Knowing the rules within your dept. for social media

Firefighters and Medics have found that social media can be a lot of fun. However, you have to follow the rules. Both the rules of the social media and that of your department apply. In this situation it is better to ensure you are within your departments policies before you go guessing.

This medic is finding out the hard way about taking pictures, using a cell phone, and posting pictures on his facebook page. All of these after an instance of using a cellphone to take a picture during a call/emergency of a patient in the back of an ambulance and then posting the picture on facebook. Apparently it violates 3 of the departments policies.

SOUTH BEND – A city firefighter is facing a suspension after he allegedly took pictures of a patient inside an ambulance and then posted the photos to his Facebook account.

Chief Howard Buchanon asked the board of public safety on Wednesday to suspend first-class firefighter Jordan Jostes without pay for the incident that is alleged to have happened in August.

Buchanon, in a letter to the safety board, said Jostes took the photo with a cell phone camera on Aug. 28. Read More Here