Emergency Red Cross

Here we go with a brief history of first aid if you want to sound really smart at your next party.It all started in the 11th century when a group of knights founded The Order of St. John,start to teach other knights how to treat front line injuries.

To teach first aid in the cities was formed in the U.K.in 1877 by St.John Ambulance.They coined the phrase ‘First Aid’. Before long their training spread throughout Europe.
Things were fine for a while for treating those wounded on the front line but there was no methodical system.Not until 1859 when a Swiss businessman, Henry Dunant, witnessed one of the bloodiest battles of the Austro-Sardinian War.Over 40,000 men was wounded or killed in a single day.He was so overwhelmed by the suffering that he wrote a book, A Memory of Solferino.He sent his book to every military and political figure at that time,he could find mission for the formation of national voluntary relief organizations to help with the wounded.

His accent was heard and on February 9th, 1863 the ‘Committee of Five’, as they were called (the five most prominent families in Geneva at the time), formed the International Committee of the Red Cross.The International Committee of The Red Cross, ICRC, is in fact part of an International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, a pool of over 185 uncommon organizations. The International Red Cross is really a pool of several organizations united through basic common principles and ideals. The ICRC is the oldest and most respected earning three Noble Peace Prizes, 1917, 1944, and 1963.

Things started to snowball,after that first meeting in 1863.
Later that same year,36 delegates met for the next conference. Just one year later Durant and his group invited the European countries along with the United States, Mexico and Brazil to join.They adopted together,the very first Geneva Convention.When World War I started,the ICRC faced its first huge challenge. It set up the International Prisoner of War (POW) Outfit. They transferred over 20 million letters and messages, 1.9 million parcels, and about 18 million Swiss francs. Because of the outfit,over 200,000 prisoners were exchanged, released and allowed to return home. During the war they also monitored the compliance of the Geneva Convention and reported violations to the respective country.When chemical gas was introduced during WWI the ICRC protested loudly.
The ICRC added an additional protocol,as a direct result to the first Geneva Convention and outlawed the use of fatal gases or suffocating and biological agents as weapons.During the Second World War the ICRC performed the same functions. The lessons learned in WWI were applied and the organization grew.Of course in this war they faced a whole new set of challenges. Germany was in charge of the German Red Cross and they refused to comply with the laws of the Geneva Convention. Moreover, the Soviet Union and Japan were not part of the Geneva Convention and did not have to abide by its laws.
The ICRC tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with Nazi Germany
during the war,about the treatment of detainees in the concentration camps.To develop a response to reliable information about the extermination camps and the mass killings of European jews,also failed.This is still considered the greatest failure of the ICRC in its history of first aid.The Nazis agreed to allow ICRC delegates in March 1945,to visit the camps under one condition.They had to remain in the camps until the end of the war!
Ten delegates agreed and spent the remainder of the war in the concentration camps. In one thing an ICRC delegate saved the lives of 60,000 inmates by alerting the Americans to the mandatory eviction (or blasting) of the Mauthausen-Gusen Camps. The ICRC, for risking the neutrality of the organization condemned his action.But they eventually forgave him, in 1990! An Indomitable SpiritOver in Europe the ICRC was growing into a formidable organization.

In the US when it comes to our history of first aid. The honor of organizing the American Red Cross belongs to one female, Clara Barton. Clara, teacher, nurse, humanitarian and all nearly incredible self was born to a very progressive family tree for its time. She urban a like of nursing at an early age.During the civil war Clara was given a pass to travel with the ambulances to provide comfort to the wounded. Unbelievably courageous she was also given permission to travel behind the lines to some of the most grizzly of battlefields bringing medical supplies and comfort to the wounded.

After the war, President Lincoln placed Clara in charge of the search for the missing men of the Union Army. She traced the fate of over 30,000 men. Clara delivered lectures on her war experiences, spent time with Susan B. Anthony, Fredrick Douglass and became an activist for black civil rights.

Clara was finally worn out,after years of dyed-in-the-wool service.
Her doctor demanded immediate rest and shipped her off to Europe to recuperate. She, of course, became involved with the ICRC and promptly income to the United States determined to start the American Red Cross. She eventually convinced President Garfield that the American Red Cross could respond to untreated disasters as well as wartime causalities. He agreed and on May 21, 1881 the American Red Cross was founded. Their headquarters sits one block from the White House in Washington, DC. There you go a brief history of first aid, don’t you feel smarter?