Law Enforcement, Firefighters, and Emergency Medical Technician

National Awards for Public Servants

 

Each year, the Veterans of Foreign Wars selects emergency services persons, law enforcement officers and firefighters to receive VFW National Awards. Eligible candidates for each award are as follows:

Emergency Medical Technician National Award

Any individual who actively gives emergency medical treatment, provides rescue service or civil disaster assistance as a member of any public or volunteer company organized to give emergency medical care, provide rescue and civil disaster assistance to our nation's citizens.

Law Enforcement National Award

Any individual who serves in a municipal, county, state or federal unit tasked with enforcement of the laws pertaining to their area of responsibility. This award does not apply to individuals employed by private companies or security services.

 

Firefighters National Award

Any individual who actively fights fires as a member of any public or volunteer company organized to fight fires and give assistance to our nation's citizens.

 

Criteria for all National Awards:

Candidates must have demonstrated:

· Recognition by their colleagues or those they serve.

· Consistent excellence in the performance of their duties.

· Consistent dedication to their official responsibilities over a period of years and continuous growth in responsibilities and skills within their profession.

 

Documentation required for all candidates:

· Nomination letter containing the candidate's name, title, address, telephone and identifying the award for which the individual should be considered.

· One page resume of the candidate's overall background.

· One page resume of the candidate's background in their field.

· One page listing of the candidate's accomplishment and awards in their field.

· Photograph (preferably a head shot) of the candidate.

 

Nomination

The three nominations from each Department will receive the appropriate VFW national citation:

-VFW National Emergency Medical Technician Award

-VFW National Firefighter Award

-VFW National Law Enforcement Award

 

Post Safety Chairmen should submit a candidate for each of the three awards to their Department Headquarters. The Department must select a single candidate from all the Post entries for each of the three awards and submit that documentation to VFW National Headquarters by March 31.

 

Department Commanders are expected to arrange presentation of these awards at a venue chosen by the award recipient and outside the VFW to maximize public exposure of our awards (events such as the state meeting of the recipient's professional association, at their city council meeting or in front of their peers in their firehouse or police station are highly encouraged.