2008 Award Recipients

Congratulations to the recipients of the
2008 Higgins & Langley Memorial Awards in Swiftwater Rescue

  • 2008 HIGGINS & LANGLEY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN SWIFTWATER RESCUE

    • Fire Captain Lawrence R. Collins, Los Angeles County Fire DepartmentIn recognition of the groundbreaking contributions made by Captain Collins to the field of swiftwater rescue as a visionary leader, author, and swiftwater rescue instructor. Captain Collins’s personal and professional dedication helped redefine the mission of the world fire service to include swiftwater and flood rescue response capability.

  • 2008 HIGGINS & LANGLEY MEMORIAL AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN THE FIELD OF SWIFTWATER RESCUE

    • Fire Chief Leonard Martin, Keeseville Volunteer Fire Department, Keeseville, New York

      In recognition of The Keeseville Volunteer Fire Department’s exemplary dedication and determination to develop and sustain a state-of-the-art swiftwater and flood rescue program, that others may live.

  • 2008 HIGGINS & LANGLEY PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AWARD IN SWIFTWATER RESCUE

    • San Diego Regional Aquatic Lifesaving Emergency Taskforce (SDR ALERT)
      • Oceanside Lifeguard Service
      • Oceanside Harbor Police
      • Oceanside Fire Department
      • San Diego Lifeguard Service
      • San Diego Fire-Rescue Department
      • Solana Beach Marine Safety Department
      • San Diego Harbor Police
      • San Diego Police, Mission Bay Harbor Unit
      • United States Coast Guard Sector San Diego
      • California State Department of Parks and Recreation, Lifeguard Service
      • Camp Pendleton Lifeguard Service
      • Camp Pendleton Fire Department
      • Coronado Lifeguard Service
      • City of Del Mar Lifeguards
      • Encinitas Fire and Marine Safety Department
      • Imperial Beach Lifeguard Service
      • Naval Air Station North Island Lifeguard Service
      • Elfin Forest Fire Department
      • San Pasqual Fire Department
      • San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, ASTREA
      • United States Boarder Patrol, San Diego Sector

      SDR ALERT has developed a model program for the regional coordination of and response to aquatic emergencies in San Diego County, CA, including swiftwater and flood rescue operations. Working cooperatively, agencies throughout the region have standardized training, operational guidelines and response plans, identified aquatic first responders, developed solutions for interoperability communications and agency response agreements, conducted intensive training exercises, and promoted education and public awareness. This exemplary, comprehensive aquatic lifesaving program needs to be replicated in communities worldwide.

    • The Chief Fire Officers Association, Management of Major Flood Event Research Project
      • UK:
        • Chief Fire Officer Paul Hayden, Team Leader
        • Paul Amos
        • Martin Bills
        • Martin Blunden
        • David M. Lane
        • Paul O’Sullivan
      • USA:
        • Jeff Cardwell
        • Jeff Dulin
        • Tim Rogers

      In recognition for developing a pioneering national swiftwater and flood rescue response model for the United Kingdom.

  • 2008 HIGGINS & LANGLEY SWIFTWATER RESCUE INCIDENT AWARD

    • Sergeant Kathryn Curtice, Fresno County Sheriff’s OfficeIn honor of the heroic rescue of two unconscious and unresponsive victims, a mother and her six year old daughter, who were being swept downstream in the powerful, cold current of the Kings River in Fresno County, California, on June, 16, 2007.
    • United States Coast Guard HH-65C Helicopter 6583, Group/Air Station, Humboldt Bay, California
      • Lieutenant Commander Daniel D. Unruh
      • Lieutenant Stephen T. Baxter
      • Aviation Electronics Technician 1st Class Mark Samaniego
      • Aviation Survival Technician 2nd Class Shawn M. Lesko

      In honor of the 17 April 2007 rescue by the crew of United States Coast Guard HH-65C Helicopter 6583, Group/Air Station Humboldt Bay, California, of an elderly gentleman whose vehicle plunged off of a 30-foot embankment and was lodged in the midst of treacherous rapids in the Smith River.

    • United States Coast Guard Station, Tillamook Bay, Oregon
      • Boatswains Mate 1st Class Thomas P. Molloy
      • Boatswains Mate 1st Class Corbin J. Ross
      • Boatswains Mate 1st Class Brian C. Trotter
      • Electricians Mate 1st Class Marcus L. Benally
      • Machinery Technician 1st Class Joe W. Majewski
      • Boatswains Mate 2nd Class Jon A. Beam
      • Boatswain Mate 2nd Class Conor A. Bennett
      • Machinery Technician 2nd Class Timothy P. Hurd
      • Seaman Catherine M. Hogan

      In honor of the rescue of 47 citizens and a dozen domestic animals from extremely treacherous, rising floodwaters in the communities of Tillamook, Bay City, and Garibaldi, Oregon by the United States Coast Guard, Station Tillamook Bay, on November 6-7 2006.

  • 2008 HIGGINS & LANGLEY SPECIAL COMMENDATION AWARD

    • Driver/Engineer Edward W. Miller, Colorado Springs Fire DepartmentIn recognition of Driver/Engineer Edward W. Miller’s exceptional leadership as a swiftwater rescue instructor and mentor, and for his heroic rescues of ten people from dangerous swift water.
    • United States Border Patrol, El Paso Sector, Swift Water Rescue Team
      • Frederick W. Webb, Team Commander, Instructor
      • Paul Klauss, Instructor
      • Isidro Trevino, Instructor
      • Albert Herrera, Instructor
      • Nicholas J. Veliz, Instructor
      • Gustavo Renteria, Tech I
      • Jose Padilla, Tech I
      • Julio Mendez, Tech I
      • William Jackson, Tech I

      In honor of an exemplary swiftwater rescue team that is responsible for the training of U.S. Border Patrol Agents assigned to the El Paso Sector, resulting in the documented rescues in 2007-08 of 182 people from the Rio Grande River, irrigation canals and flash floods in the El Paso, Texas, and Southern New Mexico area. Since its inception in 1997, in an effort to promote safety and reduce the death toll in the waterways throughout the region, team members have provided swiftwater rescue training to other local, state, and federal agencies, as well as emergency service agencies in Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.