Paul Lee Ramsey, Father of the “Ramsey Safe Zone,” Dies at Age 85

Paul Lee Ramsey, M.D., 85, an orthopedic educator, innovator, and surgeon passed away on May 20, 2023, at the Baptist Medical Center on Amelia Island, Florida.

He had a private orthopedic surgery practice in Anderson, Indiana, for many years, but before that was an associate surgeon at AI DuPont Nemours Children’s Hospital, chief of orthopedic surgery at the VA Hospital and assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Jefferson Medical College.

Dr. Ramsey developed a passion for teaching and research and during his time at AI DuPont Nemours Children’s Hospital, he developed “Ramsey’s Safe Zone,” a test for congenital hip dislocation which is ubiquitous in orthopedic practice today.

Dr. Ramsey’s paper, “Congenital dislocation of the hip. Use of the Pavlik harness in the child during the first six months of life” was published in October 1976 in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The other authors were Lasser, S and MacEwen, GD. In the study, Ramsey, Lasser, and MacEwen collected data from 23 infants under six months of age with 27 dislocated hips. The study was conducted between 1968 and 1972. The patients were treated with Pavlik harness, all but three of the hips were successfully reduced. One child required hospitalization and all the patients were followed for more than two years. All but three of the hips were clinically and roentgenographically normal at follow-up, and none had avascular necrosis.

In that study, Dr. Ramsey described what later became known as the “Ramsey Safe Zone.” Here is an image of the “Ramsey Safe Zone.”

Ramsey was also chief of orthopedic surgery at the Veterans Administration Hospital while in the Philadelphia, Wilmington, Delaware area.

Dr. Ramsey was trained at Albany Medical Center Hospital in New York and later at AI Dupont Nemours and Denver Health Medical Center in Colorado.

He was born on January 30, 1938, to Orpha and William Ramsey in Frankfort, Indiana. He grew up on the family farm along with his brother William and his sister Lena Mae. Dr. Ramsey attended Jackson High School in Frankfort, where he became an outstanding Indiana basketball player and set the state record for consecutive free-throw points. A record for consistency that, no doubt, served him well later in life.

Ramsey went on attend to Oregon State University in beautiful Corvallis, Oregon, on a basketball scholarship. He initially thought he would study geology, but soon realized that his real passion was helping others so he switched to pre-med and went on to earn his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine.

It was in medical school that he met Sarah Lynch, his future wife. Dr. Ramsey served in the Vietnam War and his experiences there led him to specialize in orthopedics.

He and Sarah Lynch Ramsey were married for 59 years. Ramsey in his free time loved to play golf. Once he retired, he and Sarah moved to Florida and Colorado where they spent time golfing, skiing, and visiting with family and friends.

Ramsey is survived by his wife, Sarah; son William Ramsey and his wife, Monique; and his daughter Deborah Lehman and her husband, Scott; He also leaves behind his granddaughter Ramsey Lehman and grandson David Lehman. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother William Ramsey, and his sister Lena Mae Neal.