FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions about EMERGENCY! The American television series Version 1.1, April 1996 Related to the newsgroup misc.emerg-services Please mail suggestions, corrections, own FAQ-texts or other information to the FAQ-manager, he might be willing to add them to the list. The same is valid for any kind of errors (including spelling). The FAQ-manager of this (see above) version is: Gregory C. Halpin (ghalpin@bitbytes.com or ghalpin@sevenstar.com). Please be sure to get the latest version of the FAQ since manager and address might change. ================================================================ Disclaimer: This collection is presented in the spirit of Internet cooperation. No promotion or recommendation of a particular reference is intended or implied. At any point in time, any particular reference may or may not be useful to you for your specific purposes: no guarantee of usefulness or suitability is intended or implied. Nothing in here is subject to absolute reliability, no one (named or intentionally linked with) is responsible for the things written. It's fiction. It doesn't exist. Why do you read this? (I hate disclaimers...) ================================================================ Preface: About this FAQ This FAQ contains a) A brief history of the American television show "EMERGENCY!"; b) Lists of cast members, guest stars, and others involved in the show; c) The show's relation to the Los Angeles COUNTY Fire Dept.; d) Miscellaneous facts and trivia questions; e) Where to find the show today. WARNING: The information in this list is not official, so don't take them for fact. The FAQ in it's original appearance was started by Gregory C. Halpin (ghalpin@sevenstar.com or ghalpin@bitbytes.com). Thanks to the users of the usenet-newsgroup misc.emerg-services, where the most information is from. If possible, the author of the original information (where we got it from) appears right behind it. If you don't want your answer or your name appear herein, drop a note to the FAQ-manager. Since all FAQ-info was taken from public sources, it is assumed that the authors dedicated it to the public, which is true in this faq, too. Some statements were victims of editing by me (due to better understanding & context), I hope to be careful enough in saving the original intentions. Some special thanks goes to (and some of them probably won't know why): Bernhard Nowotny (now@cat.m.isar.de) Mikel A. Rothenberg, MD (mikelmd@aol.com) Brian Humphrey (NKHP8--32A273EA-WebSite-Rules-Byte-Range-Data-32A273EA Content-type: text/plain Content-length: 25738 Last-modified: Tuesday, 01-Apr-97 02:31:13 GMT Content-Range: bytes 2705-28442/28443 0A@prodigy.com) Ken Koller (kkoller@adnetsol.com) Roger Longenbach (rl@wam.umd.edu) and others, I've lost in the deep mists of my mind or my computer's file system... ================================================================ Table of Contents: NOTE: This FAQ is not complete. Feel free to offer additional information by sending it to the FAQ-manager. As fast as we get your input, we would be able to compile a more satisfying list. Please send all kinds of comments, too - we really need them in improving the FAQ. Part I: EMERGENCY! - The television series I.1 EMERGENCY! history I.2 The series' original run I.3 After the original run I.4 Emergency + 4 Part II. Cast, crew and others II.1 Regular cast II.1.1 Dr. Kelly Brackett II.1.2 Dixie McCall II.1.3 Dr. Joe Early II.1.4 Roy DeSoto II.1.5 John Gage II.1.6 Dr. Mike Morton II.1.7 Capt. H. Stanley II.1.8 Chet Kelly II.1.9 Marco Lopez II.1.10 Mike Stoker II.2 The crew II.2.1 Executive Producer II.2.2 Technical Advisor II.3 Others II.3.1 Semi-regulars II.3.2 Guest stars of note Part III. EMERGENCY! and Los Angeles County III.1 Locations III.1.1 Station 51 III.1.2 Rampart General Hospital Part IV. EMERGENCY! facts IV.1 Apparatus IV.1.1 Engine 51 IV.1.2 Squad 51 Part V. EMERGENCY! today V.1 Video tapes Appendices Appendix A - EMERGENCY! on the Internet Appendix B - EMERGENCY! Trivia Appendix C - EMERGENCY! Collectibles Appendix D - Other sources of information for this FAQ ================================================================ Part I: EMERGENCY! - The television series I.1 EMERGENCY! history An excellent source on the history of the show is "The EMERGENCY! Companion" by Jim Page, a publication from JEMS Communications. Jim Page was a Battalion Chief with the Los Angeles County Fire Department and was a technical consultant and a writer for the first years of the "EMERGENCY!" series. "The EMERGENCY! Companion" explains how EMERGENCY! came into being, how the premiere episode was created, gives you inside information on the making of six selected episodes, and other information on the making of the show. See Appendix D for additional information on this fine booklet. I.2 The series' original run EMERGENCY!, a drama series, aired on NBC on Saturday evenings from 8:00 to 9:00pm EST from January 22, 1972 to July of 1972, and then from September of 1972 until September 3, 1977. EMERGENCY! followed the efforts of Squad 51 of the Los Angeles COUNTY Fire Department's Paramedic Rescue Service. Regular cast included the two paramedics of Squad 51, the four members from Engine 51, and the staff of Rampart Hospital. Each episode featured several incidents, some humorous and some serious and dramatic. I.3 After the original run After the series end, several two-hour features were aired during the following season. Most of these features took place in San Francisco. From: ctemt@aol.com After reading the current threads about the EMERGENCY! TV show I have a question? Does anyone know why the show changed its name from EMERGENCY to EMERGENCY ONE during the middle of it's run? From: NKHP80A@prodigy.com To the best of my personal recollection, the series was named "Emergency" throughout its entire NBC network run. As I recall, once the series entered syndication, it often appeared as "Emergency One". From: brady@KCMETRO.CC.MO.US EMERGENCY ONE! was the syndicated re-run version of EMERGENCY!. Exactly why a different name was used is unclear. (Unless it had to do with network proprietary rights to the name?? -- Just a guess!) I.4 Emergency + 4 From: ctemt@aol.com Reaching back into my childhood memory I do remember that they did make a cartoon version of Emergency! that was shown on Saturday mornings as part of the Sat. AM line up. I think it was on ABC but I'm not sure. I also don't remember it being on for very long. From: aq957@FreeNet.Carleton.CA The cartoon was called, "Emergency Plus Four", the "four" being two kids and a monkey and a dog or something who were, of course, incredibly talented. Johnny and Roy (the animated ones, that is) basically just had cameo appearances in each episode, while the "Four" did all the heroics. From: 102375.1271@CompuServe.COM Yes, there was an Emergency! cartoon. It was on Saturday mornings. It was called "Emergency! Plus 4!" In it, Johnny and Roy teamed up with a group of volunteer high school kids to do spectacular rescues. As I recall, the kids had a better rescue squad than most real agencies today have. ================================================================ Part II. Cast, crew and others II.1 Regular cast II.1.1 Dr. Kelly Brackett Kelly Brackett, M.D., F.A.C.S. was played by actor Robert Fuller. Dr. Brackett was an emergency room physician (and apparently head of the department) at Rampart Hospital. Dr. Brackett studied at Johns Hopkins, and did his residency at the Mayo Clinic. II.1.2 Dixie McCall Dixie McCall, R.N., was played by actress Julie London. Ms. London was the ex-wife of Jack Webb, producer of the series, and during the series was the real-life wife of actor Bobby Troup. Dixie was the head nurse in Rampart's emergency room. Dixie served at a field hospital in the Korean War. In the pilot episode, there was a romantic relationship shown between Dixie and Dr. Brackett. II.1.3 Dr. Joe Early Joe Early, M.D., F.A.C.S., was played by actor Bobby Troup. Troup, husband of Julie London, was formerly a band leader and composed the song "Route 66". From: cu504@cleveland.Freenet.Edu Bobby Troup,76, will be inducted into the new "Cruisin Hall of Fame" in San Bernandino California on Saturday. The Jazz Pianist and actor composed the song "Route 66" . Troup wrote the song to commemorate his first trip to Los Angeles after serving in the Marine Corp in WWII. II.1.4 Roy DeSoto Firefighter/Paramedic Roy DeSoto was played by actor Kevin Tighe. He was a contract actor for Universal Studios. Tighe has since been seen as a supporting actor in several feature films, including "Road House" and "Another 48 Hours". Roy DeSoto was married to Joanne, and had several children. Roy was one of six firefighters to graduate from the first paramedic class, and served as a recruiter for the paramedic program prior to being assigned to Rescue 51. II.1.5 John Gage Firefighter/Paramedic John "Johnny" Gage was played by actor Randolph Mantooth. Mantooth was also a contract actor for Universal. After EMERGENCY!, Mantooth could be found on a daytime drama series (soap opera). John Gage was single, and worked on Rescue 10 prior to attending the second paramedic class and getting a position on Rescue 51 with Roy DeSoto. Many episodes showed Johnny Gage in his quest for his ideal woman. Nurses were one of Johnny's regular targets (with one strange exception, Dixie McCall). II.1.6 Dr. Mike Morton Dr. Mike Morton was played by actor Ron Pinkhard. Dr. Morton was another doctor in Rampart's emergency room. II.1.7 Capt. H. Stanley Captain "Hank" Stanley was played by actor Michael Norell. For the first nine episodes, the role of the Captain was played by Dick Hammer, an actual L.A. County Fire Department Captain. Hammer found the long hours involved with the series soon interfered with his family and career obligations, so he resigned from the show. After one show with another actor. Norell was cast as Captain Stanley. II.1.8 Chet Kelly Firefighter Chet Kelly was played by actor Tim Donnelly. Chet served as the comic relief character on the show. II.1.9 Marco Lopez Firefighter Marco Lopez was played by actor Marco Lopez. II.1.10 Mike Stoker Firefighter Mike Stoker was played by Firefighter Mike Stoker. Stoker was an L.A. County Firefighter that worked part-time as an actor, and therefore carried a Screen Actors Guild card. During the planning stages of the series, there was concern that actors driving a piece of fire apparatus would damage the vehicles, so it was suggested that a firefighter/driver be hired as the driver on the series. Thus Firefighter Mike Stoker became Firefighter Mike Stoker! II.2 The crew II.2.1 Executive Producer R. A. "Bob" Cinader was the executive producer of EMERGENCY! Cinader was assigned the project by Jack Webb, the producer who ran Mark VII Productions. From: NKHP80A@prodigy.com While most folks -do- remember Jack Webb's affiliation with the show, one must not let the legendary Sgt Joe Friday eclipse the contributions of Bob Cinader. II.2.2 Technical Advisor Jim Page served as technical advisor in the beginning of the series. He was a Battalion Chief with the L.A. County Fire Department, but then left to work for an EMS system in North Carolina. Page later created JEMS, the Journal of Emergency Medical Services. II.3 Others II.3.1 Semi-regulars Although this person qualifies as a regular, I will list him here. This person was in every episode of EMERGENCY! (as far as I can tell), yet never appeared in the credits. He was also a member of the L.A. County Fire Department. This person was dispatcher Sam Lanier, "the voice of EMERGENCY!" Another semi-regular was Police Officer Vince, played by actor Vince Howard. Two other semi-regulars that I would like to include in this FAQ are the two mascots from Station 51. I can't remember which one was first, but there were two. One, the mutt, was "Boot". The other, the beagle, was "Henry", named after Captain Stanley ("Don't let me catch you calling him Hank!"). II.3.2 Guest stars of note From: cu504@cleveland.Freenet.Edu Gary Crosby passed away several days ago at age 62 in California of lung cancer. He appeared a number of times in the show as a Paramedic assigned to another station. Might have been Squad 36? From: aq957@FreeNet.Carleton.CA That's right, and Jack Webb also created and produced "Adam 12". In fact, there was an episode of "Emergency" where Officers Reed and Malloy from "Adam 12" appeared at Rampart General. From: kjk11@lennon.csufresno.edu Ah Ha! But true EMERGENCY! die hards will also remember that the Adam 12 duo also appeared in another episode of EMERGENCY. If you remember, there was the one episode where the guys at Station 51 were watching the Adam 12 program on television, an episode where Reed and Malloy were pinned down by a sniper or something along those lines, and Sta 51 got a call, and for the rest of the program, Johnny and Roy were phoning everyone trying to find out what happened at the end of the Adam 12 program. Then a few seasons later, as mentioned above, Malloy and Reed were in Rampart as part of an EMERGENCY episode. Weird huh? ================================================================ Part III. EMERGENCY! and Los Angeles County III.1 Locations III.1.1 Station 51 Station 51 was in actuality Station 127, is located on 223rd Street, south of Wilmington Avenue, in the City of Carson. Behind the station is the San Diego Freeway (Highway 405). Across the street is a major oil refinery and a chemical manufacturing plant. From: kjk11@lennon.csufresno.edu BTW, to answer the trivia I posted the other day. Station 51 is in actuality Fire Station 127, located in the city of Carson. The show was actually somewhat realistic, as engine 51 responded with engine 36 all the time, and the real station 36 (the busiest in LACoFD) is located on the same street, just about 3 miles down the road. From: jsnider@willamette.edu The LACoFD station that was used in the show Emergency is still a standing fire station that is utilized today. It is LACoFD Station 127 which incidentally provides no paramedic service from it. The station is in a largely industrial area of Carson, California about 17 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. From: leber@warm.inmet.com Paraphrased from "The Emergency! Companion", by Jim Page: Originally, they intended to use 106 in Rolling Hills Estates, but the station faced north, which posed a problem since they filmed during the fall and winter. So they switched to Station 127, a short distance from the San Diego Freeway near oil refineries and chemical plants. A replica of 127's interior was built on a sound stage at Universal. III.1.2 Rampart General Hospital From: kjk11@lennon.csufresno.edu AND, the hospital used as Rampart, is actually Harbor UCLA medical center, also located in Carson, again on the same street as stations 36 and 51 (127). From: jsnider@willamette.edu The hospital shown (Rampart) actually is the closest receiving facility to 127's area but has a different name, Harbor UCLA (one of the few remaining trauma centers in Los Angeles). ================================================================ Part IV. EMERGENCY! facts IV.1 Apparatus IV.1.1 Engine 51 Engine 51 was originally a Crown Firecoach from the L.A. County Fire Department. After a time, a Ward LaFrance was donated to the series with the understanding that the engine would be turned over to the Fire Department after the series' end. The apparatus went on a promotional tour from coast to coast, from the manufacturer's plant in upstate New York to Los Angeles from April 15th to May 7th, 1973. From: kjk11@lennon.csufresno.edu The later engine used as engine 51, The LaFrance, not the Crown, is still in service as engine 260 at LACoFD station 60, located on the grounds of Universal Studios. At least it was last Time I was there 2 years ago. From: rich.dean@syncomm.com As far as Engine 51 goes I remember reading back in the 70's that it was an LA County Apparatus. The original was a Crown Firecoach and then later by Ward LaFrance ambassador ultra-vision windshield. As a matter of fact, in the early 70's I wrote to many manufacturers of apparatus requesting brochures, etc. Ward LaFrance responded with a very large packet, including 8x10 color prints and a flyer about Engine 51 being an LA County unit financed by the TV series as I vaguely recall. Crown also included something about the original 51 being an LA County unit used on the show. I also remember writing the LA County Fire Department and receiving a response from the PIO on a letterhead listing the individual cities they served at the time, including Universal City so perhaps the engines used were stationed there. From: jpitcock@ix.netcom.com According to Jim Page in "The Emergency! Companion", the Ward LaFrance engine was donated by Ward LaFrance for use by the "Emergency" series. The engine was to be turned over to LA County FD when the series concluded. From: kjk11@lennon.csufresno.edu I have a photo of the original engine my mom took at Universal Studios when I was 4. The tram drove right past the set of an EMERGENCY! episode, and whammo, there was engine 51. Still have the photo too. LACoFD Fire Station 60 is located on the grounds of Universal Studios It is staffed with two engines, one of which is the Ward-LaFrance used in the television series, engine 260. IV.1.2 Squad 51 The Dodge truck used as Squad 51 started out as an actual L.A. County squad, until the studio acquired their vehicle. The actual studio squad is now housed in the L.A. County Fire Museum. From: romangod@lgn.com The squad was also used several times on the tv show "CHiPs". I think I also saw the engine in it also. From: kjk11@lennon.csufresno.edu LACoFD has their own museum. Now that I remember, I have the brochure for it, and it does say that the squad is there. I don't have the address or hours, But I know it is only open a couple days a week or month. ================================================================ Part V. EMERGENCY! today V.1 Video tapes As of this writing, four sets of EMERGENCY! tapes are available, with each set containing six episodes. Set one contains "Cook's Tour", "Publicity Hound", "Drivers", "Trainee", "Snakebite" and "Body Language". Set two contains "The World Premiere Episode - The Wedsworth-Townsend Act" (2-hour episode), "Nurses Wild", "905-Wild", "Welcome to Santa Rose County", "The Old Engine" and "The Greatest Rescues of EMERGENCY!" (2-hour episode). Set three contains "The Steel Inferno" (2-hour episode), "Survival on Charter #220" (2-hour episode), "Brush Fire", "Problem", "The Screenwriter" and "The Stewardess". Set four contains "Honest", "The Promotion", "Loose Ends", "Crash", "Hang Up" and "School Days". From: TomScottII@AOL.COM You can purchase video tapes of these shows from the JEMS Bookstore. 1-800-266-JEMS. Be sure to get a copy of the "Emergency! Companion" written by Jim Page, who was the technical advisor for the pilot and the screenwriter for a couple of the early episodes. It is full of inside facts about the making of the program in the early years. It is fascinating. From: MikelMD@aol.com JEMS Communications 1947 Camino Vida Roble Suite 200 Carlsbad, California 92008 Fax: 619-431-8176 1-800-266-5367 ================================================================ Appendix A - EMERGENCY! on the Internet This FAQ is available at http://www.cyberia.com/pages/wrice and at http://www.hyattsvillevfd.org/emergency/emergency.html A newsgroup for EMERGENCY! has also been started. Look for alt.tv.emergency on your news server. Several EMERGENCY! web pages have been placed on the 'net: http://www.hyattsvillevfd.org/emergency/emergency.html http://www.iup.edu/~vbyprdb/emergency.html http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/3028/frames2.htm http://udel.edu/~jeffsix/emer.htm http://columbia-pacific.interrain.org/emergency/ From: mikelmd@aol.com Here I sit pleased and amazed as to the widespread effect that a TV show aired twenty years ago had such a profound effect on the evolution of a profession. I know, for one, that I elected to go into Emergency Medicine and EMS directly as a result of this show. Without Roy and Johnny, I'd have been a rat researcher..... The Internet has resulted in an incredible exchange of Emergency! trivia -- much of which I didn't know (make note of that -- a doctor said he didn't know something!!).....One of the high points of my career was having dinner with Jim Page, along with several of the JEMS editors, and listening to him tell of writing the original episodes....Some of these stories were also relayed in the booklet he wrote to accompany the tape series....Jim is a great story teller -- here sat ten people in complete silence and awe...What an experience!! Emergency! has been referred to as the "series that will not die." And, IMHO, it never should!! Granted, we laugh at some of the practices now -- but remember that these guys were doing state-of-the-art stuff then, and in an incredibly volatile political environment. I have and will always maintain that watching the pilot 2-hr episode of Emergency! (available in the second set of JEMS video tapes) should be MANDATORY for all EMS providers! I get so excited thinking about this stuff that I can hardly type any more.... From: dhogan@TPA.CENT.COM For Station 51 tones, Star of Life gifs, other various wav files and gifs look here: Main Page is at http://gilligan.uafadm.alaska.edu/WWW_911.htm Look under the section of Junk, or go directly to: http://gilligan.uafadm.alaska.edu/pub/Stuff Appendix B - EMERGENCY! Trivia From: dave.milsted@compudata.com What station was Johnny Gage assigned to in the pilot episode? Sta. 10 From: kjk11@lennon.csufresno.edu 1. What type of vehicle did Johnny Gage have as his personal vehicle? 2. Name the Paramedic that was always stealing the spotlight (First name only will do) AND what station was he at? 3. In the episode where they are in San Francisco, there is a large incident. Where and what was it? (No, not the dock fire) 4. How did station 51 come to acquire their dog Boot? 5. In the second brushfire episode, Chet is injured, requiring Johnny and Roy to treat him. What was his injury? From: croaker@access.digex.net Now tell me what engine they were restoring for a parade (third season?), which was subsequently destroyed at the scene of a fire. Which dummy script-writer decided they wouldn't carry a portable? From: keithw@sedona.net Let's be fair here -- the script was written in 1973 or so. I don't know for certain, but I don't think a lot of LACoFD paramedics carried HTs with them when they were off-duty in 1973, when commercial-grade portables came in two types -- HT's (commonly known as "bricks" because they were larger than a brick and about the same weight) and the PT "lunchboxes." The HT had a nominal battery life of 2-4 hours (squelched down, no-transmit), and the PT had 3-5 hours (the big-box radio used on-scene in Emergency was a PT in a different case). Either type cost the equivalent of $800 or $1000 today. In fact, during that same period, my father was a homicide detective with LA County Sheriff's Dept, and they only issued him a radio when he had a specific need for one, because there were a limited number of them. If the law-enforcement agency couldn't afford spares to give to on-call detectives, it's unlikely that the FD would have had one to give a couple of off-duty paramedics going to drive in a parade! From: plaws@comp.uark.edu Trivia (that you probably already knew): Bobby Troup was married to Julie London Bobby Troup wrote "Get your kicks on Route 66" The original Capt (in the pilot I think) was a LACoFD firefighter So was Mike Stoker who played the Engineer There was an episode that had Johnny and Roy meeting Reed and Malloy (from Adam 12) in the ER. Randy Mantooth ("Johnny") was the only one that ever took EMT training Hope you have a copy of "The Paramedics", a JEMS book that from about 1979 that has all kinds of stuff about the show. (Actually, I think it was published by the folks that did "Paramedics International", which became JEMS in the 1980's.) From: rich.dean@syncomm.com Was he transported to the hospital in a Mayfair ambulance? If I remember right, that was the commercial ambulance company used on Emergency. Appendix C - EMERGENCY! Collectibles From: br93@UOW.EDU.AU I do know I had an Emergency lunchbox, though... From: geraghty@clark.net There WAS an Emergency! magazine, with drawings, etc. Sort of like a comic book, but not exactly. From: croaker@access.digex.net I remember that at one time there was an Emergency! comic book. I had a few issues but have them no longer. I suspect they'd be worth a pretty penny by now... From: challam@ENTERNET.COM.AU Do you remember the board game that Parker Bros, put out??? I still have parts, board & cards still hanging around somewhere. From: geraghty@clark.net Actually, my mother just reminded me that when I was 5 years old, I dressed up as an "Emergency" paramedic for Halloween. It was a "plastic" costume, too...not a homemade one... Appendix D - Other sources of information for this FAQ Three sources (other than messages from the newsgroup misc.emerg-services) were used for this FAQ. One is my memory, which I tried not to rely on too much. Second, is one of my favorite books in my personal collection, "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946-Present" Fifth Edition, by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh. Third, and most important, is "The EMERGENCY! Companion", by Jim Page, a publication from JEMS Communications. If you want to know more about EMERGENCY!, this booklet is for you. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Lt. Greg Halpin, York City (PA) FD | INTERNET E-Mail addresses: Member, IAFF Local 627 | ghalpin@sevenstar.com Curator, Fire Museum of York County | yorkfd@juno.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- --32A273EA-WebSite-Rules-Byte-Range-Data-32A273EA--