Just as physicians have the caduceus, emergency medical service personnel have the Star of Life. The six-barred cross represents the six system functions of emergency medical services: Detection, Reporting, Response, On Scene Care, Care in Transit, and Transfer to Definitive Care.

The snake and the staff in the center of the Star of Life portray the staff of Asclepius who, according to Greek mythology, was the son of Apollo, the god of light, truth, and prophecy. According to legend, Asclepius learned the art of healing from Cheron, the centaur. But Zeus, king of the gods, was fearful that, with Asclepius' knowledge, men might be rendered immortal. Rather than have this occur, Zeus killed Asclepius with a thunderbolt. Asclepius was worshipped as a god and people slept in his temples, as it was rumored that, in death, he effected cures of prescribed remedies to the sick during their dreams.

Asclepius is usually shown in a standing position, dressed in a long cloak, holding a staff with a serpent coiled around it. The staff has come to represent medicine's most recognized symbol. In the caduceus, used by physicians, the staff is winged, with two serpents intertwined. Although it holds no known medical relevance, it represents the magic wand of the Greek deity, Hermes, messenger of the gods.

In Numbers 21:9, the Bible also makes reference to a serpent on a staff. "So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived."

On September 23, 1973, NHTSA adopted a symbol which clearly and distinctively identifies emergency care within the total spectrum of the Emergency Medical Care System. The "Star of Life" had already been identified by the medical profession as a medical emergency symbol, and its use encouraged by the American Medical Association.*

On September 14, 1977, the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks issued to the Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Certificate of Registration No. 1,058,022, for the "Star of Life" symbol as a certification mark.*

Among other specifications, the memorandum to NHTSA stated that the Star of Life should be:

On shoulder patches to be worn only by personnel having satisfactorily completed any of the DOT training courses, or approved equivalent and those personnel who, by title and function, administer, directly supervise, or otherwise participate in all or part of a national, state, or community EMS program or service in accordance with DOT criteria for Standard 11 which included the EMD.*

This included a specific color scheme for the Star of Life patch to be worn by emergency communications personnel once certified as an EMD.*

*DOT Pamphlet DOT HS 803 721, January 1979