Paramedics Honour Fallen Colleagues with Memorial Bike Ride

Paramedics with Essex-Windsor EMS honoured fallen colleagues and recognized the importance of mental wellness this week by cycling to every base in Windsor-Essex and reading out the names of colleagues etched on a memorial bell.

They even made the trek to Pelee Island to honour Paramedic Russ Ransome, who was killed in a plane crash in June of 1989 while transporting a patient off the island. They held a small, poignant ceremony with the bell on the airport runway.

“The bell touched the last spot that Russ touched. That meant a lot. It was a very humbling experience,” said Essex-Windsor EMS Paramedic Vicki Laframboise. “It was nice to be able to honour him in that way.”

More than a dozen cyclists, including Essex-Windsor EMS Chief Bruce Krauter, took part in the ride. At each base, the bell was rung for each of the 51 fallen Paramedics whose names are etched on it. The bell was rung an additional time at each stop to recognize those lost to suicide and those struggling with PTSD and mental wellness issues common to First Responders.

“We all know the job that we have comes with its demons and it can go down a dark path if you don’t get the help you need,” said Acting Essex-Windsor EMS District Chief Trevor Lee. “We ring the bell that one extra time to honour the mental health side of first responding.”

Lee is the President of H30, or Honouring the Heroes of Ontario, a group of local Paramedics who took on the challenge last year of cycling in the Tour Paramedic Ride, a 500-KM, four-day trek from Toronto to Ottawa. They cycled to raise money to build a monument in Ottawa to recognize mental health struggles and to honour Paramedics, both military and civilian, who have died in the line of duty.

The ride was cancelled this year because of COVID-19 and the memorial bell tour was set in motion. Organizers decided to take the bell to the province’s southernmost point with plans to circulate it as far north as Timmins and to as many EMS services as possible. Essex-Windsor EMS Paramedics will hand the bell off to Chatham-Kent EMS Paramedics and it will be ferried across the province.

“We said ‘Let’s move this bell from the furthest point south to the furthest point north and everywhere in between and see where it goes,’” said Lee.

Videos and pictures will be taken by Paramedics with each service and a video created of the memorial bell’s journey. Lee remains hopeful the Tour Paramedic Ride will resume next year so he and the crew can join it again.

“Hopefully, we can send a big pack of people up there next year,” said Lee.