Dr. François de Champlain honoured with prestigious award

Dr. François de Champlain, an emergency physician and trauma team leader at the MUHC has been awarded the prestigious King Charles III Coronation Medal. The honour was presented by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Honourable Manon Jeannotte.

This distinction, introduced after the coronation of King Charles III in 2023, recognizes candidates who have made significant contributions to Canada, or who have made an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada.

“This recognition highlights a 15-year advocacy journey that began with the creation of the Jacques de Champlain Foundation, dedicated to improving survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Quebec,” says Dr. de Champlain, who is also the President of the Jacques de Champlain Foundation. “I accept this honour on behalf of many team members and collaborators, including survivors committed to making a powerful impact on citizen response, and access to Automated External defibrillators (AEDs) — the most important link in the ‘Chain of Survival’ for cardiac arrest.”

Dr. de Champlain encourages the public to download the AED-Quebec app, which helps users quickly locate the nearest defibrillator. He emphasizes the importance of continued advocacy and collaboration with key partners in improving survival rates from cardiac arrest. Notably, he acknowledges the strong partnership with the MUHC and the McGill WRAH (World Restart a Heart campaign) over the years, highlighting their efforts to raise public awareness through impactful survivor stories and the excellent care provided at the MUHC.

Congratulations to Dr. de Champlain on this well-deserved recognition and to all those dedicated to making a difference in cardiac arrest survival!

Watch Dr. de Champlain receive his award.

Read more on the King Charles III Coronation Medal here.

The Jacques de Champlain Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to improving resuscitation care in Quebec.  More details here.