FORSYTH COUNTY — Three public safety employees were honored in front of the Forsyth County commission Thursday night as the person of the year in their sector.

Allen Greenly presented the Public Safety Awards on behalf of the Robert Forsyth Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. They went to: Jerry Loggins for Sheriff’s Deputy of the Year; Retired Battalion Chief Tommy Coleman for Firefighter of the Year; and Katie Bardo for EMS Person of the Year.

The awards are presented annually for recipients’ “honor and respect to us and their duty to this county,” Greenly said.

Loggins, who Greenly said has been in law enforcement since 1993 in a number of counties throughout Georgia, came to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office in 2006. He works in the civil process unit.

His service was highlighted by life-saving measures he applied to a man he found unconscious and not breathing, hanging from a cord around his neck in an attic.

“His knowledge and application of the law, along with his experience as a medic and willingness to go the extra mile, is the reason this person is alive today,” Greenly said.

Coleman retired from the Forsyth County Fire Department after 43 years of service.

Beginning his career as a volunteer firefighter in 1972 — a time when the only funding the fire department received was through bake sales and car washes — he “was considered to have the greatest amount of fire service experience of any member of the department.”

He accepted full-time employment as a firefighter in Atlanta in 1980, while still volunteering for Forsyth until 1999, when the current department gained funding.

He has been described as a “tough, unyielding firefighter,” Greenly said.

Bardo “exemplifies the EMS professional. She maintains her knowledge, skills and passion not only to the public she serves, but with the employees she works with and those who work under her.”

She has dedicated her career to public service, Greenly said, earning a master’s degree in public service and working as a paramedic captain in Forsyth County.