Emergency!

This coin's mission is to honor the dedication and hard work of our son, Sean.  Sean is earning his Paramedic certification in North Bend, Oregon, USA, and we would like to see this coin make its way to places Sean has lived:

- North Bend / Coos Bay Oregon, USA
- Dallas, Texas, USA,
- Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA,
- and Sean's birthplace in Bad Cannstatt, Germany (in the Stuttgart area).  ** This leg was completed 05/10/2013 when Cacher_Stgt took Emergency! to Cannstatt-Kennenlern-Cache in Bad Cannstatt!

And finally, return home to Wadsworth, Nevada, USA (GC153MC).  Pictures to relate Emergency!'s travels as it moves about will be very much appreciated by Sean's family in Wadsworth.

These are a lot of missions for one little coin, but we know all the fine geocachers who come in contact with it will help it on its way!

UPDATE 7/19/11: 
Sean has completed the written and the practical tests, and is now a full-fledged Paramedic!  Congratulations, Sean, for your hard work over the past 4 years, earning your A.A. in Fire Science at Southwest Oregon Community College, volunteering at the North Bend, Oregon Fire Department, and completing the requirements to become a Paramedic.  We know you will succeed in any career you choose in the future, and we are so very proud of your accomplishments and all your hard work.  You are our hero!

Keep up the good work,
Mom and Dad


 ABOUT THE NAME:

In a curious example of 'life imitating art', television producer Robert A. Cinader, working for producer Jack Webb of Dragnet and Adam-12 fame, happened to be in Los Angeles' UCLA Harbor Medical Center, doing background research for a proposed new TV show about doctors, when he encountered these "firemen who spoke like doctors and worked with them". This novel idea would eventually evolve into the Emergency! television series, which ran from 1972 to 1977, portraying the exploits of a new group called 'paramedics'. The show captured the imagination of emergency services personnel, the medical community, and the general public. When the show first aired in 1972, there were exactly six paramedic units operating in three pilot programs in the whole of the United States. No one had ever heard the term 'paramedic'; indeed, it is reported that one of the show's actors was initially concerned that the 'para' part of the term might involve jumping out of airplanes. By the time the program ended production in 1977, there were paramedics operating in every state. The show's technical advisor was a pioneer of paramedicine, James O. Page, then a Battalion Chief responsible for the paramedic program, but who would go on to help establish other paramedic programs in the U.S., and to become the founding publisher of the Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS).

This is a blue, white, and silver colored geocoin with the Emergency Medical Services emblem on the front (the Star of Life, a blue, six-pointed star, outlined with a white border which features the Rod of Asclepius in the center).  Surrounding this symbol are the words "EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN". 

The six points of the Star of Life represent the six main tasks executed by rescuers all through the emergency chain: 

1. Detection
2. Reporting
3. Response
4. On-Scene Care
5. Care in Transit
6. Transfer to Definitive Care

On the reverse of the coin is a picture of an ambulance surrounded by the words "SO THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE" and "FIRST RESPONSE".