STEPHANIE BLAKE
Contributing Writer
Nearly 30 years after Squad 51 responded to its first call for help, the creators and cast of the paramedic drama "Emergency!" still marvel at the profound effect the show has had on individual lives, local communities, and the nation as a whole.
Photo Courtesy Charles Werner
Cast members at the Firehouse.Com/HVFD Luncheon (l to r):
Mike Stoker, Ron Pinkard, Randolph Mantooth, Marco Lopez, Tim Donnelly
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"Countless people have written me, 'if it wasn't for your show, we wouldn't have our department,'" says Tim Donnelly, part of the fictional Station 51 crew. "Or, 'I became a paramedic because of your show.'"
"They talk about what we have done for them, to get them started in the career," adds Marco Lopez, another cast member. "And 30 years later, the letters are still coming."
Donnelly, Lopez and other cast members, show creators, and fans gathered May 14th outside Washington, DC for a luncheon and tribute to the groundbreaking show and the profession it portrays. The event, hosted by Firehouse.com, coincided with the beginning of National EMS Week and with the end of the "Project 51" national tour. That effort featured the fully restored Squad 51 vehicle used on the show and several appearances by actor Randolph Mantooth, who played firefighter/paramedic Johnny Gage on "Emergency!" for more than six seasons. Mantooth joined Donnelly, Lopez, Ron Pinkard, and Mike Stoker at the DC luncheon.
Other DC events include an "Emergency! Fest" featuring autograph and photo sessions, demonstrations, and displays; a private reception and tour of the White House for the members of "Project 51"; and the donation of Squad 51 and other memorabilia from the show to the Smithsonian Museum of American History.
Kevin Tighe, who played the other half of one of TV's best-known duos - Roy DeSoto - is currently working in London and could not participate. He sent a video greeting to the luncheon, saying he's "humbled to think he played even a small role in the growth of the fire and EMS professions."
Few would call the contributions of "Emergency!" small. The LA-based drama's debut in 1972 came only two years after paramedics first went on the job in the city and county of Los Angeles. At the time, only a handful of communities were providing this level of pre-hospital care.
"It made a big difference in selling the concept of fire departments performing emergency medical care," says Dr. Bob Bass of the Maryland Institute for EMS Systems. "The show both educated the public, and created the expectation in its viewers of the level of service it depicted. If they didn't already have it in their communities, they wanted it."
For those fighting for acknowledgment of EMS, Bass says, "'Emergency!' rode in like the cavalry. You couldn't plan a PR campaign to create the groundswell that that show created."
Those closest to the show give much of the credit to its creator and executive producer, Robert Cinader. "He showed a brilliance in merging public education with entertainment," says Jim Page, a former LA County Fire Department battalion chief who worked with the show's production team. "He sometimes dismissed my script ideas a bit brusquely, but I can look back now and see that he knew exactly what he was doing."
Page and fellow retired firefighter Dick Friend, who served as Public Information Officer for the LA County Fire Department, rattle off a list of fire and EMS equipment which debuted on the show and are now in wide use, including the Hurst tool - commonly known as the "jaws of life". The defibrillator, though already in use when "Emergency!" went on the air, gained national exposure as a lifesaving tool.
Friend emphasizes how the show helped lawmakers wade through the sometimes dense topic of emergency medical care to see its wide-ranging benefits for a community. "Anytime someone struggled with the concept of EMS, you could say to them, 'do you know the show "Emergency!"?', and right away, they would understand you."
Dr. Bass of MIEMSS says "Emergency!" remains one of the most technically accurate shows on television today. Looking back at even the earliest episodes, the shows "were not too far off the mark".
Its topics continue to be timely as well. Susan Walters, a 25 year fan of the show who attended the DC luncheon, cites as her favorite an episode called "Frequency". In it, one of Johnny Gage's friends dies in the line of duty because more than one unit is using the same radio frequency, preventing rescue crews from communicating effectively.
Walter of Valparaiso, Indiana won a contest sponsored by Firehouse.com to dine with cast members at the DC luncheon. "I grew up with it - they're my heroes. I went into my profession because of the show."
Another of the winners hopes to one day do the same. 13 year old Michelle-Brionne Fisk was turned on to the show by her mother, and is already dreaming of becoming a firefighter/paramedic. "It would be pretty cool," she says.
Fick represents a rebirth of the show in a new generation of fans. At the height of its popularity in the 1970s, "Emergency!" was watched by 30 million viewers weekly. Today, episodes air on the "TV Land" cable network, and draw regular audiences of up to a million viewers.
"It's better than the (fire and EMS) shows that are on today," she says.
When asked if the show will continue to draw such support, Tim Donnelly shrugs. "Your guess is as good as mine. The only thing that dates us is the haircuts, and the fashions," he says, glancing at a projector screen where videotapes of the show are playing. "I guess it's like the Beatles. You hope your kids love it."
