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Ottawa Paramedic Thomas Dunn Memorial

Date: 2013-11-09

Memorial: Monday November 18 (1800hrs)

Ottawa Paramedic Headquarters
2465 Don Reid Drive
Ottawa, ON K1H 2E2

On Friday November 8th Thomas Dunn passed away unexpectedly at home. Tom was the most senior active member of the Ottawa Paramedic Service with 52 years of service.

Ottawa Citizen (Obituary):

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ottawacitizen/obituary-print.aspx?n=thomas-dunn&pid=167952355

Ottawa Sun:

http://www.ottawasun.com/2013/11/10/long-serving-ottawa-paramedic-was-like-father-to-co-workers

Memorial Video:

http://vimeo.com/85623122

As per the Line of Duty death manual, Tom's passing is a Class 3 Line of Duty death and a liaison officer has been assigned to work with Tom's family on behalf of Ottawa Paramedic Service. As such we have been in contact with Tom's family over the weekend and his wife Myra Menchetti has decided to hold a private family funeral service in honour of his passing.

Myra recognizes the larger Paramedic family that Tom was a part of, and she would like to participate in a celebration of Tom's life.

DATE: A memorial is to be held with Tom's wife and other extended family members attending.

Memorial: Monday November 18 (1800hrs)
Ottawa Paramedic Headquarters
2465 Don Reid Drive
Ottawa, ON K1H 2E2

RSVP: For people outside of the Ottawa Paramedic Service we ask that you please RSVP your attendance to Karen McPeak ([email protected]) to ensure we can accommodate everyone who wishes to attend and celebrate the life and legacy of Tom Dunn.

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In Memoriam, Ottawa Paramedic Thomas Dunn

Ottawa Paramedics are grieving the loss of Paramedic Superintendent Thomas Dunn who passed away unexpectedly at the age of 70 on November 08th, 2013.

Paramedic Thomas Dunn began his medical career in 1960. His distinguished commitment to public service spanned over 52 years throughout the United States of America, Canada and abroad.

Paramedic Thomas Dunn first entered the U.S. Naval Corpsman program and served as a military medic on a Riverine Patrol Unit in Vietnam.

In the years that followed, Thomas Dunn worked for multiple paramedic services in the USA. On land, he served as an Advanced Care Paramedic and eventually earned additional educational credentials to become a Critical Care Paramedic. In the air, Thomas Dunn also spent time responding to emergencies by helicopter in Colorado.

Always seeking new challenges, Thomas Dunn later chose to serve in the Middle East as both a paramedic and a consultant where he provided the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with expertise in setting up their first paramedic service. While on that mission, he was quick to acquire fluency in Arabic. For years, Thomas Dunn would continue to surprise paramedics when he would strike up conversations with tourists or Arabic immigrants during emergency calls.

In 1992, Paramedic Thomas Dunn accepted employment in Eastern Ontario with the St. Lawrence and District Ambulance Service. During this pre-amalgamation tenure he provided 9-1-1 emergency care to communities on the outskirts of Ottawa. Thomas Dunn was eventually promoted to Assistant Manager with aspirations to become Manager before the provincial download took place.

Following amalgamation in 2001, Thomas Dunn accepted a position with the Ottawa Paramedic Service and shortly thereafter took on the responsibility of Regulatory Compliance Officer. This very complex position entrusted Thomas Dunn with many initiatives and responsibilities related to infection control. He sought to create a sophisticated yet simple reference tool that would cover every communicable disease, toxin, chemical compound and biological threat that paramedics could be exposed to in a world where the prevalence of international travel tends to facilitate the spreading of disease at unprecedented rates. To this day, his Paramedic Infection Control reference tool, Contact forms and Exposure documents remain the “standard of practice” for many paramedic services. These specialized reporting mechanisms have also become recognized by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario.

Being acknowledged as a leader in regulatory compliance and infection control, Paramedic Thomas Dunn also served as a member of the Community and Hospital Infection Control Association (CHICA-Canada). With this role, Thomas Dunn brought paramedic infection control and communicable disease concerns to the wider scientific and healthcare communities. He also became the first paramedic to serve as a chairperson of a CHICA committee and developed a national position-paper on pre-hospital (paramedic) cleaning and disinfection.

This September, Paramedic Superintendent Thomas Dunn was also awarded the Governor General's EMS Exemplary Service Medal as he continued to serve one of the longest paramedic careers in Canada.

On November 08th, 2013, at 70 years of age, Paramedic Thomas Dunn passed away unexpectedly at home. He is survived by his wife Myra Menchetti and hundreds of extended family members at Ottawa Paramedic Service.

Any paramedic who was fortunate enough to work a shift with Thomas Dunn during his lengthy and distinguished career would learn that he was a very passionate and caring individual. Thomas Dunn had genuine humility about his achievements and would spend the majority of his days learning about his paramedic partners rather than conveying his incredible wealth of knowledge and experience. Paramedic Thomas Dunn often made an adoring impression on others and his charming character is something that will definitely remain in the thoughts of many.

Note: As requested, the Professional Paramedic Association of Ottawa HELP Fund will be providing the family with support and assistance in the coming days. For those who have asked how to assist via the HELP Fund, please log in at www.OttawaParamedics.ca and select “Edit Your Info”.

With respect,

John Blythe
Advanced Care Paramedic | HELP Fund Director
Professional Paramedic Association of Ottawa
343 Preston Street (11th Floor) | Ottawa, ON K1S 1N4
[email protected]

Darryl Wilton
Advanced Care Paramedic | President
Professional Paramedic Association of Ottawa
343 Preston Street (11th Floor) | Ottawa, ON K1S 1N4
[email protected]

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Ottawa Paramedic Thomas Dunn (1943-2013)
Ottawa Paramedic Service

Historical records: Deputy Chief Kevin Newell
Photographer: Paramedic Benjamin Ripley

HELP Fund Committee ([email protected])

  • John Blythe, Director
  • Steve Hallam, Director
  • Deanna Schofield
  • Julie Laplante
  • Scott Stephens
  • Faye Proctor
  • Jennifer Kortko
  • Lianne Shaver
  • Paul Morneau

 

 

Professional Paramedic Association of Ottawa