Red Cross Society Earns Major First Aid Certification

A team of doctors from the Red Cross Society of Hebei province undertaking an emergency rescue drill. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The Red Cross Society of China became the first national Red Cross society in the world to receive a major first aid certification from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, which is expected to help promote global emergency rescue efforts.

Pascal Cassan, director of the Global First Aid Reference Centre of the IFRC, awarded the International First Aid Attestation to the RCSC during a recent national first aid competition in Hohhot, capital of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

China has made great efforts to promote first aid training, with 3 million people trained every year by the RCSC, he said.

"The International Federation trains nearly 20 million citizens in first aid every year, and it is thanks to national societies such as the Red Cross Society of China that we are all achieving this result together," Cassan said.

Previously IFRC, a global leading humanitarian relief organization, only awarded a different certificate for first aid to European countries. But over the past two years, the organization has been promoting first aid certification around the world, he said, adding that RCSC was the first national Red Cross society to be awarded the International First Aid Attestation after evaluations, including field tests.

"The attestation is not the final step," Cassan said. "We are going to continue to work together to increase the level of science in first aid."

Wang Haijing, former vice-president of RCSC, said attaining the certificate has greatly enhanced standardization of its first aid training so it matches international standards more closely.

"Next, we will intensify our training efforts and specify technique standards regarding international certificate training, including training curriculum, content and credits," he said.

"We will promote training so more people grasp first aid knowledge and skills to make contributions to the Healthy China strategy."

RCSC is a major nongovernmental organization dedicated to humanitarian relief in China, including emergency rescue efforts during natural disasters.

The membership of RCSC is expected to increase to 20 million by the end of 2024, an increase of 3 million from the current level, according to a plan released by the society earlier this month.