Emergency!: Behind the Scene

by Richard Yokley, Rozane Sutherland

This book captures the essence of an important chapter in television history: the origins of the Emergency!, a dramatic series significant beyond entertainment. When the world premiere of Emergency! was first broadcast in 1972, there were only 12 paramedic units in all of North America. Ten years later, more than half of all Americans were within ten minutes of a paramedic rescue or ambulance unit. That simply would not have happened without the influence of Emergency! Emergency! followed the daily lives of a pair of Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighters/paramedics, along with their colleagues at Station 51 and the emergency room staff of Rampert General Hospital. This program introduced audiences from all over the world to the concept of pre-hospital care, along with fire prevention and CPR.

402 pages, Paperback

First published July 13, 2007

Reviews

[Barbara Maxwell-Dubrinsky]

The authors tried to write a comprehensive overview of the television show Emergency! For the most part it is complete but contains many factual errors and omits people who were instrumental in making the program. It is worth reading but my hope is that a revised version is in the works to correct the myriad of mistakes. For instance Hannah Shearer, a writer and producer was totally omitted. Other questions were not addressed such as why actors Jamie Farr and Eric Shea appeared in their respective episodes but were credited in other, unrelated episodes, was not answered. It almost seems like the book was thrown together quickly with no fact checking.

[Elizabeth S]

If you aren't a pretty big fan of Emergency!, don't even try reading this book. Even for us big fans, the book is more of a reference guide than a over-arcing story. About half of the book is an episode guide. Each episode has the Episode name, number, production number, dates of writing and revision, date of filming, airdate, writer, director, technical advisor, and guest cast list. And then a Synopsis. And then Notes (some of which are trivia or short vignette). And Locations, which lists where the various scenes and fires were filmed.

There is a whole chapter on the vehicles and equipment used in the show. There is a lot of detail for the various fire vehicles. For example, "Engine 127, sister to Engine 60 (one of seventeen 1965 Crowns) also portrayed Engine 51 and was utilized for stock footage for the World Premier and subsequent shots on location and at Station 127 in the Carson area (such as the refinery rescues) until it was replaced by the Ward LaFrance (WLF). The Crown's serial number is F1388 and its LA County shop number is 49214." At lot of the book is this way, giving exquisite technical detail.

There are also places where I am surprised that the authors didn't give more information. For example, in the cast list Bobby Troup (who played Dr. Joe Early) was only given 2 sentences. Nothing was said about his music/jazz career, including that he wrote the famous song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66." All the other actors get multiple paragraphs which not include biographic detail but lists of what other shows they appeared on.

Overall, though, I liked the book because of the anecdotes and some of the trivia. I skimmed portions gleaning these little tidbits and revisiting my love of the show. (Yes, I read through the entire episode guide, going down memory lane with the synopsis of each episode.)

[Julie Doel]

Emergency! was one of my favorite tv shows as a kid. This book includes an extensive list of episodes with guest stars and plot summaries from all the seasons plus the movies. It describes how influential the show was on expanding paramedic teams across the country beginning in the 1970s.

One nitpick: in the profiles of the main actors, most get multiple paragraphs, but Bobby Troup, who played one of Rampart’s doctors gets just four lines.

I love the fact that Mike Stoker, a real engineer, was hired to drive the fire engine for the show, but my favorite will always be Randolph Mantooth as Johnny Gage.

[Tony Genualdi]

This was my favorite show growing up and I was glad to see how much detail the authors could get into this. I did get to see Squad 51 and Engine 51 when I was 7 or 8 when we took the Universal Studios tour, and Squad 51 here in Phoenix at the Hall of Flame in 2003. The authors erred when they said the Hall of Flame is in Scottsdale.
Overall this is a terrific resource for fans of this groundbreaking show.

[Lauren Stoolfire]

I don't feel like I talk about just how much I love Emergency! So, as soon as I found about this book, I checked it out from the library asap. This was so much fun and I got a kick out of all of the little details. I feel like it's time to do some rewatching!

[Ruth]

Worth the time to read it. It explains why Emergency! was a popular show and how it helped to promote paramedics, EMTs, etc.

[Eric]

Given my love of this show, having a more-or-less authoritative history and episode reference seems a good idea for a christmas gift. Thanks Kelly!

[James]

More of a reference book than a narrative story, but still interesting.

[Danielle]

I LOVE this book including the 6 seasons they made and the movies. I try to watch them every day and I try to read my book as well!

[Michelle]

Love reading this book along with watching the television show! Very good!