Emergency! AKA "The Wedsworth-Townsend Act"

Who: Bill
What: Emergency! Pilot movie
Where: Rented DVD from Netflix
Why: Used to watch the series each week

Emergency! was a popular one hour drama that first aired on NBC Saturday nights from 1972 to 1977 and continuing as a series of TV movies through 1979. The show followed Firefighters/Paramedics John Gage and Roy DeSoto of Rescue Squad 51 as they responded to a variety of urgent calls such as fires, accidents, medical emergencies and other traumas, often in coordination with the emergency department of Rampart General Hospital. The show has been credited with the formation of Paramedic services in most major communities throughout the United States. In the early 1970’s, Paramedics administering vital on-scene medical assistance was only being used in a few cities.

On January 15, 1972, NBC aired a two hour made-for-TV movie dramatizing the formation of the Paramedic program in Los Angeles. Fireman Gage (Randy Mantooth) is frustrated by the limited resources he can use in rescue operations. He signs up to train as a Paramedic, then in the testing phase pending passage of a bill by the California Legislature. Gage reluctantly agrees to the training and upon completion is re-assigned to newly-built fire station 51 with fellow Paramedic DeSoto (Kevin Tighe). Meanwhile, Rampart ER head Dr. Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller) is doubtful a Paramedic program can actually succeed. His reasoning is that only trained medical doctors should administer emergency treatment and not “hose jockeys”. But his colleagues Dr. Joe Early (Bobby Troup) and Nurse Dixie McCall (Julie London) believe otherwise. Complicating matters is that Brackett and McCall are also dating each other-- an element that would quietly be dropped after the show’s first season. Eventually Dr. Brackett sees how a program would increase survival rates and enthusiastically testifies in favor of the pending bill. Of course, it passes just in time as Gage and DeSoto perform critical medical care at a massive cave-in during a late night thunderstorm.

The original two hour Emergency! movie is only available as part of the DVD release of season one. “The Wedsworth-Townsend Act” is the alternate title used when it was repeated during the show’s fifth season as a two-part episode, as Gage and DeSoto reminisce about becoming Paramedics. This was the version used when Emergency! went into rerun syndication. In either format, its worth checking out as a look back at how controversial the Paramedic program was seen early on, a vital life-saving service that we now take for granted. From a casting standpoint, fans of Lost will enjoy seeing Kevin Tighe playing a really good guy as opposed to his occasional role as evil con artist Anthony Cooper. Singer Julie London and musician Bobby Troup (he was the writer for the classic song “Route 66”) were married to each other; however, London had been previously married to Emergency! executive producer Jack Webb.

Finally, while the series itself appealed to young viewers, the pilot movie contains some mild profanity that would definitely earn a PG rating had it appeared in theaters.