l Services, or EMS, would possess its own distinct symbol visible to the public. In 1973, the U.S. Department of Transportation adopted the "Star of Life" as the nationally recognized symbol for EMS. Its use to date by both state and federal offices has greatly contributed to the process of identification. Use of the symbol on highways and other areas has helped to alert citizens to the presence of the EMS system and the location for help (Department of Transportation, I-9). For any medical care in the field to be effective, the personnel responding to help must first arrive at the scene. Early indications revealed that a dependence on lights and sirens was not only dangerous, but also unnecessary. An early U.S. Department of Transportation and EMS study titled "Ambulance Design Criteria" recommended the uniform use of specific colors and markings. Later, in 1974, The Department of Transportation developed the federal specifications for ambulances. The standard color is white. The standard markings are an orange stripe, blue lettering, and the "Star of Life.” The specifications prefer that any additional lettering be placed below the orange stripe, as not to distract from the basic markings (Department of Transportation, I-10). The colors changed in some cases later, when fire departments began to staff their own ambulances. In these cases, the ambulance is normally the same color as any of the department's other fire apparatus. In 1974, the then very experienced EMT's in Pittsburgh began new training they became some of the first ambulance personnel trained in advanced life support, or the scope of medical practice for Paramedics. The doctors that accompanied the EMT's in the field for training were also not accustomed to the out-of-hospital working conditions that the EMT has had first experienced seven years earlier. The sterile insertion of a needle in the hospital to establish an intovenious drug treatment became much more di...
