2020 IRIA Asia Announcement

Public Awareness Announcement

Reference:   Use of the acronym “IRIA” Trade Name by Unauthorized Organizations and Websites

International Rescue Instructors Association (IRIA.org), formerly known as the International Rescue Instructors Alliance,  owns and licenses numerous Trademarks™, Copyrights©, and Registered Trademark® which includes the acronym “IRIA” and is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, for the exclusive use by its membership.

International Rescue Instructors Association/Alliance began to operate formally in 1999, based on the work started in 1995 by Canadian and US rescue and safety instructors including Jim Segerstrom (USA), and Jim Lavalley (Canada) who are recognized as international court subject-matter experts in Swiftwater.

 

There is only one IRIA

The acronym “IRIA” was created by the founding members of the International Rescue Instructors Association/Alliance, and one can trace the acronym use back to 1984 when Rescue Instructors Association (RIA) was created.

It has come to our attention that organizations and websites have and are using a domain name similar to the IRIA.org brand name but have a slight difference.  Particularly of concern are organizations and websites based in Asia and Taiwan, where the acronym “IRIA” is being used with a slight change in one character thus looks striking similar to the original IRIA.org.

The organization(s) called “IRIA-ASIA.ORG” and “IRIA-ADVISER.ORG”, are using the acronym “IRIA” in their name which implies it has, or had a connection with the International Rescue Instructors Association/Alliance.

For the record, the organizations calling themselves “IRIA-ASIA.ORG” and/or “IRIA-ADVISER.ORG” are not members nor have an affiliation and relationship with the International Rescue Instructors Association/Alliance.

There is only one original IRIA.org; it’s the International Rescue Instructors Association.

For further information, please contact us.

Michael Stegemann
Managing Director

Email: man.dir@iria.org