One, Western medicine uses the "snake staff" as its symbol. The so-called "snake staff", is a coiled snake-shaped pattern of the cane. Here is a palm, from the ancient Greek legend: one of the founders of ancient Greek medicine - Asclepius, legend has it that the sun god Apollo and the mortal Coronet's son, once followed by the medical skills of the Kailon medical science, medicine is very skillful. One day, he was contemplating a case, a poisonous snake crawled, coiled in his hand on the battle, Asclepius was shocked, immediately killed the snake, who knew that at this time there is a poisonous snake, the mouth of the herb, ambush in the side of the dead snake, with the herb in the body of the dead snake, the results of the dead snake resurrected. Asclepius saw this scene, immediately realized that: the snake is poisonous, can cause death, but the snake also has a mysterious healing ability, can save people, no wonder people have always thought that the snake is the embodiment of wisdom. From then on, when Asclepiades went to various places to practice medicine, he not only had to carry a hand weapon, but also always put a coiled snake on his walking stick. Once the word spread, people engaged in the medical profession have followed suit, so the "snake cane" has become a symbol of the Western medical profession. In the old days, the KMT medical officer's lapel pin was the "snake staff" emblem.
The snake staff as a medical symbol, the world's medical banners have two major systems: one is the double-snake staff, with two wings standing on top as the theme; the other is a single-snake staff as the theme. The double-serpent, double-winged staff is derived from the Greek mythological wand of Hermes/Macchaeus, a divine messenger. The single-serpent staff is the main symbol of the Roman god of healing, Achilles. Traditionally, the single-serpent wand has been considered to be the orthodox medical symbol. Whether it is a single-snake staff or a double-snake staff, both imply the meaning of "sex", indicating that the root of healing comes from the miraculous power to create life, which can be corresponded to by the Sanskrit word Kundalini, which is translated into Chinese as "spiritual quantity". In short, the snake staff symbolizes magical healing and neutral medical ethics.
The Star of Life symbol story
The symbol on the 120 ambulance is called the Star of Life
The Star of Life is a blue color, with six protruding stars in the center, and the staff of Asclepius in the center. Internationally the Star of Life is for emergency care units or personnel. The similar Orange Star is for search and rescue personnel.
Three, the origin
The first by the source is by the ancient Greek myth of the serpent and the scepter, in honor of Asclepius, the great divine doctor.
And the symbol in the middle of the snake with the scepter comes from two different stories, the first is by the ancient Greek mythology to come, the snake and the scepter is in honor of Asclepius (Asclepius) the great divine doctor. Asclepius (asclepius) for the sun god - Apollo (Apollo) son, Asclepius from the demi-human beasts - Cheron learned medical technology, but the king of the gods - Zeus (Zeus) worried about Asclepius profound medical knowledge will be all the people and therefore immortality, in order to avoid such a thing, Zeus (Zeus) will be thunder and lightning to the Zeus struck Asclepius to death with a thunderbolt to prevent this from happening. After that, people worshipped Asclepius as one of the gods and gathered in his temple to rest and sleep, and folk even believed that they could pass the secret recipe for healing to the patients in their sleep to make them cured immediately. In view of the people's belief in Asclepius, Zeus finally had to let Asclepius come back to life and formally sealed him as a god.
Because Asclepius usually appeared in front of the people in a standing position, dressed in robes and holding a scepter with a serpent wrapped around it, the scepter became the only symbol of medicine. The snake on the scepter is a symbol of medicine and health, while the scepter and the pair of wings are a symbol of peace. Its origin is said to be once Asclepius (Asclepius) encountered a very complex condition of the patient, so that Asclepius could not cure, so he consulted with a snake and sought advice, and finally the patient was cured, in the consultation and discussion with the snake during the discussion with the snake, in order to be able to face to face with the snake to discuss the two and show that the two are equal, Asclepius asked the snake to wrap around the scepter on his. The origin of the wings is that Mercury saw two snakes fighting and when he couldn't get them to stop by any means, he put his scepter on the ground to try to separate them, but the snakes went along with the scepter and wrapped themselves around it.
The second origin is based on the Biblical story that Moses cast a snake in bronze and set it on a pole, so that if someone was bitten by a poisonous snake, he could go under the pole and look at the snake cast in bronze, and he would be healed immediately.
The above two stories are the background stories that were used in the design of the Star of Life symbol.
Four, History
The Star of Life was originally patented (1967) by the American Medical Association (AMA), then "transferred" to the NHTSA, and became the symbol of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Initially, Dawson Mills of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) asked the American Red Cross to provide the Red Cross logo for use on EMS ambulances, but was denied. Mills then asked AMA's "Dirk" Farrington to provide the Star of Life, which was later approved. The six-sided star was named by Leo R. Schwartz. The Star of Life was registered on February 1, 1977 as a warranty mark.
The Hong Kong Fire Services Department added the Star of Life in September 2006 to the bodies of ambulances it owns. In Taiwan, fire department ambulance technicians wear clothing with the Star of Life and EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) written underneath, and the same design is also found on ambulances.