AMBULANCE
Ambulance is a vehicle designed for
the transport of the sick or injured people. In addition to stretchers mounted
on a resilient base to prevent jarring the patients, modern ambulances are
equipped with blood-transfusion apparatus, oxygen-inhalation devices and in
some cases incubators for the newborn. The two main types of ambulances are the
civilian and the military. Modern civilian ambulances are built for speed and
smooth riding. As a rule they have facilities for one or two patients and an
attending doctor, nurse, 
paramedic or medical technician.
Because of the rugged conditions in the field, military ambulances are designed
for sturdiness rather than for speed and are equipped for emergency treatment
of the wounded on the way to collection stations. The military ambulance
usually has a load capacity of six ambulatory or four stretcher patients.
Knights of St John of Jerusalem
(in full
The Sovereign Military Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta), historically, the protectors of a
hospital built in Jerusalem before the first Crusade. Known in
short as Hospitallers or Knights Hospitallers,
the order was founded after the formation of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem
approved by Pope Paschal II in 1113 and again by Pope Eugene III in 1153. The
brothers were sworn to poverty, obedience, and chastity and to assistance in
the defense of Jerusalem. Gerard, their first leader, was called
rector; later heads of the order were called grand masters. Of necessity, the
order became a military one and its armed knights were of noble birth. They
formed a community under the Rule of St Augustine. At first devoted to the care
of pilgrims and Crusaders, the order left the Holy Land with the collapse of the Crusader
states.
Knights of Rhodes 
After 1309 the order had its
headquarters on the island of Rhodes. It formed a territorial state and
its navy kept the eastern Mediterranean Sea free of Muslims. The properties of the Knights Templar were given to
the order in 1312. The Knights of Rhodes, as they came to be called, formed
national units of the order elsewhere; they were called Tongues (French).
Forced to leave Rhodes when it was seized by Suleyman I, ruler of
the Ottoman Turks in 1522, the knights had no home until 1530, when they were
ceded the island of Malta.
Knights of Malta
Made rulers of Malta, the Knights of Malta (as the order
came to be called) led a famous defense of the island against an Ottoman
invasion fleet in 1565. The order figured in European history until well into
the 19th century. As the Knights of Malta, it lost its English and
German properties during the Reformation and its French holdings during the
French Revolution. The Russians granted the order protection, but the French
under Napoleon seized Malta. The convent was moved to Trieste in 1798 and to Rome in 1834. By this time the Russians
had confiscated all properties held by the order in Russian territories.
The Knights of Malta, as recognized
by Pope John XXIII in 1961, form a religious community and an order of
chivalry. Organized in five grand priories and a number of national
associations, they carry on diplomatic relations with the Vatican and with individual countries. As a
religious community, they maintain hospitals, first-aid centers and facilities
to care for war casualties and refugees. They wear a black cloak on which an
eight-pointed Maltese cross is applied (also the symbol in Britain of the St John Ambulance Service).
The grand master is titled prince and holds a church rank equal to that of a
cardinal.
