Tattoo Hatred

[Ewok Jerky]

JPINFV didn't attack you specifically. You started a "conversation" and then mocked someone who disagreed with you. That's why I said it sounds like you are whining.

Back on topic: I put visible tats on the same scale as an untucked shirt. Personally I don't care and won't judge you as a human being, but I don't want to see it on the job.

 

[teedubbyaw]

Do you see PAs and RNs and MDs with earrings and hand tattoos in Converse and skinny jeans or leather jackets and studded jewelery?

See, that right there is the ignorance most people have. Automatic association of tattoos with a certain grouping of people. Get out of living in the past. I know more doctors and nurses that have more visible tattoos than paramedics in my system.

 

[CALEMT]

Where I worked as a seasonal people had full sleeves and they wore long sleeved shirts 24/7. They understood that there is a sense of professionalism and pride that comes with doing your job and working for a dept./service and abided by the uniform policy that any visible tattoos while in uniform need to be covered. Most ambulance companies around here have relatively the same policy, and some companies/ depts. I've seen employees with full sleeve's wearing short sleeve shirts while on duty. I don't judge a person just because he/ she has tattoos and works in this service. Do I care if you have tattoos? No, absolutely not. In fact Im planning on getting inked myself. What I do care about is looking professional on the job and abiding by the policies and procedures set by the higher ups.

 

[Ewok Jerky]

See, that right there is the ignorance most people have. Automatic association of tattoos with a certain grouping of people. Get out of living in the past. I know more doctors and nurses that have more visible tattoos than paramedics in my system.

there are pretty drastic cultural differences with regards to tattoos. Where I lived in CA tats were socially acceptable, where I live on MA they are not. It's not living in the past, it's living in your respective reality.

When I got my ink I made a desicision, based on the culture I live and want to work in, to be able to keep them hidden under comfortable clothes.

 

[SandpitMedic]

See, that right there is the ignorance most people have. Automatic association of tattoos with a certain grouping of people. Get out of living in the past. I know more doctors and nurses that have more visible tattoos than paramedics in my system.

So in other words it's cool for me to display that firemen and police should have professional standards in regard to tats, but making the same notion about EMS/RNs/MDs gets under your skin?

I see you only quoted part of my statement.

Is that because you didn't make it on with FD or PD and went with one of those? If you're going to call me ignorant for my simple stated opinion then I'm going to call you out. I don't care enough to actually explore your posts to see what it is you are or do, but I can assure you that the majority of persons feel the same as I do.

Which is not in opposition to tattoos, but rather a proponent of professionalism. Professionalism is
:the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional (Merriam-Webster).

What do you not understand about neck tattoos not being a quality, aim, or conduct of a person placed in a position of public trust?!

When you blink while starting an IV on a patient your eyelids should not read "get money" (example).

Do you get that?
Or are you just upset that I don't think a person with that social outlook should be in this field?

I'm trying my darnedest to not make this personal. Because you don't represent my organization, and from your posts about this topic I am somewhat relieved.

EVERYONE has the right to their individuality. But on that same token is that everyone also has the responsibility to maintain uniform standards and a professional demeanor.

That is the way of this world and this field of public service. I would like to see a public poll (not a EMTLIFE poll) with pictures with that of the likes of the tattooed doctor to display tangible results of a compare/contrast picture of the same person. One with their art out on display and one with the same individual in turnouts, a lab coat, an officers uniform, a gas station attendant, etc...

Would you like to venture a guess of the ones most likely to be rated higher on a scale of: trustworthiness, likability, suitability, etc? Obviously, I'd like a poll of the general public, not poll with a sample bias of teenage girls and tatted up rock stars.

It's reality- not ignorance. It's not taboo; it's unprofessional. This job demands the "look" of professionalism, regardless of your disdain for that fact.

Have you ever heard that it doesn't matter how great your skills are to a patient, but rather how you make them feel.? Or a variant of that.

Appearance holds the same weight for the traditional EMS provider role. It just is what it is.

We can't even get over the color of people's skin without largely being biased, rioting, making every thing a racial debate in this country. Do you honestly think that hand and face tattoos on public servants who are held in high public esteem is going to get a pass at this point in time?

It's like the guy with "murderer" on his neck that killed someone, and then complained and had his lawyers argue that he could not recieve a fair trial due to his appearance. Like, for real?! You make your bed, lay in it.

Teedub, I'm sorry to be so long winded, but I'm trying to come up with reasonable points to possibly sway your opinion, but now I realize after all of that typing that it probably doesn't matter what anyone says - you've (probably) already committed to your stance on the issue with an everlasting mark on your flesh, in the form of a neck tattoo.

You wanna get all inked on your own time, fine. But not on the clock, and keep it in your personal life and off the job.

 

[SandpitMedic]

Funny story. During P school and during our section of immune vs inflammatory response system we had a guest speaker. The speaker was the owner operator of a tattoo parlor that happened to be right next door to our classroom on the same property.

He was asked a question by one of my classmates: "If the body works to reject outside intruders and pushes everything out, why does tattoo ink not get rejected by the immune system?"

His response was: "Well...the ink goes deep into the layers of the skin. Pretty much it's like your skin is getting raped... The skin tries, but it can't fight it off."


....

After a brief moment of silence, starring at each other in awe, and realizing that was his real answer the classroom erupted into laughter.

We didn't have any guest speakers after that.

 

[teedubbyaw]

Didn't read a word past your first paragraph. I don't disagree about looking professional, if you ever read any of my previous posts you'd know I'm a stickler for people looking their best in this field. What you blatantly show is your ignorance in associating tattoos with people from Mad Max. And yes, it's living in the past. It's not about what culture you live in unless you're not in the United States.

Blah blah blah, I don't have tattoos but am highly opinionated on them. Blah blah blah. That's all I'm hearing.

 

[Ewok Jerky]

If you read the whole post you might might see that sandpit's point is about professionalism and public opinion, not once does he denigrate those WITH tattoos.

And don't tell me about the culture I live in as it is not the same as Texas, could be two different countries.

Maybe younger generations will be more accepting of visible ink on professionals, but EMS is not the battleground for cultural opinion. Tuck your shirt in, get a haircut.

 

[ThadeusJ]

You're from Ontario so here's something I found online that's relevant to your workplace...I think I have posted this before but in my travels I met the head of a large regional NICU in Manitoba. The person I was to meet was a sizable muscular, heavily tattooed man with large ear piercings. He was the one of the most professional nicest people I have dealt with. I thought it was curious given that he was in charge of caring for the tiniest of babies.

Oh, and "haters gonna hate"...

 

[BlueJayMedic]

You're from Ontario so here's something I found online that's relevant to your workplace...I think I have posted this before but in my travels I met the head of a large regional NICU in Manitoba. The person I was to meet was a sizable muscular, heavily tattooed man with large ear piercings. He was the one of the most professional nicest people I have dealt with. I thought it was curious given that he was in charge of caring for the tiniest of babies.

Oh, and "haters gonna hate"...

That is an interesting article for sure, thanks for sharing it. Everyone against the tattoos in here seem to think about nothing but face knuckle and eye lid tattoos. That wasn't what I meant in the original post, and as I said before I understand that there are definitely inappropriate tattoos and inappropriate tattoo locations. I find it shocking the amount of people who are down right offended by this and have such strong beliefs that this is the most unprofessional thing comparing it to terrible hair and untucked uniforms. The haters gonna hate quote you left may be the most true statement in this thread. Such strong feelings in here, crazy. Glad I didn't post any pictures of mine I could only imagine what that may stir up... I currently have none visible but have no problems with future arm sleeve tattos. I will however keep them off my face although the "get money" eyelid suggestion is tempting haha.

 

[ThadeusJ]

I only have one tattoo...on my vocal cords that says, "If you can read this you are too close".

 

[Carlos Danger]

I find it shocking the amount of people who are down right offended by this and have such strong beliefs that this is the most unprofessional thing comparing it to terrible hair and untucked uniforms.

I'm not sure where you are getting that from. I don't see anything in this thread indicating that anyone is offended by tattoos. I don't see anyone "hating on" tattoos at all.

What I see is people trying to make the point that, regardless of what we think about tattoos, we have to acknowledge and deal with the fact there are many members of the public and many members of the healthcare industry who are less likely to form the positive impression of us that we want them to have if our appearance fails to meet their standards of professionalism. That may be unfair, but it is the way it is.

The bottom line is that what other people think of us is important. And what other people think of us is based in no small part - at least initially - on whether they think we look professional. So our opinion on tattoos - whether we think they detract from professionalism or not - is really irrelevant. It's the opinion of the people we interact with that matters.

 

[Amelia]

The hospital who I'm taking my EMT classes from require a clean professional look, and no visible tattoos. The girl that sits next to me is... 19? She has two tattoos on her wrists. I think she feels screwed.

 

[BlueJayMedic]

The hospital who I'm taking my EMT classes from require a clean professional look, and no visible tattoos. The girl that sits next to me is... 19? She has two tattoos on her wrists. I think she feels screwed.

Long sleeve shirt could be OK if it's not to hot where your at. Provided they don't go down onto her hands anywhere that is.

 

[JPINFV]

Hey, look. This thread went exactly where I predicted. What's next, this guy complaining that he can't get a fair shake in EMS? After all, it's not his fault that society isn't more accepting of [poor] choices.

 

[BlueJayMedic]

Hey, look. This thread went exactly where I predicted. What's next, this guy complaining that he can't get a fair shake in EMS? After all, it's not his fault that society isn't more accepting of [poor] choices.

How does this guy drink or eat? NG tube?

 

[CALEMT]

Hey, look. This thread went exactly where I predicted. What's next, this guy complaining that he can't get a fair shake in EMS? After all, it's not his fault that society isn't more accepting of [poor] choices.

 

[Jim37F]

I think there is definitely a generational shift towards tattoos in that they're slowly becoming more and more acceptable. Key word being slowly. And even the upcoming generation that is more open to tattoos than the previous ones still isn't 100% accepting. Plenty of people will have an automatic negative connotation to seeing people with tattoos, regardless of what the art is. If you have visible tattoos and you come up on a stranger who has those negative connotations in mind, they're not exactly going to be super comfortable discussing all their sensitive medical history and other pertinent info with us. As this discussion shows, there's a significant part of EMS that thinks they're perfectly fine. However, that does not change the fact that in most of the rest of the professional world tattoos are well taboo. The thing is that isn't exactly secret. We all KNOW this. So there really shouldn't be any surprise whatsoever when we get some ink and find that others now hold a discriminatory view point against us for that choice.

So if you have a sleeve or whatever on your forearm and are having trouble finding a job in a position of public trust because of it, yeah I'm sympathetic that you shouldn't have trouble getting a job, but I'm not sympathetic at all when people start complaining and whining like they're shocked and blindsided that they can't get the job.

 

[Amelia]

Hey, look. This thread went exactly where I predicted. What's next, this guy complaining that he can't get a fair shake in EMS? After all, it's not his fault that society isn't more accepting of [poor] choices.

its probably the back of the piercing, but it looks like he has some major boogerage going on there.

 

[ViolynEMT]

How does this guy drink or eat? NG tube?

That was the first thing I thought about.