The Swiftwater Rescue Committee of the National Association for Search and Rescue is seeking nominations for the 2008 Higgins and Langley Memorial Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Swiftwater Rescue. This is the highest international honors presented for flood and swiftwater rescue.

In addition to individual incidents and acts of heroism, swiftwater-flood rescue team efforts; those who have dedicated years of service to developing and implementing swiftwater-flood rescue training programs; and public safety, media, and education efforts, will be considered for nomination.

The awards honor civilian rescuer, Earl Higgins, who lost his life in February of 1980 while attempting to save a child being swept away in the flood-swollen Los Angeles River, and firefighter/paramedic Jeffrey Langley of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, who lost his life in a helicopter accident in March of 1993.

The awards will be presented during the annual conference of the National Association for Search and Rescue, May 29 to June 1, 2008, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Nominations for the 2008 awards may include events and achievements in both 2006 and 2007 (Jan. 1, 2006 through Dec. 31, 2007). The nominations period for the awards opens Nov. 1. All nominations must be postmarked prior to January 1, 2008.

For more information, please contact: Matthew Mauzy, Secretary, Higgins and Langley Nominations Committee, PO Box 335, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514-0335, 919-967-1515 x1, nominations@higginsandlangley.org. Download nomination forms at higginsandlangley.org.