Bandage Battles: The American Red Cross and the Politics of Emergency Response on the Eve of World War I

A century ago, first-aid instruction enjoyed sudden popularity on both sides of the Atlantic. In Britain and the Dominions, including Canada, classes were organised by the St. John Ambulance Association, while on the European continent several sophisticated national and municipal lifesaving associations rapidly outstripped the St. John model. This article, which concentrates on hitherto neglected developments in the United States, seeks to establish similarities and differences within a comparative framework. Voluntarism, militarism, and modernity all receive attention, as does the question of bourgeois anxiety, seen by Roger Cooter as an important factor in creating "the moment of the accident."