EMS Today 2019: Heightman: 'We Are Complete Responders!'

A.J. Heightman, JEMS Editor in Chief and EMS Today Conference Chair, addressed the audience at the EMS Today Opening Ceremony & General Session in National Harbor, Maryland on Wednesday, February 20, 2019: More: Photos from Day 1 of EMS Today “I wear this uniform proudly and in honor of my father, who commanded the Scranton Fire Department Ambulance Division for 36 years. “As a young firefighter, my Dad was required to report to work in his Class A uniform; stand at attention for inspection; and then, when released, change into jeans and a navy-blue T-shirt to return to the apparatus floor and crawl on creepers under the engines, trucks, and ambulance with kerosene rags to wipe all the grease off the engines, pumps, and undercarriages. Times have sure changed! “My father was my role model, my friend, and my first mentor. He taught me what was right, wrong, and necessary in the care and comfort of patients. I never forgot the lessons, traditions and insight my Dad and other mentors taught me along the way. “He required his crews to wear pristine, white, starched coveralls embroider with the words "EMERGENCY - BUREAU OF FIRE on the back and their names on the front. “As an inquisitive 13-year-old riding with my Dad and his partner, I asked him why the ambulance crews wore white while the firefighters wore navy blue shirts and pants. “His reply was, ‘Son, we represent the medical community, known for wearing white as a symbol of professionalism, cleanlines...
Source: JEMS Patient Care - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Patient Care EMS Today Source Type: news