Mr. Leo R. Schwartz, EMS Branch Chief at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), designed the Star of Life (SOL). The star of life was created in 1973 as a common symbol to be used by US emergency medical services (EMS) and medical goods pertaining to EMS, after complaints from the American National Red Cross objecting to the use of the Red Cross symbol by ambulance services throughout America. However the use of the Red Cross symbol can still be seen on military vehicles, hospital tents and buildings to protect wounded civilian and military personnel as per the Geneva Convention in times of war.

The six barred blue symbol was adapted from the medical identification symbol and was registered on February 1,1977 with the commission of patents and trade marks in the name of the NHTSA.

Each bar on the Star of Life represents one of six functions. They are as follows:

• Detection
• Reporting
• Response
• On Scene Care
• Care in Transit
• Transfer to Definitive Care

The snake and staff in the symbol portray the staff of Asclepius, who in Greek Mythology is the son of Apollo. Asclepius is attributed with the knowledge of healing, and is often pictured standing holding a staff with a snake coiled around it. Over the years the staff has come to represent medicine and healing.

Another reference to a snake on a staff associated with healing comes from the Bible in Numbers 21:9 (NIV) that says, “So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.”

The Star of Life symbol can be seen as a means of identification on ambulances and ambulance equipment worldwide.

Its use on EMS patches in the US and other countries signifies the wearer has been trained to meet National or State Training Standards.