OPP Const. Patrick Armstrong receives top award from association

Const. Patrick Armstrong receives the Bill Elliott Member of the Year 2012 award from Jim Christie, who is president of the Ontario Provincial Police Association.

HEATHER BOA Bullet News WINGHAM – When Huron County OPP Const. Patrick Armstrong found out he was selected from more than 31,000 police officers across the province to receive the police association’s top award for 2012, he assumed someone had messed things up.

“At first I had to call them and make sure they didn’t make a mistake,” said Armstrong, who is based in Wingham.

But it was no mistake.

Last Thursday, with his mother, Patsy O’Connor, to accompany him, Armstrong attended the Ontario Provincial Police Association’s annual general meeting in Collingwood where he was officially recognized as the Bill Elliott Member of the Year 2012.

“Awards from your peers, they’re very humbling. I was speechless,” he said. “I can think of 5,000 other police officers who deserve it as much, if not more, than I.”

Armstrong is founder of the Dave Mounsey Memorial Fund, established to honour his friend and fellow OPP officer who died as a result of a motor vehicle accident while on duty more than five years ago. Since the fund was established three years ago, it has raised more than $100,000 to purchase life-saving defibrillators that are put in public places in honour of fallen police officers, fire fighters, paramedics and military personnel. This month, it will make its 25^th donation.

Armstrong and other volunteers who run the Dave Mounsey Memorial Fund carry on work begun by Mounsey, who raised enough money in competitive runs to purchase a defibrillator for the Blyth fire department, where he volunteered. He died before the defibrillator was donated.

Up to 85 per cent of cardiac arrests occur at home or in public places. Almost half of cardiac arrests are witnessed by a family member or friend. It’s estimated that when a defibrillator is used along with CPR, chances of survival can increase by more than 50 per cent.

Armstrong said there is a long list of emergency personnel who can be honoured by a defibrillator donation.

“Every officer – and it’s not just the OPP, police officers, fire, EMS, military in Ontario – everyone goes out and gives 100 per cent. We all know the dangers. We all go out, we give it everything we give for our shift, and then over and beyond as well,” he said.

Earlier this year, Armstrong was nominated as a Scotiabank Game Changers, which recognizes local heroes across the country. As a regional Game Changer, he earned $1,000 for the Dave Mounsey Memorial Fund. Although he did not proceed to the national level of electronic voting, he put his support behind Shane Eickmann, encouraging friends to vote for the full-time paramedic who volunteers with GlobalMedic, a disaster relief organization.

Armstrong received Police Officer of the Year 2011, issued by the Huron County Warden’s Task Force.