The Finnish Red Cross (FRC, , ) is an independent member of the

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 191 member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disas ...

, which is one of the biggest and best-known international organisations in the world and in the field of

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

. FRC has over 71,000 members and around 30,000 active volunteers in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. FRC consists of 12 regional chapters and 433 local branches throughout the country. The current

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

is Eero Rämö. At the end of 2022, the FRC employed 787 people, of which 204 worked at the headquarters in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. The Finnish Red Cross is based on

volunteering Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergenc ...

and has branches in almost every

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in Finland. The

organisational structure An organizational structure defines how activities such as task allocation, coordination, and supervision are directed toward the achievement of organizational aims. Organizational structure affects organizational action and provides the founda ...

has three layers: local branches, regional chapters, and the national headquarters. At the local level, the activities of the branches are determined to a large part by how dedicated their members are.

History

The Finnish Red Cross was founded on May 7, 1877, to care for the wounded and sick soldiers of the Finnish Guard in the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

. The FRC was recognized by the

ICRC The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...

in 1920 and became a member of

IFRC The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 191 member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disast ...

in 1922, when

ratified the

Geneva Conventions upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian t ...

. In 1948, the FRC took the operational responsibility of the

blood transfusion Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's Circulatory system, circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used ...

services in Finland, which had been operated by the Finnish Scouts since 1935. The FRC Blood Service is a legally independent organization.

Domestic operations

The Blood Service complements the

national health services The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern Ireland) which was created s ...

and is at the same time an important component of FRC's overall structure. The FRC also runs a national

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

helpline and organises campaigns. In addition, it trains and finds support persons for HIV infected and their families. The Finnish Red Cross Drug and Alcohol programme includes prevention work and early intervention. FRC has

volunteers Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergenc ...

who act as counsellors in schools and other communities in their own expertise. At the summertime they will be on call almost at hundred of festivals discussing intoxicant use. The FRC holds a

fundraiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

known as Hunger Day every autumn, usually in September. The campaign has an annual theme; in 2006, people were reminded how

desertification Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This i ...

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

ing and storms most affect the children under five years of age. On the day fundraisers can be seen in front of

grocery stores A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym f ...

and other public places. In schools

school meals A school meal (whether it is a breakfast, lunch, or evening meal) is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world offer various kinds of schoo ...

can be reduced and served, for example, without salad, bread or milk. The FRC trains over 80,000 people yearly on the

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with a medical emergency, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery until medical services arrive. First aid is gener ...

and

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure used during cardiac or respiratory arrest that involves chest compressions, often combined with artificial ventilation, to preserve brain function and maintain circulation until sp ...

courses for the general public and companies. FRC has more than 550 first aid groups around the country with more than 8,000 volunteers. These groups are on duty daily in the majority of public events in

. They can also help in

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

when requested by the authorities. FRC also coordinates the Voluntary Rescue Service which is formed by over 40

civic organisations Civic is something related to a city or municipality. It also can refer to multiple other things: Civic or CIVIC can also refer to: General *Honda Civic, a car produced by the Honda Motor Co. *Civics, the science of comparative government *Civic e ...

and over 30,000 volunteers. The FRC has a national emergency group of psychologists which organises and coordinates psycho-social support in situations they are needed, for example after the

Jokela school shooting The Jokela school shooting, also known as the Jokela High School massacre, occurred on 7 November 2007, at Jokela High School in the town of Jokela, Tuusula, Finland. The gunman, 18-year-old Pekka-Eric Auvinen, entered the school that morning ...

in 2007. FRC's Disaster Relief Fund is used to give assistance in accidents and due to social reasons. Domestic aid was about

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

3.6 million (US$955,000) in 2001.

Finnish Red Cross youth

The organisation also has youth programs and youth based operations. Members between 13 and 29 years of age make up 10% of members and operate at all levels of the organisation. It was decided in the Finnish Red Cross 2008 national meeting that youth work will be supported also in the future, and that the goal for 2011 is to gain 5% more youth members.

International operations

The Finnish Red Cross gives

international aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Th ...

–

personnel Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

funds Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm us ...

, material – in response to appeals from the International Movement. There are two main sources for funds: FRC's Disaster Relief Fund and the

Finnish government The Finnish Government (; ; ) is the executive branch and cabinet of Finland, which directs the politics of Finland and is the main source of legislation proposed to the Parliament. The Government has collective ministerial responsibility an ...

. In recent years, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

has also provided funds. Disaster relief is given to victims of

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, conflict and

natural disasters A natural disaster is the very harmful impact on a society or community brought by natural phenomenon or Hazard#Natural hazard, hazard. Some examples of natural hazards include avalanches, droughts, earthquakes, floods, heat waves, landslides ...

. Development cooperation improves the capacities and

disaster preparedness Emergency management (also Disaster management) is a science and a system charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actua ...

of newly established sister societies or those with fewer resources. The FRC maintains its own Logistics Centre and International Personnel Reserve in Finland. The Disaster Relief Fund provides funds when needed. Funds are collected continuously and preferably as non- earmarked. FRC's International Personnel Reserve comprises about 600 professionals trained on FRC's basic and further training courses. Approximately 100 of them work in international assignments every year. FRC is also a member organisation of the

European Council on Refugees and Exiles The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) is an alliance of 127 NGOs across 40 European countries established in 1974. ECRE’s mission is to protect and advance the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and other forcibly displaced perso ...

(ECRE) and Reuter's AlertNet network.

References

External links

*
Finnish Red Cross Blood ServiceFRC's Disaster Relief FundDare to Care – The Finnish Red Cross youth pages
{{Authority control Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies 1877 establishments in Finland Organizations established in 1877 Organisations based in Helsinki Medical and health organisations based in Finland