Hi everyone! Most of you are already familiar with me but for those who are visiting for the first time, please allow me to introduce myself. I am a Firefighter/Medic with training and experience in the following areas; HCP-CPR, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Prehospital Trauma Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Firefighting Operations, Hazardous Materials, Technical Rescue, Water Rescue, Emergency Vehicle Operations, Prehospital Pharmacology, and Medical Terminology. I am here to provide technical support for those seeking to broaden their knowledge of Firefighting and Emergency Medical Services. This board has a wealth of resources to answer any and all questions that may come it's way, so if you need to know, ask and we will help in any way we can!
sets from show
by mark
after the show was over, what did the production crews do with the original sets that were used on the show?. are they in storage or anywhere where we could see them.
I suspect they tore down the sets and used the materials for other productions.
The equipment, like the squad and the engine, were used in the Universal lot (in their own Station 51) for years for real fire emergencies:-) The squad is now a part of the LA County Fire Museum, but it's not currently on display (but I think they plan to in the future).
The medical supplies, like the biophone and the drug box, were recently donated to the Smithsonian Institution but are not on display currently (but I think they will have it as part of a rotating exhibit in the future).
Highly doubtful. After all, it WAS cancelled 27 years ago. Some of the props (biophone etc...) got donated to the Smithsonian in DC, but are currently in storage there, no word yet when, or if, they'll ever be displayed.
I just want to know how it makes a paramedic or EMT, or any other Health Care Provider feel, when you have done all that you possible could for the patient, and still lose him. Like say, the family rails at you for not doing enough, though you did your very best. Does it ever make you question your actions? I'm writing a fictional story, that has nothing to do with the show EMERGENCY!, but real life FF/EMTs that I know.
I would just like some feedback.
A lot of it depends on the circumstances. A lot comes from the basic approach that if you did your job properly and caused no furhter harm then you cannot second guess yourself or you may as well find another line of work. Yes, you should review what was done with the goals of quality improvement or assuranace at a personal level. But no, you should not blame yourself nor an emotionaly distraught family for words said in the heat of the momement. WALK AWAY!!
If the EMT/FF etc continues to have doubts then they need to do one or more of the following:
1. talk to a co-worker you trust that was not involved in the call.
1a. talk to the other people on the call. (here I did not say partner for a reason, you may have had more than 2 on the truck or this may have been a mutli-unit response).
2. call in a CISD team(Critical incident stress debriefing). I have been on 3 calls in 10 or so years were either our unit has requested them or the county has sent over anyway.
3. Talk to the receiving hospital about what they found and what you could have done. More often than not, the answer is nothing.
The worst thing that you can do is try to shoulder the responsibility without really reviewing the situation.
That's pretty much the way it goes. Some people take it too personally. Those are the ones that don't last long in EMS. With most critical calls, you can always find something (later on) that you could have done better. That is where the CQI (continuous quality improvement) process comes in. Not too many fatal calls get me down, as most of ours are older people with multiple health problems (most we've been on before). There's not much you can do when the body decides to stop working.
An example of this Roy DeSoto blames himself/Problem
by
A fine example of this self-blame, is the episode
"PROBLEM", when a patient dies, that Roy was treating en route to Rampart. Dr. Sunderland's patient was trapped under a car motor, while fixing his car, and they extricated him, and sent to Rampart. When Roy tried to contact Rampart, he couldn't because the antenna was missing, so when the patient started to aspirate, had the ambulance pull over, so he could help the patient, Well, wouldn't you know, Dr. Sunderland disapproved of the paramedic program, and chewed Roy out. Dr. Brackett, who initially opposed the paramedic program, rallied to Roy side, as did Dixie, who told Dr. Sunderland "He saves people in places that would curl your hair When is the last time you risked your life to save someone?
Well they do it some regularity. Dr. you were ten miles out of line." She was crying when she said this. Roy had Brackett, his partner, Gage, and Dixie, and Dr. Early in his corner. He stayed with the paramedic program after all.
It really depends on the situation in which the patient dies..If they are old and infirm and die..I chalk it up to it was that persons time to go. I had a gentleman die right in front of me I asked him what was wrong and he expired right there..My reaction to that was if I had been there faster could I have saved him??? Another gentleman had just had open heart surgery and was in full arrest when I walked in. I gave him CPR but in my head I thought it was futile. This guy cheated death once and now it was his time. The only time I ever got mad at a person who died in my care was a man who commited suicide, leaving behind a wife and 3 kids..How dare this guy leave his kids fatherless??? How could he be so selfish?? After that I walked away from EMS..I am now working in Fire Communications. Still deal with death but on a less personal level.
There is also the flip side of the coin. A family member who is distraught, blames the paramedics for the patient's death, and threatens them. Y'all ever encounter stuff like that? I know one thing for sure,
if a patient was injured beyond repair, then there is nothing the paramedics or doctors could do for the person anyway. Hypovolemic shock leads to hypotension, and death. Just my guess. If I was writing a story, where someone was trying to blame Johnny or Roy for a loved one's death, I'd have a serious talk with that guy, and I'd make that person listen. I'd say something like. "You have every right to be angry, but you need to be angry about the circumstances under which they died, and not at the people who tried to save her. S/he was injured beyond repair, and lost too much blood, and her heart gave out. Believe me, she's not hurting anymore. I know this hurts you, but you need to re-evaluate who you're really mad at. You need to be angry at the drunk who walked away without a scratch....Not the paramedics who tried so hard to save her."
I can't speak for either of them, but I suspect that outside of an occasional fundraiser or an event like Project 51, I doubt Randy and Kevin stop by the station just to chat.
You have to remember they're actors first and they never considered themselves members of the department. At the time they had no idea what influence they had on the Paramedic program. It was just a job. Randy and Kevin basically did what was directed of them in each episode. Once the show ended they both had to move on in their careers.
Granted Randy is working on a new show called USAR-1 which will focus on a branch of the LACoFD that works on rescues. So he does do research for it, but I don't think 127 is involved in USAR, so he probably doesn't stop by.
As far as I remember it didn't say what stations they were assigned to..However Johnny mentioned he worked at Staion 8 and the flashback to the pilot episode doesn't show it but he worked at station 10
I noticed that the person who played Craig Brice in that episode, wasn't James Gilbert Richardson, as I remember JGR playing him, someone else played Brice,
does that strike you as odd? Maybe JGR was otherwise engaged with another project, and wasn't available.
James G. Richardson died in a skiing accident in 1982.
I goofed, I admit it! I checked out WHERE ARE THEY NOW? James G. Richardson (Craig Brice) died February 20 (don't quote me on this) 1983. Still it wasn't the same guy who got promoted in: THE GREATEST RESCUES OF EMERGENCY! If you saw, you might've noticed it. If it airs again. Pay really close attention, and check out the closing credits, and see if they show the guy playing Brice. To me, Brice was always an obseeive-compulsive perfectionist, that most of us would love to hate. Brice, I think would get on my very last nerve, if I was Gage or DeSoto, and Brice went to rearranging the drug box. Like did Brice have a problem or what?'
I noticed that the rescues in the shows are mainly squads. They don't have many large scale rescue vehicles. I mean, squads can't carry as much as a bigger rescue and they can't bring as much man-power. BOth have their disadvantages and advantages. Can you explain why there were none?
The reason that in "Emergency!" there weren't big scale rescue vehicles is that paramedics and squads were brand new in the 70's and everything still was in its experimental stages with paramedic rescues. Later on things probably changed to accomadate large rescues. At least that is what I have been able to gather. Bye!
That kinda has something to do with it. Here in Calif., a Rescue usually refers to a paramedic vehicle, whether a small squad-type (PU truck w/ utility body) or a transport ambulance. LAFD (city) refers to their medic units as *RAs*, or Rescue-Ambulances. Many rigs that you'd call a rescue, back East, we call Squads. SFFD (San Francisco) is a different story. They're old-school, so their heavy rescue (meaning extrication equip., ropes, power tools, etc.) rigs are called... Rescues. Medic is also a popular designator for a light-duty, paramedic-staffed unit. In some places, a Rescue is a fire dept. paramedic ambulance and a Medic is a private company paramedic ambulance.
Was the Heimlich maneuver used in the mid to late 1970s? Was it typically the "behind the person" position if the person (an adult) were still conscious? Thanks!!
The actress who played Joanne, think her name was Catherine Kelly Wigot, was also in Musical Mania as the daughter of the old man who gets lock jaw from a rusty nail (or something) and gives Gage some instrument advice when he's trying to figure out what he wants to play next. It was funny to see her in a scene w/Roy when they didn't know each other after seeing them in the pilot at Dixie's party.
I just wanted to make sure the spelling was correct on her name. Gee, I wonder what KKW is doing now? Who knows? I kinda wish they'd shown more of her as Joanne DeSoto. To me, she WAS Joanne. Whenever I read an E! fanfic, and Joanne is mentioned, I see Katherine Kelley Widget's face. Also on another post, I am sad that Julie passed away. How ironic that she chose (maybe, not intentionally, but coincidentally) to leave the world on her beloved late Bobby's b-day.
Hey, she had to help Bobby celebrate in Heaven.
I need to know the name of that item they used to shoot line across expanses, such as between two towers. For lack of a better term, it was like a rope gun. What is the real name? Thanks in advance!
I've always seen those devices referred to as a line-throwing gun. Never seen one on a fire vehicle, though, and I've been in the business for 15 years. The Coast Guard used to (still do?) use them extensively.
The device you refer to is called a Lyle life gun.
It was a state of the art thing at the turn of the century and was aboard the first rescue company established in New York City in 1915. I guess it's fallen out of use in the FD, but still used to get lines between ships. I hope this helps.
I recall an episode where a bunch of college guys were standing around in diapers while a frat brother was on the floor choking on a chicken wing. What was the name of this episode? It always stuck out in my mind as bizarre. What did you think of it? Just curious...Michelle