Office of Public Safety

Section 2: Conduct Code, Rights, and Responsibility

  1. All Western EMS members will convey and image of professionalism to the patient, public, and all other people they come into contact with.
  2. Western EMS members will treat others with respect and dignity regardless of their opinions or feelings. Patients, co-workers, candidates, observers and visitors will be treated with equal respect given to non-service individuals.
  3. Western EMS members shall share knowledge with others and take pride in staying current in new technologies and techniques. Continuing education is a mandatory part of a health professional’s responsibilities. It is the responsibility of all personal to attend the continuing education offered by Western EMS. There are usually no more then 6 or 7 continuing education meetings in a given semester. If a member misses two meetings without prior excuse or warning then that member will receive an automatic written reprimand and another for every meeting missed after that. If a member knows that they will be unable to attend a meeting then that member will be held responsible to contact the Special Duties Officer (SDO) prior to the meeting to inform him/her of their absence.
  4. All members are expected to be on time to all functions. If a member is more than ten minutes late for a scheduled duty shift, an attempt will be made to replace that individual. If this happens, and is unexcused or without warning, the Duty Lieutenants should first give the individual verbal warning and then for every time after that the individual should receive a written reprimand.
  5. All members will refrain from smoking in public while in uniform. At no time will on duty members be under the influence of drugs or alcohol both of which would lead to automatic termination of Western EMS membership status.
  6. Members will dress according to the established uniform code at all times. The uniform is considered a non-verbal representation of your professional ability. Poor personal hygiene or dirty uniforms may install mistrust between the patient and providers. Therefore, the uniforms may only be worn when functioning in an official role for the organization. Anything affiliated with Western EMS is prohibited from entering any establishment serving alcoholic beverages.
  7. Patient confidentiality is of the utmost priority, both legally and morally. Western EMS members should familiarize themselves with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. Personnel will keep all patient information confidential, including any information obtained trough radio transmissions. Please see Section 18: Confidentiality for details about patient privacy.
  8. At no time, is confidential medical diagnosis, impression, or other private information to be given to anyone.
  9. All members of Western EMS must maintain a minimum semester GPA of 2.25. If a member’s GPA falls below this requirement, then that member will be placed on academic probation with Western EMS for one semester. If that member fails to raise their GPA, then they will be suspended from the organization until the requirement is met. Only the Western EMS Advisor has access to the member’s academic status, however, when a member fails to meet the requirement, the Western EMS Advisor will notify the Captain. At no time, will the Western EMS Advisor or Captain release a member’s academic status to anyone for any reason.

Please see Section 10: Scheduling and Attendance for Western EMS attendance policies.
Any violations of this policy will be entered as a written reprimand into the member's file.