I work ems and love my job. We have had a lot of gang violence and shooting lately that is making me nervous. Just the other night we had a shooting that we worked a guy on that the scene was not safe. It was a club, shooting happened, PD tried to secure the scene, called us all in, and it all broke loose. People all around us yelling saying we're not doing anything and playing the race card and all that.  So now management is considering soft armor for us to wear. My question is do any of you guys in EMS get issued soft body armor? I would feel comfortable with soft armor to be sufficient as we haven't had any shootings involving rifles and we can't wear carriers with hard plates as it would look too "militarized." Also there's a few of us that are thinking about buying our own and management is okay with that. My other question is what is good soft armor going for new? Our company has about 10 vests right now but they are six years out of date and don't want to issue them due to liability reasons.

Fire/medic here.  We aren't issued armor, but I keep my own set in a bag on the truck that I keep other supplies in.  I've got an expired soft armor vest and a set of plates in a carrier.  I usually just carry the plate carrier.  On it is an ITS med pouch, TQ, and Benchmade strap cutter.  
Never considered armor until last summer after a joint active shooter training with the Sheriff's Dept.  The deputies recommended armor for those types of calls and luckily I've got friends that were able to supply me a PC.  I don't care about looking "militarized". It's a very low profile PC in black.  Only a handful of guys know I carry it anyway.

Never issued armor, and I worked in Newark...

If budget isnt a factor go to your local police supply and get a BN concealable vest, IIIA.

If it is (lets face it we dont make a lot) make friends with your popo and ask em if they have any old vests. Chances are they will.

Vests arent supposed to be used passed 5 or 10 years, but that doesnt mean theyre no good.
!!!!!! Dont used an old Second Chance vest!!!!!!!!!!  they are no good.

But odds are pretty good when rounds go off youll be seeing 9mm and below from gang bangers. Most old vests will stop these rounds with no problem (theres videos out there).

My unofficial .02.

BTW if your not comfortable or dont wanna wear one every day, get an over vest to keep in the truck to throw on when you got something that sounds hairy. But usually the dangerous once sound normal.....

Watch your 6

Thanks for the replies guys. I have a place carrier now for my personal use that stays at the house. It is a banshee in coyote with ar500 plates in it. I don't know how they would feel about me slipping that on, I'll have to talk to my captain about it. We were considering either the undershirt soft armor or something that just slips over our uniform that is the same color. And like you guys said it's normally pistol calibers. The shootings we have had in the past month involved all .40 cal. I would think the largest caliber would be .45 and that would probably be a rarity.

My brother has a Banshee and for my purposes, it's too big.  I'm using a Palm Defender with plates.  Very low profile.  No side protection, but hopefully in the situations I'll use it, side protection shouldn't be an issue. Maybe later, as funds permit, I'll look into something with a little more protection, but for now this set up works for me.

Worked EMS in Detroit for several years and the thought of having a vest crossed my mind many times. There were only 2 or 3 guys that wore vests consistently. And of course our dept. had zero funds and never even considered our safety to be a high priority. Now i'm working in Nashville and although it still has a decent level of violent crime I don't feel the need compared to Detroit. Still would be nice to have the option for certain runs... Where do u work BTW? I'm guessing Memphis?

most of the ems guys and FFers in our area have external type vests they can throw on but I dont know of any that wear concealable armor. Most of the time if its a hot call they are parked several blocks away for us to give em the all clear anyways.

J-

My department issues(Second Chance Monarch Lvl 3) and requires wearing of body armor. We have the quilted outer winter carriers as well that are authorized 15OCT thru 15APR.

I bought my own armor when I started working in Brooklyn. Never felt right not wearing it.

The FD I work for issues soft vests to every one.  They are the type that we just put on over our uniform on certain calls.