The deadline to apply for several IAFC awards is around the corner!
Nominations for the HeartSafe Community Award are due March 3, and nominations for the Safety, Health & Survival Awards are due March 31. The IAFC is also seeking nominations for the International Benjamin Franklin Fire Service Award for Valor and the Fire Service Award for Excellence. Nominations for both of these awards are due June 1.
Additional details on these IAFC awards are below and available on the IAFC Web site at www.iafc.org/awards. For a nomination form, visit www.iafc.org/awards or call IAFC at 703/273-0911.
HeartSafe Community Award
Nominations are due March 3
The Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Section of the IAFC and Medtronic, Inc., will present this annual award during Fire-Rescue Med, April 24-25 in Las Vegas, NV (for more on the conference, to go www.iafc.org/frm).
This award recognizes departments that have implemented successful Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) programs with unique and creative ideas. The award is given in two categories, honoring departments representing populations over 100,000 and another for departments with populations under 100,000.
Winners of the 2006 HeartSafe Community award winners receive a crystal engraved award, recognition, an all-expense paid trip to Fire-Rescue Med and a LIFEPAK AED donated to their agency from Medtronic.
Safety, Health & Survival Awards
Nominations are due March 31
Co-sponsored by the IAFC Safety, Health & Survival Section and the Fire Department Safety Officers? Association, the awards recognize both organizations and individuals of organizations (of any size or composition) who have made a significant contribution to the overall environment of health and safety in their organizations and/or the fire service. Awards will be presented at Fire-Rescue International Sept. 14-16 in Dallas (for more on the conference, to go www.iafc.org/fri), in three categories: safety officer, fire service executive and fire service organization.

Fire Service Award for Excellence
Nominations are due June 1
This longstanding and prestigious award co-sponsored by U.S. Safety Fire Technologies recognizes innovations and achievements in managing resources to reduce the loss of life and property from fire and other emergencies. Over the years, nominations have come from nearly every conceivable program area: management, fire prevention, personnel accountability systems and minority hiring practices, to name a few.
Seven finalists for the award are recognized with limited edition plaques at Fire-Rescue International Sept. 14-16 in Dallas (for more on the conference, to go www.iafc.org/fri)during the Commission on Fire Accreditation International Inc. (CFAI) annual awards reception. The international champion is selected from the finalists and presented with the grand award during the CFAI reception and also honored on stage during one of the IAFC general sessions with co-founders of the award, Chief Ronny J. Coleman, IAFC president 1988-89, and Mr. Wayne Boyd, president of U.S. Safety Fire Technologies.
Nominations require an abstract within a nomination form describing the project or program. Emphasis is on innovation and success in managing fire service resources. The program, project or activity must have been in place for at least one year prior to nomination.
International Benjamin Franklin Fire Service Award for Valor
Nominations are due June 1
This award, sponsored and co-presented by Motorola, recognizes the spirit of service, courage and heroism that is a tradition among the world's fire service professionals. The program is named for one of the first fire chiefs in the United States, Benjamin Franklin, who founded the volunteer Union Fire Company in Philadelphia in 1736.
The award is presented annually at Fire-Rescue International Sept. 14-16 in Dallas (for more on the conference, to go www.iafc.org/fri) to a deserving firefighter or firefighters for expert training, professional service, and dedication to duty displayed in the saving of a human life.
All active firefighters, career or volunteer, on- or off-duty, are eligible for award consideration. They need only to be nominated by their chief for an incident in which they saved a human life. The award recipient and his or her department chief are treated to a V.I.P. weekend at the conference. The recipient's chief is also presented with the Franklin Departmental Award for Leadership.