New Jersey EMT Killed At Scene of Highway Response

Highways remain dangerous places for emergency workers. Just ask members of the Old Bridge (NJ) First Aid and Rescue Squad.

In March, squad volunteer James Dodridge, 52, was struck by a car and killed when he stopped to help at the scene of a minor accident on a highway through the township.

Dodridge—who was on his way to the squad’s headquarters to assist in responding to the accident—parked his private vehicle on the highway’s median and attempted to cross to the crash scene, according to a police spokesman. He was struck by a northbound vehicle in the roadway.

“He was a brother in EMS, and he’s going to be deeply missed,” colleague Don Viens told the Newark Star-Ledger. “He was a very good EMT. He was struck down in the line of duty, which nobody likes to see.”

The accident to which Dodridge was responding occurred at a stoplight on Old Bridge’s Route 9. When the light turned red, three cars collided in the stopping traffic. A 53-year-old woman involved in that accident died of a heart attack.

A 10-year rescue volunteer, Dodridge had served as a crew chief, line officer and chaplain with the squad. Formed in 1949, the Old Bridge First Aid and Rescue Squad serves 20,000 residents in a 15-square-mile area. All of its 50-plus members are volunteers.

Without blaming a Good Samaritan for his own death, it is worth noting that a couple of aspects of this response are generally not recommended. Following investigations into a pair of 1999 highway fatalities involving firefighters, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommended developing and utilizing standard operating procedures for highway incidents; positioning vehicles to protect responders from traffic; ensuring that responders position themselves in secure areas; and parking off the highway whenever possible. (See www.cdc.gov/niosh/face9927.html and www.cdc.gov/niosh/face9938.html.)

On March 20, flags throughout New Jersey were flown at half-mast in Dodridge’s memory.

—JE