In the footsteps of Dominique Larrey

During the Napoleonic Wars, Dominique Jean Larrey, a visionary and innovative French surgeon, reorganised battlefield treatment for the wounded and is today regarded as the ‘father’ of modern day emergency medical services (EMS).

Later this year, some 300 years on, his achievements will be reflected in The EMS Conference 2015 when one of the most influential panel of speakers to be assembled will seek to answer five fundamental questions about this specialised field of paramedic practice:

The conference will be the public debut of The Larrey Society, the first cross-sector ‘think tank’ established in March this year to help shape the future policy of EMS, with an initial focus on ambulances.

The Society is named after Dominique Larrey because he epitomised vision, innovation and the ability to convert ideas into reality—all attributes which the NHS is crying out for today.

During his time as surgeon-in-chief of Napoleon's armies he initiated the modern method of army surgery, field hospitals and the system of army ambulance corps. After seeing the speed with which the carriages of the French ‘flying artillery’ maneuvered across the battlefields, Larrey adapted them as flying ambulances for rapid transport of the wounded and manned them with trained crews of drivers, corpsmen and litter bearers.