Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Who Doesn't?

I know what the bracelet means, you know what the bracelet means, but does that 63 year old woman laying on the gurney know what the bracelet means?


I saw one of these bracelets on the wrist of an EMT the other day as he was loading a patient into the ambulance.

Although: 
A - I heart boobies too!
B - October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
C - These bracelets are being sold by several organizations to raise money for breast cancer research

I think it may be a little unnerving for a patient, especially one who does not know about the fund raising aspect of the bracelet, to see "I Heart Boobies" on the wrist of a guy that she is cooped up in the back of an ambulance with.

Just to make sure I wasn't overreacting on this, I called a friend of mine who works for us in the prevention bureau. This woman is no prude, but is the consummate professional and I trust her judgement in these matters.

She agreed with me.

I'm not going to make an issue of it, the EMT doesn't work for us, he works for a private ambulance company. It's not a big deal really, I just don't think the EMT was thinking about how his customers might react when seeing the bracelet.

I don't think anyone from the corporate office of the Great Big Private Ambulance Company reads this, but if they do, they might want to think about getting a memo out. Then they should write a big fat check to a breast cancer research organization. I'm just sayin'.

Thanks for reading,
Schmoe

5 comments:

  1. I've seen several of these bracelets on calls this month. Great cause, poor presentation for the public safety workplace.

    A nice pink ribbon pin might be more fitting for the uniform... and someone might actually ask what everyone is wearing it for... just sayin'

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  2. I felt the same way about a colleague wearing a cause-support coloured rubber wristband in uniform. His didn't even say anything--just came off as unprofessional.

    I also saw a danger in the bands during a simulated mass casualty exercise I participated in. If you're going to be wearing one, just hope someone doesn't think you've already been triaged.

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  3. Aviatrix - That would be a drag, wearing a bracelet that signifies dead, when you are only wounded. Having said that, I can think of a few people who SHOULD be wearing one of those!

    Thanks for commenting.

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  4. So glad that I am not the only one offended by this. Unprofessional indeed! Good cause, wrong way of supporting it. Great post.

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