Emergency!: Behind the Scene

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.

Born and raised in San Diego, California, Richard Yokley joined the ranks of the Bonita-Sunnyside Fire Department (near San Diego) in 1972. He became an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) that first year and soon became the department's historian. Progressing through the ranks he became the departments Public Information Officer and fire marshal and then rose to the rank of Operations Chief. Richard retired in December 1999 after almost 28 years of service. As a firefighter/EMT, Richard worked along side one of the first paramedic ambulances in San Diego Country (which began service in March 1977), LifeSaver 1, operating out of Bay General Hospital in Chula Vista (now Scripps Memorial Hospital). During his off time he also worked for Pacific Ambulance (mid 1970s), for Hartson's Ambulance service as an EMT-D/C (1978-1980), and in Bay General Memorial Hospital's emergency department as an emergency room technician (1980-1983). Richard is the author of The History of Fire Protection in Sweetwater Valley (an unpublished document), a 50-year history of the Bonita-Sunnyside Fire Department, and TV Firefighters, published in 2003. He has written many articles for newspapers and contributed to trade journals such as JEMS, Firehouse, California Service (CSFA), London Firefighter, and Fire International. He received Firehouse magazine's Heroism & Community Service Award in 1987. Along with several other community awards, he was also awarded his fire department's only Exemplary Service Award. Richard studied in England at the Fire Service College at Moretonin-Marsh and went through training at the London Fire Brigade Training Academy at Southwark, where he also was able to spend some time on the fireboat London Phoenix. In 2004 he was awarded the Friends of the Society certificate from Britain's Royal Life Saving Society. He also spent some time with fire departments in Helsinki, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia (as Leningrad in the Soviet Union at the time of visit); Dublin and Waterford, Ireland; Edinburgh, Scotland; Paris, France; and Vienna, Austria. Richard is a California state- certified fire officer, fire instructor, and fire investigator. Richard has an AS degree in fire science with a minor in radio and television broadcasting. Of the many offices held and committees served on over the years, Richard considers his appointment to the Emergency Medical Care Committee for the County of San Diego among the most rewarding. Representing 1st District Supervisor Greg Cox, Richard served from 2001 from 2004. In 2004, after spending 7 years at SeaWorld San Diego (where he received the SeaWorld Excellence Award in 2000) in the medical services and aviculture departments, he and his wife moved to Tucson, Arizona, in retirement. He now volunteers at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in the mammalogy and ornithology department as a keeper's assistant. Richard continues his research for a second edition of TV Firefighers.

Rozane Sutherland wanted to be a Forest Ranger when she was a teenager. While a senior in high school in Washington state, she enrolled in the environmental conversation aide class. The teacher got the “assignments” from the rangers for that day or week. The students did everything from putting gravel on trails, to clearing paths after a storm, to taking out an old dock on Lake Crescent that was part of the Olympic National Park. Whatever the rangers needed/wanted us to do for them, we did. We carried all our own equipment, which included chainsaws, axes, and shovels. After graduation, Rozane moved to Texas where she met her future husband Kent, who was in the Air Force. While he was on Christmas leave visiting his family, they met on a blind date. “There is love at first sight!” says Rozane. They have been married for over 27 years and have three boys. They live on 50 acres with all the two-and four-legged critters they have adopted (or that adopted them) over the years! Erika Bartlett and Rozane started the Emergency! web site in 1997. They met online in early 1997 while looking for someone to trade episodes with. Erika mentioned she was going to start a website on the show, and Rozane offered to help. They both had wondered what had become of the cast and crew, and so they went to work on finding all of them. Mike Norell was the first, and Rozane said, “If he was not as sweet and gracious as he was to me when I called him…I probably would not have had the courage to keep looking for others! So, everyone has Mike Norell to thank for all those interviews on the site.” Rozane started working on the Emergency! convention as a co-chair in May 1998. Tons of constant work she stated, but well worth it to see all the faces of the fans as they saw their heroes together again for the first time in more than 20 years.