Talk:Star of Life

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WikiProject Echo has identified Star of Life as a foreign language featured article. You may be able to improve this article with information from the Italian language Wikipedia.

Have wondered, if an ambulance does not display the symbol, is it due to some standard not being met? Or is the symbol optional, according to agency-commander or company-owner preference? j/w - knoodelhed 18:04, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I imagine it might depend on the circumstances... for instance, non-professionals rescuers (like the Malteseren in Germany) have their own signs; or some countries might use the Red cross, the Red crescent, or something in this idea... In any case, the symbol is not regulated, you don't have to display it, nor are you forbidden to display it if you so whish (though one who would display it would certainly be expected to have some training in field emergency). I don't know whether this answers the question ? If not, ask again ! :) Cheers ! Rama 05:55, 10 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Orange star?

The first paragraph claims "A similar orange star is used for search and rescue personnel." I don't find this claim attested in any of the external citations. It should be either supported or deleted.207.172.87.49 15:12, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Legal Issues using the Star of Life

Since I can't figure out how to respond to the earlier comment, I'll address the issue in a new one. The use of the "Star of Life" is restricted by the NHTSA based on its use as a "certification symbol."

According to the article found here, the use of the Star of Life is restricted, in that "... [Its] use on emergency medical vehicles certifies that such vehicles meet the U.S. Department of Transportation standards and certify that the emergency medical care personnel who use it have been trained to meet these standards." However, the article does not site a specific source/website/government document with that information. I know that as an EMT and part of a volunteer EMS organization, ride-along (usually EMT students) observers that wear jumpsuits are required to cover up the Star of Life on the shoulder of the jumpsuit, as it indicates a level of training they have not yet received. As well, for our organization, policy dictates that any person wearing a Star of Life must act, upon request, to aid in any emergency situation to the extent of their training/protocols as an EMT.

I was unable to find any page specific to the rules and regulations of the Star of Life on the DoT website; however, there is a manual that can be ordered that appears to address such regulations. Due to my lack of enthusiasm for the expenditure, I'll go based on secondhand information. I did find this document on the DoT website which mentions the requirements for an emergency vehicle to carry the Star of Life. The document itself is a manual published for the Emergency Vehicle Operator Course.

This information probably should be included in the article. As I'm new to Wikipedia, I'll leave that up to someone more experienced if they'd like to volunteer. If it doesn't go up in a couple of weeks, I'll do the requisite research and writing myself.

As a sidenote, I'd like to take issue with Wikipedia's using the Star of Life symbol to represent all medical articles (or at least, it's the symbol that comes up next to the "stub" indicator for medical articles). The Star of Life is a prominent symbol in emergency medicine only; it is not considered a representative symbol of medicine in general. I don't know where to post a comment about this, so I'll just throw it out here in hopes that someone with more Wikipedia expertise than I will address it.

Jcsimpson 19:21, 28 November 2006 (UTC)Cres

Star of Life is usually called Cross of Constantine in Serbia. It is beleived that the origins of that signs are in the shape of the Labarum of Constantine the Great.