Stretched ears in the EMS profession

[BLSBoy]

Behind the counter, another eighteen-year-old kid. Both ears-pierced. Both nostrils-pierced. Both eyebrows :censored::censored::censored::censored:ing pierced! And his tongue is hanging out, you know why his tongue is hanging... cuz he has a six-inch steel stud imbedded in the middle of it! That's just one more thing for your dad to grab a hold of when he's pissed off at you.
Pull up your pants!

Please. Do it. Allow those who really wanna be here to get that job that much easier.

 

[gremlin75]

Think if your patients, who may be elderly and relate these modifications to criminality see you coming in they will automatically be afraid of you.

That is my thought on it. I personally have stretched ears (though not as extreme as the ones pictured. Mine are only 6g...maybe 4g I cant remember right now) and I know that working in EMS they are something I will have to get rid of. The fact is I'm choosing a career in a field where I have to have the patients respect without them knowing anything about me. That means my appearance will play a huge role in that. Most people see my large earrings and will instantly thinking of me as some punk criminal. Not exactly the appearance I want to give when I'm going at them with n IV needle

I'm just genuinely curious. Whats your desire behind it?

For me I just liked the way slightly stretched ear's looked, or rather the way the larger rings looked. Though I did make sure to not go to large. There is a point of no return when the only way the lobe will go back to normal is with cosmetic surgery. Mine will actually close up on there own (I let them do so one before and re-streched them) Best picture I can find of how large I went with my lobes.

later
gremlin

 

[Seaglass]

Now, the bald look would be more acceptable for women than it was in 1980.

I don't think a company would have much of a leg to stand on if it didn't allow bald women today. Bald men are generally accepted, and to force a bald woman to wear a wig seems pretty extreme, especially if she's lost her hair due to alopecia, chemotherapy, or anything else beyond her control.

 

[EMT-Johnny]

Here's a quick question, if someone in your family is having an emergency problem i.e heart attack and whatnot, and a paramedic guy comes in with an earings or plugs whatever. Would you dare to call another paramedic for the scene?

I seriously think it actually depends on your employer whether or not he/she would want to hire you if you have an earings, stretched ears, visible tattoos. But I do believe that one should consider professionalism to have a long lasting career.

 

[VentMedic]

Here's a quick question, if someone in your family is having an emergency problem i.e heart attack and whatnot, and a paramedic guy comes in with an earings or plugs whatever. Would you dare to call another paramedic for the scene?

I seriously think it actually depends on your employer whether or not he/she would want to hire you if you have an earings, stretched ears, visible tattoos. But I do believe that one should consider professionalism to have a long lasting career.

Only a very small percentage of your calls will be life threatening emergencies. The other calls will bring you into contact with facilities that have contracted your ambulance service to be an extension of them to transport their patients. That facility may decide you are not the image they want for the transport and care of their patient. Thus, no more contract which could mean a layoff for your company. When you bring patients to the hospitals' ED where you will be a representative of your ambulance company. Anytime you are in public view driving the ambulance and wearing their uniform, you are representing that company.

 

[nomofica]

My city's EMS department allows stretched ears, and even visible tattoos and dreadlocks. However, ears are not to be stretched past a certain gauge and tattoos must not be offensive.

I don't know much about their policy as I don't work for the city-operated EMS but I know I've seen them.

 

[this is destruction]

Ok, I figured I'd comment on this after lurking through thread and seeing a lot of the responses.

Just a little background on me since I'm a new poster, I work for a very large MICU project in the "southern" region of NJ and have been a paramedic for 6 years. I have my ears stretched and I also have a lot of tattoos, which get covered up with some form of long sleeves year round.

While I understand the general opinion on these and pretty much agree with the general consensus that these may be looked down by potential employers, patients, families, hospital staff, and the ilk, I felt as if I should give my take on this.

I've had my ears pierced and stretched since I first started a career in EMS 8 years ago. I had removed them during my field internship time as a paramedic student and subsequently many years later decided to "re-stretch." I've never had them stretched to a ridiculous size where I could fit my fist through, but they aren't exactly small. I'd like to think at least they're mildly inconspicuous, although I'm sure that's not the case.

The first time I had taken them out, they closed rather quickly to a point where only regular jewelry could be worn if that's how I wanted to deal with it. When I first made the decision to restretch my ears, I made mention of it to my supervisors as well as looking at our HR manual to make sure there wasn't going to be an issue. If it was anything that was going to negatively impact my employment, I wouldn't have done it. Clear and simple. If I ever do decide that I'm not into them anymore, they can come out and will close up to a relatively normal size, which is pretty convenient.

If I was to interview for another company, I would take them out, no problem and if offered a job and they didn't want them back in, they would stay out.

With all of that being said, I have yet to encounter a professional problem with them in. I haven't had any negative reactions from patients, families, hospital staff, etc, but I have occasionally gotten the inquisitive question and sometimes they've been an effective icebreaker. If I ever felt like they were negatively impacting my career, they would also come out. I've worked too hard and too long for one issue of vanity to hold me back.

The beauty of these, as opposed to tattoos, is that they are in no way permanent. As far as what VentMedic posted about the health risks, I agree, there are risks, but I feel a lot of the problems he spoke of are easily preventable if you're smart and know how to take care of wounds.

So basically my standing is they could stay in or come out and it wouldn't really bother me either way, but for now, they're staying in.

Sorry for the long winded reply.

 

[nemedic]

Behind the counter, another eighteen-year-old kid. Both ears-pierced. Both nostrils-pierced. Both eyebrows ing pierced! And his tongue is hanging out, you know why his tongue is hanging... cuz he has a six-inch steel stud imbedded in the middle of it! That's just one more thing for your dad to grab a hold of when he's pissed off at you.
Pull up your pants!

Please. Do it. Allow those who really wanna be here to get that job that much easier.

I was wondering when that quote from Denis Leary was going to make its appearance.

 

[LucidResq]

We recently hired someone at our clinic who has pink hair, weird facial piercings, and two piercings on either side of her chest, near her clavicles, that are visible and exposed in scrubs. I don't get it. At all.

I have to say, it's pretty distracting while talking to her. Maybe it's just my ADHD... but when she talks this weird piercing emerges from under her upper lip... and it's hard to focus on what she's saying.

As I'm training her, I have to say I'm also embarrassed to introduce her to patients. "Seriously?" is written across many of their faces. Doesn't help that she isn't performing to the standards I'd expect by now and has absolutely no sense of initiative. Ugh.

I keep bringing it up with the practice, but the medical director doesn't seem to mind and her opinion is the one that counts.

 

[VentMedic]

I keep bringing it up with the practice, but the medical director doesn't seem to mind and her opinion is the one that counts.

You mentioned scrubs in your post so is this in a hospital?

The medical director may not be the one setting the dress and grooming policy. If anything is in direct violation of the written policy in effect for the facility, the medical director can take a lax attitude...until a complaint is filed or a visit from those who oversee the hospital's interests which includes shareholders and other stakeholders including the public.

 

[LucidResq]

We have an interesting relationship with the hospital. We are a clinic, but we are definitely more independent than most.

We'll see what happens. It probably will be a matter of someone complaining, or one of the many residents (we are a teaching facility) that cycle through here talking.