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"I beg you, even if this just reaches one person, PLEASE slow down and move over if you see emergency lights -- or even just a car pulled over on the side of the road," EMT Tyler Treible wrote on Facebook.
Treible and his partner (and girlfriend) Taylor Van Sant were in the second ambulance that responded to a crash on the highway in West Orange just before 10:30 a.m.
"While we were on scene we heard the air horn of a dump truck seconds before we heard/felt the impact," he said.
"We were inches away from being killed, saw fellow brothers and sisters getting hit with cars," Treible added.
Three New Jersey State Police troopers, two West Orange police officers and five township firefighters were among several people injured when the dump truck plowed into an ambulance, sending it crashing into a fire engine, authorities said.
SEE: State Troopers, Firefighters, Others Hurt In Chain-Reaction Crash On 280 In West Orange
New Jersey has a "move over" law requiring drivers to change lanes or slow down when approaching a stopped emergency of highway maintenance vehicle with its lights flashing. Fines range up to $500.
But responders say they're rarely seen motorists obey it.
"Today was a huge wake up call for me and my partner," Treible wrote Tuesday night. "It shows how quickly life can change.
"We are out there putting our lives in danger to help and protect fellow citizens. We are everyday people like you, we go out, we have families to go home to, this is our job.
"Please, before you worry about 'Oh, I need to get to my appointment, or get where I'm going,' just remember: We have loved ones to go home to as well," Treibel wrote.
"I'm not here for praise or thanking of service," he emphasized, "because this is what we love to do. We do it because we genuinely love it.
"I'm just here to remind everyone that your lunch date or anything of the sorts is not more important than someone's life. Take the extra 5 or 10 minutes to sit in traffic.
"Yeah, I know it sucks -- I complain about it too," Treible noted. "But those few extra minutes can mean the difference between us coming home to our families, or a knock on our door telling our families that we won't be coming home."
WATCH this VIDEO from the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iye3U4B-Qw&t=196s
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