America's Health Responders - U.S. PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE COMMISSIONED CORPS
Commissioned Corps E-Bulletin
Call for Nominations - Health Services Responder of the Year Award
Deadline Date: 5 November 2010
The Health Services Officer (HSO) Responder of the Year Award was established in 2004 to recognize an HSO who has made extraordinary contributions to the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (Corps) and the Health Services category with regard to responding to critical events impacting the health of others.

The recipient of this award may earn this prestigious honor in a number of ways, including a combination of the following contributions:
  • Having one-time extraordinary impact on public health preparedness and response; and /or 
  • Having a career of contributions to emergency preparedness and/or disaster response; and/or
  • Having played a significant role in one or multiple deployments;
  • Having completed training and education applicable to preparedness and preparedness response;
  • Having participated in publications and/or presentation in the public arena related to preparedness and response; and
  • Having a significant impact on the mission of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Operating Division, Staff Division, or non-HHS organization to which the Corps officer is assigned; the deployment of the officer crucially affects his/her duty station.
The recipient of this award must also demonstrate a willingness to give credit to the Corps for deployment activities, including wearing the uniform with pride and distinction while deployed, crediting the Corps in presentations and publications, and exemplifying the roles and responsibilities of a Corps officer. Additionally, the nomination must demonstrate how the accomplishments are above and beyond the usual duties and responsibilities of the nominee per the nominee’s billet or job description.

Commissioned Corps Responder of the Year Award
In October of each year, the Commissioned Officers Association publishes a call for nominations, asking that each Chief Professional Officer submit one nomination for an officer to be considered for the Commissioned Corps Responder of the Year Award. These nominations are received by the Director of the Office of Force Readiness and Deployment no later than close of business on 31 December of that year. Nominees must be active duty or retired members of the Corps. In February of the following year, a selection committee convenes to review nominations and select the award winner.

Nominations must include:
  1. Nomination cover sheet.
  2. Narrative, not to exceed 2 pages (font size 10 to 12) that describes:
    • The nominee’s achievement(s) and the impact on the Nation’s health; and
    • The leadership of the nominee in the achievement(s) being cited, and how he/she serves as a role model to others.
  3. Current curriculum vitae (CV) and CV summary sheet.
  4. Please send nominations electronically to CDR Travis Fisher, USPHS at travis.fisher@ihs.gov 
  5. The nomination deadline date is Friday, 5 November 2010, by close of business. Late or incomplete nominations will not be considered.
The person selected for this distinguished award will be announced at the 2011 USPHS Scientific and Training Symposium in New Orleans, LA, on 19 June 2011, during the Health Services Category Day.
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Health and Human Services Public Health, Commissioned Corps Public Health, Commissioned Corps

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