Mistaken identity: the effect of badges on EMT recognition.
BACKGROUND
Many emergency medical services (EMS) providers wear badges with their uniforms. This study was undertaken to determine whether emergency medical technicians (EMTs) who wear badges with their uniforms are more likely to be mistaken for law enforcement personnel than are those who do not wear badges.


OBJECTIVE
Emergency medical services providers who wear badges are more likely to be mistaken for law enforcement personnel than are those who do not wear badges.


METHODS
High school students, college students, civic organizations, and church groups were shown slides of different uniforms and badges/insignia and asked to identify the person portrayed. Responses were categorized as "EMS," "law enforcement," or "other." Frequency of responses for each uniform and insignia were compared with chi-square analysis.


RESULTS
Fifty-nine percent of the uniforms with badges were identified as law enforcement personnel. Only 5.5% of the uniforms with badges were identified as "EMS," compared with 74% of the uniforms with a Star of Life (p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Individuals wearing uniforms with badges are more likely to be identified as law enforcement personnel than are EMS personnel. Emergency medical services providers who do not wish to be mistaken for law enforcement personnel should wear the Star of Life, not a badge, with their uniform.
Brown
L H
LH
Department of Emergency Medicine, East Carolina University School of Medicine, Greenville, North Carolina 27858, USA.
Waldman
J
J
Copeland
T W
TW
Smithson
W E
WE
Prasad
N H
NH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003020:Clothing; D004616:Emblems and Insignia; D004634:Emergency Medical Technicians; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D016495:Police; D012933:Social Identification