Rescue 911

Rescue 911
Rescue 911 logo
Genre	Docudrama
Written by	Paula Deats Nancy Platt Jacoby Aaron Kass Jim Milio Jean O'Neill
Directed by	Sheri Goldstein Mary Hardwick Nancy Platt Jacoby Jim Milio Chris Pechin Ronnie Weinstock Segment directors Ron Brody Mark Cole Michael Collins Allison Grodner Robin Groth Dan Jackson Jim Milio Steve Muscarella Chris Pechin
Presented by	William Shatner
Theme music composer	Scott Roewe
Composer(s)	Richard Stone (1989-92) Stu Goldberg (1992-96)
Country of origin	USA
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	186 + 2 specials (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Arnold Shapiro Jean O'Neill (1993-96)
Producer(s)	Nancy Platt Jacoby (1989-91) Jim Milio (1991-96)
Running time	60 minutes (30 minutes in syndication)
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	April 18, 1989 – August 27, 1996

Rescue 911 is an informational reality-based television series, hosted by William Shatner. Originally intended to be only a set of three TV specials, Rescue 911 was picked up by CBS for the 1989 fall season after two specials aired on April 18, 1989 and May 9, 1989. Rescue 911 began airing as a regular series on September 5, 1989 and ran for 7 seasons, with the last new episode airing on August 27, 1996. The last episode to air on CBS (a repeat) aired on September 3, 1996. Throughout its duration, most episodes aired on Tuesday, though occasionally the show aired on other days of the week, either as an additional episode shown during that week or a temporary rearrangement to make room for another program.

Though never intended as a teaching tool, various viewers used the knowledge they obtained watching Rescue 911. Two specials, titled "100 Lives Saved" and "200 Lives Saved," were dedicated to these viewers who had written to CBS with their stories on how the knowledge they obtained watching Rescue 911 allowed them to save the life of someone else. At least 350 lives have been saved as a result of what viewers learned from watching Rescue 911. The show's popularity coincided with the widespread adoption of the 911 emergency system, replacing standalone police and fire numbers which would vary from municipality to municipality. The number is now universally understood in the United States and Canada to be the number dialed for emergency assistance nationwide.

At its height, the show was adapted in 45 countries (with their own 911 equivalent showcased). Although reruns have previously been shown on cable stations such as The Family Channel and The Odyssey Network, as of August 1, 2005, Discovery Health Channel stopped airing reruns, meaning the show is currently not airing on any U.S. network. Reruns are sometimes shown on the U.K. channel, Zone Reality.

Stories featured

Situations

Crimes, automobile accidents, medical emergencies, fires, choking/asphyxiations, miscellaneous injuries, and amazing stories of survival were the most common situations presented on the show. Other situations commonly presented on Rescue 9-1-1 included near-drownings, people getting themselves or their body parts stuck in tight places, baby deliveries, animal rescues, search and rescue situations, swiftwater rescues, rescues of people stranded in high places such as cliffs or trees, and aircraft-related emergencies. Occasionally, stories involving gas leaks, electrocutions, suicide attempts, scuba diving accidents, drug overdoses, train-related accidents, allergic reactions, and natural disasters were also presented.

Although Rescue 9-1-1 mostly featured serious emergencies, it occasionally featured humorous stories of non life-threatening situations and false alarms. Examples included a burglar who got stuck upside-down when he tried to enter a house through the chimney, a young boy who got stuck in a laundry chute while playing hide-and-seek, a young boy who got his pet lizard's jaws locked around his finger, a young man who got a plaster mask stuck on his face, a woman who got a plaster mold stuck to her torso, a woman who called 9-1-1 when she mistook her parents' new mannequin for an intruder, a young boy whose tongue froze to the inside of his freezer while he attempted to get ice cream, a toddler who got her foot stuck in the toilet drain, a dog that stepped on the 9-1-1 speed dial button after getting tangled in the phone cord (although the dog was in danger of being strangled), a raccoon whose head was stuck in the hole of a tree, a woman who got stuck in her bathroom when the lock on her door failed and a man who woke up to a break in and ended up holding a bobcat at gunpoint.

While humorous, some of these light-hearted segments have shown that the victims were at risk of injury (for example, the plaster cast on the woman which was causing chemical burns, and blood coming from the mouth of the boy with the frozen tongue).

Deaths

Although the majority of stories featured ended with all lives being saved, there were some exceptions in which one or more victims died. Such occurrences became exceedingly rare later in Rescue 9-1-1's run, and usually occurred in documentary segments or in those reenacting multiple casualty incidents in which other victims survived. These occasions included:

• Pilot episode (also Season 1, episode 17): Ten children do not survive on a church bus that gets swept into floodwaters
• Season 1, episode 1: Police shoot and kill a grocery store robber
• Season 1, episode 6: A restaurant employee is murdered
• Season 1, episode 9: Former NFL player Jerry Anderson drowns while saving a boy from a river
• Season 1, episode 13: In the Dupont Plaza Hotel arson, 98 people die while many are rescued
• Season 1, episode 16: Sixteen people die in the Chase, Maryland rail wreck
• Season 1, episode 19: Three children and a young man are pulled from a burning house. While two of the children survive, one child and the young man don't.
• Season 1, episode 19: An elderly woman is killed when the car she is riding in is hit by runaway boxcars; her husband survives
• Season 1, episode 20: Charles Stuart murders his pregnant wife; his child later dies, and then he commits suicide.
• Season 1, episode 27: Although most of the people of Charleston, South Carolina were rescued after Hurricane Hugo, 3 people die
• Season 2, episode 2: Two out of three scuba divers are successfully rescued from an underwater cave; one dies
• Season 2, episode 5: One man dies in a hotel fire later found to be arson; all other tenants escape or are rescued
• Season 2, episode 8: Slick Johnson is killed in a crash during an auto race; a paramedic injured aiding another driver survives.
• Season 2, episode 10: A woman dies from complications resulting from her injuries 3 years after being shot by her husband (she was alive when this episode originally aired)
• Season 2, episode 19: A man is murdered at a bar; officers chasing the suspects are threatened by gunfire, but survive and are later able to apprehend the suspects
• Season 2, episode 27: The pilot of an aircraft dies while flying the plane; his wife brings it to a safe landing, surviving and preventing it from causing danger to others
• Season 2, episode 29: A fleeing bank robber being chased by police strikes and kills a detective, and the suspect is later killed in a shootout with police; the gunman's hostage survives unharmed
• Season 3, episode 14: A prowler is shot dead after seriously injuring a police officer
• Season 4, episode 8: A teen's friend is killed in a car crash caused by a drunk driver
• Season 4, episode 21: Police shoot & kill a man who stabbed his girlfriend
• Season 5, episode 18: A teen is brain dead after a car crash; her family donates her organs, saving three people in need of organ transplants
• Season 5, episode 20: A teenage boy dies from huffing butane
• Season 6, episode 13: A drunk driver kills a man and seriously injures a woman.
• Season 7, episode 10: A gunman holding hostages in a library is shot dead by an undercover sheriff's deputy posing as a hostage

Presentation

Unless otherwise specified, stories were presented in the form of re-enactments. Many stories included the actual recorded 9-1-1 call, as well as brief clips of people who had a part in the story recalling the situation.

Shatner would begin and end each episode (and usually, all segments within it) via on-screen appearances from such locations as 9-1-1 dispatch centers, fire stations, or next to police cars and/or ambulances. In addition, voiceover narration was also done by Shatner during the segments.

Occasionally, recorded video footage of all or part of the event itself, the rescue efforts or the aftermath (usually amateur video or television news coverage) would be used. In these instances, Shatner would mention that a particular amount of footage was taped "as events unfolded" in the opening to a segment in which recorded footage was included.

Many re-enactments required complex presentation, such as the recreation of house fires, automobile accidents, police chases, explosions, pregnant women in labor, and even natural disasters.

Some stories took place in the form of a documentary. In these stories, Rescue 9-1-1 camera crews would ride with paramedics or police, or wait in hospitals and film whatever happened to unfold. These stories sometimes involved more than one event in a single segment at the same medical facility. Examples of such type episodes include the Charles Stuart murder case, which happened when Rescue 9-1-1 was filming in Boston.

High-profile incidents

A few segments featured on the show gained (or had previously gained) national news coverage. These incidents included the New Year's Eve 1986 fire at Puerto Rico's DuPont Plaza Hotel, the 1987 Amtrak train wreck in Maryland, two segments on Hurricane Hugo, the June 1990 Ohio tornado, the Stuart murder case, the Salt Lake City Public Library hostage incident, and the Oklahoma City bombing.

Show formats

Original format

When it originally aired on CBS, Rescue 9-1-1 episodes normally ran 60 minutes and typically featured four stories, although some episodes featured three or five stories. Three-story episodes were common during the second and third seasons, but became less common during the later seasons.

Because it was paired with The CBS Tuesday Night Movie for most of its run, however, episodes with irregular running times were occasionally created to accommodate movies that didn't fit the regular two-hour time slot. Such episodes usually ran 30 minutes and contained two stories. Other such episodes included a 90-minute episode, a 50-minute episode, a 45-minute episode, and a 15-minute episode containing only one story.

From seasons one through five, an opening disclaimer was shown before the start of each episode. Shatner's voice was heard saying:

"This program contains true stories of rescues. All of the 9-1-1 calls you will hear are real. Whenever possible, the actual people involved have helped us reconstruct the events as they happened."

In a few of the early episodes, the last sentence of the disclaimer said:

"Unless indicated, the actual people involved have helped reconstruct the events as they happened."

At the start of season six, the show's opening was changed. Instead of the disclaimer, three segments from each episode were previewed, and a shortened version of the original opening was shown. Reruns from earlier seasons that aired after September 1994 had their old introductions replaced by the new version of the introduction. This version of the introduction was used for the final two seasons of the show's run.

In 1993, The Family Channel began airing re-runs of Rescue 9-1-1 in the 60-minute format, although episodes were edited for running time, censored for profanity and negative religious references and some of the more graphic footage from some segments that had passed on CBS was cut out.

At first, FAM showed the opening disclaimer at the beginning of the episodes, but it was later replaced with a short teaser which previewed one or two segments from the episode. Season six episodes that aired on FAM had their introductions replaced with the original introduction, although the opening credits were not changed accordingly, and were sometimes incorrect. Seventh season episodes were never shown on FAM.

When the Family Channel became the FOX Family Channel in August 1998, Rescue 9-1-1 was removed from its lineup.

Syndicated format

In 1993/94, a re-formatted version of Rescue 9-1-1 was sold into off-network syndication. This version of the show ran 30 minutes and typically included two stories, although a few episodes contained one long-running story. Some syndicated episodes featured stories that began on one episode and concluded on the next, which was never done in the show's original format. Stories featured on syndicated episodes were often edited for running time, omitting short scenes that were shown in the original broadcasts. Three-hundred of these syndicated episodes were made, and featured segments from the first six seasons.

The following networks have shown Rescue 9-1-1 in the syndicated format:

• Numerous local affiliates
• The Family Channel (also showed the original format)
• Odyssey/The Hallmark Channel
• Discovery Health Channel
• Reality TV/Zone Reality
• Living
• CI (Australia)
• AXN
• Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (Uganda)

Episodes

Main article: List of Rescue 911 episodes

Ratings and broadcast history

By season

Season	TV season	Regular Timeslot (EDT)	Episode count	Season premiere	Season finale	Rank	Rating
1	1989–1990	Tuesday, 8 p.m.	30	September 5, 1989	May 15, 1990	#54
2	1990–1991		29	September 11, 1990	May 14, 1991	#31
3	1991–1992		27	September 17, 1991	May 19. 1992	#27
4	1992–1993		28	September 15, 1992	May 25, 1993	#18	14.61
5	1993–1994		28	September 14, 1993	May 24, 1994	#29	13.2
6	1994–1995		29	September 13, 1994	May 23, 1995	#48	10.8
7	1995–1996	Thursday, 9 p.m.	15	September 12, 1995	August 27, 1996	#84	7.7

By episode

Additional/alternate timeslots

Season 2

• Wednesday, 8 p.m.: April 1990 (in addition to Tuesday at 8 p.m.)

Season 3

• Friday, 8 p.m.: January–February 1992 (in addition to Tuesday at 8 p.m.)

Season 7

• Tuesday, 8 p.m.: September 1995, August–September 1996, (with the majority of the rest of the season airing on Thursdays at 9 P.M.)

International versions

Rescue 111

In New Zealand, TV2 began screening the first season of Rescue 9-1-1 in 1991 and subsequent seasons following this. At the start of each episode, the network would display a reminder to viewers that the emergency number in New Zealand is 111. In 1992, with the permission of CBS, the show was renamed to Rescue 111 in New Zealand. This was done following reports of New Zealanders calling 9-1-1 in emergencies instead of 111. The show's starting was shortened with a Rescue 111 title replacing the Rescue 9-1-1 title. Its format remained the same, however, with Shatner still addressing the show as Rescue 9-1-1 along with all stories mentioning calling 9-1-1. When the final series screened in New Zealand in 1996, the show was simply called Rescue.

Notruf

German network RTL started its own version with a mix of cases from Germany and the US in 1992. The show ran for over 14 years, with the last episode broadcast on August 27, 2006.

Real Emergency Calls

The Investigation Disc. channel currently airs the series Real Emergency Calls. Just like Rescue 9-1-1 this series reconstructs real 911 calls using dramatic reconstructions, the 911 recordings and the stories of the victims and emergency workers.

Merchandise

Home video releases

In Rescue 9-1-1's early seasons, ads were shown after the end credits of each episode that gave an 800 number viewers could call to order a copy of that night's broadcast. This ad was not shown in later seasons.

On May 27, 1997, "Rescue 9-1-1: World's Greatest Rescues" was released on VHS. This video featured five stories of rescue attempts from around the world; segments were taken from both the U.S. and international versions of the show. The segments on the video were edited for running time, and the original narration on all segments (including those originally narrated by Shatner) were dubbed over by an uncredited narrator. The two stories taken from the U.S. version were about a New Zealand girl pinned beneath a flaming gasoline tanker (season three, episode twenty-five) and the infamous documentary of the Stuart murder case in Boston, Massachusetts (season one, episode twenty.) The other three stories, taken from international versions of the show were about a Belgian family trapped in a car hanging precariously from a high overpass, a Russian hostage crisis in which a terrorist held two women captive, and an Austrian skier who fell into an underground glacier river.

No plans have been announced for additional releases of the show, but there is a petition to get it released on DVD via tvshowsondvd.com.

Books

Several books that recounted stories featured on Rescue 9-1-1 were written during its run:

• Rescue 9-1-1 Extraordinary Stories by Linda Maron
• Rescue 9-1-1 Kid Heroes by Alison Hendrie
• Rescue 9-1-1 Amazing Rescues by Alison Hendrie
• Rescue 9-1-1 Humorous Rescues by R. M. Ferrara
• Rescue 9-1-1 Animal Rescues by R. M. Ferrara
• The Rescue 9-1-1 Family First Aid & Emergency Care Book by Julie Motz

Toys and games

• Model Kits: In 1993, AMT-ERTL released three Rescue 9-1-1 themed emergency vehicle model kits. Each of the three kits contained decals with the Rescue 9-1-1 logo, and each box had on its side panel a synopsis of a relevant story from the show. These models were:

• Police Car (1990 Ford Taurus). The side panel contained a synopsis of "9-1-1 Sister Abduction", in which a police officer rescued a six-year-old girl who was kidnapped from her back yard.
• Rescue Ambulance (Dodge). The side panel contained a synopsis of "9-1-1 Cribbage Choke", in which paramedics performed a risky procedure on board an ambulance to save a young boy choking on a cribbage piece.
• Rescue Helicopter (Civilian Medical Rescue Helicopter). The side panel contained a synopsis of "The Helicopter Horse", in which an injured horse was lifted out of a canyon by helicopter.

• Slot Car Set: In 1993, Marchon, Inc. released a slot car set called "Rescue 9-1-1 Chopper Rescue". The set included two slot cars (a fire truck and a police jeep) and a complete racetrack. A unique feature of this track was that it allowed racers to jump their cars over a canyon with the aid of a magnetic helicopter.

• Pinball Machine: In May 1994, Premier Technologies, trade-name Gottlieb, released a Rescue 9-1-1 pinball machine. It featured a helicopter that magnetically captured the ball as well as a red revolving light on the backbox.

Awards

Year	Award	Result	Category	Recipient
1990	People's Choice Awards	Won	Favorite New TV Dramatic Series	-
1992	BMI Film & TV Awards		BMI TV Music Award	Scott Roewe and Stu Goldberg
1993			BMI TV Music Award	Scott Roewe and Stu Goldberg
1994			BMI TV Music Award	Scott Roewe and Stu Goldberg

External links

• Rescue 911 at the Internet Movie Database
• Rescue 911 at TV.com