Uniform Dress Code. Jason R. Loftus Fire-EMS Chief

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1 CAROLINE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF FIRE-RESCUE, AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT STANDARD OPERATING POLICY Policy: Uniform Dress Code SOP # Scope: Operational and Administrative Personnel Career / Volunteer Authority: Jason R. Loftus Fire-EMS Chief Effective Date: June 19, 2012 A. PURPOSE This policy will outline the uniform and appearance standards set by the Caroline County Department of Fire and Rescue for uniformed staff members. B. STANDARD Members must present themselves in a professional manner when representing Caroline County Department of Fire and Rescue. The first impression of our agency should be one of professionalism and competence whether at the scene of an emergency, interacting with the public at large or representing Caroline County Department of Fire and Rescue among other agencies. C. GUIDELINES 1. All issued uniforms are property of Caroline County Government 2. All personnel are required to produce, upon demand by the County Fire Chief, or his/her designee, any issued uniform items and/or official equipment. 3. At no time will any member of the Department wear his/her uniform or parts thereof during off-duty hours except as follows: All or part of the department uniforms may be worn to special events by department personnel when approved by the Chief or his/her designee. Personnel may wear a Class A, B, C or D uniform to and from work. Short stops for personal business while in uniform are permitted as long as this activity is not considered contrary to the Department s public image. 4. Members assigned to station locations, will dress in the same class (typically "D") of uniform except in those situations involving business inspections or other public relations activities in which case the class "B"/ C uniform will be worn. 5. As a general rule, administrative officer staff shall dress in Class B (Standard Time) or Class C (Daylight Savings Time) uniforms with white shirts and black or navy pants and ties; however, they may choose other attire based on their scheduled activity. 6. All staff may choose to wear business or business casual attire to attend outside County training or meetings if they desire. 7. During work hours, members are required to dress and groom themselves in such a manner as to reflect a positive professional image of the Department. Any manner of dress or personal hygiene that is disruptive shall be considered inappropriate. 8. Uniforms or protective clothing shall be maintained in a neat, clean and operational state, free of rips, tears, and holes. 9. Members shall not remain in any state of undress or semi-undress during working hours. 10. Shirt tails shall be tucked in and boots completely laced/zipped.

2 11. At no time will any member while in uniform exhibit any behavior, including the consumption of alcohol, which would be considered detrimental to the image of the Department. 12. The logo(s) of the Department are considered proprietary and may not be affixed to any thing or reproduced in any manner without the expressed written approval of the Fire EMS Chief. 13. Any issued part of clothing is considered to be the property of the Department and may not be worn except when performing assigned duties unless special permission has been granted. For example, members playing in a charity golf tournament may seek permission to wear department golf shirts to promote unity among members. 14. At no time while wearing any Caroline County Department of Fire and Rescue identifying article of clothing, issued or otherwise, will a member conduct themselves in any manner that would not be appropriate if on duty. 15. Under garments comprised of dry-wicking fabric (such as Under Armour for example) are prohibited as they are not designed to be worn in live fire situations and may result in potential injuries. 16. Each employee is responsible for his or her own uniforms. Each employee shall ensure that adequate uniform items are possessed for the appropriate shifts throughout the work year. 17. Should a uniform item become damaged and contaminated please notify your on-duty supervisor for the proper replacements D. CAREER UNIFORM CLASSIFICATIONS: 1. Class "A" Formal Dress Dress Coat with approved Department patches, badge, and collar pins. White long sleeve shirt with necktie, approved patches, badge, and name plate "T" shirt is worn, white in color Black shoes, polished, w/black socks Dress Hat, as needed Personnel: Chief Officers & Captains Events: Funerals, Court, Ceremonies, Presentations or as directed. 2. Class "B" Dress Long sleeved white / blue shirt with approved Department/EMS certification patches, name plate, and badge Blue/Black Necktie Black boots/shoes polished w/ black socks "T" shirt is worn, white in color Approved/issued headwear and jacket as needed Personnel: Chief Officers, Captains, Lieutenants, Fire-Medics Events: Funerals, Court, Ceremonies, Presentations, Official Events or as directed.

3 3. Class "C" Summer Dress Short sleeved white / blue shirt with approved Department/EMS certification patches, nameplate, and badge Black boots/shoes polished w/black socks "T" shirt is worn, white in color Approved/issued headwear and jacket as needed Personnel: Chief Officers, Captains, Lieutenants Events: Meetings, Office Work, Incident Response, Special Events, Public Appearance as directed 4. Class "D" Work Golf shirts or job shirts Black boots, polished Approved/issued headwear and jacket as needed Blue or white T shirts may be worn. Departmental T shirt may be worn under golf shirt. *During some training exercises, a prescribed uniform may be required and may include, firefighter turn out gear and other dress as may be deemed appropriate. * T shirts may also be worn during the summer months or as approved by a Supervisor for station duties, but shall not be worn for incident response. Personnel: Chief Officers, Captains, Lieutenants, Fire-Medic. * Chief officers shall not wear Department Tee shirt in public. Events: Meetings, Office Work, Incident Response, Special Events, Public Appearance as directed 5. Class E: Work-out Uniform Blue Department issued tee-shirts Department issued shorts Appropriate footwear. This class of uniform shall not be worn outside of the workout area/station. Field staff/chief Officers may wear department T shirts to respond to calls that occur while dressed for performing physical training, but must wear turn-out pants or work pants. Personnel: Chief Officers, Captains, Lieutenants, Fire-Medic Events: Fitness related activities. 6. SOCKS, SHOES, BELTS & HATS Dark blue (solid color) or black socks will be worn with all uniforms except Class D. White socks may be worn should the employee wear 8 boots. Shoes will be ANSI compliant. All shoes/boots will have safety toe or steel toe and will be black and shined. Non department issued footwear shall be approved prior to use. Employees must wear the department issued belt or one that is approved by the chief. Only Department issued baseball style hats or knit hats may be worn. Hats will be worn with the bill centered over the nose. Knit hats may be worn during winter months and must be centered over the head.

4 E. UNIFORM PATCHES Department: Department patches may be applied to uniform shirts and coats on each sleeve, or applied to the left chest of job shirts. EMS Certification: EMS certification patches may be applied to the right sleeve of short sleeve shirts in lieu of Department patches Volunteer Agency: Volunteer agency patches may be applied in place of Department patches. Should a combination of patches be used (one Department and one Agency), the agency patch shall be applied to the right sleeve. F. DEPARTMENT INSIGNIAS Badges as issued will be worn on the uniform class A, B and C shirt or coat above the left breast pocket. Name plates will be worn centered over the right breast pocket of uniforms shirts with the pin parallel to and touching the top of the pocket. Collar insignias issued will be worn one (l) inch above the tip of the uniform shirt collar and centered on the collar. Collar Devices Fire-EMS Chief 5 crossed gold bugles Deputy Chief 4 crossed gold bugles District Chief / Ast. District Chief 3 crossed gold bugles Battalion Chief 2 crossed gold bugles Captain 2 parallel gold bugles Lieutenant 1 parallel gold bugle Firefighter Medic silver firefighter scramble insignia Firefighter silver firefighter scramble insignia Medic / EMT white / blue medical star 1. Commendation Bars and Award Pins Only department issued awards and bars allowed. Individuals who receive department issued commendation bars may display them on their uniform above the name plate. The lighter color of the bar should be toward the outside of the body. Non-department issued pins and buttons may only be worn with prior approval. Dress Coat: Rank and Years of Service designation Members may have a gold Maltese Cross (cloth material type) attached to the left sleeve. One cross per five of service to Caroline County Fire-Rescue Department as a career and/or volunteer member. All chiefs shall have gold rings around jacket sleeves. Jacket Rings Fire-EMS Chief Deputy Chief 5 gold rings 4 gold rings

5 District Chief / Ast. District Chief Battalion Chief Captains 3 gold rings 2 gold rings 1 gold rings Dress Hat: Shall be white in color and of the Bell type. Hats shall be styled according to below: Hat Straps Fire-EMS Chief Gold chin strap Black bill Deputy Chief Gold chin strap Black bill District Chief Gold chin strap Black bill Battalion Chief Gold chin strap Black bill Captain Black chin strap Black bill G. UNIFORM ISSUE The following section covers the initial issue of uniforms for career personnel. New issues due to promotion or reassignment will be governed by this policy. Uniform items issued by the Department will be issued directly to the employee from Logistics personnel, and will require the employee to sign an Equipment Custody Receipt Form before removing the issued items. Description Part-time Fire-Medic s Lieutenant s Captain s Chief s Ball Cap 1- on request 1- on request 1- on request 1- on request 1- on request Knit Hat 1- on request 1- on request 1- on request 1- on request 1- on request Dark blue t- shirts Short Sleeve Polo s Job shirts Jacket Work Pants Exercise shorts Station boots $100/2 1 or $150/2 1 or $150/2 1 or $150/2 1 or $150/2 Short sleeve Badge shirt (4 if assigned to Admin Duties) Long sleeve Badge shirt (4 if assigned to Admin Duties) Work Belt Silver buckle Work Belt Gold buckle Name tag Badge Collar pins Uniform tie Dress coat Dress pants Dress shoes Dress hat Hat badge

6 H. SPARE UNIFORM Career personnel shall maintain one clean/spare Class D uniform shirt and pants at their station while on duty. I. DISCONTINUED UNIFORM ISSUE Overtime, uniform issuance and amounts may be changed. It shall be at the discretion of the Fire-EMS Chief to either phase out old uniforms or make a full replacement of non-used or past issued items. 1. Discontinued career use items On July 1, 2012 the following items shall be discontinued for use: Long Sleeve Polos Turtle necks or mock turtle necks Tactical work pants with side pockets Jump Suits 2. Phased out items These items may continue to be used or worn. They shall not be replaced at the end of the life cycle. Gerber multi-tool CCFR brass belt buckle J. UNIFORM ORDERING/REPLACEMENT 1. Bulk Uniform replacement ordering shall be completed annually, in a time frame determined by the Fire-EMS Chief. 2. Personnel in need of replacement uniforms shall complete a Clothing Request Form. 3. The Station Officer shall verify the need for the replacement before approving the request. 4. The employee will then present the items to be exchanged on a one-for-one basis to Logistics. 5. All replaced items shall come under the scrutiny of the Logistics Officer for final approval of the exchange. 6. If the employee does not have an item to exchange, they may be denied the ability to obtain uniforms through Logistics. 7. Clothing that is no longer usable shall be returned to Logistics. 8. All personnel must report the loss or damage of any uniform items and official equipment to their supervisor. To receive replacement uniforms, a Loss/Damage Report must be completed, signed by the station officer and brought to Logistics. This type of replacement shall be on an as needed basis. 9. Stolen badges, identification cards, or items valued at $50 or more replacement cost, must be reported to the County Sheriff s Office. 10. The supervisor will be responsible to investigate the incident and forward their findings via the chain-of command to the Deputy Chief. 11. If the loss or damage is found to be a result of negligence, the item will be replaced at the employee s expense. K. SEPARATION FROM SERVICE Personnel who are terminated, retired, or have resigned must return all Department-issued uniforms and accessories to Logistics prior to the employee s official signoff.

7 The County Fire Chief, or his/ her designee, will determine items to be surrendered and items that may be retained by these personnel. L. VOLUNTEER UNIFORMS (Duty / Staffing Shifts) M. FORMS 1. Caroline County Fire/Rescue Issued Uniforms Volunteer uniforms will be distributed by the individual s assigned station officer. Fire Administration will supply each station with appropriate uniforms per the budget. The assigned station officer shall order uniforms through Logistics. Bulk uniform orders shall be made at the designated order period however will be filled on an as-needed basis. The Fire-EMS Chief shall approve individual Station Uniform requests (hats and shirts), and Personalization of Uniforms requests as they are received through Logistics 2. Company specific apparel to be worn on responses. The Fire-EMS Chief shall approve any station apparel that shall be worn during Operational activities or other activities representing Caroline County. Approval of logos and designs is to ensure a professional appearance of responders, and that there is no inappropriate language or graphics representing the County or the Fire-Rescue Department. Approval of such designs or logos does not imply the approved items are considered an official uniform or apparel of the Department of Fire Rescue. Any use of the Caroline County seal, Department patch, or any wording representing or which could be interpreted as the Caroline County Fire Rescue Department must have the approval of the Fire EMS Chief. Designs and samples should be submitted for approval utilizing the chain of command. 3. Volunteer Uniforms When Responding Off Duty Members responding from home/community when not on duty shall not be subject to the specific uniform requirements of this policy; however, members should be mindful that they are representing the Department. Members shall not wear anything that is considered offensive or inappropriate. i. Uniform Order Forms (Rank Specific)