The Blue Star of Life is recognized by the medical community as a medical emergency symbol. NNEMS has included this symbol to bring wholeness to both the Navajo culture and Emergency Medical Services.
There are seven colors used in the shield: blue, red turquoise, flesh, black and white. Each color has a meaning in the shield.
The Navajo Twin were born to protect the Navajo people. Therefore the Navajo Twins represent protection of the Navajo people. NNEMS acknowledges and includes this cultural aspect. NNEMS is the protector of the people as well, by providing quality health care.
The four sacred mountains are also symbolized. Mt. Blanca located in Alamosa, Colorado represents the east. The San Francisco Peak Located in Flagstaff, Arizona represent the west.
Mt. Taylor near Grants, New Mexico represents the south, and the north is pre presented by Hesperus Mountain located near Durango, Colorado.
The Navajo people are blessed to have their ancestral land with the Four Sacred Mountains surrounding them, giving them strength.
The Twins are in a "wrapping" symbolizing protection and or stabilization, such as an infant is wrapped in a cradle board. The three lines surrounding the shield represent the rainbow and the sovereign immunity. This shield is designed and copyrighted by Cal Nez of Salt Lake City, Utah.
EMT PRAYER
Grant me the wisdom so that I may treat
those of your children that lay at my feet.
Let my hands be gentle, sure and swift
to impart to them your sacred gift.
Let me see only a patient's need
not their color, race or creed.
Help me always to be my best
even when it's on my hours rest.
Grant me the insight to understand why
patients of mine are going to die.
Let me remember that when they do
there is a wonderful life in Heaven with You.
Lord, if in the time of duty I should fall
help my family to hold their heads tall.
For it was You who decided that I should be
one of your chosen few, an EMT.
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HISTORY OF THE STAR OF LIFE
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration registered the "Star of Life" symbol as an EMS trademark in 1977.
According to early documents, the "Star of Life" was to be used on emergency medical care vehicles to certify that they met U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) standards, to identify medical equipment and supplies for installation and use on those vehicles, by emergency care personnel to certify they were trained to meet US DOT standards, by administrators, supervisor or dispatchers of EMS services, on road maps and signs to indicate the location of or access to qualified emergency care services, and on printed materials with direct EMS application.
Other uses were prohibited. Lettering was not to be superimposed on the "Star of Life." The "Star of Life" consists of a six-barred cross, printed in blue on a white background, if the article is in color.
The "Star" represents the six primary system functions of EMS: (1) detection of the incident, (2) reporting of the incident, (3) response to the incident, (4) on scene patient care, (5) patient care in transit, and (6) transfer to definitive care.
In the center of the "Star" is the staff of Asclepius, a son of Apollo, who in Greek mythology learned the art of healing from a centaur.
Coiled around the staff is a curative serpent. In ancient Greece, worshippers used to sleep in Asclepius' temples in the belief that he cured the sick during their dreams.