# White coats increase your ability to pay attention, EMS uniforms though...



## hippocratical (Apr 3, 2012)

So according to the NY times people putting on a white coat felt more, well, "doctorly"

Mind Games: Sometimes a White Coat Isn’t Just a White Coat

Does wearing your EMS gear affect your behavior or cognition even? I feel pretty fancy in mine - that is, while they're clean. Post patient contact though...

I just wish they looked less like Police gear.


----------



## Medic Tim (Apr 3, 2012)

We have white shirts. I hate them with a  passion


----------



## EpiEMS (Apr 3, 2012)

Problem is, EMS is a public safety agency, not just a medical one. So public safety-style gear is appropriate to some extent.


----------



## adamjh3 (Apr 4, 2012)

I'm way more confident in my uniform than I am normally, it's like I'm a whole different person. 

I even had a partner comment on this. We worked a multi-day event three counties north of us, so the company paid for a hotel for the night before so we could drive up and be well rested for the 12+ hour shift the first day. We carpooled up there and did the whole get to know you thing since we had just met, crashed in the hotel for the night and went to work the next day. He told me after the first shift that he had doubts that I'd be able to control scenes with how soft-spoken and "shy" I was when he met me and was surprised by my command presence while working. 

It's a bizarre thing. I know it happens to me and I can't understand it.


----------



## hippocratical (Apr 4, 2012)

adamjh3 said:


> I'm way more confident in my uniform than I am normally, it's like I'm a whole different person.
> ...
> It's a bizarre thing. I know it happens to me and I can't understand it.



Totally me too. In a business suit I feel Dr. Professional and love my clicky-on-granite shoes. Having the English accent clearly makes me James Bond in interviews. 
Similar theme to EMS gear (all black here - very slimming ) where I'm in goddamn control.

Normal wear? I do a neat line in Alcoholic Student Slacker.


----------



## adamjh3 (Apr 4, 2012)

hippocratical said:


> Having the English accent clearly makes me James Bond in interviews.



Actually laughed out loud at this :rofl:


----------



## Aprz (Apr 4, 2012)

I oddly feel like a phony since people expect so much out of us, but also feel good too. :\


----------



## CritterNurse (Apr 4, 2012)

And here I thought it was just me. I always seem to feel more confident in something 'official' looking than I do in what ever jeans and t-shirt I happened to be wearing.


----------



## Handsome Robb (Apr 4, 2012)

I always feel better when I am dressed nicely, be it in a uniform or nice clothes. I've noticed I get a little more acknowledgement from people, especially in my uniform, since I am on younger side of the age bracket.


----------



## medicdan (Apr 4, 2012)

Should we return to this?


----------



## usalsfyre (Apr 4, 2012)

I like Acadian's original uniform 






I think once the novelty of wearing a uniform wears off the results are probably null.


----------



## Hunter (Apr 4, 2012)

emt.dan said:


> Should we return to this?



Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo we wear white shirts here and I hate it, I can't imagine all white jump suit!


----------



## NomadicMedic (Apr 4, 2012)

We wear flight suits here, and it seems that we get treated with more respect than the EMTs and paramedics that are wearing jeans and T-shirts or polo shirts and EMS pants.


----------



## mycrofft (Apr 4, 2012)

Look up the psychology of uniforms. Boots especially (ask the lady "bootistas" nowadays too), the give you additional height and a longer kick to your stride. The process of "suiting up" can also be a transformative moment. After a nasty run some folks will invariably be seen taking extra solo time to straighten or preen their uniform.


In a real disaster in late Seventies, a gas leak caused an explosion in an auditorium near a medical school. Students wearing lab coats but still bearing student IDs were admitted by police/fire officials while more-experienced MD's bearing their IDs but not wearing traditional doctor garb were kept out.


----------



## usalsfyre (Apr 4, 2012)

n7lxi said:


> We wear flight suits here, and it seems that we get treated with more respect than the EMTs and paramedics that are wearing jeans and T-shirts or polo shirts and EMS pants.



Noticed the phenomenon when I flew a patient in one day and was treated well, then went and worked a side job the next day and got treated like crap ground pounding one in.


----------



## mycrofft (Apr 4, 2012)

The reverse can be true also. I caught a reflection of myself wearing my CERT uniform, and frankly an old fat guy makes it look bad, and the guy looks silly.


----------



## bigbaldguy (Apr 4, 2012)

adamjh3 said:


> I'm way more confident in my uniform than I am normally, it's like I'm a whole different person.
> 
> 
> It's a bizarre thing. I know it happens to me and I can't understand it.



+1 right on the money!


----------



## medicdan (Apr 4, 2012)

Indeed, the psychology of appearance and uniforms is facinating-- as is heuristics in presentation/public speaking... 
It's interesting, I find myself more comfortable in certain areas when in uniform, and uncomfortable when in civilian clothes. I (can/could) walk through the entirety of a hospital in uniform and not be questioned once (wearing appropriate ID), but in personal clothes (and the same ID), and the same confidence, be questioned constantly.


----------



## hippocratical (Apr 4, 2012)

adamjh3 said:


> Actually laughed out loud at this :rofl:



On a midterm scenario, my examiner (whom I'd never met before) told me that she thought my performance was _"really interesting to listen to! Maybe the accent..."_

If you've got it, flaunt it! 

*Incidentally, I'm incredibly attractive too


----------



## mycrofft (Apr 4, 2012)

I was teaching international students first aid/CPR (contract workers in another country than ours). In preparation, I grew my beard out a little and made it neater, got a haircut. I tried in one class wearing scrubs, and the next wearing what most folks were (clean work clothing). The class in scrubs was seemingly better-received, but I was not as comfortable essentially wearing a tailored bedsheet. The attention to facial hair (mine is mostly gray) was to try to engage respect for elders, which was part of many of their cultures.

Works both ways, but culture must be taken into account.


----------



## FourLoko (Apr 4, 2012)

I wish ours looked more like police gear.

We have terrible, heavy pants from a uniform company. The shirt sleeves are too long, I look like a slob.


----------



## medicdan (Apr 4, 2012)

FourLoko said:


> I wish ours looked more like police gear.
> 
> We have terrible, heavy pants from a uniform company. The shirt sleeves are too long, I look like a slob.



A lot of ambulance services don't want their uniforms to look like police... it makes us a target if we're identified as police when knocking at the door.


----------



## hippocratical (Apr 4, 2012)

emt.dan said:


> A lot of ambulance services don't want their uniforms to look like police... it makes us a target if we're identified as police when knocking at the door.



That's my thinking too. I don't work urban yet, so haven't had this first hand, but it is a concern for when I do get an inner city placement.

Here's a visual (_random Google Image Search images_)

Calgary EMS:






Calgary Police:





Main difference aside from the tactical belt? Police get a red stripe down their pants, EMS get a blue stripe. I'm sure the average junkie on PCP will see the blue line and go "_Oh you're here to help me..._"

Hmmm...


----------



## CritterNurse (Apr 4, 2012)

I love wearing scrubs. I got permission from the fire chief to get the department logo put on a pair of plain, navy blue scrubs to wear on ambulance calls. He even told me who does the embroidery for the department so that I could get it done there.


----------



## bigbaldguy (Apr 4, 2012)

+1 on the not wanting to look like a cop. In theory it could make you a target but my concern would be the fact that my patients are much less likely to be open and honest about what's going on. Patient care requires you to gain a persons trust and that can be hard to do with certain people if you look like your LE.


----------



## Bullets (Apr 5, 2012)

When I'm wearing my LEO uniform, I definitely feel like more of a bad motherSHUTYOURMOUTH! The whole process of putting on the ballistic, the duty belt, blousing the pants over the boots, checking my service weapon, helps to take me from my offduty civilian mentality to on duty enforcement

As an EMT I dont have this same experience, my medical knowledge gives me all the confidence I need to operate effectively, paid or volley. I know that I am one of the most educated providers regardless of my post-nomials because I know the work I do in my own time, reading studies and new science in the field. Some say I come off as cocky, but I have received enough complements from other providers to know that what I am doing to educate myself is making me a better provider.

For EMS, a uniform is more about appearing professional in the initial contact. Then it is based on the manner of patient care and how you provide interventions. The uniform serves a different purpose for EMS then it does for LE, as they are a attempting to impart a different psychological effect on the people they come in contact with

Around here EMS wears navy blue, while the PDs wear light blue, black/tactical gear, grey or french blue,I can't think of a PD that wears navy.


----------



## usalsfyre (Apr 5, 2012)

Bullets said:


> When I'm wearing my LEO uniform, I definitely feel like more of a bad motherSHUTYOURMOUTH! The whole process of putting on the ballistic, the duty belt, blousing the pants over the boots, checking my service weapon, helps to take me from my offduty civilian mentality to on duty enforcement


You have just stated one of the bigger problems with law enforcement in the US at the moment.


----------



## Bullets (Apr 5, 2012)

usalsfyre said:


> You have just stated one of the bigger problems with law enforcement in the US at the moment.



Well, based on that single unsubstantiated sentence, we can clearly change how we operate


----------



## Chrissy1 (Apr 5, 2012)

*Uniforms*

Our uniforms are a t-shirt and our pants. Most of the services around us are similar.  You would be surprised at how much more mature we can act when you take us off the street and put us in an ambulance.  Especially the language we go from acting like high school students to professionals in less then a second


----------



## mycrofft (Apr 5, 2012)

On a less serious note (but entirely characteristic), I noticed once that the inmate's clothes were basically scrubs (they accidentally ordered a batch with pants pockets once...) but made much more sturdily. I looked into buying a navy blue set (our inmates wore either orange, or blue with a color-coded t-shirt), but since they cost about three times what I wanted and was accustomed to paying, I called it off. 
Before we had scrubs, we wore white, and the inmate workers ("trustees") wore white, so there was a psychological factor there making us even less respected. Finally, we were directed to buy claret-red scrubs from one manufacturer, and through a fluke in the primitive color cameras they use for security the scrubs looked sort of orangey. Couldn't win for losing.


----------



## Bullets (Apr 5, 2012)

Bullets said:


> Well, based on that single unsubstantiated sentence, we can clearly change how we operate



Allow me to clarify. Wearing the LEO uniform has a greater psychological effect then an EMS uniform. Besides the vest and sidearm acting as constant reminders of the dangers we may directly face, it makes me think in a more deliberate manner. Go through the steps to clear a house, conduct a mv stop (the most dangerous thing we do) keeping my head on a swivel. 

Do I feel proud to wear the badge? Absolutely. Do I think wearing the badge makes me above everyone else? No

  I feel that i am better then others, not because of a shirt or a piece of metal, but because of the manner in which I conduct myself. I feel this way in and out of uniform. Not all cops think this way. Some feel that the uniform is enough to demand respect. PA state troopers dont wear a badge, they feel the officers conduct should convince people to respect them, and I agree with them


----------



## usalsfyre (Apr 5, 2012)

I like that response ALOT better...


----------



## Chrissy1 (Apr 5, 2012)

*Scrubs*

Patients from detox wear scrubs they are orangish


----------



## Chan (Apr 5, 2012)

My uniform looks like a cop, and I'm not trying to look like a cop to get shot or jumped.


----------

