Last night saw the first-ever BBC 999 Awards, with members of all Emergency Services acknowledged for their efforts throughout the year.

Click here for our news story on the event, including a focus on the winners of the Special Recognition Award - Dr Jonathan Tobin, Dr Andrew Deaner, paramedic Peter Fisher and Dr Sam Mohiddin.

Here's a profile of the winners in the other categories:

Police: Gloucestershire Police Force
PCs Hayley Howes, Stuart Dudfield, Jon Cann and Simon Wilson were called to a fatal road traffic collision on the A48 at Minsterworth in November 2010.

PC Howes and PC Dudfield arrived minutes after a member of the public called 999 to find the scene pitch dark apart from the light from the fire.  Despite the immense heat and flames that were already close to the van's windscreen, and the driver having both legs wedged tightly in the four officers after minutes of effort managed to free the drivers' leg and carried him to safety.

PC Howes said: "I know it sounds cheesy but this a great example of how people working as a team, together, can achieve great things." ACC Richard Berry added that this incident "exemplified the tremendous work that all officers carry out".

Air Ambulance: Aneurin Heath (Wales Air Ambulance)
After receiving a callout for a casualty who had fallen 30ft down a cliff into a rocky cove, sustaining spinal and pelvic injuries, paramedic Aneurin Heath from Wales Air Ambulance stayed in the turbulent water, with a heavy medical kit using his own body as a shield against the full force of the tide to winch the casualty and partner to the safety of an air ambulance.

Capt Grant Elgar, who piloted the air ambulance which took Heath to the scene, said: "He put someone else's life above his own, and would do it again without thinking - that's truly remarkable."

Firefighter: Neil Fritzsche
Lincolnshire firefighter Neil Fritzsche was given special recognition for setting up an international search and rescue team that's gone on to save hundreds of lives when attending natural disasters in India, Pakistan, Japan and Haiti over the past five years.

Fellow firefighter member Mark Beaver said that performing rescues was "not just a job but a way of life" for Fritzsche adding that he "truly deserves" all the recognition that he gets.

Mountain Rescue: Cockermouth MRT
The Cockermouth team were called to help a walker who had slipped down a 100ft mountain drop sustaining head injuries, it took 32 rescuers over 2 hours to pull off the rescue which "had potential to go very, very wrong".

Steve Brailey, Chairman of Cockermouth MRT said: "I'm proud to receive the award not only on behalf of Cockermouth MRT, but on behalf of the 12 teams in the Lake District and the 50 plus teams in England and Wales that carry out hundreds of rescues every year. Many of these rescues will have been every bit as dramatic as the one we received the award for."

Volunteer: Ashraf Uddin (St John Ambulance)
Teacher Ashraf Uddin gave over 700 hours of his spare time to the St John Ambulance last year - his 13th with the charity. He was also recently awarded  the Order of St John for his role in teaching First Aid in schools to inspire the next generation in learning life saving First Aid skills.

Upon receiving his award, Ashraf said: "I use the life saving skills I've gained through St John Ambulance to teach young people because I want everyone to have the chance to help others. Learning just a few skills can mean the difference between life and death. My community is so important to me, and I hope that I can continue to offer my knowledge and advice to young people who are looking for the opportunity to be the difference."

Coastal rescue: Garry Clark (RNLI Dungeness)
Garry Clark, a volunteer crew member at Dungeness lifeboat station was awarded in recognition of his exemplary bravery and determination during the rescue of seven people from the yacht Liquid Vortex on 3 January 2012. Garry played a critical role in saving seven lives during a rescue, which took place in fierce storms and involved Garry being transferred to the casualty vessel. Garry worked closely with his fellow crew members onboard the Dungeness all-weather lifeboat and the crew of the Dover lifeboat which joined in the rescue effort.

Fire service: Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service
Members of Northants Bluewatch team completed one of the most complicated rescues possible when a hot air balloon became entangled amidst live power lines near Wellingborough.

Firefighters Gary Welch, Jamie Manning and Karl Doy all spoke about the rescue  in March 25 when they spent almost five hours rescuing pilot Adam Griffiths and two passengers who were left trapped when their basket became enmeshed in high voltage cables. Firefighter Manning said: "It is something we trained to do beforehand but it's nothing we'd seen in the real world, but when it came up we were ready to do the job."

999 Operator: Lisa Harrison
In March, Andrew Jelley, father of baby Mylo, called 999 from Sutton on Sea after he found his son lying face down in a pond, apparently not breathing. Lisa Harrison, from East Midlands Ambulance Service, talked Mr Jelley through giving a heart massage to revive his one-year-old son. Ms Harrison spent 17 minutes on the phone to Mr Jelley and her clear instructions made sure Mylo received enough oxygen to revive him by the time paramedics arrived.

Simon Tomlinson, Ms Harrison's control room manager, said; "If she had not have done this, it is highly likely the boy would not have survived. In my career as a control room manager, I have never seen an operator talk through the CPR process as well as Lisa did that day - if she had not persisted, the outcome would be very different."

Public (awarded by viewers of The One Show): Ben Hudson
Teenager Ben Hudson won the public award in recognition of the courage he showed when he rugby-tackled knife-wielding attacker during an incident in Wollaston.

DCI Wayne Jones, from West Midlands Police, said Ben's actions helped save the life of 14-year-old Chloe West, who had to undergo plastic surgery as a result of the assault in April 2011. DCI Jones added: "Obviously the police don't encourage people to intervene in these instants but without any thought for his own safety, he went and tackled the offender. In my opinion, Ben's a really true hero, he put someone's else's safety above his own."

You can still watch the 999 Awards on BBC iPlayer for the next 7 days and give us your reactions @fire_editor on Twitter.

Posted 17/08/2012 by richard.hook@pavpub.com