1903

Clara Barton initiates Red Cross first aid program.
In August 1903, American Red Cross president Clara Barton forms a committee to establish first aid instruction among the nation's industrial workers, where conditions are dangerous and accidents and deaths frequent. After Clara Barton resigns from the American Red Cross in 1904, the fledgling first aid program is disbanded.

1910

First aid is introduced as a national Red Cross program.
Under the supervision of Major Charles Lynch, the American Red Cross reestablishes its First Aid Department and co-sponsors classes focusing on industrial safety. Dr. Mathew J. Shields "the father of first aid" in the United States, is hired to assist. The courses are largely based on Dr. Shields' work with miners in Jermyn, Pennsylvania, birthplace of first aid instruction for the American public. The department receives a donation of railroad cars from the Pullman Company, and a traveling program is established for railroad employees.

1914

The Red Cross Life Saving Corps and "the waterproofing of America" begins.
Commodore Wilbert E. Longfellow, known as "the amiable whale," develops the Learn-to-Swim Program and creates the National Red Cross Life Saving Corps. The first lifesaving station in Pablo Beach, Florida, is quickly followed by others. These early water safety activities develop into a progression of training "bathers to be swimmers and swimmers to be lifesavers."

1922

National first aid and water safety training institutes established.
These 8- to-10 day high-concentration training events (later called aquatic schools) provide instructors, camp counselors, recreational leaders and others with specialized skills in first aid, lifesaving, small boat and canoe handling, and waterfront practices.

1925

First Aid Lay Instructor Program inaugurated.
Prior to this program, first aid is taught only by physicians, drastically restricting the number of qualified first aid instructors. Using lay instructors, which greatly increases capacity, is the result of a successful experimental program conducted between 1923 and 1924 with the Bell Telephone Companies.

1930's

Driving and, subsequently, highway fatalities increase; the Red Cross sets up highway emergency first aid stations.
In 1930, more than 31,000 Americans die on the nation's roads, and one million receive disabling injuries. By 1936, 867 stations are spread along the country's highways to aid and possibly cut the toll of motor vehicle deaths. Emergency first aid stations are housed in existing facilities ranging from stores and inns to filling stations and firehouses. Chapters provide first aid training to ensure assistance is within reach of any accident victim. Mobile units, added to the program in 1936, are composed of fleets of trucks, highway patrol cars, and other vehicles. By 1939, there are nearly 5,000 posts and mobile units with trained volunteers.

1935

Accident Prevention Program introduced.
The accident prevention program is established at a national level. A special emphasis is placed on home and farm accident prevention.

1938-1945

World War II era shows unprecedented growth in first aid instruction.
Pre-war training from 1938 to 1940 increases in anticipation of emergencies. In 1940 there are 21,600 first aid instructors, but by 1943 there are 169,000. The number of instructors drops to 27,800 by 1946.

1941

Minutes after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Red Cross first aid teams respond.
"The sky seemed so full of planes. Somebody behind me said proudly, 'These are swell maneuvers for a Sunday morning.' It wasn't until black smoke began to rise and blot out the whole harbor that a man nearby yelled, 'Maneuvers nothing. It's the real thing!'" Months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, American Red Cross volunteers conducted air raid drills and set up 10 emergency medical stations.

1952

Training to handle small craft is established.
Courses on the handling of small craft are developed as part of the larger water safety program, including sailing, outboard boating, rowing, canoeing and kayaking.

1958

Mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing is introduced.
This method, first used on young children and infants, is introduced as a resuscitation method for the general population. Scientific studies show it is much more effective than manual methods (back-pressure-arm-lift and chest-pressure-arm-lift) used for decades.

1969

Standard First Aid Course is redesigned as a multimedia first aid course.
The 10-hour Standard First Aid Course is redesigned as an 8-hour course (one workday) following a successful experiment funded by Western Bell. Courses consist of filmed demos, self-instructional workbooks and guided group practice. These new educational approaches lead to the current system of video-driven courses with unique instructor-led practice and testing.

1970

The Red Cross teams with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The American Red Cross Safety Services teams with OSHA to provide first aid training for the American workforce to meet the newly enacted Occupational Safety and Health Act.

1975

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is introduced as a Red Cross program.
The American Red Cross works closely with the National Academy of Sciences and the American Heart Association during the 1960s and mid-1970s to develop standards to teach CPR. CPR is considered the most effective way to revive, or maintain the breathing and blood flow, of a person in cardiac arrest until emergency medical care is available.

1976

Abdominal thrusts incorporated into Red Cross training.
This new first aid procedure is introduced at the 1976 national Red Cross Convention in Portland, Oregon, with a supplemental booklet for use in Red Cross courses. Information in the booklet is later incorporated in the 1979 CPR and Emergency Cardiac Care Guidelines and Standards and published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

1988

The Red Cross launches the HIV/AIDS Prevention Program.
By the mid-1980s, AIDS is a modern-day public health epidemic. It is one of the leading causes of death for Americans between the ages of 25 and 44. The Red Cross works in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to educate Americans about how to stop the transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

1995

New lifeguard training program developed.
The Red Cross updates its lifeguard training program, reflecting input from more than 27,000 Red Cross lifeguarding instructors. The new course places greater emphasis on surveillance techniques and training because many drownings-the second leading cause of death by injury for children under age 14-occurs during brief lapses in supervision. During the year, 162,000 people enroll in the Red Cross lifeguard programs.

1998

Automated external defibrillator (AED) training program begins.
An AED is a device that can restart a heart that has stopped beating effectively. Early defibrillation is a critical link in the cardiac chain of survival, and widespread use of AEDs is crucial to achieving early defibrillation. The Red Cross offers training on the new device and champions public access to defibrillation.

2000

The Cardiac Arrest Survival Act is signed into law.
AEDs are placed in all federal buildings to combat sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), the leading killer of adults in America. The primary cause of SCA is ventricular fibrillation, a life-threatening condition in which the heart's normal electrical signals become irregular, causing the heart to stop pumping blood effectively. Defibrillation restores the heart's normal rhythm by applying an electrical shock. An estimated 50,000 deaths could be prevented each year through widespread deployment of AEDs in public places.

2001-Present

Red Cross releases a new lifeguarding program.
The program offers a variety of features including shorter instruction time, more skills-based rescue scenarios, and optional modules such as AED, Oxygen Administration and Waterfront Lifeguarding. The new program also incorporates the Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) 2000 guidelines.

CPR bill is introduced in U.S. Congress.
U.S. Representatives Lois Capps (D-CA) and Mark Foley (R-FL) introduce a bipartisan bill that will allocate funds for CPR education in public schools.