RC2389

I'm hoping its all a lot of hype and not a lot of weather-- I've got Days on Campus on Sunday and Monday in Manhattan, and touring the campus isn't going to be much fun in torrential storms.

Maybe having a high profile person injured because he wasn't wearing a seatbelt will convince more people to wear one.

Corzine may not have been buckled up

CAMDEN, N.J. - Gov. Jon S. Corzine was apparently riding without a seat belt, in violation of state law, when he was critically injured in the crash of his official vehicle, a spokesman said Friday.

A state trooper was at the wheel and the governor was sitting as usual in the front passenger seat when the SUV slammed into a guard rail Thursday night, authorities said. Corzine broke a leg, his breastbone, 12 ribs and a vertebra.

Corzine, 60, was sedated and on a breathing tube, and a doctor who helped treat him said the governor was fortunate he was not more seriously hurt.

"There's no way to tell specifically how close he came to more severe injuries, but based on pictures I've seen of the crash, I think he's lucky," said Dr. Steven E. Ross, trauma chief at Cooper University Hospital.

Ross said Corzine was stable and improving, and could be removed from a ventilator within the next few days. But a spokesman said it is unclear how long it will take before the governor is well enough to return to work.

Dr. Robert Ostrum, who performed two hours of surgery on the governor Thursday night, said a rod was inserted in Corzine's leg, and additional operations were scheduled for Saturday and Monday.

State police were looking for the driver of a pickup truck they believe caused the crash and fled. That driver could be charged with careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident. The governor himself could face a citation.

New Jersey law requires all front-seat occupants of a vehicle to wear a seat belt. Violators face a $46 fine.

Corzine chief of staff Tom Shea said he did not believe the governor had been wearing his seat belt.

"If he was not, he certainly should have been," Shea said, "and we would encourage the state police to issue a citation."

Shea said Corzine usually wears his seat belt. When asked why the trooper who was driving would not have asked Corzine to put on his seat belt, Shea said the governor was "not always amenable to suggestion."

A law enforcement official close to the investigation told The Associated Press on Thursday that the governor typically does not wear his seat belt, and that his state trooper detail had not been successful in persuading him. The source spoke on condition of anonymity, citing a lack of authorization to speak on the matter.

Corzine cannot speak because of the breathing tube down his throat, and state police said they have been unable to interview him about the accident.

Senate President Richard J. Codey, a fellow Democrat, took over as acting governor. It is a familiar role for Codey, who served the last 14 months of Gov. James E. McGreevey's term after he disclosed a gay affair and resigned in 2004.

The accident happened while Corzine was en route from Atlantic City to the governor's mansion in Princeton for a meeting between the Rutgers women's basketball team and radio host Don Imus, who was fired for using a slur to describe the athletes.

State Trooper Robert Rasinski was driving the governor's Chevrolet Suburban when another vehicle, swerving to avoid a pickup truck, hit the sport utility vehicle and sent it off the Garden State Parkway, authorities said. Police following the governor in another vehicle administered first aid to Corzine and called for a helicopter.

Rasinski also was injured. His condition was not disclosed, but Codey said he was expected to be released from the hospital Friday. A governor's aide in the vehicle was not hurt, authorities said.

The speed limit was 65 mph. State police said speed was not believed to be a factor, but they had no immediate word on how fast the SUV was going. Shea said he did not know whether its air bags deployed.

Authorities searched for the driver of the red Ford F-150 pickup truck blamed for the wreck, checking video cameras mounted at toll plazas along the highway. The motorist had been driving erratically just before the crash, state police said.

The accident marks the third straight time a New Jersey governor has broken a leg while in office. McGreevey broke his leg in 2002 during a nighttime walk on the beach, and Christie Whitman broke her leg while skiing in the Swiss Alps in 1999.

"That is a very, very difficult job to have," he said. "Some people are good at it, and some people aren't."

Clearly Cook is one of the latter.

The way I learned it is, if the patient is cuffed or restrained to keep them from harming themselves/others, have an officer with you at all times.

I'm a bit curious how she managed to undo a number of straps, open the door and jump out before the paramedic got to her.

His body may be fine, but his insurance is going to be painful from now on.

Next time my parents start complaining about the damage I did to the car, I'm going to show them this picture.

Ah, good 'ole Fox news.

As far as I'm concerned, always err on the side of caution. A man who has had previous arrests for illegal gun posession, was in a seedy area and had allegedly tried to run down police with his car is a threat. I don't know exactly what happened-- nor does anyone, really-- but unless they're also trained law enforcement professionals, people should stop telling the NYPD how to do their job.

"Our preliminary information is that the fire could have been caused by carelessness, a short circuit or arson. Specialists will be working to establish the actual cause," Sergei Kudinov, a local Emergencies Ministry official said in televised remarks.

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Maybe it's just me, but what they really need to be investigating first is why the personnel weren't at their posts, why they didn't properly evacuate everybody, and why the guard ignored the alarm for so long.

This man is a hero, and I don't see the reason for the negativity. Did he cause the roof to fall down just so he could play the hero and be on tv? No. Did he, due to his more advanced technical knowledge, recognize there was a problem and evacuate the place? Yes.

Just out of curiosity, what do your departments do in terms of making sure there are people to respond during really bad storms? The weather this Friday was awful, and I can't imagine trying to drive in it to get to the firehouse. During this kind of weather does your department have a crew assigned to stay over at the firehouse until the roads are passable again, or do you just hope for the best?

I believe our members have to live in the town, or within a reasonable distance.

I think community outreach is probably the best way to attract attention to the fire service. I know I never really paid attention to the FD, and didn't even know that I could join it until I happened to catch a glimpse of a flyer the department sent out. Unless there is a fire, it seems like most people's eyes pass right over the fire house, even though it is in the center of town.

Something to consider might be letting the public get an idea of what the fire service is like. Station a fire truck at a community day type event, and maybe have some extra turnout gear that people can hop into and take a picture in.

See if the local high schools will allow firefighters to come in and do some demonstrations (and maybe let them play with the hoses a bit) during gym classes. It depends on your department's rules, but a teenaged recruit can get in a few years of training and exterior experience and then will already know the ropes when s/he becomes a regular member.

Have representatives from the department around at community events and have members wear their FD shirts/hats/jackets around town. Show people that their neighbors, mailmen, bus drivers, teachers, etc are firefighters.

I guess my point is that we need to bring attention to the fire service, and then you'll get people (like me!) who had never considered joining before, but think of it as the best choice they've made.

It's unfortunate that the fire department is being dragged into this. I guess that makes the story sound even better, but the fire department doesn't deserve to be associated with allegations of pedophilia.

These are unfortunate occurences, but I think they happen much less than it seems. It's similar to school shootings. The way the media portrays them, you'd think that they happen on a regular basis. "Volunteer Firefighter Convicted for Arson" sells more than "Volunteer Firefighters Host Blood Drive."

Also, like DOC22 said, you can screen applicants but you can't know for sure what a person is and isn't capable of.

In my department, junior members (16-18) are permitted to do a number of things. I am currently 17, which means that I cannot become an interior FF even if I take FF1, and whether or not I go on certain calls is up to the crew chief (really gory ambulance calls, for example). I'm also not supposed to respond to mutual aid calls, although that isn't enforced so much, and I can't respond after 10 pm on a schoolnight. However, I am allowed to ride both the ambulance and the engine, and I am allowed to perform whatever skills the officers deem appropriate, under supervision. While I'm under 18 I am kept out of dangerous, volatile situations, but a lot of what I can do is based on my level of maturity and skill, not age.

Briarcliff 53B2 arrived and we took him to Westchester Med Center. I was in the back of the ambulance with the two medics, and the situation wasn't good at all. I heard he died later on in the hospital.

Even though the father had good intentions, that doesn't change the fact that he acted in a dangerous manner. While it is true that the paramedic was drawing blood and not actually giving care, it isn't like the father stopped and took note of that before he jumped in the ambulance (clearly he wasn't acting rationally). Had the medic been trying to intubate or start a line, being interrupted like that could have caused problems.

Now, I'm not too knowledgeable about this, but common sense says to me that although the father, as a doctor, had a higher level of medical training, the paramedic was more suited for handling this situation. How often, if ever, do anethesiologists perform things like CPR?

I agree with the above posters-- he had a good lawyer (and I'd bet the jurors weren't first responders, or else they'd know how much of a nuisance hysterical family members can be).

Applied.