The Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council on February 16, 1957, by its Decree, established the medal "For the Salvation of Drowning People". It was intended to reward employees of rescue services, citizens of the USSR and foreign citizens for saving drowning people, preventing accidents on the water, and for showing courage, courage, resourcefulness and vigilance.
Medal "For the rescue of drowning"
Regulation on the medal
From the Regulation on the medal, approved by the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces in 1957, it followed that it was awarded to employees of the rescue services, citizens of the Soviet Union and foreign citizens who, through their actions, showed courage, courage and selflessness to save people, showed vigilance and resourcefulness, which prevented the tragic cases on the water. Professional rescuers introduced themselves to the award for the high organization of the rescue service on the water.
The medal "For the Rescue of Drowning People" was awarded by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviets of the Autonomous and Union Republics of the USSR, regional and regional executive committees, as well as the Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev city Councils of People's Deputies.
The medal "For the rescue of drowning" was prescribed to be worn on the chest, on the left side. If the recipient had other honorary marks of the USSR, then by rank she was placed after the medal "For Courage in the Fire."
After the death of a citizen, the medal remained in the family of the deceased as a keepsake.
Description of the medal
The medal was made of non-ferrous metal (brass), regular, round in shape with a diameter of 32 mm. Weight was about 14.6 g without a block and link. The front medal side depicted a lifeguard towing a drowning man on the water. The words “For Salvation” were applied in the upper part around the circumference, and “drowning” in the lower part.
On the reverse (back) were a sickle and a hammer, under them was a laurel branch, in the very lower part of the reverse there was an abbreviation “USSR”.
On the circumference, on both sides of the coin, was a side. All images and lettering stood out above the medal planes.
For wearing on clothes, the medal for saving the drowning was equipped with a suspension block, which was a five-pointed plate with an angle facing down. In the same corner of the plate was a hole designed to attach it to the coin. A pin construction was fixed on the back of the plate, with which the award was attached to clothes.
The medal block was covered with moire braid 24 mm wide. The blue ribbon on each edge was decorated with three white longitudinal lines, in the center - one white stripe running parallel to the side.
History of the medal
Over the history of its existence more than 24 thousand awards have been made. The most famous cases of rescuing drowning people in water include the rescue of 20 people who were in the cabin of a trolley bus that crashed into the city reservoir of Yerevan. S. Karapetyan, a famous athlete who accidentally found himself near the site of the tragedy, became the rescue hero.
In the history of the award there are facts of the multiple presentation of the medal. So, four times Kotukhov MP was presented to the award ceremony with the account of 150 saved people. Three times the medal “For the Saving of the Drowning” was awarded to A. Kovyazin, who lives on Sakhalin Island. Also, three medals were received by a resident of the Odessa region N.M. Skryabnev.
Two medals on the account of the head of the rescue service Kostin K.I., the diver I. Lopatenko, the head of the rescue station Mavshevich V.V., the policeman Muzarbayev K.A. and others.
The last award of a medal in the USSR was 05/20/1991.
Children awarded a medal
Pioneer, 6th grade student Pavel Kolosov, who lives in the village. Snezhnogorsk (Krasnoyarsk Territory), in 1985 was awarded this medal twice. In 1978, Vyacheslav Goncharov and Oleg Kournikov, third-grade students of a secondary school in Khimki (Moscow Region), were awarded a medal for saving schoolgirl Svetlana Semenchuk.
History knows other cases when pioneers and schoolchildren received a medal for saving the drowning people for preventing tragedies on the water. These are: D. Velikanov, M. Demidov, A. Kirshin, M. Maksimov, E. Matviyashin, A. Shimarov.
The history of the medal in the post-Soviet period
After the liquidation of the USSR, the medal "For the Saving of the Drowning" was left in the award structure of the Russian Federation. According to the Decree of the PVS of the Russian Federation of 03/02/1992, the letters "USSR" on the reverse side were replaced by "RUSSIA". It was awarded from 1992 to 1994. The last time the award took place was September 13, 1994. The certificate was signed by the President of Russia.
The total number of people awarded the medal “For the Saving of the Drowning” in Russia amounted to 108 people.
The medal of the Ministry of Emergency Situations “For the Rescue of Those Dying on the Waters”, which was established by order of the Russian Emergencies Ministry in June 2012, can be considered an analogue.
Medal "For the rescue of drowning", benefits
The legislative documents of the USSR and the Russian Federation did not provide any benefits to persons who were awarded a medal. The only privilege can be attributed the pre-emptive right to receive the title "Veteran of Labor".