The International Red Cross

The Red Cross is an international organization which cares for people who are in need of help. A man in a Paris hospital who needs blood, a woman in Mexico who was injured in an earthquake, and a family in India that lost their home in a storm may all he aided by the Red Cross.

The Red Cross exists in almost every country around the globe. The world Red Cross organizations are sometimes called the Red Crescent, the Red Mogen David, the Sun, and the Red Lion. All of these agencies share a common goal of trying to help people in need.

The idea of forming an organization to help the sick and wounded during a war started with Jean Henri Dunant. In 1859, he observed how people were suffering on a battlefield in Italy. He wanted to help all the wounded people regardless of which side they were fighting for. The most important result of his work was an international treaty called the Geneva Convention. It protects prisoners of war, the sick and the wounded and other citizens during a war.

The American Red Cross was set up by Clara Barton in 1881. Today the Red Cross in the United States provides a number of services for the public, such as helping people in need, teaching first aid and providing blood.