2018 World First Aid Day: the Croatian Red Cross shares its expertise in first response to road crashes

Saturday 8 September was a special day. Across the globe, Red Cross and Red Crescent affiliates, National Societies, and other organizations celebrated the World First Aid Day, which, this year, focused on First Response to Road Crashes.

Road traffic injuries claim more than 1.34 million lives each year and are the leading cause of death among young people aged between 15 and 29 years. This affects families and communities, and has a huge impact on public health and development—the global cost of road traffic crashes is estimated to be around 3% of the world’s GDP.

In addition to policies and behaviours decreasing the risk of traffic crashes, a timely first aid response is key to victims’ survival.

Within the framework of the World First Aid Day, many events took place in different countries, but those organized by the Croatian Red Cross (Hrvatski Crveni Križ) stood out for their impact and presence across the nation. Thanks to the collaboration with local Red Cross branches and the Croatian Automobile Club, the Croatian Red Cross organized public events in numerous cities staging road crash simulations and instructing members of the public on first aid and first response techniques.

The magnitude of this effort was reflected by the interest of local and national media. Many newspapers and television stations picked up on these public events and produced reports highlighting the importance of first aid preparedness in case of emergency and the magnitude of road crash death and injury worldwide.