HANCOCK COUNTY — They come from different areas of public safety, but those who know them best highlight one quality they all share: their dedication to their professions.
It’s a common thread throughout the nomination letters for the American Legion Post 119’s Hometown Heroes Awards for 2020, a year when public safety is on many minds as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
Lt. Matt Decker with the Greenfield Fire Territory is Firefighter of the Year; Adam Leonard, a firefighter and paramedic with the fire territory, is EMS Person of the Year; Hancock County Emergency Management director Misty Moore is Law Enforcement Officer of the Year; and Kelly Manning, infection preventionalist for Hancock Regional Hospital, is Health Care Worker of the Year.
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The awards will be presented during an annual 9/11 commemoration at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, in The Living Alley off North Street in downtown Greenfield. The event will include a playing of “Taps,” presentation of the flag and a 21-gun salute. A car show and cornhole tournament will follow.
Firefighter of the Year
Matt Decker, who’s been a Greenfield firefighter since 2004, said he was surprised to learn of his award and feels there are others more deserving. He thanked the firefighters he oversees, adding they hold him to the same standard to which he holds them.
“A lot of this is a direct reflection on my crew,” said Decker, who was also the fire territory’s 2019 Officer of the Year.
Jason Horning, deputy chief for the fire territory, nominated Decker. In his nomination letter, Horning points out Decker’s service on the territory’s internal safety committee, which works to stay ahead of issues affecting firefighter health like cancer and heart disease. Decker serves as a peer fitness trainer for the department as well.
“Matt is a champion for good health of the firefighters to allow them to serve a good career and enjoy retirement when the time comes,” Horning wrote.
Decker said firefighters are “tactical athletes” whose health affects job performance.
“Obviously we’re not basketball players or football players, but when the bell goes off for a fire, we have to be in good physical condition, good shape,” he said. “…A little bit of work every day, whether you’re at the firehouse or not, goes a long way for a long, healthy career.”
Horning’s letter says Decker spends a lot of time with his crew training on firefighting fundamentals and emergency medical services outside of regularly scheduled formal training.
“He understands that in order to be proficient at this job 24 hours a day, you must put the time and effort in to train,” Horning wrote.
Decker said his team motivates him to work hard, adding he lets them know what he expects of them but also seeks what they expect of him as well.
“And the citizens deserve it, honestly,” he added. “We have to be on our A-game all the time. No one wants an ordinary fireman when they need an extraordinary fireman.”
EMS Person of the Year
Adam Leonard has been a firefighter and paramedic with the Greenfield Fire Territory since June 2019. He was also the territory’s 2019 Paramedic of the Year and said he was “amazed and humbled” to learn of his latest accolade.
“It’s always greatly appreciated,” he said. “We don’t do this for the thanks or the acknowledgement; we just do it because we enjoy helping others.”
Leonard was also nominated by Horning, whose letter notes Leonard recently became EMS instructor for his shift and teaches emergency medical services at St. Vincent Hospital.
“He has a passion for training himself and his crew members to the highest level to ensure patients receive the best care possible,” Horning wrote of Leonard. “…His motivation and drive to be the best at what he does makes others around him better as well.”
Leonard said his motivation stems from his family and being a new father. He added he’s also driven by his coworkers and his patients, whom he serves in their greatest times of need.
“Nobody calls 911 because they’re having a good day,” Leonard said.
Horning also wrote Leonard has “been a champion for recruiting highly qualified individuals to apply” to work for the fire territory.
“I just enjoy this so much and I’m so passionate about EMS that I can’t help but share that passion with those around me,” Leonard said.
Law Enforcement Officer of the Year
Misty Moore has been Hancock County Emergency Management director for almost six years and spent a decade before that working in public health preparedness for the county. She was quick to share credit for her Hometown Hero award with all of the county’s first-responders and health-care workers. Moore said it’s a testament to not only what they do, but especially what they do under the circumstances since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March.
“I just can’t speak highly enough of the working relationships that exist with all of them that make my job so easy to do,” she said. “That it has resulted in this award is just an absolute honor, and I’m just humbled.”
Moore was nominated by Greenfield Police Chief Jeff Rasche, whose letter recalls the stakes and mystery surrounding COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic.
“Our community needed leadership, direction and a single source of expertise to navigate us through the most difficult time any of us has ever seen,” Rasche wrote.
That expertise came from Moore, who was executing a plan shortly after the pandemic hit, Rasche continued.
“This plan was made up based upon her training and knowledge, not on what someone else had done previously,” Rasche wrote. “She had to write the playbook as she went.”
Moore admitted there have been times when it would have been easy to become overwhelmed while navigating the pandemic both professionally and personally, but credits her faith with providing the peace and contentment she’s used to get through every task.
“I also believe years of preparedness in law enforcement training equipped me to respond without the panic,” she said.
Rasche praised Moore’s ability to secure personal protective equipment at the pandemic’s outset, a time when masks, gloves and other gear for protecting essential workers from the novel coronavirus was hard to find.
Moore said her success with that is due to years of preparedness work along with establishing connections and maintaining good communication with various organizations. Those are important parts of responding to any crisis, she added.
“Those existing connections helped me to quickly find the sources and get creative in getting the PPE that was needed for all of our responders in the county,” she said.
Health Care Worker of the Year
Kelly Manning has been the infection preventionalist at Hancock Regional Hospital for the past five years.
Tamara Strunk, assistant vice president of quality, risk and regulatory compliance for Hancock Regional Hospital, nominated Manning for the recognition. Her letter notes how Manning ensures the hospital remains up to date on all of the latest evidence-based infection prevention practices, surveillance and compliance with state and federal standards.
Among Manning’s duties are disaster preparedness and pandemic response, Strunk’s letter continues.
“I’ve done infection prevention for a very long time, and I feel as if I’ve been preparing for pandemics my whole career,” said Manning, who’s also president of the Indiana chapter of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control.
She’s worked in several pandemics, including H1N1, a swine flu in 2009. While that one wasn’t as intense as COVID-19 is proving to be, it helped prepare her for the current situation, she said.
Strunk’s letter praises Manning’s quick action to help control the virus by working on adapting policies, procedures and guidelines to ever-changing information from state and federal sources. Manning provided infection prevention, surveillance techniques and isolation recommendations to several Hancock County long-term care facilities, for which she also reviewed policies and procedures, answered questions and calmed fears.
“Kelly led us through this most difficult and fearful time,” Strunk wrote. “I know this was extremely difficult because she had fears as well. She faced each decision bravely and made the best decision possible with the knowledge at hand.”
Strunk’s letter recognizes Manning’s close relationships with the state and county health departments and how she’s assisted with recommendations of allocation of resources, case reporting and contact tracing.
While grateful for the recognition, she said she’s just doing her job and that the success the county has had throughout the pandemic is due to teamwork among everyone on the front lines.
“I am very honored to receive this award, but really it takes a team,” Manning said.
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WHAT: Hometown Heroes Awards
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11
WHERE: Living Alley off North Street in downtown Greenfield
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Local veterans groups join for ceremonies to commemorate 19th anniversary of 9/11 attacks. Page A5.
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