Red Cross or EMU on Ambulance. When changed and why?

[Hrw-Amen]

Something I have only just noticed really. I was recently building a LEGO Ambulance for a project of mine and I noticed that rather than having a red cross on the front and sides it had the Emergency Medical Unit emblem, which from what I can tell looks like a Pole Dancing Snake.

Now I have nothing against snakes or anything but I wondered if this was correct. Sure enough when I went out next time and observed real life ambulances (By driving past the ambulance station.) they all appear to have this EMU symbol as opposed to the red cross that I remember of my youth.

So does anyone know when they changed and stopped having the red cross and started having the pole dancing snake (EMU.) emblem on them? More to the point maybe why was it deemed essential to change from an emblem that everybody (Probably almost worldwide. (I know some countries have a red crescent.)) recognised as being a medical emblem to one that unless you are involved in the profession or are perhaps a scientist many people would probably not recognise as being a medical related symbol without closer inspection?

So to sum up.

1: When was it decided to change.

2: When did it change.

3: Why was it deemed essential to have a change?

[JopieK]

Well, the red cross is an organisation, nowadays a lot of emergency vehicles are not affiliated with the red cross. So it mainly has to do with the fact that the red cross is trademarked to the Red Cross organization.

[Grimmbeard]

This ^. Furthermore, the "pole dancing snake" as you call it is actually a very old Greek symbol and is arguably more well known than the Red Cross.

[Bamos]

This is from the red cross website

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Bill

[Hey Joe]

The red cross is copyrighted/trademarked? Doesn't the military use it?

Joe

[Faefrost]

So to sum up.

1: When was it decided to change.

2: When did it change.

3: Why was it deemed essential to have a change?

It changed back in the early 70's. the change corresponded to the time when Ambulances, privately owned vehicles mainly just for simple transport, and often owned and operated by private hospitals and funeral homes, transitioned to become true Emergency Medical Services and a branch of the civil Emergency Services. (If you have ever seen the old American TV show "Emergency", that show not only documented this transition in Los Angeles, but actually became a mechanism that drove the transition worldwide).

The actual symbol that Ambulances used to use was an orange cross on a square background. Similar but not identicle to the Red Cross symbol. But close enough that there were questions about its use. The use of the Red Cross emblem is governed in part by the Geneva Convention and there was some potential conflict or issue in using it for civil emergency services.

The new Star of Life was created by the US NHTSA and Department of Transportation. It is an official symbol that designates a certified emergency medical vehicle or provider, and in theory requires some degree of certification to display. It was designed to be both distinct, highly visable and to reflect the professional medical nature of the services provided. The use of this symbol to designate Emergency Medical Services has since spread world wide.

Lego actually gets the use of the symbol entirely wrong more often than not. The Symbol exclusively designates EMS services. Ambulances, EMT's, etc. it will never be found on a Hospital except possibly on a small sign telling the Ambulances where to park. Hospital personnel, Doctors, Nurses etc will pretty much never display the symbol. The only exception might be if the hospital is one that hosts a regional EMS Medical Control Center.

[kotaco]

I'm a paramedic and I can tell you in real life we don't use red crosses on our ambulances or fire trucks. That is a symbol used to denote the Red Cross organization more so than medical help.

That pole dancing snake you refer too is (I'm assuming) actually the Caduceus and has been around for a long time and is often used in some variant on medical supplies, vehicles, etc. It's actually a misuse of the Rod of Asclepius but nobody asks questions anymore and plus the wings look cooler. I'd venture to say most people have an idea that it has to do with something medical and its a fairly common symbol.

In EMS however, you'll be far more likely to see the Star of Life on the side of any unit than either of the two above along with a play on an ECG/EKG tracing and various other stripings/colors specific to that department for aesthetic purposes. A variant of the Star of Life is also used in the military to denote their medical responders & supplies.

As far as EMS goes though, organizations vary tremedously in the US from Fire Department, to 3rd Party/ Muncipal to Private Companies so the usage and symbols you'll see will also vary, the Star of Life is not a requirement to be on any ambulance, at least not an enforced requirement.

Edited June 9, 2013 by kotaco

[Faefrost]

As far as EMS goes though, organizations vary tremedously in the US from Fire Department, to 3rd Party/ Muncipal to Private Companies so the usage and symbols you'll see will also vary, the Star of Life is not a requirement to be on any ambulance, at least not an enforced requirement.

Requirements to display the Star of Life will vary by state. Quite a few states require that the vehicle displaying it be a "state certified" Ambulance or medical response vehicle. I can't speak for other states but New York used to be very aggressive about policing this. I used to get hit by a surprise inspector 1 or 2 times a year. Also a vehicle in those states cannot be called or labelled an Ambulance without certification. Some Fire Departments at least used to label their EMS operations as "Fire Rescue" in large part to maintain their political and civil independence and keep the State at arms length. (For similar reasons Fire Trucks often don't have state license plates, the Fire Departments are government bodies that do not answer to DOH or DOT.) Similarly some states technically restrict wearing the symbol to certified personnel, EMT's, CFR's etc. although that is really impossible to enforce.

I assume the "pole dancing snake" the OP asked about is actually the Rod of Asclepius (sp?) that appears in the middle of the Star of Life. I don't think Lego has ever used the Caduseus as a marking in sets, but they use the Star of Life all of the time.

Edited June 10, 2013 by Faefrost

[gasdoc]

I am late to the party: the use of  Red Cross was established at the Geneva Convention to denote medical facilities /personnel/ transport as forbidden targets.

 This symbol was last used in LEGO sets in 1988.

 The LEGO interpretation of the Star of Life was first used in 1994. In between, there were some vehicles that just had the words ‘Emergency’ and ‘Ambulance’ written on.