# Non Fire based EMS agencies wearing shorts



## medicwhitey (Jun 23, 2011)

If your agency has a uniform policy that allows wearing EMS shorts please PM me.  Unfortunately I can not use fire based agencies for this.  

Thank you in advance!
CW


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## DesertMedic66 (Jun 23, 2011)

medicwhitey said:


> If your agency has a uniform policy that allows wearing EMS shorts please PM me.  Unfortunately I can not use fire based agencies for this.
> 
> Thank you in advance!
> CW



For regular shifts we have to wear pants. If we are on a bike team then we are allowed to wear shorts.


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## ArcticKat (Jun 23, 2011)

I'm a private/for profit agency owner.  I allow my staff to wear company approved cargo type shorts at their discretion.  For those of you wondering about contamination, we don the Globe EMS pants for those messy calls.


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## usalsfyre (Jun 23, 2011)

You might contact Austin/Travis County EMS and City of Alexandria FD EMS (yes it's an FD, but they are single role). Both of these agencies allow shorts last time I checked.


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## shfd739 (Jun 23, 2011)

I think we can wear uniform shorts only for dedicated standbys/special events. I think....We all just wear the pants. In 8 years I only know of 1 person that wore shorts.

At my former volunteer FD I routinely wore shorts on calls year round. But that was a personal preference thing that drove the EMS and fire chiefs crazy. I always had my turnout pants to put on if needed.


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## jonesy0924 (Jun 23, 2011)

i dont think i would want to wear shorts while on an ambulance...i live in fl and it is like the gates of hell most of the year...i would rather be hot than kneel in something nasty...


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## medictruth (Jun 23, 2011)

The company I use to work for allowed it but no one in their right mind would put them on. To me they look very unprofessional. Just my opinion.


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## DrParasite (Jun 23, 2011)

Rural/Metro in the South west used to wear shorts, esp during the summer months.  they also have turnout pants for those situations where long pants might be needed.


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## medicdan (Jun 23, 2011)

The service I manage does not formally allow shorts on duty... but many of the crew chiefs and supervisors wear them sometimes, and we allow that if they keep a set of long pants in the vehicle and don them before arriving on scene.


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## the_negro_puppy (Jun 23, 2011)

medicwhitey said:


> If your agency has a uniform policy that allows wearing EMS shorts please PM me.  Unfortunately I can not use fire based agencies for this.
> 
> Thank you in advance!
> CW



FWIW Qld Ambulance Service allows shorts any time operationally

Wear at on peril though lol


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## SeanEddy (Jun 23, 2011)

We only have them on our bike team. But I wish we could wear them during the summer on all calls. Im sorry but when its 108 outside (like it is right now) then ill take the shorts.

I don't think they look unprofessional at all...

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


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## medichopeful (Jun 23, 2011)

medictruth said:


> To me they look very unprofessional. Just my opinion.



Same here, unless they're on bikes and even that's pushing it!


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## LucidResq (Jun 23, 2011)

medichopeful said:


> Same here, unless they're on bikes and even that's pushing it!



So you're supposed to rip your uniform pants on gears then? They're not just for comfort. 

Wore shorts all the time working at an amusement park. As long as they're professional and long enough I think they look fine. When you're treating heat illness and syncope outside all day it's best not to become a patient yourself and shorts definitely help.


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## the_negro_puppy (Jun 23, 2011)




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## Bullets (Jun 23, 2011)

while we are a volunteer squad, we do wear uniforms, polos, pants in the winter, more traditional long sleeve buttondowns and pants in the summer. For special events like large concerts or other possible MCI type events, football games, marathons, ect and days over 90 degrees we are allowed to wear tan or navy bdu shorts with our polos. Turnouts when needed


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## AnneHathaway (Jun 24, 2011)

I don't have any clue about this.


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## phideux (Jun 24, 2011)

We can wear shorts, but if we go to an MVA scene we either have to wear turnouts or let fire get the patients out of the vehicles for us. Personally, I just wear the pants.


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## csly27 (Jun 24, 2011)

The company I worked for in TX we were not allowed to wear shorts, even when it was 110. No one seemed to mind too much, if givin the chance i would not wear shorts.


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## adamjh3 (Jun 24, 2011)

I could see shorts on stand-by crews and bike teams and the like, but not on an ambulance. There's AC for a reason, on a call you're outside for all of what, 30-45 minutes?


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## usalsfyre (Jun 24, 2011)

Are people wearing fluid impervious pants?

My concern over shorts has nothing to do with bodily fluid outside of what may be on things like glass, ect. If your wearing them you should have proper PPE...but then you should have proper PPE anyway.


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## EMTJay (Jun 24, 2011)

Shorts would be nice in the hot & humid Houston heat, but I probably wouldn't wear them.  The button up shirts we wear bother me more than pants.


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## Fox800 (Jun 25, 2011)

Austin-Travis County EMS allows for shorts year-round. Most don't wear them...including myself.


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## medicdan (Jun 25, 2011)

Maybe it;s just me... but I dont want to be inside a nursing home or hospital (or even the seats in my ambulance), with all kinds of communicable diseases hanging around and have to worry about the lacs on my knees being a possible entry point. I'd rather keep the more protective gear on so I am protected when I need it than regret not wearing it after an exposure. Off call, or off duty, I couldn't care what my crews wear...


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## the_negro_puppy (Jun 26, 2011)

I wore shorts today (and its winter)  Came in hander when doing a 15 minute stretcher carry from a mountain bike track. It definitely has its risks and hazards which I am prepared to take.^_^


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## ArcticKat (Jun 26, 2011)

emt.dan said:


> Maybe it;s just me... but I dont want to be inside a nursing home or hospital (or even the seats in my ambulance), with all kinds of communicable diseases hanging around and have to worry about the lacs on my knees being a possible entry point. I'd rather keep the more protective gear on so I am protected when I need it than regret not wearing it after an exposure. Off call, or off duty, I couldn't care what my crews wear...



Really?  If you're that worried about communicable diseases...you're in the wrong line of work.


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## usalsfyre (Jun 26, 2011)

Again, are people wearing vinyl pants?

Perception often plays a larger role than reality in resistance to new ideas.


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