The Wedsworth-Townsend Act
| Emergency! | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | "The Wedworth-Townsend Act" |
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by |
R.A. Cinader Harold Jack Bloom |
| Directed by | Jack Webb |
| Starring |
Robert Fuller Julie London Bobby Troup Randolph Mantooth Kevin Tighe |
| Opening theme | Nelson Riddle |
| Composer(s) |
Nelson Riddle Billy May |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jack Webb |
| Producer(s) | R.A. Cinader |
| Release | |
| Original release | January 15, 1972 |
The Wedsworth-Townsend Act (sic) is the pilot episode for the TV series Emergency!, a made-for-TV movie, broadcast on NBC on January 15, 1972 . The primary cast from the pilot also starred in the TV series for the entire run through 1977.
The title, despite the possibly deliberate misspelling of "Wedworth", refers to the Wedworth-Townsend Paramedic Act of the California State Legislature, which that legislature passed and which the then State Governor Ronald Reagan signed into law on July 14, 1970 .
After a late-night fire run, Los Angeles County Station 10 Fire & Rescue man John Gage (Randolph Mantooth), gets into a discussion with his battalion chief (Art Balinger) about joining a new program called the paramedics. At first Gage turns down the offer because he does not want to become an "ambulance attendant". But in a failed rescue, the victim dies on arrival at Rampart Hospital. Noting the word "rescue" on the vehicle's markings, Gage snorts derisively: "Rescue, hell. All we rescued was a corpse." As a result, he reconsiders his earlier reluctance and talks to someone about joining the paramedics; it is at this point that he first meets Los Angeles Fireman and future partner Roy DeSoto (Kevin Tighe).
At first Gage is still not convinced to join; while he would have the training, he would not have the authority, but DeSoto tells him of a bill before the state legislature that would commission the paramedics, meaning that if the bill had any chance of passage they would have to be ready. DeSoto further states there are presently only six qualified paramedics for the entire population of the Los Angeles area – over 6 1⁄2 million people. That convinces Gage to sign the application, and he begins his paramedic training in earnest at Rampart under the tutelage of ER senior doctor Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller), neurological surgeon and ER doctor Joe Early (Bobby Troup) and ER head nurse Dixie McCall (Julie London).
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