Tattoos in the fire/Ems service

Should tattoos be allowed in uniform??

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marta Arevalo on November 29, 2009 at 8:25pm

I have several tattoos because I was brought up in a different culture where they are more accepted. However, upon coming back to Guatemala I encountered a lot of discrimination because tattoos are seen exclusively as tokens of gang identity. Before I started firefighter training the teachers checked they were "artistic" and I had to promise not to get any more. I am glad my tattoos are well-covered, since we work with the general public and it is THEY who distrust someone they see covered in ink. Image and first impressions are VERY imoprtant, specially when you are dealing with someone whose trust you need (your patient) in order to help them better.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff on November 29, 2009 at 8:40pm

If you can't see it then there is no problem, that is how it
is at my department.

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Permalink Reply by Jay Nicholson on December 1, 2009 at 9:10pm

This was forwarded to me today. Thought it was on topic.

Tattoo costs Benicia man Air Force position
Vallejo, California TIMES-HERALD
11/30/2009 09:33:44 PM PST

BENICIA - It wasn't a sexy half-naked lounging lady.

It doesn't say "Mom".

xxxxxx months-old tattoo just says his first name, in
Hebrew, a language he said he admires.

But those six inches of lettering running across his right
biceps were enough to bar him from entering the U.S. Air
Force today under a policy instituted just last week for
those not fully enrolled in the service.

Xxxxx, 18, was called to his recruitment office early
Monday morning, the day he was scheduled to report for basic
training, for a review of the tattoo.

"They said, 'Can you salute me?' and they were just like,
'Oh'," Xxxxx said of his surprising turn in luck.

Bags packed and good-byes wished, Xxxxx found himself
shocked and alone when he was told his tattoo now meant a
"no go" for the Air Force.

"They didn't know what to say or to do," Xxxxx added. "I'm
just kind of confused about why they couldn't have contacted
me over the weekend."

Xxxxx joined the Air Force's delayed entry program last
March, and has been waiting since graduating from Benicia
High School for a job to open up in the special forces
division.

"There are no tattoos (allowed) on the right arm or the
hands - that's the modification," said Christa D'Andrea,
chief of public affairs for Air Force Recruiting Services in
San Antonio, Texas. "(It is) in an effort to keep up the
military image."

The recruiting policy was adjusted when Air Force physical
training outfits - the ones members exercise in - were
designated as official uniforms for the military branch.

The short sleeves of physical training outfits reveal arm
tattoos, particularly when a salute is being executed,
recruiters told Xxxxx.

The former policy allowed for tattoos that covered no more
than 25 percent of the skin - a regulation Xxxxx had
strictly complied with, and even had measured and documented
the same day the policy was instituted, he said.

D'Andrea said she does not believe the tattoo policy change
will affect recruitment. Based on the first week of the
modified policy, though, D'Andrea is forecasting the barring
of about 15 delayed entry program recruits a week, she said.
Recruits as far advanced as basic training could be
affected, but not those beyond that point, D'Andrea said.

Each case will be looked at individually, D'Andrea said, and
recruits will be able to re-enter the program at the point
they left off if they choose to remove their tattoos.

Xxxxxx parents were upset Monday after hearing the news.
Xxxxx said he did not yet know what he will do next -
remove the tattoo or consider another military branch.

"Everything he's been training for, working for, preparing
for - it's all shot," saidXxxxx dad, Kevin. "He's
given a year of his life waiting on this thing - not going
to college in the fall (and) passed up on some jobs."

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Permalink Reply by Firefighter Walther on December 1, 2009 at 10:14pm

I would have to agree with you there! i want several tattoos, nothing offensive, or violent, just ones i would persoanally like, one being if i become a full firefighter, with the HFD hopefully, i would like the HFD insignia tattoo'd on me, just small stuff like that!