Defibrillator Donation Honours Fallen Paramedic

Essex County, ON – The Dave Mounsey Memorial Fund is donating to Essex County and Essex-Windsor EMS a defibrillator in memory of paramedic Russ Ransome, who was killed along with two others in an air ambulance crash off Pelee Island 30 years ago.

The fund is dedicated to donating defibrillators to public buildings in the name of emergency service workers and military members who have died in the line of duty. It has donated 110 defibrillators, which have saved three lives.

Patrick Armstrong, Executive Director of the Dave Mounsey Memorial Fund shared that they were honoured to be donating their 111th defibrillator in Ransome’s name. “So often the work and sacrifice of the paramedic is taken for granted or minimized by terms like ‘attendant’ or ‘driver’. Make no mistake, the paramedics of this country are trauma specialists and work tirelessly to ensure we live no matter the sweat or emotional toll” said Armstrong. “Today we honour the sacrifice of Russ, and all those who see death daily and yet still give their all.”

“Russ dedicated his life to helping people and saving lives and this donation in his memory will help to save lives in the future,” said Essex-Windsor EMS Chief Bruce Krauter. “Automatic External Defibrillators are one of the most important tools in saving the life of someone suffering cardiac arrest. The more we have in our community, the better.”

If a sudden cardiac arrest victim receives defibrillation through an AED within the first minute, the survival rate is 90 per cent. For every minute that passes without defibrillation, the probability of survival decreases by seven to 10 per cent.

Laura Sanders, the sister of paramedic Paul Patterson, who was killed in a 2007 ambulance rollover in Chatham-Kent, serves on the board of the Ontario Paramedic Memorial Monument Organization. She connected Essex-Windsor EMS with the donor organization.

“I hold the Dave Mounsey Memorial Fund close to my heart. Having their defibs placed in memory of our fallen so they can help save a life is beautiful,” she said. “Thank you for helping the memory of people like Russ Ransome live on in the community.”

Ransome, 28, was the ambulance attendant on a Piper Navajo Chieftain that crashed into Lake Erie on June 24, 1989. The plane was transporting patient Margaret Fraser to Windsor. Fraser survived, as did the plane’s co-pilot. Ransome was killed along with Fraser’s husband, Ken, and the pilot, Frederick Allen Lewis.