jordanfstop
Forum Lieutenant
- 195
- 0
- 0
Volunteer Voice: Looking the Part
Why our appearance matters when we’re responding to call
Jason J. Zigmont, BS, NREMT-P, EMS-I
April 2008 JEMS Vol. 33 No. 4
2008 Apr 1
http://www.jems.com/news_and_articles/articles/Volunteer_Voice_Looking_the_Part.html
Why our appearance matters when we’re responding to call
Jason J. Zigmont, BS, NREMT-P, EMS-I
April 2008 JEMS Vol. 33 No. 4
2008 Apr 1
A few weeks ago, I walked into a local hospital and saw someone standing next to a stretcher, wearing a ripped pair of jeans and a T-shirt covered in white paint spatters. Trying to be helpful, I asked if he needed anything or was looking for someone. To my surprise, he said he was with the local volunteer EMS crew. He added, “I’m just waitin’ for my partner.”
That encounter reminded me that to be true volunteer professionals, not only do we have to provide competent care, but we must also look the part. The way we look and act while volunteering is a representation of ourselves, as well as our organizations and our profession. Often, when a volunteer is responding from their home in their personal vehicle, the person we see is like the man I met—someone in casual clothes who doesn’t look at all like the emergency medical professional the public envisions. When someone is hurt, they expect to see a member of our community at their door who looks and acts like a professional and makes them feel at ease as they put the life of a loved one in their hands.
http://www.jems.com/news_and_articles/articles/Volunteer_Voice_Looking_the_Part.html