The forerunner of the IRIA was founded in 1984 by a number of rescue specialists based on the demands in the industry. In 1990 it became the International Rescue Instructors Association. The credibility or the groups’ strength was based on, the informal “membership” of a number of subject matter experts, in their various fields. This group developed a basic philosophy for rescue training and the concept of the Absolutes.

Prior to 1999, this group was an informal, unstructured network of instructors and subject matter experts that provided an “independent ” group as an “informal backing” for the Certificates of Attendance and Participation given to people who took their workshops.

In 1999 a number of instructors who were interested in meaningful, professional training and real certification standards committed to formalizing the IRIA. It began to be known as the International Rescue Instructors Authority in Canada, based on the work Canadian and US instructors had begun in 1995.

The continued demand for a credible, risk management standards based organization resulted in the creation of a formal entity in 2005, the appointment of an Executive Director and continued growth in developing the structure for a true international certification program.