2011 Hickey Award Goes to Thomas Herz

Thomas W. Herz is the recipient of the 2011 Joe Hickey Award, which honors a firefighter or firefighter burn foundation who provides assistance to burn survivors, demonstrates a commitment to improve burn care through all phases of recovery, and works to carry on the mission of the Society and the local burn community. The honoree must follow the late firefighterJoe Hickey's philosophy of placing the wellbeing of burn survivors above all, as his or her top priority.

Less than 3 years after joining  the Baltimore City Fire Department in1967, Tom found himself trapped while fighting a residential fire. As a result of his exposure to temperatures in excess of 1400 degrees, he sustained severe burns over 75% of his body. The extent of the injuries caused him to be hospitalized for 8-1/2 months and to undergo 23 grafting and reconstructive operations.

Tom returned to active duty on July 12, 1971, and spent the next 3 years in the communications and community relations divisions. In 1974 he was promoted to lieutenant and assigned to the position of burn injury officer on the chief of the fire department’s staff. His primary responsibility in that position, which he held until his retirement in 1976, was to serve as liaison between the fire department and the Baltimore Regional Burn Center (now the Johns Hopkins Burn Center), where he was instrumental in establishing the first burn survivor support group. (Tom and his wife Pat are still available to provide moral support for other burn patients and their families.)

In 1973, Tom testified before both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives Committees on Commerce, during their respective hearings on the National Fire Prevention and Control Act. Using his own charred equipment, he urged those bodies to pass legislation that would provide research to develop better personal protection for America’s fire fighters. Tom has lectured on the psychosocial aspects of being a burn survivor at numerous seminars conducted for medical and fire service communities across the United States and Canada.

In 1977, Tom assumed the position of public relations and burn coordinator for the International Association of Fire Fighters. In 1982, the IAFF Burn Foundation, which was established by mandate of an IAFF convention resolution, became fully operational. Since that time, he has devoted all of his energies to the activities of the foundation. Thanks to the generosity of the IAFF members, their families, and friends, the IAFF Burn Foundation’s Grant Program has supported burn injury research and has worked to enhance the quality of life of burn survivors. In addition, the foundation has donated tens of thousands of dollars to provide the opportunity for burned children to attend burn camp.

Tom has been a member of the American Burn Association (ABA) since 1975, has served on its burn prevention committee, has spoken at ABA plenary and breakfast sessions, and chaired the ABA Fire Fighter Special Interest Group.