Since the inception of the Honor Guard, we have had several discussions about the need for something to hold while standing guard at a funeral, service, etc..  Since our organization is a third service EMS provider, we have no association with fire department traditions - thus chromed pike-poles and axes were not something we wanted to use for Honor Guard purposes.  We had considered swords, simple spears, etc., but none of these objects seemed relevant to our line of work, nor were they something we actually used.

A fellow Honor Guard member did some research and found that espontoons, a 17th century spear-like weapon, that was carried by infantry officers of the Continental Army during the American Revolution as a symbol of rank or signaling device.  They were also utilized with a canvas fabric and a second espontoon to fashion a crude litter by which to carry wounded soldiers from the battlefield.  He subsequently found and purchased an espontoon and donated it to the Guard.

We then commissioned the Director of Sculpture at Wichita State University, Mr. James Brewer, to create a serpent to wind around the espontoon, creating a life-like Staff of Asclepius that traditionally represents EMS as depicted in the Star of Life.  After six months of planning and fabrication, we believe that we have created a true tangible symbol we can use to present our service and stand guard of out fallen brethren.