DDB and Red Cross Turn Singapore’s 1.4 Million Instagrammers into Life-Savers

DDB Group Singapore and the Singapore Red Cross have joined hands to release six bite-sized instructional first aid videos on Instagram. The initiative, which empowers Singaporeans to respond to an emergency and potentially save a life, marks World First Aid Day on Saturday 9 September.

“In an emergency, every second matters. Faster response rates significantly increase a person’s chance of survival,” said Chris Chiu, Chief Creative Officer at DDB Group Singapore. “However, more often than not, access to life-saving knowledge can be hard to follow and difficult to access. With 63 per cent of Singaporeans on Instagram, the opportunity is huge.”

The dynamic, easy-to-follow videos each addresses one of the six common conditions of emergencies in Singapore, including cardiac arrest, seizure, choking, severe bleeding, stroke and burn wounds. Instagrammers simply tap the ‘save for later’ button to download the videos into their accounts for easy access in case of an emergency. This is the first time the Instagram save button has been used as a life-saving tool. Users can also help spread the word by sharing the videos with their followers, tagging @sgredcross, and including hashtags #instasave and #savenowtosavelater.

Through this campaign, the Singapore Red Cross is hoping to equip every Singaporean Instagrammer with life-saving first aid skills, and turn a photo-sharing community into a life-saving workforce. To boost reach and visibility of the content, brands in Singapore are being sought to support the initiative through their Instagram accounts.

"We are pleased to collaborate with DDB Singapore on this innovative campaign, and I would like to thank the team for its efforts in advocating first aid learning. I hope the community will find these neat videos, starring our volunteer first aiders, helpful and save them for use in case of an emergency," said Mr. Benjamin William, Secretary General and CEO for the Singapore Red Cross.

Desmond Lee, Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for National Development, officially launched the campaign onstage at the Singapore Red Cross World First Aid Day Carnival on 9 September.