A celebration of survival and the actions of those who worked to save a life.
Essex-Windsor EMS and Southwest Ontario Regional Base Hospital Program held the 11th Annual Survivor Day Friday at the St. Clair Center for the Arts in Windsor.
The event celebrated 27 different cases of survivors of trauma and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in 2023, while also highlighting how the quick actions of bystanders and the skills of paramedics can save lives.
In one case, on June 8, 2023, Dominic Viselli suffered a cardiac emergency while playing hockey at Tecumseh Arena and collapsed.
Players on the ice—Jim Chase, Wayne DeRozario, Serge Garon and Kevin Holmes—retrieved a public access defibrillator, called 911, and started chest compression and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation at the direction of Ambulance Communication Officer Michelle Wielink.
Viselli was still without vital signs when paramedics Ray Serifi, Shelly Nguyen, Lauren Panek, and Laura Gosselin arrived.
They continued providing CPR and shocked his heart three more times. Viselli’s heart then started beating in a regular rhythm again.
The paramedics monitored his vital signs, established an IV, and suctioned his airway before transporting him to the hospital, saving his life.
Retired Windsor Firefighter Wayne DeRozario was on the ice when he saw Viselli collapse and began performing CPR and using a public access defibrillator.
"I just reacted to a situation, and, like I said, it was a team effort. It wasn't only me. The paramedics, Tecumseh Fire, the couple of teammates on the ice—I think we all came together for a great outcome," he says.
The Survivor Day cases involved 72 paramedics including some who took part in more than one event, 35 firefighters, seven ambulance communications officers, two police officers, and 37 others who helped, including two physicians and a medical staff member who assisted in two separate cases.
Four cases involved the use of publicly accessible automated external defibrillators.
Click here to learn more about the 27 cases.