First Responders Honored By Lingohocken For Saving Mother's Life

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — A Buckingham Township mother of two is alive and well today thanks to the quick actions of her husband and two Buckingham Township police officers who were recognized this week with life saving awards from the Lingohocken Fire Company.

On April 10, Rhiannon Harrington’s husband, Shawn, a Lingohocken firefighter noticed something was wrong with his wife. He recognized the signs as cardiac arrest and immediately began CPR.

“His CPR training kicked in without hesitation starting with the immediate activation of the 9-1-1 system,” said Lingohocken Deputy Chief Ethan Tecker. “Shawn was prompted and guided by the calm voice of dispatcher Theresa Groves. Shawn began uninterrupted high volume CPR just as he had been trained to do.”

Within minutes, Buckingham Township police officer Tim Weber and Cpl. Steve Thomas arrived on the scene and immediately deployed an Automated External Defibrillator, which was recently donated to the police department by Girl Scout Troop 2296.

Firefighter Quin Jones of Newtown Fire Rescue, who happened to be in the area, arrived and assisted with lifesaving measures.

High quality CPR and life saving measures continued with the arrival of Lingohocken Deputy Chief Tecker, Assistant Chief John Bailey, Engines 35 and 95, as well as Central Bucks Ambulance.

Rhiannon with Shawn, Rhys and Regan Harrington. (Photo by Jeff Werner)

Shawn and Rhiannon Harrington with members of the Lingohocken Fire Company.

For their life saving efforts, the Lingohocken Fire Company this week publicly recognized Shawn Harrington and Buckingham police officers Thomas and Weber with life saving awards during an event at the Wycombe fire station.

The awards were presented by Lingohocken’s Fire Chief Dave James and Deputy Chief Tecker.

The company also recognized Bucks County 9-1–1 dispatcher Theresa Groves, who offered support and instruction to Shawn throughout the incident; Central Bucks Ambulance, which took over Rhiannon’s care and transported her to Doylestown Hospital; and Girl Scout Troop 2296, which donated the AED that helped save Rhiannon’s life.

"Rhiannon is here with Shawn, Rhys and Regan due to the swift, unwavering actions taken by all first responders and medical professionals that day,” said Tecker, “Without Shawn’s training and CPR he may not have identified Rhiannon’s condition and may not have initiated the emergency response system and rapidly administered high quality CPR. It is our goal to promote the use and training in CPR and AEDs. While I hope you never have to use it, we strongly encourage you and your family to become trained in CPR and AEDs."

Shawn Harrington thanked the gathering of first responders “from the bottom of my heart” on what he called “a joyous June evening.

“I’m just so happy to be in this position. I have all of you around me to thank sincerely from the bottom of my heart celebrating something that I hope everyone can learn here and that’s CPR and deployment of an AED," he said.

“I’ve had the unfortunate position to have to perform CPR in a number of situations leading up to this point. That memory was the difference. Tim and Steve were the difference. Stations 35, 95, Newtown. The medics. Doylestown Hospital. They were all the difference and I have a real tangible gift from that day, which is my wife.”

Rhiannon, who had no history of heart problems, suffered what she called a random electrical event that sent her into cardiac arrest. Today she has a pacemaker to ensure that doesn’t happen again.

“It happened while I was sleeping. Shawn happened to be home because he normally travels for work. He heard my agonal breaths and he knew that sound. He checked for a pulse. I had no pulse. I was unresponsive. He got right on 9-1-1 and started CPR.”

Ironically the AED that was used by Buckingham Police was donated by Troop 2296. “We know some of the girls in that troop so it’s wild to think that their donation actually helped someone they know. It’s the full circle,” she said.

Girl Scout Troop 2296 received recognition from the Lingohocken Fire Company for its donation of an AED that saved a mother's life. (photo by Jeff Werner)