Travis Mellema – Community Services Award 2026

Alumni of Distinction Awards > 2026 > Travis Mellema

Chief
Lanark County Paramedic Service

Paramedic, 2005

Travis Mellema has spent more than 20 years building a career defined by service to others. From his early days as a frontline paramedic to his current role as chief of the Lanark County Paramedic Service (LCPS), he has consistently combined professional excellence with a deep commitment to improving the health and well-being of the communities he serves.

Mellema’s path to paramedicine was not a conventional one. While studying computer science at university, he realized his interests lay elsewhere and returned home to explore volunteer opportunities within his community. Through volunteer work alongside emergency responders, he witnessed firsthand the impact paramedics have on individuals and families during their most vulnerable moments. Inspired by that experience, he enrolled in Algonquin College’s Paramedic program.

“I knew the program was robust and that the success rate for graduates was really, really high,” he said. “As a resident of the Ottawa Valley, I also liked that Algonquin College was local, so I could live at home and commute to school.”

Mellema’s trust in Algonquin College had been well placed. Within a week of graduating in 2005, he was hired by the Lanark County Paramedic Service as a frontline paramedic. Later that year, he started picking up additional shifts at the County of Renfrew Paramedic Service. He would continue to serve both counties for eight and a half years.

This first chapter in Mellema’s career was profoundly transformative. Serving large rural areas, small towns, and remote communities gave him firsthand experience with the challenges residents face in accessing health care. Those years shaped his understanding of both the health care system and the unique needs of rural communities.

While delivering emergency medical services, Mellema became increasingly involved in developing and strengthening the profession. In 2011, he joined the Regional Paramedic Program for Eastern Ontario as an educator, helping to prepare future paramedics. Two years later, when LCPS established a peer support program, he became one of the inaugural team members, recognizing the emotional challenges faced by emergency responders in hopes of promoting physical and mental health among his colleagues.

Mellema’s dual career in Lanark and Renfrew counties came to an end in 2013, when his second daughter was born. In response to his growing family responsibilities, he decided to part ways with the County of Renfrew and focus on his primary job at Lanark County.

In 2016, Chief Ed McPherson, who led LCPS at the time, approached Mellema with a career opportunity. He appreciated Mellema’s high standard of patient care and all the extra work he did to support his fellow paramedics and offered him a promotion to commander, which he gladly accepted.

As a commander, he was responsible for managing teams of frontline paramedics and turning the service’s strategic priorities into day-to-day operations while maintaining a strong connection to frontline staff and community needs. He performed his new duties well, and a year later, in 2017, he was promoted again, this time to deputy chief, a post he would hold for about three years.

One of Mellema’s key accomplishments as deputy chief was leading the expansion of the advanced care paramedic program. Advanced care paramedics are trained and certified on life-saving procedures that go beyond the scope of what a typical paramedic does. This considerably elevated the quality of care the people in Lanark County could receive during emergency situations.

Deputy Chief Mellema (back, white shirt) leads LCPS team members in a demonstration of an advanced care scenario. Source: Ashley Kulp/Torstar, Inside Ottawa Valley.

His influence also extended beyond his own organization. As chair of the eastern branch of the Ontario Association of Paramedic Chiefs (OAPC) at both the deputy chief and chief levels, Mellema worked alongside paramedic leaders from across the region, contributing to discussions and initiatives aimed at advancing patient care, strengthening the profession, and supporting paramedic services throughout Eastern Ontario at all levels of government.

In early 2020, Chief McPherson announced his retirement, and Mellema was appointed to succeed him. He became chief of LCPS in late February 2020, mere weeks before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

If the pandemic was an early test of Mellema’s leadership mettle, then he passed with flying colours. One of the ways LCPS adapted to the pandemic was by boosting its community paramedicine program. Lanark County paramedics continued to respond to emergency calls as usual, but they also increased their engagement in community outreach and other preventive efforts. The focus on in-home visits, wellness checks, and vaccinations, especially to high-risk individuals, reduced the need for emergency care for individuals and mitigated the strain on the county’s health care system.

Expanding community paramedicine was a model that worked so well during the pandemic, it remains active to this day. “The pandemic highlighted the need and presented an opportunity for us to grow our prevention-focused initiatives,” Mellema said. “Since that time, LCPS has implemented a variety of programs that fall under the umbrella term of community paramedicine to better serve the community.”

Another focus for Mellema has been staff support and recognition. Since becoming chief, he has instituted a long service medal at LCPS, enhanced safety measures for frontline staff, and partnered with mental health specialists to ensure his team members feel supported and recognized for their contributions.

In 2024, Chief Mellema’s leadership efforts were recognized by OAPC’s Richard J. Armstrong Leadership Award. “That award was extremely special because of what it represents,” he said. “When the service gets recognized like that, the chief gets to be the one who shows up at the event, but it’s all because of my team. The paramedics are doing this job, and we as leaders are here to support them.”

Last year, Mellema was honoured with the King Charles III Coronation Medal in recognition of his longstanding commitment to patient care and the well-being of paramedics in Eastern Ontario.

Joined by family members, Mellema (second from the right) holds his King Charles III Coronation Medal. Source: CTV News.

Looking back at his student days at Algonquin College, Mellema feels thankful. He is surrounded by fellow alumni at LCPS, including half of the service’s senior leadership, and he sees how the College has helped so many of them find success and purpose in serving their communities.