The National Fire Chiefs Council supports the campaign calling for emergency service workers to be recognised posthumously. 

The campaign has been launched by the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW), the Police Superintendents’ Association and the Prison Officers’ Association.  

NFCC Chair Mark Hardingham spoke to BBC Breakfast about the campaign: ““Any emergency services worker who loses their life in the line of duty is a stark reminder of how they put their lives at risk each and every day.  

“The National Fire Chiefs Council is fully supportive of emergency services staff being formally recognised for their ultimate sacrifice. To have such devastating losses commemorated might offer some comfort to their family and friends.

“The reality is every day when an emergency service worker leaves for a shift, they do so knowing they may well have to put themselves in significant danger to protect the lives of others. 

The campaign is calling for unique recognition for emergency service workers who make the ultimate sacrifice and is asking the government to create a new posthumously awarded ‘medal’. 

This would mean people would be awarded a medal similar in status to the Elizabeth Cross. This is awarded to the bereaved relatives of members of the British Armed Forces, who were killed in military action. 

The National Firefighter Memorial in London recognises the thousand firefighters who died in the second world war (1,000 names), while there is a lasting memorial at the National Arboretum to the contribution made by all these firefighters. 

Where a member of the fire and rescue service is killed or seriously injured then every fire service has a wide range of support in place for their families and fire service colleagues. This is vital to provide support and help people come to terms with such tragedies. This is also provided by the Fire Fighters Charity along with unions and the wider fire sector. 

The Firefighters Memorial Trust awards their Firefighters Memorial Medal to the next of kin of members of the fire and rescue service who died as a result of their duties. The engraved medal is mounted within a framed certificate and presented on a suitable occasion, agreed by the family.