My friends it is official. Respondersafety.com and the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Fireman's Association are an overnight success. We just received word from the Congressional Fire Services Institute and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation that our association has been named the winner of the prestigious Senator Paul S. Sarbanes Fire Service Safety Leadership award.

Why you might ask do I call our association an 'overnight' success. Like many people who suddenly find themselves in the bright spotlight of fame and recognition, we have been laboring quietly over the past nine years to make a difference to the fire, police, and emergency medical workers in our nation; and around the world for that matter.

Beginning in 1998, our association has decided that it could make a difference in the area of highway safety for emergency responders. It was not long after the tragic death of Halfway, Maryland Fire Police Captain Joseph Kroboth, Sr. on Interstate Highway 81, that many of his friends and associates gathered in Halfway to come up with a way of honoring his memory by focusing on the type of incident that caused his death: a highway 'struck-by' incident.

Captain Kroboth was working the scene of a traffic accident on Interstate 81 in Washington County, Maryland and was struck by a passing motorist. The CVVFA realized that others involved in emergency services were dying while providing their valuable services to their communities.

It was at this initial meeting that the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Fireman’s Association formed the Emergency Responder Safety Institute (ERSI) committee and also launched our Internet outreach program known as ResponderSafety.com. We did this to promote our safety message.

Looking back at the early days when our White Paper was being created, I have felt that we were most fortunate that there were those in government who felt that our ideas had merit. We have been blessed with the necessary grant funding from astute, forward-thinking public servants who could see the rightness of our mission.

Our great success has come about thanks to the tireless efforts of many volunteers who have joined in our efforts. People who have come to believe in our mission have joined with us to insure a growing level of continuing success. The Sarbanes Award is important, in that it provides outside recognition regarding the importance of our mission to the emergency service world as a whole.

What makes the Sarbanes Award so important is the fact that it recognizes the efforts of the Senator to advance the cause of safety during his time in the Senate. Senator Sarbanes was a major force in the U.S. Congress, advocating for our nations fire and emergency services. We all recall the legislation he introduced in 1990 which established the National Fallen Firefighter's Foundation in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

There are a number of goals which have been put forward which exemplify the intent of the sponsors:

• Organizations must typify the importance of the Life Safety Initiatives created during the 2004 National Fire Summit.
• Organizations must become advocates for firefighter safety.
• Organizations must provide leadership in promoting firefighter health and safety at the local, state, or national level.
• Organizations must work to develop partnerships with other groups to advance the cause of firefighter health and safety.
• Organizations must engage government at all levels to create programs that foster firefighter health and safety programs.

Over the past several years our group traveled to venues around the nation to put forward our case for increased highway safety for first responders. We have worked as member of the National Traffic Incident Management Coalition developing the new National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management. It was our leadership that led to creation of American National Standards Institute (ANS)I 207 Public Safety Vest Standard.

We have also delivered scores of training courses to all levels of emergency responders. Along the way Respondersafety.com became the definitive web portal of highway incident scene safety information for the emergency response, and transportation communities.

It is important to note that this award is co-sponsored by the National Fallen Firefighter's Foundation and the Congressional Fire Service Institute. Corporate support for the award has been provided by VFIS, a Division of the Glatfelter Insurance Group and the State Farm Insurance Company.

We here at Respondersafety.com, the Emergency Response Safety Institute (ERSI) and the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Fireman's Association are justly proud of this recognition for our efforts. We are also proud of the training materials we created and are available for everyone at no cost though the web site.

Yes my friends, we are an overnight success and it only took us nine years to get here. We are hoping for many more years of success in helping the emergency response community to achieve an ever-increasing level of safety on the highways of America. Please excuse us for “crowing” about ourselves a little bit. We’re darn proud of our accomplishments and hope you our readers are too.