National Award Given To Odenton Firefighter

ODENTON, MD — David (Dave) W. Lewis of the Odenton Volunteer Fire Company has received the 2020 National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) Chief James Seavey Health and Wellness Leadership Award. Lewis will be presented with the award during a special banquet held during the NVFC's October meeting in North Carolina.

The prestigious award recognizes Lewis for his service as a leader in creating and/or promoting emergency responder health and wellness programs or initiatives in areas including, but not limited to, firefighter cancer, heart health, behavioral health and overall health and wellness.

"Dave exemplifies the qualities represented by this award through his actions at a local, county, state and national level. He has always been an advocate for firefighter health, wellness and safety; however, his passion and commitment have become more evident in recent years," the department stated in a press release.

Lewis has held a number of committee positions within the Maryland State Firemen's Association (MSFA), eventually serving as the MSFA President in 2011-2012. As president, he reorganized the association’s safety committee and established a new committee, the cancer support committee. The safety committee was given increased responsibilities, advocating for health and safety practices across the state of Maryland. The new cancer support committee partnered with the Firefighter Cancer Support Network to provide a support structure for firefighters and their families who are going through cancer treatments.

As a member of the Maryland Fire Chiefs Association (MFCA) Training Committee, Lewis advocated for the delivery of awareness programs on health and safety matters. A decision was made in 2018 to split training from health and safety to form a new committee and Lewis was asked to co-chair the new health and safety committee in which capacity he pushed to educate firefighters about the dangers of cancer and suicide in the fire service.

At a national level, Lewis serves as one of two Maryland directors to the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC). As a member of the NVFC’s Health, Safety, and Training Committee, he seeks opportunities to advocate, develop and deliver health, wellness and safety programs across the country. He has been a presenter at three of the five Health and Safety Training Summits hosted by the NVFC. He was one of the authors of the NVFC’s paper, “Volunteer Fire Service Culture: Essential Strategies for Success.” Following the publication of this paper, Dave was contracted by the NVFC to develop a full-day classroom presentation based upon the paper.

Lewis also has assisted in the development of training programs to accompany the Yellow Ribbon Report on mental wellness and the Lavender Ribbon Report on actions to prevent firefighter cancer as part of the partnership established between NVFC and the International Association of Fire Chiefs, Volunteer and Combination Officers Section (IAFC/VCOS). He has delivered training programs across Maryland and the country to help spread the message of these two critical firefighter health and safety matters.