New Year's Honour for Chief Fire Officer

Dawn Whittaker has been awarded the King's Fire Service Medal for Distinguished Service.

Dawn joined East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service in June 2016 as Deputy Chief Fire Officer from Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, becoming Chief Fire Officer in October 2017.

She said: “I was both surprised and humbled when I was told about the award.  I have been privileged to work with some fantastic colleagues and partners over many years to influence community safety and in particular to reduce drowning in the UK, so to be recognised for that is a great honour” 

East Sussex Fire Authority Chairman Roy Galley said: “Dawn has received this accolade for her national work on water safety and it also reflects outstanding contribution to the fire service nationally and her exceptional leadership of East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.”

Focus on public service

After an early career in the private sector, Dawn’s involvement in the public service began at Northamptonshire County Council, before she joined Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service in 2004. It was there she qualified as a Silver and Gold incident commander and led several large projects including a new control centre, an award winning incident command training centre and a new fire behaviour and Breathing Apparatus training facility. She was appointed Assistant Chief Fire Officer in 2006 and progressed to Deputy Chief Fire Officer. 

She’s had what she describes as “many interesting experiences” as Officer in Charge of some fairly large incidents including floods, factory fires, a major incident on the M1 and as Gold Commander at Silverstone during the Grand Prix.  Dawn has undertaken two secondments, firstly to Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service, and to central Government where she advised on national fire safety matters.

During her time as Chief of East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, the service has driven down accidental fires in the home to the lowest level they have ever been, she supported the development of a water safety education programme to local schools and has overseen the introduction of Fire Cadets, as well as celebrating when East Sussex was named UK Fire and Rescue Service of the Year 2021 in the iESE Public Sector Transformation Awards.

Dawn is also Deputy Chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Prevention Committee and sits on the programme board, where she is currently overseeing a project to develop evaluation of prevention work across the sector. She also sits on the NFCC Leadership Board and has been actively involved in developing new leadership products and programmes for the sector. As a senior female officer, she has supported women’s development and equalities work in Sweden and Australia and is currently involved with supporting some work in New Zealand.

She cares passionately about volunteering and has also served as a trustee of several charities, including as Chair of the Royal Lifesaving Society. She is currently the Chair of the East Sussex Strategic Partnership

Water safety 

As a teenager Dawn got into difficulty herself in a river in Mid-Wales and was rescued by friends when her foot got caught in underwater branches. Coupled with a number of challenging water related incidents since she joined the emergency services, this helped shape her commitment to seek a reduction in the number of accidental drownings and water-related incidents in the UK.

She has been NFCC lead for Drowning Prevention and Water Safety since 2013, paving the way for the NFCC to join the UK National Water Safety Forum in 2014. After helping to write the UK Drowning Prevention Strategy, in subsequent years she set up the NFCC water safety practitioners group, which is a vibrant group of FRS people committed to improving water safety that Dawn refers to as  “the water safety warriors”.

The NFCC group developed the #BeWaterAware campaign, as well as delivering community safety signage and boards, throwline training, and improved data analysis with support from the data and digital group and Dawn is so proud of the commitment UK Fire and Rescue services have shown to reduce deaths in water and improve water safety education.

Personally and outside of the NFCC work, Dawn is part of a group called Families Against Drowning, which helps support families impacted by drowning to spread messages. She has worked with many committed water safety advocates, who endlessly try to raise awareness and save lives.

Dawn was elected Chair of the UK National Water Safety Forum in 2020, and pays tribute to how well charities, parents, local authorities and agencies have worked together to deliver the UK’s new collective campaign: Respect The Water and the work the UK did to highlight World Drowning Prevention Day, in July.