MADISON — Rep. Todd Novak (R-Dodgeville) is accepting nominations for the 51st Assembly District’s 2025 First Responder Award. 

Nominations could include a police officer or sheriff’s deputy, a firefighter, or any level of EMS provider (paramedic, EMT, first responder) and can be either a paid or volunteer public servant.

Previously, the late Al Michek of Highland, Ron Weigel of Shullsburg, and Chief Chad Kanable of Avoca were honored with the First Responder Awards in our district. Chief Kanable was nominated by people in his community for responding to a call outside his jurisdiction for a patient suffering from an arterial bleeding injury and provided life-saving medical service and helped save the patient’s life. Over his 32 years of service, Ron has held various leadership roles within the ambulance service including the title of crew chief for 14 years. At the time of Al’s award in 2019, Al was the longest serving EMT in Wisconsin with over 48 years of service.

Nominate a deserving person for a variety of reasons including:

●  A specific heroic action;

●  A significant professional achievement;

●  Something special they do for the community during the course of their work;

●  His or her body of work over time; and/or

●  His or her length of service.

To have your local hero be eligible, submit all nomination forms no later than Friday, Sept. 19. Nomination forms are available at RepNovak.com, by calling (608) 237-9151, or by emailing Rep.Novak@legis.wisconsin.gov. 

A first responder from within the Assembly district will then be selected in October and they will be invited to a Hometown Heroes recognition in the Assembly Chamber on Oct. 14.