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Public Safety Training Facility
Monroe Community College Rochester, New York
MCC Paramedic Student Education
EMS Etiquette 101
How to Address Your Patient
You are an EMS Professional, and as such, you must act and speak like any
other professional. The following is a guideline that should be followed
throughout the Paramedic Program and into your Paramedic practice. You should
also politely and tactfully educate your fellow EMTs to do the same.
If a patient is around your age or younger, use their first name to address
them. If the patient is older use Mr./Mrs./Ms. and their last name unless they
grant you permission to use their first name. If the name is unknown, use Sir
or Ma'am to address the patient. Miss is also an acceptable alternative to Ma'am.
Children generally don't mind if you use terms of
endearment but you should probably use the child's first name. There are times
when the parents of a child are angered by the use of terms used only by the
closest members of the family.
The following are terms of endearment that should not be used to
address the adult patient. (* = Those terms abused most often.)
Babe
Baby
Bub
* Buddy
Cutie
Dad
* Darling
Doll
Grandma
Grandpa
* Honey
* Hun
Oldman
Oldtimer
Pa
Pops
* Sweetheart
* Sweetie
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URL: /depts/pstc/backup/parasen1.htm
Updated: February 26, 1998
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