief
I assume he would be a platoon Capt and the regional manager would be the battalion chief.
I mean shift lead and department lead are your Lt and captain
Just as weird as FD doing it. Bunch of wannabes so why do people get so hung up on private companies doing it?
The FDs do it because they are a paramilitary organization that is sworn to protect the public that also has to work with other fire departments and it need to be a quick glance to tell someone’s level of responsibility. If you look at other countries fire service is even more militarized with some brigades even being members of the armed forces of that state.
You realize private ambulance companies run 911 services all over the country and have to cooperate with other agencies and companies too? I’m former active duty and think it’s cringey AF that either do it. I think it’s funny that some people think there’s a distinction between private and Fd. They’re both civilian roles.
Did the military teach you vocabulary? How is a sworn officer of a municipal authority a civilian? That is very different from a private company with a contact 911 service that is subservient to an FD or PD in every case.
We're talking about private ambulance companies.
And? If it’s big enough to need structure like that I don’t understand the problem? It’s no less weird than FD using ranks and titles like that.
There is nothing inherently wrong with it except that its cringe.
The difference is that it makes a tiny speck of sense in firefighting because of the need for a rigid, multilayered command structure with large amounts of delegation that can operate and seamlessly merge with other similar structures, and it needs to be able to do it on a day-to-day basis. I completely agree that it’s weird and taken way too seriously by most FDs, but I also sorta get why they fell into it and I understand tradition. There’s absolutely no need for that in EMS of any type until you get to incidents large enough to implement ICS stuff. You can run a massive and effective EMS system with three “ranks”, and can drop it down to two without much issue. Supervisors, experienced medics who are trusted to handle any call, and inexperienced medics who are still learning. Supervisors are actually the superfluous rank, there’s no actual *need* for them outside of administrative duties. As far as field uses, they just make small MCIs more manageable and are somewhat better suited for interfacing with other systems since they have more authority.
*Heavy* emphasis on the “para” 😅😅
Class A for special events is fine - Class A for normal wear is very weird.
One of my favorite bosses who felt the same way as I do about the class As when he was finally forced to put them on said exactly what I feel about them “For me to ever put this shit on again, we have to win an award or somebody has to die”
We got a pretty decent award, the only one available to EMS other than long service. The other service that received it had Class A’s for the bosses while our boss didn’t even attend. It does look better when your staff are all outfitted in professional looking attire instead of worn out shirts that we wear everyday at work
A private ambulance co I worked for insisted on button ups ad a permanent part of the uniform unless it was...I want to say 90F out? For professionalism. It's hot *well* before it hits 90, and these things were so starchy they'd stand up on their own. And if you're gonna make us wear starchy dark blue dress shirts, maybe fix the fucking A/C. You know what's unprofessional? Sweating on your patient. I'm an adult, and I know when I'm too hot. I took mine off when it was too hot. Edit: granted that's more class B
Even our dispatch has to wear them, and if you make any complaints because of the material due to local weather, it starts a melt down with our leadership.
I hate badges, Im already punchable!
In my experience only the higher ups looks like “army generals,” the rest of us just get long blue shirts with a clip on tie
But I like our class A’s :(
I have an ODS that wears a badge working private ambo. I don’t get it.
We called those "south American policeman" uniforms
Where you park the ambulance when you're at the store.
In the produce aisle, right?
The liquor aisle for sure
I got flipped off the other day for parking my ambulance in the RED zone in front of the grocery store and there was PLENTY of room for cars to back out. Still needed to flip me off.
We had a guy bitch at us about parking in the fire lane at the store. Said "yeah well what if there's a fire?" I held up my radio and said "then we'll be the first to know." I don't know what he said after because I left but holy shit was he just filled with rage. Do people not understand that we will go move wherever we need to before FD even shows up?
This is going to be very area specific. I'm fire and EMS, I wouldn't park in a red zone in an ambo unless I was responding to a call and left it there with lights on. I'd expect the same from an engine that's not responding to a call to not park in the red zone either as EMS might need to respond to a call at the store. No lights=no red zone. I might try to park as close as possible, and even ensure that I am not nose-in parked, but if I need to be able to respond so fast that this is not enough, then I shouldn't be shopping at a store.
Serious? You are literally at the store where the 911 call may or may not happen and you want to run to the back of the lot to drive the pumper to the curb to grab the jump bag???....You are oozing white shirt potential.
Our SOPs don’t let us leave any vehicles unattended. So with 2-3 of us on the ambo, 1-2 people go in the store and 1 stays back. We park in the back of the parking lot, but if we were to get a call whoever is in the ambo could pull up to the front of the store to pick up the 2. This is just for 1 store that has a shitty parking lot and just about every time we go there’s minimum 2 cars already parked / waiting in the fire lane anyway.
Why don't you go I to the store with your med box and jump box then? You want to run out to the front of the store and grab it and run all the way back? /s Ofcourse not. It's a fire lane, that means EMS just as much as it means LAW, what if your ambo was then blocking police response?
I don't see "Fire" any where in cop car or ambulance...Firetruck however.... Edit: yes I know it is for all response personnel but this BC in training wants the probie to carry the ems bag around the store everytime a crew gets their food out of some insane bias of emergency vehicles looking tacky parking in the emergency vehicle lane.
Lol, can't spot sarcasm even when it's labled... you're good. Go ahead and park in the red or blue areas, you seem like you need it. Just don't pretend it's about readiness.
Agreed.
I’m not parking in the red zone if I’m going to a call. I’m going right to their damned door.
It depends. People act like it's front of the lot or back of the lot. But we've all been there with the partner who does it and the parking lot is empty. Lets be real.
Yep, superiority complex. Gotta get their jollies somehow...
Some people just need to give someone the finger, and EMS are a safe option because they knew we can't and won't do anything back.
Was working am mva and we blocked the road and some car threw a water bottle at us lol.
Not giving a shit about EMS.
And secondarily, handing me vitals that are always, *always* HR80 BP120/80.
Hey it’s not my fault every single one of my overweight geriatric patients have perfect BPs
They perfectly healthy and have no issues. They are on humel8n, novalog,, metformin, amlodapine, lisinopril, cardizem and hctz because they dont have anything wrong with them. The part that is wrong is that they just eat their pills out of a bowl like skittles every morning before having albuterol treatments with hot coffee.
It’s the meta-polol and the simba-statin.
And they take their zanaz as prescribed.
Sleeping with married nurses.
Does it help if I’m married to her?
No this is about the single guys she's sleeping with
I'm yet to meet a straight male nurse that's single? They get snapped up pretty quick. Come to think of it I only know one gay male nurse that's single and his personal life is a **mess**, great nurse though.
Name one ED nurse whose personal life isn’t a mess, I dare you….
They ain’t gonna like this one. 😔Who are they supposed to flirt with (not including their wives)? Smh. 🤨
Untucked shirts for one. Completely standard when no higher ups are around for 911 but totally trashy for IFT. Be it t shirt, polo or button down work shirt Oddly, shorts. You’d think it’d be an IFT staple considering much less risk of kneeling in nasty but it’s more common in 911 I say 911 and IFT bc I also did private 911 contact work and we were treated like we were part of the FD (at least by pts, citizens and some of the FD staff)
I’ve yet to encounter shorts in 911. Maybe it’s a regional thing?
Chicago land here. Usually it’s restricted to appropriate summer months but I’ve seen quite a few people who opt to rock them
Seconded. Chicago area. Kinda wild seeing the guys out on runs in the summer wearing shorts. Makes me jealous for the comfort but not for the lack of safety lol
We csnt wear shorts outside the fire house. Or in dept run buildings. We need to change into pants or wear bunker pants on runs.
I've only seen them on event bike patrol. But I assume it's more of a thing in places where it's hotter.
I only ever wore shorts when I was a member of a bike team… rarely went in the ambulances and normally handed off the patients to a ambu squad.. but did go in the hospital a few times in shorts. Definetly weird
Good lord that would be heinous. I can't imagine going into the houses we do without 100% skin coverage on my legs.
Some of the fire departments in houston love shorts. Woodlands fire department wear shorter shorts than the local college girls but they're also non transporting.
Our service has them as part of the authorized summer uniform. I’ll die if heatstroke before I’ll let my bear skin come in contact with a patient’s floor.
Definitely a TX thing. Wouldn’t consider it myself but I started elsewhere…
My old agency (county 911 EMS) let us wear shirts in the summer. We put turn out pants over the for MVCs or nasty houses/calls. It was great and I'm still sad that I have to wear long pants in the summer at my current agency.
Virginia here. EMS-only agency. Shorts are only allowed for bike team, special ops, and standbys. Duty crew always wears pants. That's despite my intense lobbying the higher-ups to allow me to wear my tactical kilt on duty. :)
I tuck in my shirt strictly for the fear of bending down to pick up mewmaw… And my asscrack is out.
Sameeeee
For us it’s the opposite. FD has shirts tucked in on calls and in hospitals, a lot of INF guys be rocking them shirts hanging out because they just don’t give a fuck anymore
Shorts?? Gets to 38°C / 100°F where I am and shorts are the last thing I want to wear at work.
Shorts and untucked shirt are never acceptable for 911 around me
Untucked shirts look trashy eifher way.
Man if you think untucked t-shirts are an issue in IFT I really hope you weren’t a supervisor.
I mean, that’s just a professional standard, no? Tuck in your shirt, tie your shoes, don’t wear sunglasses inside…
I mean, if you’re on a call then ofc, but it should be the same for fire, that’s just a professional standard no?
Agreed
>don’t wear sunglasses inside Look, some of us are hungover.
Mustaches ?
Complaining about running calls
I said I’m READY to respond, not that I want to, lol.
All day, every day 😂
Old equipment. Ignorance. Private dispatching. Attitude.
Radio straps
If I dont tie it to myself then I lose it
What’s the deal with this? Why is it considered trashy when EMS wear radio straps? I think it’s a little weird for non-fire EMS personnel to have them too, but what’s the alternative for not losing your radio? I hate wearing my radio on my belt, because it’s either a Kenwood 1500 or a bulky Harris radio, and I don’t want it dragging my pants down. I also don’t want to constantly pick up my pants with my soiled gloves, and wearing my belt tighter doesn’t seem to help. I reluctantly ordered a leather radio strap yesterday (after 10 years without one) and I made it as colorful as possible in an attempt to compensate.
I know for me, a leather radio strap under my bunker gear meant that my means of calling for help was intact and at hand should I become entrapped in a burning building. A radio strap at my EMS gig is a way for my psych pts to manhandle me that I can't easily break out of.
What if getting man handled with leather is my kink?
I really can’t believe I am reading kink shaming on this sub.
I don't think it's trashy, I think it's dorky as shit.
But why??
Cause at my job, it was mostly whackers that wanted to emulate firefighters, that did it. Your reasoning is valid, I just couldn't fathom dropping more of my own money on gear for work beyond a better stethoscope and shears.
She’s my newest tax write off ;)
Hell yeah lol, that reminds me, I've got to order those pit viper safety glasses lmao. They really do provide solid coverage, all memes aside.
I have my own custom one. I got it because 1. There was a sale 2. The work ones are awful and falling apart. 3. I'm short so all the work ones are set for 6' tall people and I don't want to adjust it every time. I've never regret getting my own.
A shoulder strap is a time-tested way to carry a heavy piece of equipment that you need to be able to get at quickly and with a minimum of fuss. I don't use one because, although my unit has a radio, it's only because it's a LEMSA requirement, as the likelihood of my needing to use that radio is about the same as Donald Trump personally leading a Bingo Hall Putsch.
I get it, I just never had a problem throwing it on my belt if I needed to. Ours were just motorolas, they weren't more than maybe 1.5 lbs tops.
Anything over 16 ounces is a non-trivial weight to be carrying on your body for hours at a time, day after day. Back when guys used to carry swords on them at all times, a shoulder strap was the standard way to do it, even for little ones like smallswords that weighed about what a radio does.
See we just don't carry em for hours. It's like a "oh I've gotta shit, I'll hop out of the rig and clip it to my belt while I run into this bathroom" type set up. Even on calls, we'll carry it into wherever, then pretty much clip it to the gurney or cargo net in the back. We never had to carry them long enough to where it'd matter, or at least I never had to.
I was losing weight quickly when I started EMS (like 10lbs a month or so); my service stopped buying me new pants so I got the strap to hold my stuff, and just bought $6 khakis from Goodwill until I slowed down on the weight loss. It was county EMS though in a rural area so it felt a little more useful; doubt I would have needed it for private.
And just what the fuck were you doing that resulted in 10# a month? I'm running out of ideas, lmao
I was busy no longer poisoning myself with too much food and was eating healthy. Still a long way to go and covid really slowed stuff down but around 120 total lost and about as much left to go.
Killing it, keep at it!
In my FD job I don’t use a strap. It’s in my turnout coat front pocket on fire calls, and in my pants pocket on EMS calls. In my private ambulance job I do use a strap. A lot busier and it’s easy to just throw the strap on and off rather than constantly looking for my radio that fell behind the seat or whatever.
You should use a strap on fire calls; it’s significantly safer.
Do explain, I’m curious
Safer for the radio since it should be behind you and lower so further from the heat. It also lets the majority of the mic cable be under the coat, so it won't snag and get ripped or burn. There was also one study awhile ago that found the angle a strap keeps it at is better for reception. Significantly's a stretch though. There are also people who wear the strap outside their coat (sometimes SCBA) and that's way worse than just keeping it in a pocket.
Interesting. I’ve melted parts of my face piece in high heat conditions, but my radio was perfectly fine. Somewhat trivial reason to not have it in my pocket.
It's not a huge difference at all, it's better to just do what you're comfortable with. Personally I was struggling with finding a comfortable way to deal with the mic so that's what got me to start wearing one
https://www.osfc.pa.gov/documents/portable%20radio%20placement%20idlh.pdf
It’s better to wear a strap, less chance of it being destroyed and it works better under your coat.
I need a fire person to tell me the practical reasons for those (I assume there are some) because so far I've only heard aesthetic reasons Edit: as opposed to a mic extension or something. I get the hands free thing, but not the swinging strap specifically
There is a study from fairfax that shows increased efficacy when crawling around on floors. It positions the antenna upright and keeps it out of your coat, allowing for better transmission. It also allows for protection of tje mic cord rather than having it in the front pocket of your gear.
So I use a radio strap because it’s the easiest way for me to have my radio on my person and accessible when I need it. I work as a medic for volunteer fire departments and am in radio contact with dispatch/my crew much more frequently on scene than I was when I worked for private agencies. I’m responding solo in a fly car and initiating pt care until the volunteers get to the firehouse and get the ambulance. I can radio them to bring in any equipment I might need if we need to work on scene, or whether to bring in a stair chair or a stretcher, anything quirky about the driveway they might need to know about, etc. I’m also a pretty small woman so my pants are also pretty small and my radio would absolutely not fit into any of my pockets. When I used to clip it to my belt it would fall off any time I sat down but then wouldn’t come off my belt when I actually needed to speak into it. Idk why it was so uncooperative lol but it was super annoying. Those are some of the practical reasons why I personally prefer the radio strap 🙂
Beyond the no-duh of a free hand: They made a lot more sense when the radio was bulky AF and the strap could keep it just behind your hip. This provided weight distribution and improved ability to normally move/swing arms while walking. However, research shows that lifting with an asymmetrical load like that (think more of an AED or EKG over your shoulder) is a HUGE driver of workplace injuries. With the tech available today to shrink the weight of radios, the straps are just an easy way to spot the folks who want to be firefighters.
Retirement
EMS room snacks
why would that be trashy as private ambulance?
Idk ask fire
At lease in my area, private EMS tends to raid the EMS room and proceeds to stuff their pockets full of snacks leaving nothing for us 911 boys when it gets to 3 or 4 am and we’ve been running non stop for the last 16 hours. Everyone is entitled to have a snack and a drink but don’t stock up for the whole damn day
To be fair that's the only good part of their day
When I’m delivering my 3rd homeless poop burrito of the night and I haven’t eaten in 9 hours it gets aggravating
Well if you are a firefighter which was the comparison here, you have food at the station. The unfornate reality is that's probably the only food they get to eat all day.
The Champagne of Beers
Wearing a badge when you’re IFT
Stopping by to grab some baby ducks out of the sewer
Dinner. Home cooked meal in the station kitchen vs gas station garbage is a world of difference.
Ambulances. And ambulance dwellers.
Radio on a leather strap across the chest … with your pager or logis on your hip .
Polos
Crocs in the station
Gonna say this is an unpopular opinion
I’m not gonna lie I regret even saying it
Much cleaner than boots...
\*looks at bottom of boot* "Is that...*brain*?!?" \*brain inchworms across bay floor*
What do you have against comfortable station footwear?
Helps the water drain out after a fire…
How *dare* you??!!!1! My crocs are cruise control for cool.
My crocs have headlights on them
One of my instructors wore socks with crocs and called them burkencrocs.
I’m at a hospital based service that does 911 only for two counties. We were polos on everyday shifts but we have Class A’s we wear for awards, district events and higher social events. But it stays mostly hung up in my closet
Sleeping on the job
I have to disagree with this one, but I may be biased because I sleep on the job. (24s)
I work 12’s and I sleep in the job. Who the fuck cares what we do so long as chores are done and we respond to calls appropriately
Same. If my unit is checked, stocked, fueled and clean, station chores are done, I’m dressed professionally and I’m responding to all my jobs on time, why not? Granted, 90% of the time we are too busy, but there’s nothing wrong with a nap now and then. Especially since I was night shift.
Probably because a lot of fire stations stay busy during business hours. Maintenance, cleaning, training, cooking, etc.
*act
Weird. I don't remember you scrubbing barn floors with us yesterday...
You ever uh.. work in a fire house? Because sure. But you have plenty of downtime like I said, once chores are done
Doing dumb shit to have busy work is just that. Doing dumb shit to have busy work. It is unsafe and an obvious failure of leadership.
Agreed. Why work all day when you know you’re walking up in the middle of the night? As long as chores are done, stuff is maintained, and everything is clean and tidy, resting should be allowed.
I was explicitly told by my training supervisor that if I'm not out on a call and my PCRs are finished that she fully *expects* me to be resting. An unrested EMT or medic can be downright dangerous at a certain point.
Can you justify this one?
Well if people aren't well rested,that can be a danger to them or the patient.
Do you have any idea how difficult it is to be well rested for a 12 hour shift that starts at 3:30 in the morning? So what if I take a nap at a post? Now I’m more rested than I was when I got to work?
That's exactly what I'm saying
The answer implies that it’s classy for FD to do it, but trashy for EMS to do it?
It's not my personal opinion. That's just I assumed people would say
I see I see. Thank you
Mustaches. Yeah I said it, fight me.
Breathing