Uniform shirts drive me bonkers. There’s really only three options, not counting the t-shirt, which never looks good, in my opinion.
There’s the omnipresent cotton button-down uniform shirt. Usually with patches, and maybe some embroidery on it. Cotton shirts breathe well, and are generally comfortable in the hot, muggy summers. Long sleeve cotton shirts aren’t very warm, and usually require me to wear a long sleeved t-shirt underneath if I want to have any semblance of comfort.
Cotton uniform shirts look absolutely snazzy when ironed and starched with sharp creases in them. But they look like crap about 12 hours later, which makes them impractical, unless you have an outrageous dry-cleaning budget, lots of time with an iron, a devoted house spouse, or all of the above.
Oh, and to those dry-cleaners who put creases on the sides of the patches, as opposed to straight down the middle, STOP IT. It looks stupid.
Polyester button-down shirts look real sharp, and don’t require that much work. I’ve never starched a polyester shirt, mostly because I have never needed to. Usually, I pull them out of the dryer when they are good and hot, hang them up quickly, and sometimes touch them up with an iron if needed. They stay ironed for days, and good, sharp creases stay put for weeks.
Those polyester shirts are like COPD patients though. They don’t breathe well. They are incredibly hot in summer time, and make me a sticky hot mess by the time I get home.
Polo shirts look good, but management hates them. We have strict rules for when we can wear the polo style shirt. Only between April 15th and October 15th, and only if our partner is wearing the same shirt. It’s easy to coordinate with partners, but it’s hard to convince an EMS worker to shell out 50 bucks for a shirt, when the ones the company buys are free.
Our polo shirts have our name and title embroidered on the right chest, with our company’s logo on the left chest. They look good, and are comfortable. Unfortunately, I don’t get to wear it too often.
This has been me complaining. Back to suffering in my own perspiration I go.
I rather have pocket tees. Especially here in southern Arizona in 110 degree heat working a mva crash
Why don’t you Like the tee shirt
T-shirts are fine for the fire department (if they’re allowed to wear them on non-fire calls) but for a private ambulance service, the image is less than impressive when you show up at the home of a patient or doctor’s office. The other problem is that some people ought not to wear t-shirts because their appearance in one is, shall we way, not attractive. Invariably, it is these people who do wear a t-shirt. And others (males), whose appearance in a t-shirt is attractive to the opposite sex (and I suppose to some of the same sex), wear shirts that are designed so demonstrate that attractiveness to the max, which is another form of unprofessionalism. There are others (women) whose appearance in a t-shirt is just plain distracting to their male partners, annoys other women, and gets the attention of any male patients, nurses, etc.
Other than that, I agree with CCC completely about shirts. Except as to say that he obviously actually tries to look good and professional. Many people with whom I’ve worked simply don’t do that.
At one time I worked for an agency that had strict uniform inspections at the beginning of every shift and you could be written up for not having everything in order. We looked good! Even me and that’s hard to achieve.
While I did like how sharp I looked in my uniform shirt during paramedic school, I much prefer the look that polos offer. As odd as it sounds, I feel that uniform shirts tend to make the profession look too much like a technician job as opposed to a clinician job. I think that wearing polos along with a good pair of paramedic pants looks much better. We wear Nike golf polos which are nice and breathable and look professional. The only problem is when its cold, everyone can tell.
I guess it bothers me more when paramedics who are on call respond and do not look at least somewhat presentable. I know that you are only getting paid 2 dollars an hour, but it doesnt take long to put on a decent polo or a pair of paramedic pants to at least look the part. I know I feel a lot more knowledgeable and confident when I am dressed for the part, I think others can tell.