The start of the new year means fire service and public safety agencies have two months left to nominate team members for outstanding, heroic efforts during 2024.
The Missouri Department of Public Safety is accepting nominations for the Missouri Public Safety Medals, which will honor individual first responders, first responder teams and civilians for heroic acts performed in 2024. The awards are the Red, White and Blue Heart Award, Medal of Valor, Governor’s Medal, and the Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award.
The nomination deadline is Feb. 28, 2025. More information and nomination forms are available here: http://dps.mo.gov/medal/
Red, White and Blue Heart Award
The Red, White and Blue Heart Award has been introduced for serious injuries sustained in the line of duty by Missouri first responders beginning in the year 2021. The award may be presented to any Missouri peace officer, firefighter, paramedic, EMT or emergency first responder who under honorable circumstances is critically, seriously or fatally injured while performing official duties in the line of duty.
The annual award is to be conferred in recognition of first responders seriously injured and sustaining permanent impairment of health or death. The injury or condition must require long-term treatment by a medical professional and considerable loss of time from duty. In a fatality incident, the award will be presented to a family member.
Medal of Valor
The Medal of Valor is Missouri’s highest award recognizing public safety officers who exhibit exceptional courage, extraordinary decisiveness and presence of mind, and unusual swiftness of action, regardless of his or her personal safety, in the attempt to save or protect human life. The Medal of Valor is awarded annually by Missouri’s Governor after recommendations are submitted by the Medal of Valor Review Board. The board includes representatives from Missouri’s public safety disciplines and the general public.
To be eligible for the Medal of Valor, a person must have been serving a public agency, with or without compensation, as a firefighter, law enforcement officer or some emergency response role. State and local corrections, court and civil defense officers (emergency management personnel) are also eligible. The Medal of Valor was created in 2004 by Senate Bill 972 during the 92nd General Assembly. The first medals were awarded for acts of bravery performed during 2007.
Governor’s Medal
The Governor’s Medal is awarded to a group of public safety officers (an organized team that works and trains together, such as a unit, squad, company, task force, etc., or an ad hoc group of responders who work together during a single event) in recognition of acts above and beyond the call of normal duty during a critical incident or life-threatening situation in which the collective performance or teamwork of the group was essential to the successful resolution of the incident. The Governor’s Medal was first awarded in November 2018 for acts performed in 2017.
Award nominations are reviewed by the Missouri Medal of Valor Review Board, which recommends teams for recognition to the director of the Department of Public Safety.
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
The Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award is awarded to a civilian or group of civilians who provided valuable or courageous assistance to members of a Missouri public safety agency in an emergency situation or whose training of public safety officers can be directly linked to the saving of a life by a public safety agency. The Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award may be awarded to a citizen whose assistance was given without regard for their own personal welfare and had a positive bearing on the outcome of an incident. The Public Safety Civilian Partnership was first awarded in 2017 for acts performed in 2016.
Award nominations are reviewed by the Missouri Medal of Valor Review Board, which recommends individuals for recognition to the director of the Department of Public Safety.
