About the Award | Award Goals | Award Eligibility | Selection Committee | Award Submission | Past Recipients

The Senator Paul S. Sarbanes Fire Service Safety Leadership Award is co-sponsored by the Congressional Fire Services Institute and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.  The award recognizes organizations for their outstanding contributions to firefighter health and safety.  It is named in honor of Senator Paul Sarbanes (Ret) of Maryland who retired from the U.S. Senate in 2006 following a distinguished 36-year career in Congress. 

Senator Sarbanes served as Chairman of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, advocating for our nation’s fire and emergency services.  In 1997, he was the recipient of the CFSI Legislator of the Year, the highest legislative award presented on behalf of our nation’s one million firefighters.  In 1990, Senator Sarbanes introduced the legislation that created the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.  A tireless advocate for the Foundation, Senator Sarbanes was its staunchest supporter on Capitol Hill, lending his support to help survivors overcome the loss of their fallen heroes.

The first presentation of the Senator Paul S. Sarbanes Fire Service Safety Leadership Award took place at the 19th Annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner on March 29, 2007 in Washington, DC.  A number of outstanding nominations were submitted addressing a wide spectrum of health and safety initiatives being conducted by fire and life safety organizations throughout the country.  Selecting one organization for top honors does not in anyway minimize the importance and contributions of the other programs.  In fact, every fire department and organization throughout the country that are making conscious efforts to actively promote and address firefighter health and safety are deserving of recognition.

The following are narratives for a number of outstanding initiatives we would like to share.  It is our hope that fire service leaders will read about these programs and gain from them a desire to develop initiatives of their own to enhance the level of health and safety within their own departments. 

Through this award program, we hope to spawn a greater desire for fire departments and associations to help reduce the number of firefighter deaths and injuries.  Our goal is for everyone to go home. 

The award program was made possible by the generous support of State Farm Insurance and VFIS, our corporate co-sponsors.

Award Goals

Each year, a public safety organization can be recommended to receive the Senator Paul S. Sarbanes Fire Service
Safety Leadership Award. Organizations nominated for the award should exemplify one or more of the following
goals:

• Recognition of the Life Safety Initiatives originally developed by the American fire service during the 2004
  National Fire Service Summit hosted by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
• Recognizing the need to address firefighter health and safety and becoming an advocate for this cause.
• Leadership in promoting and supporting firefighter health and safety initiatives at the local, state or national
  level.
• Reaching out to other organizations and developing partnerships to further the cause of firefighter health and
  safety.
• Engaging government leaders at all levels to work together for changes and for the establishment of government
  programs that can enhance the personal safety of firefighters.

Award Eligibility

• A candidate organization can be, but is not limited to, a fire department or other government agency, trade
  association, labor organization, non-profit organization, foundation or other deserving organization or
  company.
• The actions or achievements for which the candidate is being considered must have made a positive impact in
  promoting firefighter health and safety at the local, state or national level.
• The nomination must include at least two letters of support from elected officials who are familiar with the
  organization’s leadership. It is not imperative that the elected officials serve at the same level (i.e., local, state
  or federal).

Selection Committee

The Selection Committee is comprised of three Board Members each from the Congressional Fire Services
Institute and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, and the Chairperson of the CFSI National Advisory
Committee, who will serve as Chair of the Selection Committee. The award recipient will be the sole decision of
the Selection Committee.

Award Submission

• The recipient of the Senator Paul S. Sarbanes Fire Service Safety Leadership Award will be honored at the
  annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner held each spring in Washington, D.C.
• The winning organization will receive a trip for two representatives to Washington, DC to attend the dinner.
  This includes airfare and hotel accommodations.
• To be considered for this award, the organization can submit its own nomination or be nominated by someone
  outside their organization. Click here for application.
• An abstract of between 200-500 words detailing how the candidate has successfully contributed to the goal
  set forth in this award must be included with the application form. The initiative for which the candidate is
  being recognized can be specific to a fire department, or address firefighter health and safety at the state or
  national level. Moreover, the application may include any statistical or analytical data available illustrating the
  effectiveness of the program.
• Candidate nominations must be received by February 21st, 2008 at the CFSI office: Senator Paul S.
  Sarbanes Fire Service Safety Leadership Award, c/o CFSI, 900 Second Street, NE, Suite 303, Washington,
  DC, 20002.

2007 AWARD RECIPIENT

Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen’s Association
Approximately nine years ago, the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen’s Association developed the Emergency Responder Safety Institute to educate and inform all responders about the hazards of roadway operations and to promote best practices, policies, and procedures to minimize injuries and deaths to responders.  The program is nationally recognized, featuring its own website – ResponderSafety.Com – and has a cadre of instructors traveling the nation presenting safety classes to hundreds of firefighters and other responders.  Through the work of the institute, best practices and national standards have been developed covering all phases of response for all emergency responders at roadside incident.  Additional information about the Emergency Responder Safety Institute is located at http://www.respondersafety.com/. 

Meritorious RECOGNITION

National Volunteer Fire Council
In 2003, the National Volunteer Fire Council launched the Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program as a proactive measure to reverse the terrible trend in firefighter deaths resulting from heart attacks.  The program promotes health awareness and education, fitness, and nutrition in the emergency services.  Since then, NVFC has been taking the program to trade shows throughout the country to offer free health screenings, cooking demonstrations and health information to firefighters.  To date, the program has screened over 12,000 firefighters and emergency services personnel, contributing to saving lives by alerting firefighters to potentially harmful levels of major heart disease risk factors.  For additional information about the Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program please visit http://www.healthy-firefighter.org/.

People’s Burn Foundation
In April 2006 at FDIC in Indianapolis, the People’s Burn Foundation (PBF) launched a new and innovative way of training and educating firefighters and other first responders on burn prevention and the reality of burn injury.  To Hell and Back is an award-winning documentary that follows a yearlong recovery of four individuals who suffered severe burns in a fire that occurred on a freeway in Indianapolis in 2003.  Using the documentary as the anchor, the People’s Burn Foundation developed a curriculum program for firefighters on burn safety that was incorporated into the DVD.  PBF has distributed the DVD to 38,000 fire departments throughout the nation at no cost.  Over 5,000 departments have communicated to PBF that they are using the program, which is also available on the internet.  PBF received a FIRE Act grant to help underwrite the program.  The web address for PBF is www.peoplesburnfoundation.org, which contains information on To Hell and Back and how you can receive a copy of the DVD.

Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company
In 2004, Fireman’s Fund Insurance launched its Fireman’s Fund Heritage Program, awarding millions of dollars each year to fire departments and fire service organizations.  As part of this program, Fireman’s Fund awarded more than $1 million to support critical fire service efforts to reduce line-of-duty deaths and improve firefighter safety.  The program awarded $329,000 to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to help develop the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives and training curriculum sent to 30,000 fire departments across the country.  It provided a $644,000 grant to help create the National Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting System, led by the International Association of Fire Chiefs.  The National Volunteer Fire Council was the recipient of a $175,000 Fireman’s Fund grant for its Heart Healthy Initiative.  In 2006, Fireman’s Fund produced Into the Fire, a documentary on the fire service as told by firefighters themselves.  Through screenings of the film and sales of DVDs and memorabilia, more than $100,000 has already been raised for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s Into the Fire fund, which will help provide fire departments needed equipment.  Fireman’s Fund website (http://www.firemansfund.com) provides comprehensive information about their Heritage program.

Griffin (GA) Fire and Rescue Department
In 2004, the Griffin Fire and Rescue Department initiated Project Omni – Coming Full Circle for Firefighter Safety.  It is a comprehensive approach to enhancing the wellness and safety of the department’s personnel.  To ensure full implementation of the program, the Department sought and received full support from the local elected officials.  Three years after the program was launched, the department has completed a number of its objectives including: