Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

OFFICER'S SHOULDER FLASH, “FIRE RESCUE EMS”

Date Range From

1994

Date Range To

2012

Materials

NYLON, COTTON

No. Pieces

1

Height

10

Length

10.75

Description

ROUNDED TRIANGULAR SHAPED PATCH OF WOVEN, BLACK NYLON. GOLD COTTON THREAD SEWN AROUND OUTER EDGE WITH EMBROIDERED CENTRAL CREST AND TEXT READING “FIRE RESCUE EMS – CITY OF LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPT.” IN GOLD, BLUE, RED, WHITE, AND BLACK. NO BACKING. OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

SAFETY SERVICES

HEALTH SERVICES

History

THIS PATCH WAS SEWN TO THE SHOULDERS OF UNIFORMS ISSUED BY THE LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT. IN AN INTERVIEW WITH COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN ON SEPTEMBER 10, 2015, TREVOR LAZENBY, LIEUTENANT WITH LETHBRIDGE FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES, RECALLED THAT THIS DESIGN WAS INTRODUCED DURING HIS EARLY DAYS WITH THE DEPARTMENT IN 1994, REPLACING THE SEMI-CIRCLE DESIGN THAT ONLY READ “LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPT.” (P20140019002-GA). BECAUSE THE PREVIOUS DESIGN HAD PREDATED THE DEPARTMENT’S HIRING OF TRAINED PARAMEDICS, THIS REPLACEMENT DESIGN INCORPORATED TEXT READING “FIRE RESCUE EMS”. LAZENBY SAID: “THE HALF-MOON BLACK AND WHITE FLASH WAS ON THE UNIFORM AT THE TIME [WHEN I WAS HIRED]… I GOT ISSUED SHIRTS WITH THAT ON [THEM] BUT I HAD TO CHANGE THEM OUT [RIGHT AWAY] BECAUSE WE’D GONE ON TO THE NEW FLASHER… THAT SAYS FIRE RESCUE AND EMS ON THE BOTTOM, WITH THE CITY OF LETHBRIDGE LOGO IN THE CENTRE… EVEN AT THAT POINT I HEARD GUYS SAY, ‘WHAT’S THAT ON THERE FOR?’, POINTING TO THE EMS PORTION OF THE SHOULDER FLASH. BUT THOSE WERE THE OLD SCHOOL, MOST SENIOR, MOST ELIGIBLE-TO-RETIRE MEMBERS, AND THEY WERE A PRODUCT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. THAT WAS THE WAY THAT THEY THOUGHT… I HAD GUYS SAY TO ME ‘I DON’T SEE WHY THEY KEEP HIRING YOU GUYS. I DON’T SEE WHY YOU GUYS MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE AT ALL IN THE FIELD.’… IT DIDN’T MATTER, AND YOU DIDN’T WASTE YOUR BREATH… SOME OF THEM WARMED UP TO THE EMS SIDE A LITTLE BIT; SOME OF THEM NEVER DID.” ON SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED CLIFF ‘CHARLIE’ BROWN, RETIRED PLATOON CHIEF, WHO SERVED WITH FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES FROM 1966 TO 2004. OF THE ADDITION OF “EMS” TO THE SHOULDER FLASH, BROWN SAID: “WE GOT INTO EMS; WE HAD THOSE MEDICS THAT WERE SO SHARP. THE DEPARTMENT STARTED TO EXPAND, RATHER THAN BEING JUST THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. IT EXPANDED TO DO ALL KINDS OF EXTRA STUFF, AND WE JUST WANTED TO INDICATE, WITH THE SHOULDER PATCHES [THAT] IT’S STILL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, BUT WE DO ALL KINDS OF MEDICAL STUFF [AND] THESE PARAMEDICS ARE WELL-TRAINED.” ACCORDING TO INFORMATION PROVIDED BY DEPUTY FIRE/EMS CHIEF DANA TERRY IN AN EMAIL FROM OCTOBER 7, 2015, THIS DESIGN WAS IN USE UNTIL 2012, WHEN FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES DESIGNED A NEW FLASH DESIGN (P20140019004-GA) TO COMMEMORATE THE CENTENNIAL OF THE LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT. SEE PERMANENT FILE P20150010001-GA FOR FULL TRANSCRIPTS OF REFERENCED INTERVIEWS ALONG WITH OTHERS WITH FIRE/EMS MEMBERS AND ADDITIONAL RELATED RESEARCH.

Catalogue Number

P20140019003

Acquisition Date

2014-06

Collection

Museum

Less detail