Higgins and Langley Awards

Thank you to all your award receipients who have received these international awards. Much appreciated.

I am proud to be associated with this fine awards program. The mission of the H & L Awards is to recognize our first responders and others who save the lives of people caught in switfwater and flooding situations. Many lives have been saved by the award winners. Please support them!

H&L is a legacy award program serving a variety of international water rescue professionals

The Higgins and Langley Memorial Awards honor those who dedicate their profession towards saving the lives of others, but it also begins with their own safety. We appreciate honoring those who are also at risk of death or loss trying their best to recovery those in need internationally. Thank you.

A great award that recognizes proper training and preparedness in the dynamic and potentially dangerous field of swift water rescue

The Higgins and Langley board and organization is one of the most passionate organizations I have ever come across. The members go above and beyond in getting the word out about water safety and drowning prevention. They also do a wonderful job in recognizing those who put their life on the line to save others in water rescues.

I lost my son in the summer of 09. As many people feel after loosing a love one in a (sometimes) preventable accident, like drowning, I felt the compelling need to make sense of my son’s death by trying to do something to help prevent other families from experiencing the same loss. My search to make a difference took me to our local fire department in Albany Oregon where I talked to Keith Gillespie who told me of Drowning Support Network and gave me Nancy Riggs contact information. I contacted Nancy Rigg, founder of Higgins And Langley Memorial and Education Fund, DSN and DSN Advocacy. Nancy has offered great support and went a step farther to introduce me to Taneka Burwell-Means, who is with American Medical Response and is the River Rescue Program Specialist here in Oregon. I have hopes that this new connection will help me in my unfailing desire to make a greater awareness of open water swimming safety to teens, young adults, and parents, by expanding this program at other river recreational sites. I have learned about other programs and other agencies that are doing their part in making our children safer in all areas of water recreation through DSN. This is only part of what they do and for me I feel encouraged because of the support and help I have received from them. DSN helped get me connected to others who had shared the same type of loss and helped me to feel not alone. Thank you for all you do ~

As one who has lost a loved on to a drowning accident I found this organization through Drowning Support Network. This online support has been a wonderful support in validating feelings, understanding the process and begin my healing journey. To know that others understand first hand what you are going through makes a huge difference and helps to lift the weight.
Last year, we started an organization in our area for drowning prevention. Through the knowledge and experience of the Higgins and Langley Foundation members and Nancy Rigg we were guided through many necesary steps to get set up. The DSN Advocacy group has offered many resources, answers, support and encouragement to help in this journey as well. I am so thankful and blessed to have benefited from many aspects of this foundation.

The Higgins and Langley Memorial and Education Fund sponsors many worthy programs, including the Higgins & Langley Memorial Awards in Swiftwater Rescue. These awards honor outstanding achievement in the technical rescue discipline of swiftwater and flood rescue. They are not heroism awards, but rather recognize preparedness, teamwork, and a job well done, sometimes under extreme conditions, where training is vital to the success of rescue missions, as well as the safety of rescue personnel.

The awards are named in honor of Earl Higgins, a writer and filmmaker who lost his life in 1980 while rescuing a child who was swept down the flood-swollen Los Angeles River, and Jeffrey Langley, a Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighter-paramedic and swiftwater rescue pioneer, who lost his life in a helicopter incident in 1993.

In addition to the awards, the Fund sponsors the Drowning Support Network, which lends guidance to families who have lost loved ones to drowning or in other aquatic accidents. Through DSN Advocacy, we promote drowning prevention and water safety awareness programs.

The Fund was established in 1993, and for a very small, all volunteer nonprofit organization, awesome work is achieved worldwide. I am so proud of this nonprofit and the many dedicated volunteers and sponsors who have ensured its continuation year after year.