working as an EMT in a skirt

crazycajun said:
OK I have just seen the picture. Now that I have stopped laughing let's get serious. The skirt you are wearing imposes a loose clothing hazard. It could easily be snagged in an MVC or caught in the stretcher. It could be caught in the stair chair and you and your patient will be tumbling down the stairs or embankment. I also have to question other clothing items against your beliefs. You stated that form fitting clothing is why you must wear the skirt but your shirt clearly indicates you have breast. Does this not violate the same rule?
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I guess what I meant by formfitting is that it must not be tight. The shirt is loose, therefore it is okay. Alot of women's pants are tight, therefore form fitting.

18G said:
Not to sound mean but I thought the same thing. It does look really, really, really bad and outright silly. It does not provide a good image at all for whatever department you would be working/volunteering for.

And I have to agree with a few others who have said this as well. If your church's position and interpretation of scripture is that a woman should not wear male clothing, then how is it acceptable for you to wear pants underneath a skirt? Does the scripture only apply as long as you can't see the opposite genders clothing when they are being worn? Would a guy in your church be okay to wear womens underwear since they wouldn't be visible? It's really the same thing as wearing pants under the skirt.

They make women's pants which make them specific to females. Guy's typically look kinda funny and obvious when wearing women's pants the same as they look funny if wearing a skirt. So they are distinctively different.
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The pants I wear are girls' pants, not mens'. But I do find it interesting that everyone is assuming they are guys' pants. Okay, so what I'm gathering is that everyone thinks it's a bad idea and I should just wear the pants. So I'll be checking into that.

crazycajun said:
OK. So you want to wear a skirt over pants!! WOW!!! Doesn't that defeat the purpose of any religious belief? I mean if you are wearing the pants already and if their is some scripture that says you must only wear skirts, are you not breaking the rules? (I am assuming this is religious as this is the only leg you have to stand on)
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It is a religous/church thing. Personally I would not have a problem with just wearing the pants, but there are others whom I must consider. No, there is no scripture that says you must only wear skirts. It has to do with modesty more than anything, and what I've been hearing from all you wonderful people is that you consider just the EMS pants modest. So I will be checking into that.

shfd739 said:
I know that my service wouldn't allow the skirt. Based on the females I work with and our approved pants that they wear I don't see how they could be considered not modest. They aren't very flattering and sure aren't form fitting. it's not you'd be walking around in tights or daisy dukes.
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:) Well, like I said, I'll be doing some research into that and see what I can come up with.
 
addictedforever said:
It has to do with modesty more than anything, and what I've been hearing from all you wonderful people is that you consider just the EMS pants modest. So I will be checking into that.
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Modesty is all relative. If the average idea of female modesty is a non-tight skirt, then any sort of pants can be considered immodest. If pants aren't defacto immodest then there's some line between MC Hammer pants and jeggings, and the question is, "Where is that line?"

On that note I saw my first pair of jeggins a few days ago and immediately needed mind bleach and a flame thrower.
 
While I am opposed to all religions, I do respect the Mennonites for two of their practices/beliefs.

1. They support separation of church and state.
2. They do adult baptisms as opposed to indoctrinating the young and forcing them into something which they were never asked. It has to be a willing adult decision which is cool.

And most Mennonite groups do not evangelize, a few schisms do; again more props to them!
 
JPINFV said:
Modesty is all relative. If the average idea of female modesty is a non-tight skirt, then any sort of pants can be considered immodest. If pants aren't defacto immodest then there's some line between MC Hammer pants and jeggings, and the question is, "Where is that line?"

On that note I saw my first pair of jeggins a few days ago and immediately needed mind bleach and a flame thrower.
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Well, I think you about summed it up. You've stated the problem quite well. I salute you! Thank-you!

As far as the second part, why do you think we choose non-tight, longish skirts?
 
addictedforever said:
Well, I think you about summed it up. You've stated the problem quite well. I salute you! Thank-you!

As far as the second part, why do you think we choose non-tight, longish skirts?
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...because God gave every man 2 heads, but only enough blood to run one at a time, and women in Ancient times allowed us to blame that on them?
 
JPINFV said:
...because God gave every man 2 heads, but only enough blood to run one at a time, and women in Ancient times allowed us to blame that on them?
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Exactly, and believe it or not, there are still a few women who feel responsible for such things.
 
lampnyter said:
If i was still in high school that would be my senior quote. Im stealing that from you.
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Thats ok he stole that from robin williams lol
 
There was a brother and sister at my job with similar beliefs. They both wore the uniform pants. The brother told several women he worked with that they'd be going to hell for wearing pants -- I wonder what their family dinners were like.


addictedforever said:
I agree you probably would look pretty silly wearing women's jeans. As far as a loophole, I don't know. Maybe it is. And I'm pretty sure I could not get an exception for this, unfortunately. I would be okay with wearing just pants for the job. I'll have to do more checking.
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Are you following your personal religious beliefs or your parents'/pastor's rules? Why do you need to get permission from an outside authority to do this instead of considering what your deity wants?


addictedforever said:
You sure you want me to answer this? I'll give you a short version. Pants alone are not felt to be modest since they are generally more formfitting. A skirt in this line of work as has been pointed out may not be modest either, therefore you pair them together, and theoretically you have modesty and safety and compliance with OSHA.
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I have yet to find a pair of EMT pants that are form-fitting. They're all very, very baggy and made of thick material. Then again, my service didn't have male/female uniforms -- we all got the same type of cargo-style pants.

Where's the picture? I want to see it!
 
I used to work in an area where we served a large Mennonite population and I completely respect your beliefs. I realise that it is challenging for you to find the right balance in this. As other posters have pointed out, I would be worried that having a skirt on while out on calls could get caught on things and cause a potential hazard for you, especially when lifting a moving patients. If you ever ended up getting attacked by a patient, it seems as though it would give them more things to grab onto as well.

This may seem even more strange, but I'll throw it out there as a suggestion anyway. Depending on where you work, it is quite possible that most of your time will be spent at the station and not out on calls (if not then there isn't any way this suggestion will be useful). If that is the case, maybe you could wear your skirt over your uniform pants while at the station and remove it when it's time to head out on a call (might need to do some skirt modifications to allow for quick removal as you walk out to the truck, but I'm sure it is possible). Maybe this would help to satisfy your church leaders that you're keeping it on as much as is practical.

Best of luck!
 
JPINFV said:
(Can any Jews on here honestly explain how things like, "We can't use elevators because the spark that may be generated when we push the button, but if the elevator is automatically stopping at every floor, we can use it," or the entire concept of the "eruv?" .
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Cant quote the exact place/passage but the torah states that we cannot light or extinguish fires on the sabbath (only one of the prohibited things) so pushing the button on the elevator/flipping on a light switch etc is synonymous to the lighting/extinguishing of a fire... Not sure if it specifically states this but it is interpreted that a fire can be built before the sabbath and then fed thru the sabbath to keep it going just as an elevator can be going thru the sabbath as long as you don't initiate it on the sabbath. It is also fine if someone else pushes the button for you. None of these rules apply in emergencies/life threatening circumstances. If you see someone dying in the street you are morally obligated to call for help on the sabbath even though it is in violation of the no work rules.
 
Aerin-Sol said:
Are you following your personal religious beliefs or your parents'/pastor's rules? Why do you need to get permission from an outside authority to do this instead of considering what your deity wants?

I have yet to find a pair of EMT pants that are form-fitting. They're all very, very baggy and made of thick material. Then again, my service didn't have male/female uniforms -- we all got the same type of cargo-style pants.

Where's the picture? I want to see it!
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I would need permission from an outside authority because I am a member of the church and expected to follow what they ask besides my personal beliefs.

Well, the one woman EMT who I know has EMS pants that are quite form-fitting, to the point it is disturbing.

The picture is my profile picture. You can check it out.


BEorP said:
I used to work in an area where we served a large Mennonite population and I completely respect your beliefs. I realise that it is challenging for you to find the right balance in this. As other posters have pointed out, I would be worried that having a skirt on while out on calls could get caught on things and cause a potential hazard for you, especially when lifting a moving patients. If you ever ended up getting attacked by a patient, it seems as though it would give them more things to grab onto as well.

This may seem even more strange, but I'll throw it out there as a suggestion anyway. Depending on where you work, it is quite possible that most of your time will be spent at the station and not out on calls (if not then there isn't any way this suggestion will be useful). If that is the case, maybe you could wear your skirt over your uniform pants while at the station and remove it when it's time to head out on a call (might need to do some skirt modifications to allow for quick removal as you walk out to the truck, but I'm sure it is possible). Maybe this would help to satisfy your church leaders that you're keeping it on as much as is practical.

Best of luck!
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And as far as it giving patients somthing to grab onto...there's also a plus side to it. They could grab on, but because I wear pants, I could slip out of it therefore quickly getting away. I've already had to do that once.

Hmmm...a most interesting suggestion. I would probably be spending a lot of time at the station most shifts. Maybe I could check into that as well.
 
addicted I can relate as my family used to be deeply involved in a religion that was similar to menonites atleast when it came to the way they dressed. With that said I think the bottom line is you are going to have an extremely tough time finding a department or company that is going to be willing to work with your beliefs.

Let me ask you this. Are these your beliefs also or are you mainly doing because you are worried about what your family or church community might say? If so the best advice I can give you is follow your own beliefs.
 
subliminal1284 said:
addicted I can relate as my family used to be deeply involved in a religion that was similar to menonites atleast when it came to the way they dressed. With that said I think the bottom line is you are going to have an extremely tough time finding a department or company that is going to be willing to work with your beliefs.

Let me ask you this. Are these your beliefs also or are you mainly doing because you are worried about what your family or church community might say? If so the best advice I can give you is follow your own beliefs.
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It's not a problem finding a department. I've found one already. The problem is finding the training.

And I think I'm still figuring it all out for myself right now. I'm asking myself the same questions right now.
 
samiam said:
Cant quote the exact place/passage but the torah states that we cannot light or extinguish fires on the sabbath (only one of the prohibited things) so pushing the button on the elevator/flipping on a light switch etc is synonymous to the lighting/extinguishing of a fire... Not sure if it specifically states this but it is interpreted that a fire can be built before the sabbath and then fed thru the sabbath to keep it going just as an elevator can be going thru the sabbath as long as you don't initiate it on the sabbath. It is also fine if someone else pushes the button for you. None of these rules apply in emergencies/life threatening circumstances. If you see someone dying in the street you are morally obligated to call for help on the sabbath even though it is in violation of the no work rules.
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My problem is that I find it a very fine line between making the spark yourself vs having someone else make it for you? Which is more important, the act itself or the underlying intent?
 
i would say not to....becuase if your rear end gets seen.....other might have "medical promblems" plus i just cant see a medic in a skirt or dress while climing up into a car to hold c spine.
 
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