By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- A social media trend called the Star of Life Challenge has EMS and fire crews forming the shape of the EMS Star of Life symbol with their bodies and posting the photos on Facebook.
- The challenge involves three people arranging themselves into the six-pointed star, typically with one person inverted in the center, then tagging another department to do the same.
- The Star of Life’s six points are commonly associated with the stages of EMS care: detection, reporting, response, on-scene care, care in transit and transfer to definitive care.
- Departments including Boone Health EMS in Missouri, the Tallahassee Fire Department in Florida, and several others in Missouri, Iowa and Pennsylvania have participated.
- The challenge carries no fundraising component or official cause; organizers describe it as a way for crews to showcase camaraderie online.
Emergency medical services and fire crews across several states have been posting photos of themselves forming the shape of the EMS Star of Life symbol, part of a social media trend known as the Star of Life Challenge.
The Star of Life — a blue, six-pointed star featuring the Rod of Asclepius, an ancient medical symbol — appears on the side of most ambulances nationwide. Its six points are commonly tied to the stages of EMS care: detection, reporting, response, on-scene care, care in transit and transfer to definitive care.
The challenge asks three crew members to form the symbol with their bodies — arms and legs spread, typically with one person positioned upside down in the center — and post the resulting photo to their department’s Facebook page before tagging another department to take part. There is no fundraiser or cause attached to the trend; participants describe it as a lighthearted way for crews to connect with one another online.
Departments that have taken part include Boone Health EMS and the Jefferson County 911 Dispatch in Missouri, the Tallahassee Fire Department in Florida, Burgess Health Center in Iowa, and ambulance services in Huntingdon and Mount Union, Pennsylvania, among others.