The logo of First Responders Financial Services is comprised of symbols of each of the four services that make up our constituents:
A red Maltese Cross, the symbol of Firefighters, A silver Badge, represents Law Enforcement and is the foundation of the other service symbols,A white Caduceus, the symbol of Nurses andA blue Star Of Life, represents Emergency Medical Services.
The significance of the Maltese Cross
The insignia of Fire Service is the Maltese Cross (technically known as the Cross Pattee-Nowy). The Cross represents the principles of charity, gallantry, loyalty, chivalry, generosity, compassion and above all, protection. It means that the firefighter who wears this cross is willing to lay down his life for his fellow man.
The first recognized usage of the Maltese Cross was in the 11th and 12th Centuries. The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem wore this symbol to identify themselves as individuals who were charitable to the sick and the poor. The Cross gained recognition in later years as the Knights of St. John later participated in the Crusades. During the Crusades, many Knights became firefighters out of necessity. Their enemies would hurl flammable liquids into their group. Many Knights were called upon to do heroic deeds by rescuing fellow Knights and extinguishing fires.
In the 15th Century, the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem were forced to relocate to the Mediterranean island of Malta. This is how the Cross Pattee-Nowy became known as the Maltese Cross.
The Maltese Cross is a symbol of protection. It is also a firefighter's badge of honor, signifying that he works in courage - a ladder rung away from death.
The significance of a Badge
A badge is a symbol of authority and identification. All Law Enforcement organizations, whether Federal, State or Local, have badges that portray the holder as a person who represents authority.
The Badge originated as a symbol of a hand-held shield, which has represented “protection” since before the days of the Roman legionnaires. Badges and Shields come in various shapes, designs and sizes. The Badge represented on the First Responders Financial Services logo is a generic illustration of one such design.
The significance of the Caduceus
The snake and staff portray the staff of Asclepius, who according to Greek mythology, was the son of Apollo and learned the art of healing from the centaur Cheron. In the 7th Century, the caduceus came to be associated with a precursor of medicine, based on astrological principles of using the planets and stars to heal the sick. This theory was identified with the god Hermes.
The symbol's origins are thought to date to as early as 2600 BC in Mesopotamia, and there are several references to a caduceus-like symbol in the Bible. During the Exodus, Moses was instructed by God to fashion a pole upon which he was to position a serpent made of brass; when looked upon, this Nehushtan, as it was called in Hebrew, would spare the lives of the Israelites stricken by venomous snake bites. This symbol was apparently worshiped by the Hebrew people until the reign of Hezekiah as described in the Book of Kings.
The link between Hermes and his caduceus and medicine seems to have arisen by Hermes links with alchemy. Alchemists were referred to as the sons of Hermes, as Hermetists or Hermeticists and as "practitioners of the hermetic arts". By the end of the 16th Century, the study of alchemy included not only medicine and pharmaceuticals but chemistry, mining and metallurgy. Despite learned opinion that it is the single snake staff of Asclepius that is the proper symbol of medicine (used in the First Responders Financial Services logo); many medical groups adopted the twin serpent caduceus of Hermes or Mercury as a medical symbol during the 19th and 20th Centuries.
The significance of the Star Of Life
The Star of Life's six bars represent the six phases of an emergency call:
1. Detection of the ill or injured,
2. Reporting of the illness or injury and Emergency Medical Dispatch interaction,
3. Response of the pre-hospital EMS team,
4. On-scene care of the ill or injured patient by the EMS team,
5. In-transit care of the ill or injured patient by the pre-hospital EMS team,
6. Transfer to definitive care
The Star of Life is often depicted in a round frame which highlights its circular nature, similar to a clock face, highlighting the importance of time in an emergency. The term "Golden Hour" is often used to describe the importance of rapidly transporting trauma patients to waiting surgeons; from the time of need until delivery to definitive surgical care. Similarly, the accepted maximum time that a patient should be treated on-scene for trauma by pre-hospital EMS is ten minutes (often called the "Platinum Ten Minutes") and is represented by each incremental bar of the Star of Life.
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