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The thin line marks today, 29 September 2026.

Disaster

World First Aid Day

World First Aid Day falls on the second Saturday of September. Red Cross and Red Crescent societies use it to put first aid in front of the public as an ordinary skill rather than a professional one, with street demonstrations, mass training sessions and school workshops. The IFRC sets a theme each year, and the goal behind it is one trained person in every household, school and workplace.

2027

11 September 2027

Expected

Expected date from the organiser’s standing rule. Confirm with the organiser nearer the time.

Organiser: IFRC Global First Aid Reference Centre

Read the organiser’s pageAdd to your calendarJSON

When it falls

Second Saturday of September, every year.

Also known as: WFAD.

Where it came from

World First Aid Day has been held on the second Saturday of September since 2003. It is coordinated by the Global First Aid Reference Centre, one of the reference centres of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which sets a theme each year and publishes a concept note and toolkit that National Societies adapt for their own events. The day supports the IFRC's First Aid Vision 2030 goal of at least one trained person in every household, school and workplace.

First observed in 2003.

The organiser’s account of the day

How organisations mark it

  • Run an open first aid session in a square, station or shopping centre and let people practise on a manikin.
  • Use the year's IFRC concept note and toolkit to shape school and workplace sessions.
  • Check that every workplace floor has a trained first aider and a stocked, in-date kit.
  • Refresh CPR, bleeding control and recovery position practice with staff or volunteers.

Why this exists

Disaster & climate

2 milliondeaths from weather, climate and water-related disasters, 1970 to 2021

Deaths from weather, climate and water-related hazards, 1970–2021 — worldwide, 2023. Source: World Meteorological Organization, Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water-related Hazards (1970–2021) (2023).

“The death toll is at 2 million, with 90% are in developing countries”

More figures for this hazard

ObservanceNextKindWhereHazards
Restart a Heart Day16 October 2026 ConfirmedDayWorldwideDisaster
National CPR and AED Awareness Week1–7 June 2027 ExpectedWeekUnited StatesDisaster
World Drowning Prevention Day25 July 2027 ExpectedDayWorldwideWaterChildren

Sources

  1. World First Aid Day — IFRC Global First Aid Reference Centre — www.globalfirstaidcentre.org, read 15 September 2026.
  2. World First Aid Day 2026 concept note (English) — GFARC — www.globalfirstaidcentre.org, read 15 September 2026.

Page last confirmed against the organiser on 15 September 2026.