This is Not the ‘First-Aid’ Symbol
Despite what pop culture, and millions of first aid kits sold worldwide (to the chagrin of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies) would have you believe, this is not an “accepted” symbol designating First Aid. It’s actually logo of the parenthetically aforementioned international do-good-ers.
Keep in mind, those are some heavy quotation marks around “accepted” in that first paragraph. The Red Cross’ mark is so ubiquitous in pop, consumer and medical cultures that you would have an easy time arguing with anyone, but the actual Red Cross, that it is an accepted sign of urgent or emergency care. The true internationally accepted symbol for first aid is a white cross on a green background.
Many first-aiders use the star of life, rather than either of these. It is also an accepted first-aid symbol, but is mostly associated with Ambulance crews or other professional emergency responders.
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POSTED IN: First Aid, Medical History, Politics, Treatment
5 opinions for This is Not the ‘First-Aid’ Symbol
ACBR
Apr 19, 2007 at 6:46 pm
The star of life looks much cooler than the red cross.
Wade Meredith
Apr 20, 2007 at 5:44 am
I concur. The star of life is super-sweet.
mildweed
Apr 20, 2007 at 8:34 am
Also of note, the rod in the middle of the star of life is the Rod of Asclepius, not the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus“>Caduceus, as it is often and incorrectly referred to as. Rod of Asclepius is all about healing while the Caduceus is more about commerce, and only partially about medicines.
louse
Jan 9, 2008 at 5:36 am
iyot
Amulya
Dec 18, 2008 at 1:49 pm
hey thanx a lot for the information … it helped me a lot for my project…
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