Just as a pharmacists has the mortar and pestle and doctors
have the caduceus, Emergency Medical Technicians have a symbol. Its use is encouraged both by the American Medical Association
and the Advisory Council within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
The symbol applies to all emergency medical goods and services
which are funded under the DOT/EMS program.
Designed by Leo R. Schwartz, Chief of the EMS Branch, National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the "Star of Life" was created after the American National Red Cross complained
in 1973 to the common use of an Omaha orange cross on a square background of reflectorized white, which clearly imitated the Red Cross symbol.
NHTSA investigated and felt the complaint was justified.
The newly designed six barred cross was adapted from the Medical Identification Symbol of the American Medical Association
and was registered as a certification mark on February 1, 1977 with the Commissioner of Patents and Trade-marks in the name
of the National Highway Traffic Safety and Administration. The trademark will remain in effect for twenty years from this
date.
Each of the bars of the blue "Star of Life" represents the
six system function of the EMS. The capitol letter "R" enclosed in the circle on the right represents the fact
that the symbol is a "registered" certification. The snake and staff in the center of the symbol portray the staff Asclepius
who, according to Greek mythology, was the son of Apollo (god of light, truth and prophecy). Supposedly Asclepius learned
the art of healing from the centaur Cheron; but Zeus - king of the gods, was fearful that because of Asclepius knowledge,
all men might be rendered immortal. Rather than have this occur, Zeus slew Asclepius with a thunderbolt. Later, Asclepius
was worshipped as a god and people slept in his temples, as it was rumored that he effected cures of prescribed remedies to
the sick during their dreams. Asclepius was usually shown in a standing position, dressed in a long cloak, holding a staff
with a serpent coiled around it. The staff has since come to represent medicine's only symbol.
In the Caduceus, used by physicians and the Military Medical
Corp., the staff is winged and has two serpents intertwined. Even though this does not hold any medical relevance in origin,
it represents the magic wand of the Greek deity, Hermes, messenger of the gods.
The Bible, in Numbers 21:9, makes reference to a serpent
on a staff: "And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man,
when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
