Ambulance History

Subject: Ambulance History 14/11/2010, 12:38 pm

During the Crusades of the 11thCentury, the Knights of St John received instruction in first-aidtreatment from Arab and Greek doctors. The Knights of St John thenacted as the first emergency workers, treating soldiers on both sidesof the war of the battlefield and bringing in the wounded to nearbytents for further treatment. The concept of ambulance service startedin Europe with the Knights of St John, at the same time it had alsobecome common practice for small rewards to be paid to soldiers whocarried the wounded bodies of other soldiers in for medical treatment. TheSurgeon-in-Chief of the French Grand Army, "Baron Dominiquie Larrey"created the first official army medical corp. in 1792. Trainedattendants with equipment moved out from the field hospitals to givefirst-aid to the wounded on the battlefield and/or carried them back bystretcher, hand-carts and wagons to the field hospitals. Motorizedambulance vehicles have been in use since the beginning of the 20thcentury. In the 1950s the United States pioneered helicopter-ambulancesduring the Korean War. In 1968, St Vincent's Hospital in New York Citystarted the first mobile coronary care unit.

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