Plum woman's life saved by quick work from her husband, Allegheny County dispatch and first responders

Kristen Frederick is grateful to be alive.

The Plum resident suffered a cardiac arrest around 11 p.m. Feb. 5 after heading to bed in her Holiday Park home.

Her husband, Rob, an Army sergeant who served in Iraq, heard a weird snoring sound that night and found Frederick gasping for air.

“She was unresponsive, but her eyes were open and just struggling,” he said. “Whenever I realized that she had stopped breathing, I checked her pulse and wasn’t feeling, so I called 911 first and started chest compressions.”

The husband spoke with dispatcher Austin Toth, who coached him in administering CPR to his wife for more than 10 minutes until paramedics arrived.

“If you’ve ever done chest compressions, even in practice, it’s an exhausting event,” Plum EMS operations director Brian Maloney said.

Holiday Park firefighters and EMS responded and used a defibrillator among other lifesaving measures, including using a machine to do more chest compressions. Medical staff also drilled into Frederick’s bone marrow to administer medications to her when IV access was unattainable.

Rob Frederick said there were not many signs that things were going to turn around for the better.

His wife was in a coma for nearly two weeks, placed on a ventilator and hospitalized for 26 days before going through a week of rehabilitation.

“When paramedics came, they didn’t have any good signs as far as I could tell for a while,” he said. “Once they defibrillated her and brought her back, (I thought) we could get the ball rolling and get to the hospital. That was a good sign, but we really didn’t have any good signs for a couple weeks. It was a miracle from there. … It felt like we defied the odds.”

Kristen Frederick eventually was sent home.

She said she was feeling about 95% better and was back to work.

“It’s just kind of amazing,” said Frederick, 35. “Everything kind of fell in line to save my life, and it’s pretty amazing. It gives you a new outlook on life.”

The couple said they appreciate the small things a lot more, even if it is just a glance at each other.

The Frederick family met with the first responders this month, and all were recognized at a council meeting.

“I don’t know that they understand how much they are appreciated,” Rob Frederick said. “It’s weird to have a group of strangers come into your house, go above and beyond and do something just because that’s what they do for a living. I’ve never met any of those guys before, and they came in and helped bring my wife back to life. I don’t have the words to express how much I appreciate that.”

Maloney shared more details of what took place, and Cheryl Rickens, chair of the Local Chapter of Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association, presented them with pins.

“One of the challenging things working a cardiac arrest, and I’ve seen it time and time again, is that we always don’t get the outcomes we’re striving for,” Maloney said. “Whenever we go into a cardiac arrest (case), we try to give that person a fighting chance.

“A lot of times it doesn’t work out, but this one did. It was very exciting and incredible to watch. To meet Kristen, meet her husband, her mom, dad, brother, sister and celebrate the fact she’s with us today, it was a very moving moment.”

Council President Dave Odom commended the first responders and all involved.

“It is a testimony to the dedication of our EMS personnel, just the way they were able to support a resident in saving her life,” Odom said. “We see countless times these folks going above and beyond and helping out individuals when it comes to their safety and when they’re in trouble.”

Frederick said she plans to go out to dinner with her husband to celebrate once more covid restrictions are lifted. Both recently were vaccinated.

People can view the EMS presentation online. The council meeting was posted to the borough’s YouTube channel.