10/22/2023 0 Comments Military lingo wmThe same goes for resumes and job applications keep the abbreviations to a minimum. Using abbreviations may actually hurt you, especially if they do not understand what you are trying to say. Also, many oral panels have a citizen from the community someone outside of the fire service on the panel as a rater (someone from personnel/human resources, etc.). While you may think that the fire personnel rating you understand the abbreviations, you can't be too sure. ![]() If you ever find yourself answering questions to an oral board (for entry-level or promotional examinations), please shy away from using abbreviations. What exactly is that abbreviation? Is it possible there are multiple meanings for that abbreviation? If so, how can we be sure that is what you meant to document? We cannot." Had I just wrote out Pulmonary Embolus, I would have been ok and we would not have dwelled on that subject and I wouldn't have looked like someone less than professional trying to justify why I did what I did. I can hear the attorney now "so, Captain Prziborowski - you listed that the patient had suffered a PE. The last thing you want to do is have to clarify to a judge, jury and questioning attorney all of the abbreviations within your report, especially ones that have multiple meanings. ![]() As a company or chief officer documenting their actions after the incident in a formal, legal report, I encourage people to not use any abbreviations because of the possibility of more than one meaning. Abbreviations can get you in trouble if you're not careful. Some abbreviations such as PE may have many meanings, all meaning something slightly different (pulmonary embolus, pulmonary edema, physical exam - see what I mean?). If you do use abbreviations when documenting information on a patient care report (if you are an EMS provider), make sure the abbreviations are approved by the county. The rest of the terms are foreign to the public and even to some fire personnel. Those two terms are widely used and understood by the general public. There are only two of the abbreviations listed below that fall into that category - CPR and EMT. A rule of thumb I try and follow is to only use abbreviations that the average person would understand. You may (or may not) know what they are saying, and the public probably has less of a clue as to what they were saying.īefore we go any further, remember that abbreviations should be used sparingly, if not at all. They were UTL any live patients?" I bet you have. Have you ever heard someone talk and you only comprehended a fraction of what they said? For example, have you ever heard a fire service official (such as a Public Information Officer) say something to the effect of "the first rig got on scene and found they had a TC with a couple of DOA's and a suspect that was GOA. We are expected to use clear text when talking, to ensure the sender understands our message. In the fire service, we try not to pattern ourselves after our law enforcement counterparts and use "9 or 10-codes" when talking. Knowledge is power and the more you know, the better off you are.Ĭommunications are a problem everywhere, and in the fire service, we have our share of communication problems. I'm providing this information to educate you and better prepare you for talking with fire service personnel or reading fire service (yes, like it or not, EMS is also fire related) textbooks or publications. Some fire service personnel tend to go a bit overboard when talking, by using too much "alphabet soup." I'm not providing this information to encourage you to use more abbreviations in your everyday life. In the fire service, we enjoy using abbreviations and acronyms for things.
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