Size Matters….

Suits you sir!

 On my third night shift….9 jobs so far and two hours of the shift left!

My Hi-Vis jacket (which I need when attending RTCs, building sites, industrial units and when its dark!) is falling apart. This is due to the normal wear & tear experienced by ambulance crews up and down the country…climbing through wrecked cars, reaching through broken windows/doors to gain entry, numerous washes to get rid of blood/vomit/mud/spit/shit, patients grabbing hold of you etc.).

With each new batch of uniform I always order the same size as previous believing that clothing firms use the same measuring devices. Not so! If I order a new Hi-Vis jacket in a medium it will come back saying medium but will really be an extra large! I,ve always maintained that our uniforms should be measured properly rather than “off the shelf”.

The only time this ever happened was years ago when the service got rid of the blue/white shirts with black clip-on ties, dark blue trousers and NATO woolly pulleys in favour of the then new “squad suits”. The new “Greens”. A couple of tailors (or so we were led to believe) came to HQ and everyone, over two days, turned up to be properly measured.

Weeks later we all received a box with our new “Green” kit. And hardly anything fitted! After a hell of a lot of returned kit, sometimes three or four times, it was revealed that the “tailors” were actually “ex. funeral directors”. And they were only used to measuring people laid down!

We are yet again in the process of changing our uniform! They must get it right this time but by the state of the Hi-Vis measurements I,m not holding my breath! The consensus of opinion is that we will be going for the National Green colour with gold markings. Please dont let anyone in management choose “day-glo” orange or “sky blue”!