Many people recognize this symbol, but not everyone understands what the Star of Life truly represents. Each branch of the star plays a vital role in pre-hospital care. 🔹 Early Detection - No matter who you are a bystander, a nurse, or a trained responder—the first and most important step is to assess the scene for safety. Before offering help, be aware of potential hazards, including environmental dangers like fire, traffic, or unstable structures, as well as human threats. There are instances where trying to help can put you at risk. What if the person involved is armed or aggressive? Approaching without caution could make you another victim. Always observe, evaluate, and ensure the scene is safe before stepping in. 🔹 Early Reporting - Once the scene is safe, call for professional help from public or private EMS services. Who can call? Anyone! Whether you’re a passerby, a friend, or an off-duty medical professional, reporting the incident immediately ensures help arrives as soon as possible. 🔹 Early Response - If it’s safe to do so, provide basic aid within your abilities. Anyone, a bystander, passerby, or trained responder can assist by giving first aid, stopping bleeding, or performing CPR. 🔹 On-Scene Care - Once EMS personnel arrive, they provide immediate medical care based on their training and scope of practice. Patients are assessed thoroughly before transport, ensuring stability through CAB (Circulation, Airway, Breathing) and ABC assessment. 🔹 Care in Transit - This phase involves transporting the patient to a designated hospital via ambulance or air transport. EMS professionals continue providing medical care under the guidance of an Emergency Medicine Medical Director while en route. 🔹 Transfer to Definitive Care - Upon arrival at the hospital, EMS teams handover the patient with a detailed SAMPLE and OPQRST history, along with vital signs (VS) and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores. These assessments help the hospital team provide the most appropriate treatment. The Star of Life is more than just a symbol it represents the lifesaving process of pre-hospital care that EMS professionals and even ordinary citizens play a role in. Always remember, your safety comes first before helping others! 🚑💙

. First and foremost, what is public health nursing? Who started it? The term public health nursing originated with Lillian Wald, the first public health nurse, and she also founded the Henry Street Settlement. Prior to the twentieth century, the public health nursing type was called “district nursing.” During this period, public health nurses focused on caring for the poor and sick in their homes while also looking at how to provide care and support in the economic, social, and environmental aspects (Kub et al., 2015). ·         The era of district nursing has strong developments, as well as the role of the nurses at Henry Street Settlement that was founded by Lillian Wald. The success of the settlement was proved by having 3 991 calls from the homes of the sick and 26 600 for nurse visitations, and the other 694 were treated individually in the First Aid room (Kub et al., 2015). · In the first decade of the twentieth century, the role of public health nurses expanded; it was an opportunity to develop and clarify their role in public health, which included prevention, public education, and social reform to their responsibilities in public health. This was termed a public health campaign. Three public health campaigns happened during this period: environmental sanitation, bacteriological phase, and educational phase. The public health nurses were expected to have major key roles in public health (Kub, et al., 2015). ·         In the year 1912, Lillian Wald founded the National Organization for Public Health Nursing. An organization that sets the standards, services, and education for the new role of public health nurses (Kub et al., 2015). ·         Rockefeller Foundation sponsored a meeting regarding the desirable education and training for public health nurses. This event has resulted in the Goldmark Report on nursing education (Kub, et al., 2015). ·         In The early part of the twentieth century, the focus of care of public health nurses was not only on infectious diseases but also on the care of infants and mothers. The aim is to reduce infant mortality as well as to reduce maternal mortality. These services were extended in rural and distressed areas, which resulted in low mortality rates for both infants and mothers (Clark, 2015). ·         A period came when public health nursing shifted to public health education from caring for the poor and sick in their homes. The focus is on the prevention of chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease. Public health nurses provide evidence-based care interventions. Early prevention is critically important to reduce medical situations of stroke, heart attack, and cancer by stopping smoking, preventing obesity, and incorporating a healthy lifestyle (Curley & Vitale, 2016). · Policy development has provided the population with better health outcomes, such as affordable health care and the designing of programs that benefited the population. For example, immunization programs, preventive care and screening programs for infants, children, and women, and screening for breast cancer (mammography). In all these health activities, public health nurses played a great role in the delivery of care (Kub, et al., 2015). ·         Public health nurses continued to play a major role from the beginning and after World War 2. A call for increased public health nurses was needed. This time, public health nurses were not working alone but working with other professionals/disciplines in public health. ·         Public health nursing has a rich history. There is so much to learn and be guided by those first public health nurses and leaders who serve as an inspiration for the next generation of public health nurses. Public health nurses have a very important role to play in public health.   References Clark, M. J. (2015). Population and community health nursing. Pearson. Curley, A. L. C., Vitale, P.A. (2016). Population-Based Nursing. Concepts and competencies for advanced practice. Springer. Kub, J., Kulbok, P. A., Glick, D. (2015). Cornerstone documents, milestones, and policies: Shaping the direction of public health nursing. OJIN, 20(2), 3. https://ojin.nursingworld.org/table-of-contents/volume-20-2015/number-2-may-2015/-shaping-the-direction-of-public-health-nursing/ 

Looking back to 2018 when I started nursing school to where I am now in my life, it is evident how much I’ve grown as a person. When I first started nursing school I was a quite person. I began my first placement in 2018, I attended an adult day program for patients with Dementia once a week. I was still very new to the nursing world and just beginning to build my confidence. The RPN’s and RN’s were very supportive in my journey and really helped me build foundational communication skills throughout my three months there. I left that placement feeling more confident in my basic nursing skills. Moving onto my placements in years 2-4, I began working in the hospital and getting a lot of exposure to a variety of patients in various settings. I was placed in pediatrics, medicine, postpartum, and brain injury rehab. These placements all taught me various skills not only within the nursing field but skills I could use in my daily life. Being in the clinical setting I became much more confident in my communication, judgment/decision making, interpersonal skills, and adaptability. This is where I grew most as a person and gained the majority of my skills. Although, nursing still did not feel right for me. I had the utmost respect for all the nurses who had helped me along the way, but I could not see myself doing the job. I began looking into different careers and seeing where I could apply all the skills I had learned over the years and still be able to help people. After much research I kept coming back to the same job, being a Police Officer. Looking at the skill set required to work as a Police Officer, it was similar to my skills I had built throughout nursing school. I took the leap and began my journey into my job application. I began to see that all these skills listed above, that I had become much more confident in, had a huge impact on how I was adapting into becoming an officer. My confidence in communication, being able to make decisions in a fast pace environment, and being adaptable, all helped me begin to grow as a new recruit. Throughout my training I was very grateful I had my background in nursing to help me grow in a new career. Now looking back I see that nursing school, my placements, and each nurse I’ve worked with helped shape me into the person I am today. The transition into my new career was heavily impacted on my skill set I had built over the years as a student nurse. I will always be grateful for each person who helped me along the way and continue to support me though this new journey.