Edito of the Global First Aid Reference Centre Newsletter

This year « 2022 » is a very special year for the Global First Aid Reference Centre (GFARC), it marks our 10th anniversary providing global first aid support to all Red Cross / Red Crescent National Societies. As a result of a fruitful partnership between the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the French Red Cross, the European Centre for First Aid Education, already operated by the French Red Cross, became a global ‘centre of excellence’ in 2012 aiming to make people and communities more resilient using First Aid, both in everyday accidents and in exceptional situations.

With first aid being the common service that all National Societies provide to their communities. It brings to me and my team a great pleasure working and serving this great cause.

And it is with your support and help that we were able to reach more than 200 million people through first aid education, training, and services at the community level over the past 10 years. The GFARC’s team works with a great belief in what we do and I am proud of what the centre was able to achieve in this period but most importantly for creating a professional and human link with National Societies.

We said it before and we will always say it, the GFARC will always be at the service of  National Societies, we are here to respond to your requests and help each other create a safer world. The Network’s priorities are also our priorities. This year was very rewarding as a new First Aid Policy and First Aid Vision for 2030 were adopted during our General Assembly to achieve an engagement towards a renewed commitment to provide first aid services.  

Therefore, for the next decade, we are eager to expand our work and to continue our journey of worldwide first aid support joining efforts to serve our greatest goal: to make the citizen more confident and active in dealing with accidents.

Finally, in this special occasion, I would like to particularly thank all National Societies for their great collaboration and engagement. I want to take the time to acknowledge and appreciate the devotedness of my colleagues, distance collaborators, partners, volunteers and regional offices. Thank you for all the support and efforts you put into the First Aid file.

It’s been a decade since we were here for you and we hope we’ll be sharing many more years. Your dedication to first aid is what keeps us going; we couldn’t have done it without YOU!

It’s been a decade since we were here for you and we hope we’ll be sharing many more years. Your dedication to first aid is what keeps us going; we couldn’t have done it without YOU!

We look forward to sharing our journey together for the upcoming years and to keep high the RCRC spirit.