Why is there a snake on the ambulance sign?

The Star of Life was designed on 1973 by Mr. LEO RSchwartz, the head of the emergency treatment and rescue department of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (the US EMS Act was also promulgated in the same year). Prior to this, most signs of emergency medical care in the United States were orange forks on a white background. Because the picture is similar to the logo of the Red Cross, which has caused confusion among the people, the Red Cross frequently reflects to the medical department, hoping that the unit can use different logos to distinguish. The concept of life star has six corners, and each corner represents a function of emergency medical rescue service system, including examination, report, rescue and on-site disposal of the wounded and sick.

There are two different stories about the origin of snakes and the power struggle between symbols. The first one comes from ancient Greek mythology. The snake and scepter are in memory of the great imperial doctor Asclepius. Asclepius is the son of Apollo, the sun god, and Asclepius learned medical technology from Apollo Centauri. But Zeus, the king of gods, worried that some people in Asclepius's profound medical knowledge would live forever. To avoid this, Zeus killed Asclepius with lightning. Later, people worshipped Asclepius as one of the gods and gathered in his temple to rest and sleep. People believe that the secret of treatment can be passed on to patients while they are sleeping, so that they can recover immediately. In view of people's belief in Asclepius, Zeus finally had to resurrect Asclepius and formally make him a god. Because Asclepius usually appears in front of people in a standing position, wearing a robe and holding a scepter, with a snake wrapped around it, and then the scepter becomes the only symbol of medicine. The snake on the scepter is a symbol of medicine and health, while the scepter and a pair of wings are a symbol of peace. It is said that Asclepius once met a very complicated patient, which made Asclepius incurable, so he consulted a snake and asked for advice. Finally, the patient recovered. In the process of consultation and discussion with the snake, in order to have a face-to-face discussion with the snake and show that they are equal, Asclepius wound the snake around his staff. The origin of wings is that Mercury saw two snakes fighting. When all kinds of methods failed to stop them, he put the scepter on the ground and tried to separate them, but the aggressive snake wound up along the scepter.

The second origin comes from the ninth verse of the 2 1 century Bible: It is said that Moses cast a snake out of bronze and put it on a post. If someone is bitten by a poisonous snake, just look at the bronze snake under the pillar and it will heal.

The above two stories are the background of the design of the life star logo.

Up to now, the Star of Life has been widely used as a unique symbol of the emergency medical rescue service system in countries all over the world, but its application scope is limited to:

1, ambulance service sign.

2, no matter in the ambulance installation or use of medical rescue equipment.

3. EMT that has passed the prescribed training course and obtained the license must embroider the armband with the pattern of life star on its sleeve.

4. Personal equipment of EMT, such as first aid kit, badge, collar badge, etc.

5, emergency rescue books, manuals, reports or other relevant information.

6. When the armband of the birthday girl pattern is embroidered on the sleeve, it must be a "blue" birthday girl pattern with a "white" square or circle at the bottom.