{{Short description|Physician}} '''J.D. “Deke” Farrington''' was a physician who played a role in the creation of an EMS (emergency medical services) system in the United States and pioneered EMS education. He is considered the "father of modern EMS" and is credited with inventing the spine board and approving the use of the Star of Life as the symbol for EMS. <ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Erich |first=John |date=July 2020 |title=EMS Hall of Fame: The Pioneers of Prehospital Care—Farrington, Stout |url=https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/emsworld/article/1224543/history-of-ems-pioneers-prehospital-care-farrington-stout |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417015038/https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/emsworld/article/1224543/history-of-ems-pioneers-prehospital-care-farrington-stout |archive-date=2024-04-17 |access-date=2025-10-15 |website=www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Northern Berks EMS |url=https://www.northernberksems.com/apps/public/news/newsView.cfm?News_ID=4&Print=1 |access-date=2025-10-15 |website=www.northernberksems.com}}</ref>
== Career == Farrington wanted to implement the successes of emergency treatment in World War II and the Korean War on civilians. In 1958, he was training firefighters in Chicago in what was an early version of the EMT-A course.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dr. J.D. “Deke” Farrington – EMS Museum |url=https://emsmuseum.org/collections/archives/people/dr-j-d-deke-farrington/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=emsmuseum.org}}</ref> His influential paper "Death in a Ditch" outlined ways in which trained EMS providers could respond to car crashes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Farrington |first=J. D. |date=June 2013 |title=Death in a Ditch. 1967 |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23789199 |journal=Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons |volume=98 |issue=6 |pages=44–53; discussion 43 |issn=0002-8045 |pmid=23789199}}</ref> He also helped develop the U.S. Department of Transportation's EMT-Ambulance training program.
He was a member of the Committee on Trauma of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and helped develop the first emergency medical services program for ambulance staff, training them to evaluate patients before transportation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=van Stralen |first=Daved |date=2008-10-01 |title=The Origins of EMS in Military Medicine |url=https://www.jems.com/ems-operations/rescue-operations/origins-ems-military-medicine/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=JEMS |language=en-US}}</ref>
He coordinated the first nationally recognized EMT training course in Wausau, Wisconsin.<ref name=":0" />
Farrington was the first chair of the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) formed in 1971.<ref name=":0" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}} Category:20th-century medical doctors Category:Fellows of the American College of Surgeons Category:Medical doctors from Wisconsin Category:American orthopedic surgeons Category:Year of birth missing Category:Year of death missing Category:Place of birth missing Category:Medical educators Category:Emergency medical services in the United States Category:People from Chicago Category:History of medicine in the United States