Emergency medical services
Precursors

Emergency care in the field has been rendered in different forms since the beginning of recorded history. The New Testament contains the parable of the Good Samaritan, in which a man who has been beaten is cared for by a passing Samaritan. Luke 10:34 (NIV) – "He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him." During the Middle Ages, the Knights Hospitaller were known for rendering assistance to wounded soldiers in the battlefield.

The first use of the ambulance as a specialized vehicle, in battle came about with the ambulances volantes designed by Dominique Jean Larrey (1766–1842), Napoleon Bonaparte 's chief surgeon. Larrey was present at the battle of Spires, between the French and Prussians, and was distressed by the fact that wounded soldiers were not picked up by the numerous ambulances (which Napoleon required to be stationed two and half miles back from the scene of battle) until after hostilities had ceased, and set about developing a new ambulance system. Having decided against using the Norman system of horse litters, he settled on two- or four-wheeled horse -drawn wagons, which were used to transport fallen soldiers from the (active) battlefield after they had received early treatment in the field. Larrey's projects for 'flying ambulances' were first approved by the Committee of Public Safety in 1794. Larrey subsequently entered Napoleon's service during the Italian campaigns in 1796, where his ambulances were used for the first time at Udine, Padua and Milan, and he adapted his ambulances to the conditions, even developing a litter which could be carried by a camel for a campaign in Egypt.
oulipo:avoid_letter[o]