EVOLUTION:

EMERGENCY MEDICAL AMBULANCE

PRESENTORS: GROUP 3
Bermudez, Rendell
Dela Cruz, Shanna
Mendoza, Thalia V.
Rafanan, Rhea Leen
Sarmiento, Suzette Keith
“As soon as disease occurs,
so does a transportation to a
medical care is needed.”
 HAMMOCK
First wounded were carried in hammock style.
Made with long and wide cloth enough
to be tied at both ends with
a single or two poles to carry
injured or ill inividuals.
 2 POLES

The Mojave Indians devised a litter comprised

of a sheet of canvas between two
poles carried on the shoulders of two men.
 15TH CENTURY- SPECIAL TENTS

Formalized ambulance surfaced in the late 15th century,

when Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain took
an unprecedented interest in the welfare of
their troops during their crusade against Moors.
Surgical and medical supplies were brought together
in special tents for the wounded called
ambulances.
 1792: DOMINIQUE-JEAN LARREY
Larrey came up with the idea
of mobile ambulances --
light-weight, two wheeled
vehicles which stayed with
the troops and allowed
surgeons to work on the
battlefield
 CIVIL WAR CORPS: DR. LETTERMAN
The evolution of the ambulance took
another turn during the American Civil War
when ambulances were too few, often late,
and driven by civilian drunkards and thieves.
Dr. Letterman reorganized the field medical service
to provide an effective ambulance service
for the evacuation of battle casualties.
 1864:AN ACT

In 1864,
an act was passed in Congress entitled

“An Act to Establish a Uniform System of Ambulances

in the Armies of the United States,”

which spelled out who was responsible for each

phase of the ambulance system.
 1864: AMERICAN RED CROSS
During the 1864 Convention in Geneva,
an agreement was made to recognize the
neutrality of hospitals, of the sick and wounded, of all persons
connected with relief service, and the adoption
of a protective sign or badge.

The Sanitary Commission, which 20 years later

became the American Red Cross,
was brought into being in large part
due to the efforts of Clara Barton.
 LATE 1860S: UNITED STATES
American hospitals initiated their Beneath the driver’s seat was a
own ambulance services. container with:
Horsedrawn, these ambulances • a quart of brandy,
had a moveable floor that could • two tourniquets,
be drawn out to receive the
patient. • six bandages,
• six small sponges,
• splint material,
• blankets and
• a two-ounce vial of persulphate
of iron.
 1899: AUTOMOBILE
With the arrival of the automobile came
a different type of ambulance,
first appearing in 1899.
During WWI, many ambulances were adapted
from buses and taxis. The world’s oldest
builder of ambulances is the Hess and
Eisenhardt Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.
 1937: AIR-CONDITIONED
AMBULANCE
They sold the first air-conditioned ambulance
built in America. Developed with the idea
that the ambulance should be a pre-hospital
emergency room, these pre-cursors of the
modern ambulance were filled with medicine
cabinets, roof lights, and two-way radios.
 CIVIL WAR: TRAIN AND BOATS
During the Civil War, train ambulances and
steam boat hospitals were used, and
street car/trolley ambulances were popular
in some cities in the late 1800s.
More recently, the Star of Life,
a water cruiser, began to operate under
the direction of the Coast Guard and
Marine Police in 1976.
 MEDICOPTER

And the “medicopter" is commonplace now,

first coming into service as a means
of evacuating combat patients in Korea and
Vietnam, and now invaluable during natural disasters,
such as the Johnstown Flood, when medical
supplies required refrigeration and patients needed to
be airlifted to hospitals.
 LATEST
Today's ambulances come equipped with some amazing
new technology, from defibrillators and monitors that
can transmit a complete 12-lead ECG directly
to the emergency department to the latest
in handheld computers.
 EMS LOGO: STAR OF LIFE
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
created the "Star of Life" and holds priority rights
to the use of this registered certification mark.

The serpent and staff in the symbol

portray the staff of Asclepius, an ancient
Greek physician deified as the god of medicine.
The staff represents medicine and healing.
 EMS LOGO: STAR OF LIFE

Adapted from the personal Medical Identification Symbol

of the American Medical Association, each bar
on the "Star of Life" represents one of six EMS functions:
1. Detection,
2. Reporting,
3. Response,
4. On-Scene Care,
5. Care in Transit,
6. Transfer to Definitive Care.
 STAR OF LIFE EVERYWHERE
This symbol can be seen as a
means of identification on ambulances, emergency medical
equipment, patches or apparel worn by EMS
providers and materials such as books, pamphlets,
manuals, reports, and publications that either have
a direct application to EMS.
It can also be found on road maps
and highway signs indicating the location of
or access to qualified emergency medical care.
 REFERENCES
AMBULANCE EVOLUTION: Information obtained from "The Ambulance," by
Katherine Traver Barkley, ©1978, Load N Go Press, Kiamesha Lake, New York.
Copies can be obtained by calling (800) 798-1822.
Retrieved from: http://www.nwoems.com/ambulance

EMS Star of Life

Retrieved from: https://www.ems.gov/staroflife.html