The Star of Life is a blue, six-pointed star, outlined with a white border which features the Rod of Asclepius in the center, originally designed and governed by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) (under the United States Department of Transportation, DOT). Blue is a Colour, the Perception of which is evoked by Regular star polygons In Geometry, a regular star polygon is a self-intersecting equilateral equiangular Polygon, created by connecting one The rod of Asclepius (also known as the rod of Asklepios, rod of Aesculapius or asklepian) is an ancient Greek Symbol associated The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ( NHTSA, often pronounced "nit-suh" is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U The United States Department of Transportation ( DOT) is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with Transportation Traditionally in the United States the logo was used as a stamp of authentication or certification for ambulances, paramedics or other EMS personnel. Internationally, it represents emergency medical services (EMS) units and personnel. Emergency medical services (abbreviated to the initialism "EMS" in many countries are a branch of Emergency services dedicated to providing out-of-hospital A similar orange star is used for search and rescue personnel and yet another version is used for Wilderness emergency medical technician. The colour orange occurs For the TV series of this title see Search and Rescue (TV series. Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician, or WEMT is the second highest level of wilderness emergency medical training available in the USA (second to Wilderness Advanced Life Support

The following link from NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) provides more information: http://www.ems.gov/vgn-ext-templating/ems/sol/pages/Contents.htm. [1]

Contents 1 History 2 The Snake Emblem 3 Symbolism 4 Common Use 5 See also 6 References

History

Originally, many ambulances used an Omaha orange cross on a square background of reflectorized white to designate them as emergency units. The colour orange occurs This logo was used before national standards for Emergency Medical Personnel or ambulances were established. Designed by Leo R. Schwartz, Chief of the EMS Branch, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),^[1] the Star of Life was created after the American National Red Cross complained in 1973 that the orange cross too closely resembled their logo, the red cross on a white background. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an International humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers worldwide who stated ^[2] The newly designed cross was adapted from the Medical Identification Symbol of the American Medical Association, which was patented by the American Medical Association (AMA) in 1967. The American Medical Association (AMA founded in 1847 and incorporated 1897 is the largest association of Physicians and Medical students in the United States Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. The newly designed logo was patented on February 1, 1977 with the Commissioner of Patents and Trade-marks in the name of the National Highway Traffic Safety and Administration. The logo was 'given' to the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) for use as the emergency medical technicians (EMT) logo after the patent expired in 1997. The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians is a US certification agency covering prehospital medical providers The Emergency Medical Technician ( EMT) exists in many countries and is a health care provider trained to provide prehospital emergency medical care ^[3]

The Snake Emblem

Main article: Rod of Asclepius

The snake emblem is the Rod of Asclepius, widely used as the symbol of medical care. The rod of Asclepius (also known as the rod of Asklepios, rod of Aesculapius or asklepian) is an ancient Greek Symbol associated The rod of Asclepius (also known as the rod of Asklepios, rod of Aesculapius or asklepian) is an ancient Greek Symbol associated There are several theories as to its development, and it is named for one of them. Asclepius was a figure in Greek mythology who possessed healing power. Asclepius (pronounced /æsˈkliːpiːəs/, Greek, transliterated Asklēpiós; Latin Aesculapius) is the god of Medicine Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance

Symbolism

The six branches of the star are symbols of the six main tasks executed by rescuers all through the emergency chain:^[4]

1. Detection – The first rescuers on the scene, usually untrained civilians or those involved in the incident, observe the scene, understand the problem, identify the dangers to themselves and the others, and take appropriate measures to ensure their safety on the scene (environmental, electricity, chemicals, radiations, etc. ).
2. Reporting – The call for professional help is made and dispatch is connected with the victims, providing emergency medical dispatch.
3. Response – The first rescuers provide first aid and immediate care to the extent of their capabilities. First aid is the provision of initial care for an Illness or Injury.
4. On scene care – The EMS personnel arrive and provide immediate care to the extent of their capabilities on-scene.
5. Care in Transit – The EMS personnel proceed to transfer the patient to a hospital via an ambulance or helicopter for specialized care. A hospital is an institution for Health care providing treatment by specialised staff and equipment and often but not always providing for They provide medical care during the transportation.
6. Transfer to Definitive care – Appropriate specialized care is provided at the hospital.

Common Use

While no agency is tasked solely with enforcing its use as a mark of certification, the Star of Life has traditionally been used as a means of identification for medical personnel, equipment, and vehicles.

Many ambulance services mark the symbol on their vehicles, and ambulance crews often wear the design as part of their uniform. It appears on various medical textbooks as well as on a wide range of merchandise aimed at the medic market. Medic is a general term for a person involved in medicine especially emergency or first-response medicine such as an Emergency Medical Technician, Paramedic, or In hospitals and other buildings, elevators that are marked with the symbol indicate that the elevator is large enough to hold a stretcher. A stretcher is a Medical device used to carry casualties or an incapacitated person from one place to another

See also

• First aid
• Emergency Medical Technician
• Wikibooks:First Aid

References

---

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic