I believe that the original suggestion was to have some form of identification, not a sew on patch, as ,obviously, it cannot be sewn onto any of our PPE.
Of course any one in your own birgade should know what you and the rest of your crew can do, the problem arises when you are dealing with other brigades. Its difficult to know what the other 150+ members of your Group are trained in.
In a service like the CFS where training is both optional and non-standardized (In terms of who has done what courses.) I think it would be very beneficial to have some indication of what people have done. No, not to a stupid extent, but merely the basics. First aid, RCR, BA, HAZMAT and perhaps level 1/2/3.
This would mean that you would have a max of three small stickers on a helmet or such. If you have RCR, then you done need a first aid sticker, if you have BA you dont need a lvl 2 sticker, and if you have HAZMAT you dont need a lvl 3 OR a BA sticker.
Courses such as chainsaw are usless because most incidents requiring chainsaws are handled at a single brigade level.