By Terence Corcoran
The Journal News
Copyright 2007 The Journal News
GARRISON, N.Y. — The driver of an Empire State Ambulance may have fallen asleep at the wheel early yesterday just before his ambulance went off Route 9 and struck a tree, leaving his paramedic brain dead last night, authorities said.
The paramedic, Matthew Lamb, 25, of Carmel, was being kept on life support for organ donations, the Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office said.
Lamb and the driver, Jonathan Romero, 27, of the Bronx, were taken to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla after the 5:15 a.m. accident, said Senior Investigator Bruce Cuccia of the state police at Cortlandt.
Romero and Lamb, who was in the back of the ambulance, were heading north on Route 9 returning from a call when the accident happened about a quarter-mile north of Snake Hill Road. Lamb suffered head and spinal-cord injuries, police said. Romero’s injuries were thought to be not as serious, police said.
Both men are employed by the Fishkill-based Empire State Ambulance Corp.
“The indications are that he fell asleep and went off the road,” Cuccia said of Romero.
State police were assisted at the scene by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, Metropolitan Transportation Authority police, Garrison firefighters and Philipstown and Peekskill ambulances.
Lamb was also a member of the Carmel Fire Department, and, according to his myspace.com page, Romero is also a member of the Sleepy Hollow Ambulance Corps.
A call to Empire State Ambulance was referred to its upstate attorney, Karen Taddeo, who said she had no information on the crash when reached yesterday afternoon.
Empire was hired by Putnam County in July 2006 to provide advanced life-support services to residents. The company maintains two ambulances and two paramedic-staffed “fly cars.” The company was to receive $504,000 in 2008 for its services but advised Putnam officials that it was opting out of the contract because it could not provide ALS for less than $950,000. Putnam is seeking another ambulance company, but the Legislature approved an additional $116,250 to keep Empire on the job through the end of this year.
Lamb had been with the Carmel Fire Department for nine years, according to his myspace.com page. Under heroes he listed: “All the brothers who gave their lives on September 11, 2001.”