After the end of the Second World War anaesthetists found that international travel became more widely available. This coupled with a desire to learn from others and exchange experiences led, through a series of other meetings, to the establishment of an Interim Committee which met in 1953 and 1954.

In 1955 the first World Congress of Anaesthesiologists was held at Scheveningen in the Netherlands and at the end of the Congress the WFSA was formed. 26 Societies were represented with a further 16 observing.

The original members in attendance were: Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain & Ireland, India, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

The observing countries were: Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Hawaii, Hungary, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Turkey, USA, USSR and Yugoslavia.