Western medicine uses the "snake staff" as its symbol. The so-called "snake staff" is a cane with a snake-shaped pattern coiled around it. There is an anecdote here, originating from an ancient Greek legend: Asclepias, one of the founders of ancient Greek medicine, is said to be the son of the sun god Apollo and the mortal Coroni. Doctor, his medical skills are very good. One day, when he was concentrating on a case, a venomous snake crawled over and coiled around his hand. Asclepia was shocked and killed the venomous snake immediately. Unexpectedly, another venomous snake appeared at this time, Holding the herb in his mouth, he lay down next to the dead snake and applied the herb on the dead snake. As a result, the dead snake came back to life. When Asclepia saw this scene, he immediately realized that snakes are poisonous and can kill people, but snakes also have mysterious healing abilities and can save people. No wonder people have always believed that snakes are the embodiment of wisdom. From then on, when Asclepius went to various places to practice medicine, he not only had to carry a staff, but also always put a coiled snake on the staff. Once this theory spread, people in the medical field followed suit, and the "snake staff" became a symbol of Western medicine. In the old days, the collar badge of the Kuomintang military medical officers was the "snake staff" emblem.
As a symbol of medicine, there are two major systems of medical symbols in the world: one is a staff with two snakes wrapped around it, with wings standing on it; the other is a staff with a single snake wrapped around it. as a theme. The wand of two snakes and wings is derived from the wand of Hermes/Macri in Greek mythology. The staff with a single snake is the main symbol of Ahippis, the god of medicine in Roman mythology. Traditional views believe that the single snake staff is the orthodox medical symbol. Whether it is a single snake staff or a double snake staff, both of them imply the meaning of "sexuality", which means that the root of healing illness and injury comes from the magical power of creating life, Kundalini in Sanskrit. , the Chinese translation of "spiritual energy" can correspond to it. In short, the snake staff symbolizes magical medical skills and neutral medical ethics.
2. The symbolic story of "Star of Life"
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The sign on the ambulance
It is called "Star of Life"
The Star of Life is a blue star with six protruding sides and the rod of Asclepius in the middle (another saying is the pillar made by Moses) , its original design and decision came from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) under the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Internationally, the Star of Life represents emergency care units or personnel. The similar orange star is for search and rescue personnel. 3. Origin The first origin is from the snake and scepter in ancient Greek mythology, which is to commemorate Asclepios, the great doctor. There are two different stories about the origin of the snake and the scepter in the middle of the symbol. The first is from ancient Greek mythology. The snake and the scepter commemorate Asclepius, the great doctor. Asclepius is the son of Apollo, the sun god. Asclepius learned medical skills from the half-man beast Cheron, but Zeus, the king of the gods, was worried Asclepius' profound medical knowledge would make everyone immortal. To prevent this from happening, Zeus struck Asclepius to death with a thunderbolt. Afterwards, people worshiped Asclepius as one of the gods, and gathered in his temple to rest and sleep. Folks even believed that the secret of healing could be passed on to patients in their sleep, making them recover immediately. , in view of the people's belief in Asclepius, Zeus finally had to resurrect Asclepius and officially canonized him as a god. Since Asclepius usually appeared in front of the people in a standing posture, wearing a robe and holding a staff with a snake wrapped around it, the staff became 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. The origin is said to be that one time Asclepius encountered a patient with a very complicated condition that Asclepius could not cure, so he consulted a snake for advice, and the patient finally recovered. During his consultation with the snake, Asclepius asked the snake to wrap around his staff in order to be able to discuss it face to face and to show that they were of equal status.
The origin of the wings is that Mercury saw two snakes fighting and when he tried all kinds of methods to stop them, he put his scepter on the ground and tried to separate them, but the aggressive snake followed the scepter. Winding up. The second origin is based on the fact that Moses in the Bible cast the shape of a snake in bronze and mounted it on a pillar. If someone was bitten by a poisonous snake, As long as you look at the bronze snake under the pillar, you will be healed immediately.
The above two stories are the story backgrounds referenced when designing the Star of Life symbol. 4. History The original patent (1967) of Life Star was owned by the American Medical Organization (AMA), and was later "transferred" to NHTSA and became a subordinate emergency service. (EMS) logo. Initially, Dawson Mills of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) requested the American Red Cross to provide a red cross emblem for EMS ambulances to use, but rejected. Mills then inquired with "Dirk" Farrington of the AMA if he could provide the Life Star, which was later approved. The six-sided protruding star was named by Leo R. Schwartz. The Star of Life was registered as a guarantee mark on February 1, 1977.
The Hong Kong Fire Services Department was owned by the Hong Kong Fire Services Department in September 2006