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Thread Title: Patron Saint of EMS
Created On Thu Oct 21, 2004 11:16 PM

MEDICCJH
Senior Forum Member

Posts: 712
Joined: May 2003

Thu Oct 21, 2004 11:16 PM

Anyone know who the patron saint of EMS is? I was told St. Rocco, and that St. Jude is the patron saint of the hopeless...

-------------------------
Charles Herbert, NREMT-P
Bangor, PA

"....Open up your mind
Let your fantasies unwind
In this darkness which you know you cannot fight
The darkness of the music of the night ....."

Village Slumlord

PARAMEDICMIKE
Senior Forum Moderator

Posts: 3540
Joined: May 2003

Thu Oct 21, 2004 11:51 PM

St Florian is the patron saint of the fire service (for all you fire folks out there).

Publicsafety.net identifies St Michael as the patron saint of police, paramedics and EMTs.

St Jude has always been my favorite. He was described to me to be the patron saint of lost causes. I wear his medal almost every day. Yes, you can draw your own conclusions from that

.

I saw another place saying St Luke is the patron saint for EMS.

So who knows.

Be safe.

-------------------------
-be safe
Aut inveniam, aut faciam.
"There is an incessant influx of novelty into the world, and yet we tolerate incredible dullness."

-Thoreau

lambsburg122
Senior Forum Member

Posts: 252
Joined: Jul 2004

Fri Oct 22, 2004 12:38 AM

Saint Michael is the Patron Saint of Ambulance drivers, EMT's, Paramedics, dying people, sick people, cops, battle, soldiers, paratroopers, Holy death, radiologists, radiotherapists, security guards, knights, swordsmiths, etc., etc., etc...

I am not Catholic but I wear a St. Michael medal my girlfriend gave me.

-------------------------
Lambsburg122

If you drop a baby, fake a seizure

Edited: Fri Oct 22, 2004 at 12:38 AM by lambsburg122

MEDICCJH
Senior Forum Member

Posts: 712
Joined: May 2003

Fri Oct 22, 2004 1:04 AM

My partner gave me a St. Jude metal thingy...charm or something...
That's why I ask.

MedicServant, maybe you know?

-------------------------
Charles Herbert, NREMT-P
Bangor, PA

"....Open up your mind
Let your fantasies unwind
In this darkness which you know you cannot fight
The darkness of the music of the night ....."

Village Slumlord

Edited: Fri Oct 22, 2004 at 1:04 AM by MEDICCJH

lambsburg122
Senior Forum Member

Posts: 252
Joined: Jul 2004

Fri Oct 22, 2004 1:18 AM

No offense, but I think your partner was trying to say you were a lost cause...

-------------------------
Lambsburg122

If you drop a baby, fake a seizure

MEDICCJH
Senior Forum Member

Posts: 712
Joined: May 2003

Fri Oct 22, 2004 1:23 AM

That's exactly what I said to her when she gave it to me......

I am a lost cause. What can I say?

-------------------------
Charles Herbert, NREMT-P
Bangor, PA

"....Open up your mind
Let your fantasies unwind
In this darkness which you know you cannot fight
The darkness of the music of the night ....."

Village Slumlord

Cr-20
Veteran Villager

Posts: 1134
Joined: Feb 2004

Fri Oct 22, 2004 2:47 AM

'Saint Michael III'
19.7 " W x 27.6 " H

Weight: 0.30 kg

-Oil on canvas
-Arrives unframed
-Unstretched

Ships from NOVICA Office in Peru

Dressed like a soldier for the battle against evil, this portrait of Michael archangel captures his courage and kind heart. His name asks "Who is like God?" and he is the patron saint of the sick as well as police, paratroopers and grocers. Michael defeated the powers of hell. José Ponce de León invokes Michael's presence according to the Cuzco School of religious portraiture. This renowned style is inspired by the paintings on cathedrals, churches and monasteries dating from the 16th century. Painted in oils of warm and rich hues, the Archangel's gown and wings are eloquently detailed in gold. An inspired work for a home of faith.

sorry the pic didnt show up

WolfMedic
Junior Forum Member

Posts: 125
Joined: Sep 2004

Fri Oct 22, 2004 8:49 AM

Michael the Archangel is the patron of EMT's, paramedics, etc... ( see Lambsburg's post for the entire list). Michael is considered to be the prince of the seraphim, the first of the nine angelic orders. His name means "who is like God", and was the war-cry of the good angels in their heavenly battle against Lucifer and his followers. Lucifer is the fallen angel who is now known as Satan.
Christian tradition gives Michael four offices (duties);
1. To fight against Satan
2. To rescue the souls of the faithful from the power of the enemy, especially at the hour of death.
3. To be the champion of God's people.
4. To call away from earth and bring men's souls to judgment.

My personal understanding is that the rescue aspect of #2 is the reason Michael was named as our patron, but I've not yet verified this.
I hope this helps...... many years of formal, Catholic education are coming back to haunt me

WolfMedic
Junior Forum Member

Posts: 125
Joined: Sep 2004

Fri Oct 22, 2004 9:02 AM

Charles, I forgot to mention, many saints have different accepted spellings of their name. St Roch ( or Roque, Rocco, Rocca, and many other spellings) is the patron of dogs, dog lovers, epidemics, invalids, pestilence and knee problems.

MEDIC126
Veteran Villager

Posts: 1023
Joined: May 2003

Fri Oct 22, 2004 9:53 AM

I have been told that St. Luke is the patron saint for EMS

-------------------------
Member S.P.V.V. (Society of Past Veteran Villagers)!

lambsburg122
Senior Forum Member

Posts: 252
Joined: Jul 2004

Fri Oct 22, 2004 12:42 PM

Nope Luke is the saint of Physicians

-------------------------
Lambsburg122

If you drop a baby, fake a seizure

PARAMEDICMIKE
Senior Forum Moderator

Posts: 3540
Joined: May 2003

Fri Oct 22, 2004 1:42 PM

I've seen two sources that have pointed to St Luke for EMS. So I guess there's no telling for sure.

It could be argued that if he's the PS for physicians then he could be for us as well. We do kinda' the same job and work towards the same end. Why, then, couldn't he be?

Be safe.

-------------------------
-be safe
Aut inveniam, aut faciam.
"There is an incessant influx of novelty into the world, and yet we tolerate incredible dullness."

-Thoreau

Edited: Fri Oct 22, 2004 at 1:42 PM by PARAMEDICMIKE

littlerock
Senior Forum Member

Posts: 289
Joined: Feb 2004

Fri Oct 22, 2004 9:06 PM

There are many saints that have multiple patronages......

Edited: Sun Oct 24, 2004 at 7:58 PM by littlerock

lambsburg122
Senior Forum Member

Posts: 252
Joined: Jul 2004

Fri Oct 22, 2004 10:33 PM

Saint Albert the great is the saint of Medical Technicians

-------------------------
Lambsburg122

If you drop a baby, fake a seizure

TRAININGATOEMS
Veteran Villager

Posts: 3300
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Fri Oct 22, 2004 10:43 PM

Saint Luke. In the Bible Jesus refers to Luke (one of the original 12 apostles) as "the physician". Luke is the patron saint of both physicians and EMTs. When Saint Luke is pictured on medals he is usually depicted as sitting or kneeling next to a caduseus with a cow in the background. Never really understood the symbolism of the cow, although cows are pretty darned cool! Been wearing a St. Luke medal for about 15 years now...

Peace,
RG

Cr-20
Veteran Villager

Posts: 1134
Joined: Feb 2004

Sat Oct 23, 2004 12:15 AM

To be a saint you must have died. when you read the Bible there are many saints of healing. Also GOD, Jesus and the Holy Spirit heal also. I thought that EMS was more along the lines of the good samaritan anyway, the one who stopped along the road to help the injured person. This is where the good samaritan act came from.

Bamamedic23
Senior Forum Member

Posts: 520
Joined: Oct 2003

Tue Nov 16, 2004 12:06 PM

I found this web-site about all the saints.

Saint Michael is know as the "great physician"
Saint Luke is the patron of physicians and surgeons
Saint Albert is the patron st of Medical Techs

see below website for more info on each.

www.catholic.org/saints/patron.php

-------------------------
Do it early, do it right, do it fast, then hold on for the ride.
CCEMT-P

Edited: Tue Nov 16, 2004 at 12:08 PM by Bamamedic23

WolfMedic
Junior Forum Member

Posts: 125
Joined: Sep 2004

Tue Nov 16, 2004 4:24 PM

Quote
Originally posted by: Cr-20
To be a saint you must have died.

However, you don't have to be a saint to be a patron. Archangels are also named as patrons, as in the case of Michael..... the term patron saint has become a catch all term because of the fact that most patrons are saints. In reference to Albert vs. Michael, Albert is listed as the patron of medical technicians, where Michael is listed as the patron of emergency medical technicians.... I guess it's just how specific you want to be.

Badge226LMAAS
New Forum Member

Posts: 5
Joined: Jul 2007

Fri Aug 03, 2007 2:06 PM

There seems to be good cases for Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Jude and Saint Luke. It would seem to me that the most fitting would be a hybrid between the three.
And really it would all depend at what you think YOU do this job for.
I mean, to me, the whole Saint Michael thing is really drenched in hero worship and toughness. He seems much more suited to the battlefield medics during war time or something of the sort. I've seen a guy in the military with giant mural tattooed on his back showing Saint Michael with a machine gun shooting Osama Bin Laden with the phrase "SAINT MICHAEL, PROTECT US!" above it. He seems to be seen as the protector and/or avenger of what people believe are the rightous. Some may argue that he's been charged with offering salvation to the sick and dying, but this is a bit misleading considering that it's the reason he's often seen as the patron saint of EMS. He is merely offering the chance to accept the Lord as their God and in turn be sent to heaven instead of hell... which may or may not be the reason you yourself are a paramedic. Perhaps having him watch over you in a time of great danger might be comforting, because you know he did kick Satan's butt.
As far as Saint Jude goes, he's the patron saint of "lost causes." You know, long shots, miricales, unlikely outcomes, that sort of thing. Luck, chance. The impossible. Some people take this jokingly in terms of EMS, implying that usually we are ourselves "lost causes," while others seem to see it as more of a patient to patient kind of thing, where we may be doing CPR on a 99 year old woman that has no chance of making it. Others still, such as myself, see things from the "long shot" approach. So much of life is dependent on chance. Luck. Fate. You could have been in the world trade center the day before 9/11, or had been scheduled to be there the day after. Luck or fate or something seemed to have spared you. Or if you had taken ten extra minutes to get to work that day only to see a plane crash into the building. So many tiny variables add up to create some giant events.
Sometimes on ambulance calls, you arrive just in time to watch a person go into V-Fib and you defibrillate just in time and two days later hear the person walked out of the hospital no worse for the wear. Other times, which happens way more often than not, you arrive 6 minutes too late and all of your efforts are in vain. Other times still, things are right on the brink, where someone is rapidly worsening due to severe pulmonary edema, thrashing and coughing up sputum, things have to go perfect for them to make it out of this one. And on top of that, you brought your A-game. After a nasal intubation you're still struggling to get that IV because the patient is 300lbs and on dialysis. This is why Saint Jude is sometimes considered the patron saint of EMS, it might be that little bit of extra chance. That little bit of luck. A flash in the catheder when you least expect it.
Or that near drowning. Or the 7 year old little girl unconscious in the car after that huge roll-over pin-in. Just a little bit of luck, please! Make everything go as smoothly as possible! Everything seems to be stacked against this little girl and we're going to need all the help we can get to save just this one! Even if it seems impossible, this might be where we need a little help.
Saint Luke is usually regarded as the patron saint to phyiscians and surgeons. This is because he himself was supposedly a phyiscian. He loved the poor, was very compassionate and was apparently a great painter. He was a huge advocate for mercy and forgiveness. It seems to me that if you're in EMS for the medicine aspect, he might be the saint for you, as opposed to some of the folks that I know, who seem to be a paramedic soley to become full-time firemen and get off of the ambulance ASAP.
Eitherway, that's just my take on the situation.

-------------------------
All this pain is an illusion...

Edited: Fri Aug 03, 2007 at 2:09 PM by Badge226LMAAS

KyleK044
Junior Forum Member

Posts: 58
Joined: Apr 2007

Fri Aug 03, 2007 7:18 PM

Quote
Originally posted by: TRAININGATOEMS
Saint Luke. In the Bible Jesus refers to Luke (one of the original 12 apostles) as "the physician". Luke is the patron saint of both physicians and EMTs. When Saint Luke is pictured on medals he is usually depicted as sitting or kneeling next to a caduseus with a cow in the background. Never really understood the symbolism of the cow, although cows are pretty darned cool! Been wearing a St. Luke medal for about 15 years now...

Peace,
RG

The cow has to do with imagery within his Gospel. Each evangelist has an animal which represents their Gospel (nothing too official, but it's used in artwork to represent their Gospel).

St. Luke, Apo

stle, was a physician and is generally accepted as Patron of Medical Personnel. An unofficial "Patron Saint Index" is available at http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/indexsnt.htm . Which points to St. Michael the Archangel as the Patron of EMT's. St. Albert the Great is the patron of Medical Technicians.

So, there is some over lap. The Church maintains that ALL Saints have the same ability to intercede for us, so it's really up to personal spirituality. If you feel comfortable with St. Mike, go for it... if St. Luke or Albert give you that feeling of protection, then the choice is made.

jayffemt
Veteran Villager

Posts: 1550
Joined: Feb 2005

Wed Aug 08, 2007 6:38 AM

Juan Valdez!

He helps me get through every day.

-------------------------
Only 1*

jsadin
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Posts: 3049
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Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:12 AM

Sam Adams?

-------------------------
"What the f***? Over..."
Village Handyman
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum

VanHelsing
Veteran Villager

Posts: 1307
Joined: Feb 2005

Wed Aug 08, 2007 3:28 PM

I know this is off the topic...but when I was in Rome I visited numerous art galleries, and one had a whole bunch of ceiling paintings ( painted hundreds of years ago ) with murals depicting various scene, and in each of them they was a chap holding the star of life symbol.

Is was pretty cool, even though I have no idea who he was, or what the paintings meant.

arctickat
Senior Forum Moderator

Posts: 4267
Joined: May 2006

Wed Aug 08, 2007 4:51 PM

Umm, you mean the staff and snake or the entire Star of Life? If he is holding a staff with a snake that would be a depiction of Hippocrates.

He was a Greek physician born in 460 BC on the island of Cos, Greece. He became known as the founder of medicine and was regarded as the greatest physician of his time. He based his medical practice on observations and on the study of the human body. He held the belief that illness had a physical and a rational explanation. He rejected the views of his time that considered illness to be caused by superstitions and by possession of evil spirits and disfavor of the gods.

Hippocrates held the belief that the body must be treated as a whole and not just a series of parts. He accurately described disease symptoms and was the first physician to accurately describe the symptoms of pneumonia, as well as epilepsy in children. He believed in the natural healing process of rest, a good diet, fresh air and cleanliness. He noted that there were individual differences in the severity of disease symptoms and that some individuals were better able to cope with their disease and illness than others. He was also the first physician that held the belief that thoughts, ideas, and feelings come from the brain and not the heart as others of him time believed.

Hippocrates traveled throughout Greece practicing his medicine. He founded a medical school on the island of Cos, Greece and began teaching his ideas. He soon developed an Oath of Medical Ethics for physicians to follow. This Oath is taken by physicians today as they begin their medical practice. Thus the Hippocratic Oath. He died in 377 BC. Today Hippocrates is known as the "Father of Medicine".

Yeah, I copied it.

-------------------------
Si is est non infractus , operor non restituo is.

Village Drunk

n1olo
New Forum Member

Posts: 2
Joined: Dec 2007

Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:14 AM

I would say it should be St Elmo. I was told he wasn't a real saint so it would be fitting. The general public doesn't think we are a real service.

I've since found out that Elmo is really Saint Erasmus and he belongs to sailors.

Oh well....

missclampett
Senior Forum Member

Posts: 216
Joined: Apr 2008

Sun Oct 05, 2008 1:15 PM

St Luke would make sense because "para" is an affix meaning "beside, near" etc, which is where the term paramedic comes from - working "with" or "beside" a physician.

-------------------------
It's not that I want you to get hurt, I just want to be there when you do.

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