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Corporal Barry Gober, a trained Emergency Medical Technician, Receives Commendation
Lincoln University Public Safety Corporal Barry Gober (center), of Darby Township, PA, is presented with a Certificate of Merit for saving the life of a housekeeping employee on June 8, 2004, after she had collapsed on the floor and stopped breathing. Using advanced techniques that he has learned through his experience as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Corporal Gober was able to apply external pressure to the employee's airway and restore her breathing. Making the presentation (L-R) are: University Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Dr. William B. Bynum, Jr., and Captain James A. Connor; Assistant Director of Public Safety.
Lincoln University, PA — What is a hero? Is it someone who has a big "S" on his chest and possesses superhuman powers? Or, is it just selfless, everyday people who instinctively help wherever and whenever they can and let others hail them as heroes?
On the morning of Tuesday, June 8, Lincoln University Public Safety Corporal Barry Gober, of Darby Township, PA, was validated as a true hero. At 8:06 a.m., the University Department of Public Safety received a call of a medical emergency on the third floor of the Thurgood Marshall Living and Learning Center on the campus in southern Chester County, PA. Florimar Padillo, an employee with the Housekeeping Department, had collapsed on the floor and stopped breathing.
The best efforts of other officers failed to restore her breathing. Despite the fact that Corporal Gober's regularly scheduled shift had ended (he works from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.), he responded to the scene to render assistance. Using advanced techniques that he has learned through his experience as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Corporal Gober was able to apply external pressure to Ms. Padillo’s airway and restore her breathing.
His quick and trained actions in all probability saved Ms. Padillo’s life and at the very least saved her from brain damage due to lack of oxygen. For his dedicated actions, the University has presented Corporal Gober with a Certificate of Merit and a letter of Commendation for Meritorious Service.
"In addition to the obvious fact that a human life was saved, your actions also reflected positively on you and the entire Public Safety Department. Your training, expertise and dedication to duty, as reflected by this incident, are in the finest traditions of the Law Enforcement profession, and you are truly deserving of the attached commendation for Meritorious Service,'' the letter states.
True to his self-effacing nature, Corporal Gober, who has worked at the University since September 2003, says that he simply helped out in the medical emergency and applied his professional training.
The certificate and letter of commendation were presented today to Corporal Gober on behalf of University President Ivory V. Nelson, Ph.D., by University Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Dr. William B. Bynum, Jr.; Public Safety Director Larry J. Woods; Captain James A. Connor; Assistant Director of Public Safety; and Captain Ruth A. Evans-Waller, Assistant Director of Public Safety.