Famed rocker goes from No. 1 to 911

NEW YORK (AP) _ Rocker David Lee Roth, the former Van Halen frontman, is taking up a new trade. <br/><br/>Instead of screaming ``Jump,'' he'll be yelling ``Clear!'' <br/><br/>Roth,

Tuesday, November 16th 2004, 8:57 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Rocker David Lee Roth, the former Van Halen frontman, is taking up a new trade.

Instead of screaming ``Jump,'' he'll be yelling ``Clear!''

Roth, 50, has been riding for several weeks with a New York ambulance crew in training to become a paramedic, The New York Post reported Tuesday.

``I have been on over 200 individual rides now,'' said Roth. ``Not once has anyone recognized me, which is perfect for me.''

The singer, who spent a decade with Van Halen before embarking on a solo career, except a collaboration with the band for two new songs on a greatest hits album, has been riding along with crews in the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn several nights a week.

His training seems to be going well.

Several weeks ago, Roth saved the life of a heart attack victim in the Bronx by using a defibrillator.

He takes his work so seriously that he did not want publicity so that it would not ``diminish what I am trying to do here.'' He has said that he did not want the neighborhoods he was working in named so that he would not draw attention to himself or co-workers.

``You would never know you were dealing with a rock-'n'-roll guy,'' said Linda Reissman, Roth's EMS consultant and tutor. ``His commitment really is touching. He wants to help people.''