This year, we commemorate World First Aid Day on September 11th, 2010. One hundred and fifty years ago, a battle in northern Italy sparked an idea that has since changed the world. On 24 June 1859, Henry Dunant, a young Geneva businessman, witnessed horrifying suffering and agony following the battle of Solferino. The need for humanitarian action is still as vital today as it was in 1859.
We all have the capacity to learn and provide first aid to save a life. This is the key message of the International Federation’s World First Aid Day, when National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies organize different activities in order to raise public awareness on first aid and injury prevention. The advocacy report, First aid for a safer future: updated global edition, provides examples of first-aid activities implemented by Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies worldwide, without being exhaustive.
