Five years after the fact, Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical Engineer Robert Smith will be formally recognized as having died in the line of duty.

Smith died in 2011 after a 24-hour work shift, said Fire Chief Mark Bradford. The official cause of his death was a dissecting aneurysm. At the time, fatal aneurysms were not officially recognized as a line of duty-related death.

“It was federal law at the time that only counted heart attack-related causes as line of duty deaths,” Bradford said.

Robert Smith, 50, of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical

The fire department appealed the law and in late 2015 Bradford said the department received notice that Smith’s death would be classified as one in the line of duty.

Smith, along with hundreds of other firefighters who died in the line of duty, will be honored this fall in Emmitsburg, Md., for the annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service, Bradford said.

The reclassification of Smith’s death is significant both because of his dedication within his field and because of the financial boost it affords his two surviving children, Bradford said.

“He was a single gentleman, but he did have two sons,” Bradford said. And the financial support the reclassification allows is “fairly significant.”

Smith, 50, worked at the fire department for around 20 years, Bradford said. He was also a high-ranking, noncommissioned officer in the United States Air Force.

“He was very active in his family and in fire-service activities. He was very, very well respected in the Air Force and obviously the fire service,” Bradford said. “He was the type of person who would do anything for anybody. He was always very outgoing and would seek opportunities to help people both at work and outside of work.

“He was always extremely dependable in everything that he did,” he added. “He was very professional and very outgoing.”

And although Smith will be honored in the near future, a number of emergency responders and law enforcement members were offered high praise for their work on Sept. 16 at the annual Valor Awards.

The awards are meant to honor first responders in the area, including the 17 agencies serving Lawrence and Douglas County.

In all, 28 emergency responders from seven agencies received a Valor Award for lifesaving actions and performance above and beyond the call of duty, according to a release from the organization.

Bradford said this year’s ceremony was especially striking because several emergency responders were presented their awards by the very people whose lives they had saved.

“It was something to have the actual recipients of the health care there,” he said. “In our minds they had passed away and had been brought back to life with no obvious deficits, and they’re living a normal life.

“And most of (the emergency responders) had not seen the patient, as we call them, since the event,” he added. “It was very emotional.”

Alongside members of the fire department, a total of 11 Lawrence police officers received Valor Awards.

In one instance, Sgt. Ted Bordman and officers Ian McCann and Ryan Robinson arrived at a home for a report of a suicidal man holding a serrated knife to his abdomen, Lawrence Police Sgt. Amy Rhoads said. As McCann spoke with the man, Bordman and Robinson sneaked into the home through a back door and awaited a signal.

At the proper moment, Bordman and Robinson walked up to the man from behind and wrestled the knife from him before he was injured, Rhoads said. The man was then taken to a hospital for evaluation and treatment.

The full list of the award recipients follows.

The Valor CPR/AED Lifesaving Award is presented in recognition of those who used CPR or a defibrillator to save a patient’s life. This award was presented to:

• Sgt. John Diets of the University of Kansas Office of Public Safety.

• Capt. Mark Hummel of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

• Capt. Pat Karlin of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

• Lt. John Mathis of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

• Lt. Sean Sawyer of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

• Engineer Silva Beach of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

• Engineer Troy Gourley of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

• Engineer Jennifer Persons of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

• Engineer Shadon Satter of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

• Engineer Bryan Winfrey of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

• Firefighter Mike Angrisano of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

• Firefighter Steven Marquardt of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

• Sgt. Michael Cobb of the Lawrence Police Department.

• Officer Narissa Dunn of the Lawrence Police Department.

• Officer (retired) Terry Haak of the Lawrence Police Department.

• Officer Nathanial Haig of the Lawrence Police Department.

• Officer Sara Mills of the Lawrence Police Department.

• Officer John Pien of the Lawrence Police Department.

• Officer Amber Rhoden of the Lawrence Police Department.

• Firefighter Charlie Copeland of the Riley County Fire District No. 1.

• Paramedic Student Kristen Neibarger of Johnson County Community College.

The Valor Bronze Award is presented in recognition of acts involving unusual personal risk to be expected in the line of duty. This award was presented to:

• Sgt. Ted Bordman of the Lawrence Police Department.

• Officer Ian McCann of the Lawrence Police Department.

• Officer Ryan Robinson of the Lawrence Police Department.

• Officer Charles Stewart of the Lawrence Police Department.

The Valor Silver Award is presented in recognition of great personal risk, above and beyond the call of duty. This award was presented to:

• Master Deputy Brad Clover of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

• Deputy David Hardy of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

The National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service will be held on Oct. 9 in Emmitsburg, Md.