# NJ EMT Plaque for car windshield????



## Gabe0725 (Dec 21, 2011)

I was at a diner in NJ the other day & I saw another car with a plaque on the front windshield that was basically the NJ EMT patch. The plaque was basically the same one that police officers & their families have on their front windshields. 

Does anyone know anything about this or where this person may have gotten it from????

Never saw it before either in NJ or NY so I'm guessing maybe this person "special ordered" it somewhere. Never knew they gave plaques out for EMT's.


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## Remeber343 (Dec 21, 2011)

It probably comes with a free aid/jump kit.


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## Handsome Robb (Dec 21, 2011)

Why do you feel the need to advertise that you're an EMT?

/whacker hating.


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## usafmedic45 (Dec 21, 2011)

Gabe0725 said:


> Never knew they gave plaques out for EMT's.



They only allow those with exceptionally small genitalia to possess them.


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## usafmedic45 (Dec 22, 2011)

> The plaque was basically the same one that police officers & their families have on their front windshields.



Nothing says "Attention local people with a beef with the police:  Please bust in my windows" quite like that.


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## Remeber343 (Dec 22, 2011)

If you want a plaque and the aid kit, ask USAF. He has some great ideas for them  I'm sure he will enjoy that


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## usafmedic45 (Dec 22, 2011)

Remeber343 said:


> If you want a plaque and the aid kit, ask USAF. He has some great ideas for them  I'm sure he will enjoy that









:glare:


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## usafmedic45 (Dec 22, 2011)

FIRE AT WILL!


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## Handsome Robb (Dec 22, 2011)

usafmedic45 said:


> FIRE AT WILL!



that is pure genius


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## usafmedic45 (Dec 22, 2011)

NVRob said:


> that is pure genius


Is it bad that both Kat and I went 'I wonder how far a squirrel would fly after being launched like that?'


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## mycrofft (Dec 22, 2011)

*Where's Bullwinkle?*

I met the grandson of the guy Bullwinkle was named for.


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## mycrofft (Dec 22, 2011)

*reply:*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah1nU8nMWUc&feature=related


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## usafmedic45 (Dec 22, 2011)

mycrofft said:


> I met the grandson of the guy Bullwinkle was named for.



Kat and I have had dinner with Fearless Leader...



For those of you who are not also members of the Critical Care Medicine discussion list: http://www.ccm-l.org/fearless.html


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## terrible one (Dec 22, 2011)

just buy a lifted truck and put FD stickers all over it, I heard that is what the cool kids do


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## bstone (Dec 22, 2011)

One of a few things is happening.

1) This person was given the placard from their agency (highly unlikely)

2) This person made it by theirself (more likely)

3) This person ordered it from a number of websites that gladly support whacker habits (more likely)

In the end, however, this person is likely a whacker. Those of us who have been doing this a while don't see the need to broadcast to the entire world that we can shove a tube down your throat and zap your chest with enough electricity to fry a rat.


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## EMSDude54343 (Dec 22, 2011)

usafmedic45 said:


> FIRE AT WILL!



Everyone in the comm center thought I had gone crazy laughing at this until I showed them! That is hilarious. 
And yes, my first thought was, "I wonder how far he was launched..."
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:


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## firecoins (Dec 22, 2011)

Many Jersey EMTs have the plaques. Gets em out of tickets.  

You don't need or want a plaque.


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## NomadicMedic (Dec 22, 2011)

http://www.stickershoppe.com/mm5/me...y_Code=new-jersey-public-safety&Store_Code=SS


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## firetender (Dec 22, 2011)

*[rant] You guys are whacked!*

It just seems ironic (and worse) to me because in the beginning, letting people know you were trained to do something in a medical emergency was a community service. 

People could approach you and ask for help. Being an EMT was a badge of honor. 

Now, it's a cause for disrespect? Much worse, amongst peers. 

That tells me you don't think much of yourselves or each other. You know damn well that what makes a "Whacker" goes beyond a sticker.

How petty!

[/rant]


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## Meursault (Dec 22, 2011)

firetender said:


> It just seems ironic (and worse) to me because in the beginning, letting people know you were trained to do something in a medical emergency was a community service.
> 
> People could approach you and ask for help. Being an EMT was a badge of honor.
> 
> ...



I don't see it as petty. [rant] There's nothing honorable or inspiring about working in our field, and being so taken with it that you feel the need to advertise is a sign that you've developed one of the more common personality dysfunctions we're prone to. EMT decals on one's car don't proclaim that you're proud to serve the community. They proclaim that you think you're special for surviving a few weeks of first aid, and/or that you see yourself as part of a fraternity that might get you out of a speeding ticket. 

Being an EMT would be a badge of honor if it proved that you had competence, dedication, and desire to serve. Perhaps when you entered EMS, that was true. After decades of lazy, stupid, callous EMTs, abuse or neglect from the public, and indifference from the rest of medicine, the job has lost its glory. If you are the steward of a neglected tradition of professionalism, deep human concern, and professional pride, your fire is dying out, and it will take more than I can imagine to rekindle it. [/rant]


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## firetender (Dec 22, 2011)

*Rant to Rant...*



MrConspiracy said:


> *There's nothing honorable or inspiring about working in our field


 
If that's your attitude...



MrConspiracy said:


> EMT decals on one's car don't proclaim that you're proud to serve the community.


 
Why don't you leave that choice up to the individual?



MrConspiracy said:


> They proclaim that you think you're special for surviving a few weeks of first aid, and/or that you see yourself as part of a fraternity that might get you out of a speeding ticket.
> 
> Being an EMT would be a badge of honor if it proved that you had competence, dedication, and desire to serve.


 
I get it, that's true all the way across the board! With EVERYONE! In that case, then we really SHOULD have such stickers on our cars so fellow citizens will know who NOT to ask for help...and cops will know who to pull over first!



MrConspiracy said:


> Perhaps when you entered EMS, that was true.


 
Yes, because nobody was doing a thing to make a difference, because no one knew HOW. Now, according to many voices here, the only ones avoiding doing anything are the EMT's. Please, give me a break for my old-fashioned values .



MrConspiracy said:


> After decades of lazy, stupid, callous EMTs, abuse or neglect from the public, and indifference from the rest of medicine, the job has lost its glory. [


 
See the above my first comment), and below...



MrConspiracy said:


> If you are the steward of a neglected tradition of professionalism, deep human concern, and professional pride, your fire is dying out, and it will take more than I can imagine to rekindle it. [/rant]


 
...and according to what you say here, your fire, my friend, with no disrespect intended, has gone cold.

But honestly, I don't believe it, I think I know you better. What's really going on?


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## DesertMedic66 (Dec 22, 2011)

Just looking around my station about 90% of the employees cars/trucks have some kind of decal with the star of life on it (including mine). It ranges from brand new EMTs to medics who have been working for over 30 years. I, nor do any of the employees I have talked with find it wacker in anyway. 

When I worked for the fire department I had a fire decal on my truck. Now as an EMT on an ambulance I have the star of life. And honestly yes I am proud to be an EMT. Since I am proud to be an EMT then I have no problem with having the star of life decal on my truck. 

I do stop at accidents if I come across them in my truck. I'm not afraid of getting in trouble at the accident. As long as you don't do anything extremely stupid then you are fine (to the most part). I was raised to help people so for me it doesn't matter if I'm on duty or off duty.


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## Tigger (Dec 22, 2011)

Campus Safety at school gave me a ticket for parking in a fire lane at school the other day, which they were right to do. I know the night supervisor pretty well and asked him jokingly why he wrote me a ticket, to which he responded, "well we thought it was ironic that you had the star of life sticker on your car (it's my parking sticker for work) and yet you were parked under a large fire lane sign." Makes me think twice about having that sticker, especially after my buddy left his car in the same place for 36 hours without getting one.


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## firetender (Dec 22, 2011)

*Misinterpretation?*



MrConspiracy said:


> If you are the steward of a neglected tradition of professionalism, deep human concern, and professional pride, your fire is dying out, and it will take more than I can imagine to rekindle it. [/rant]


 
Did you mean here that (overall) the fires of professionalism, deep human concern, and professional pride are dying out and that it's going to be a big challenge for me to rekindle them?

If so, let me know if there's some way I can help you to rekindle yours.

(At first I thought you were saying my personal fires were dying out. I hope I keep making it clear that is NOT the case.)


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## Meursault (Dec 22, 2011)

firetender said:


> Did you mean here that (overall) the fires of professionalism, deep human concern, and professional pride are dying out and that it's going to be a big challenge for me to rekindle them?



Yes. Gods, it's quite clear you're passionate about your mission. That wasn't meant to insult you, nor the rather thinly-veiled implication that you've been at this for a while.

Fair point about my leaping to conclusions, too. I'm generalizing here from my coworkers and the forum; in both cases, there seems to be a weak negative association between the number of decorations and accessories and the quality of the EMT. Maybe inverse log, actually; 1 doesn't say much, 10 says a lot but nothing good.


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## katgrl2003 (Dec 23, 2011)

I used to be so proud about being an EMT. I would tell all my family, and would get calls at all hours asking me medical questions. Then I realized something... As an EMT, I didn't know jack squat! I realized I was proud of having enough knowledge you could teach a competent 6 year old. I have gone on and learned more on my own, but I know most of the people I went to school with just stewed in their own stupidity.

This is the reason I would not want to have anything on my car saying I'm an EMT. Yes, there are good medics out there (and a few EMTs), but more often than not they stand around looking like a monkey screwing a football on scene (particularly firefighter EMTs). I am not proud of my vocation's image most of the time, because that is what most people think... that EMTs don't know what the hell they are doing.

Lately, my job has been a paycheck. No more, no less.


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## mycrofft (Dec 23, 2011)

*Don't downplay EMT's*

Especially if they have a professional attitude and have had useful experiences. A large part of what the EMT's training consists of is what NOT to do, plus the fairly simple techniques to make the big difference a prompt reasonable responder makes down the line.

Used to be volunteer fire department members had placards so when they drove their POV to a fire or to the station for an alarm they were not ticketed.

Hopefully we all started out with a period of enthusiasm and pride and yes maybe some goofiness.


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## Medic Tim (Dec 23, 2011)

Where I live and work we are considered medics 24/7. For that reason a lot do not have anything on there car or truck,the don't want to advertise especially at accidents and the like. I have a small star of life sticker on my car.

I love the attitude some people have. It is the same with were I work. I am deemed an inferior medic because a have a small sticker on my car. I am also judged for furthering my education. ALS is very new to New Brunswick there are only 10 ACP (EMT-P) in the province right now. Sorry to get off topic and rant but this is one of the biggest issues I have seen in ems. We cannot seem to stick together. It is very discouraging to the new ones as they are slammed for caring or taking pride in what they have accomplished.


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## Bullets (Dec 23, 2011)

Seen that plaque, know a few guys who have it, dont have a problem with it, and I try to help those guys out and let them slide on minor traffic offenses like parking

Let them be proud, let them put a star of life or St Florians cross or a blue line on their car. is an emt going to save a life? We know the numbers, 2-8% survivability for out of hospital CPR. Does the system suck, is it broken, worn and abused? Damn straight. But let them be proud of their mission. If they are willing to wake at 3am, leave their families, staff a building in a blizzard, a hurricane, a flood, a tornado, thats more then most people would do. To knowingly embrace hardship, difficulty, challenge, and danger for strangers is a special calling not for everyone. 

Volunteering led me to my career, and if EMS was a viable long term option I probably would stay, but it still doesn't pay enough. We need people who have that passion, they are the ones who will change the industry. The fire for quality patient care is inside them, it never died.


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## pa132399 (Dec 23, 2011)

i have a pa doh emt sticker on my rear window of my truck also my water rescue and a fire related sticker i love what i do so i take pride in it and im also a medic student so after i finish ill add to the stickers but i agree it doesnt pay what it should but ill always love what i do


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## gkygrl (Dec 23, 2011)

If the fire is gone and cynicism creeps in and takes up most of your energy - maybe it's time to look into another vocation.   I've seen too many RN's wear out their welcome in their career and they either never got the counseling and debriefing they needed to deal with the stressors or they just let things get cold and bitter.  That's not good for the patient or the person offering care.

As with any vocation, you need to keep reassessing and soul searching and wondering what you are doing and why.  Life is too short.


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## DrParasite (Dec 23, 2011)

http://www.somes.com/detail.php?uid=2289&sourceUrl=list_custom.php?sector=54

and for the non-emt who wants a shield:
http://stores.ebay.com/POLICE-AND-EVERYTHING-FOR-SALE/CAR-SHIELDS-/_i.html?_fsub=19293953

http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/st...E-CAR-SHEILDS-FAMILY-MEMBER_200334447947.html

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190522354356+#ht_1174wt_1163

and for the wacker in everyone:
http://www.fd8.org/emt-firefighter/


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## DrParasite (Dec 23, 2011)

oh yeah, and I have my agency sticker on my back window, as well as my special operations sticker from my part time job.

and i used to have my volunteer FD licence plate on my dash, but I have since moved and my new FD doesn't give out license plates.

Be proud of who you are, be proud of what you do.  and just think, EMT might not be a great accomplishment, but there are plenty of people who don't pass the course.

ditto a HS diploma, an associates degree, or bachelors degree.  it might be simple and not worth mentioning for you, but if someone wants to, let them be proud.  You don't feel it's worthy of advertising?  good for you.  if someone wants to, I say let them.

and my genitals are pretty big.  in fact, I'll say they are big enough that I could cover my car with FD decals, put lights on and everything, maybe even put a metal shield in the windshield... and still not give a :censored::censored::censored::censored: about what you thought of me.


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## Always BSI (Dec 24, 2011)

Well said.


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## firetender (Dec 25, 2011)

DrParasite said:


> Be proud of who you are, be proud of what you do. and just think, EMT might not be a great accomplishment, but there are plenty of people who don't pass the course.


 
To me, EMT isn't a big accomplishment on its own, but it IS a great tool to have and to share. And yes, I agree, be proud you've taken the time to acquire AND use it!


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