Plainfield Rescue Squad EMTs prepare to 'board' victim.
A pedestian was struck down by a motorist in Plainfield's downtown shopping district Wednesday afternoon, directly in front of the Health Foods store.
The Plainfield Rescue Squad and a MICU unit were on the scene within minutes of the mishap.
Police had blocked Front Street between Watchung Avenue and Church Street and by the time I found parking behind the Family Dollar store and hauled over to the street, the EMTs were preparing to place the victim on a board preparatory to moving him to the ambulance.
EMTs from the Plainfield Rescue Squad transfer victim to ambulance.
It was quite amazing to watch the measured precision of the EMTs as they assessed the situation, apparently tending to items on a mental checklist, coordinated the effort to strap down and move the victim, and tended to such side details as his personal belongings (in this case, his shoes, stowed in a plastic bag) and his personal identification.
One of the PMUA's mobile sidewalk attendants did his bit too, sweeping up bits of paper discarded by the EMTs in doing their job.
Onlookers told me the pedestrian had stepped out between two parked cars in front of the Health Foods store to cross the street when he was struck by the late model silver four-door sedan. The force of the impact knocked the man perhaps 8 or 10 feet from where he was struck, evidently causing him to lose one shoe, which was seen lying in the street.
Within minutes, the victim had been taken away in the Plainfield Rescue Squad ambulance, the MICU unit was gone, a cop had pulled the sedan over to the side of the roadway to finish writing up the accident report and the cop cars blocking the street had disappeared, leaving backed-up traffic to flow through the downtown artery once again.
By the time I got back to my car, the knots of onlookers had dispersed and Front Street looked as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
A mobile intensive care unit (MICU) from Muhlenberg also responded.
Plainfield police officers investigate the accident.
-- Dan Damon [follow]
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4 comments:
Pat Turner Kavanaugh: we, Plainfield residents, have no idea about the dedication of the Rescue Squad members and the difficulties they face day in and day out helping us. The post office wouldn't deliver the envelope with my little contribution so I drove there. Perhaps you Dan or one of your readers would post their mailing address. If each family in Plainfield sent $10, one McDonald's meal, we'd all be safer
Tragic, but pedestrian safety is ALWAYS the responsibility of the walker themself. Even in the crosswalks, if a person makes a mistake it is only a small dent on a hood, but big business to a body. The arrongance some show to drivers will hurt them more then the vehicle.
Not being negative, but shows the stupidity of some pedestrians. Especially with the new law that we have to stop completely if there is someone entering a crosswalk. I have seen cases where people will cross a street 5ft from a crosswalk and not even attempt to look to see if cars are coming.
Our government is waaaaaaaaay to paternalistic. I think since we have to stop completely with crosswalks and ped's, I believe when not in the crosswalk it should be considered "open season". Then mothers could say to their kids, " See little Jimmy, that person was mowed over by a car because they were just too lazy to walk a few feet over and cross in the crosswalk."
Dan,
Thank you for an exemplary article on the Plainfield Rescue Squad. This is the reason we spearheaded the fund raiser. Imagine if he were seriously injured and had to wait for another city to respond. This is just another example of the quality of services we have available to us in Plainfield.
To Pat... I personally say THANK YOU!! Thank you for your donation and thank you for the foresight of what can happen if we all pitch in as a commmunity.
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