History Trivia / Emergency

** Most episode entries [[http://emergencyfans.com/episodes/index.htm here]] have at least one or two more. They include vehicle and uniform switches, actors changing locations,changes in the amount of daylight in scenes, a number of equipment and procedure gaffes, and actors' names getting used rather than the character names.

* TheDanza: Firemen Marco Lopez, Mike Stoker and Capt. Dick Hammer, played by...Marco Lopez, Mike Stoker and Dick Hammer. The latter two were both RealLife firefighters, too. Hammer's character becomes TheOtherDarrin for at least one episode during season one. The real Hammer decided to go back into full-time firefighting and another actor, credited as "John Smith", took over the role. During the end credits of Smith's first episode, "Hang Up," he's billed as Captain Hammer. For the next episode, "Crash," Smith is credited simply as "Captain."

** Most people in the 70s hadn't even heard of the term "paramedic," but this show demonstrated what paramedics do and their value in real life, allowing the idea to propagate throughout jurisdictions in the United States. Modern prehospital medicine hence evolved from throwing a patient into an ambulance and hauling ass to the hospital (this is referred to in EMS parlance as a “rapid diesel bolus”), to treating the patient on scene and providing stabilizing treatment en route, ensuring patient survival. Compare that to a contemporary series, ''Series/TheStreetsOfSanFrancisco'', where a critically wounded cop is rushed to the hospital and ''nothing'' is done for him en route beyond Lt. Mike Stone holding his hand sympathetically. As a result, it looks criminally negligent to modern viewers to see an emergency patient being transported like that without being treated along the way.

* TheRedStapler: The show is popularly thought to be the best advertisement about the merits of the paramedic program ever and lots of cities and counties started setting up their own. Pretty much {{lampshaded}} in one episode when Gage and [=DeSoto=], after being involved in a rescue in a rural area outside their jurisdiction and which couldn't afford to run its own paramedics even after seeing their value, described a system of volunteer emergency medical responders such a region could set up to the local sherriff.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: Three episodes were written by John Gage's real life counterpart Jim Page, under a pseudonym. One of these was the third season episode "Snakebite"; Gage getting bitten by a rattler actually happened to Page.

* NamesTheSame: Mike Stoker has often been rumored to be trying to get into politics. This, however, is another Mike Stoker from California. Ditto with Tim Donnelly. The fan confusion isn't hard to understand.

** In the ''Franchise/{{Dragnet}}''/''Series/AdamTwelve''/''Emergency!'' SharedUniverse, Tim Donnelly appeared in 5 different roles in ''Dragnet'' and 2 roles in ''Adam-12'' before landing his regular role as Firefighter Chet Kelly in ''Emergency''.

* DyeingForYourArt: Kevin Tighe's hair slowly darkens over the course of the first few seasons. He was required to dye it a lighter color at first in order to play up the show's ''Series/AdamTwelve'' parallel - a strawberry-blond veteran paired with a brunette rookie. As the show gained in popularity, Tighe's hair was allowed to return to its natural dark auburn color.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The show was popular enough that it could have gotten an 8th season, and several of the cast were already signed. But NBC wanted to try a new program and wanted to get ''Series/TheBionicWoman'' the third season that would ensure it go into syndication. As a result, the decision was made to switch from a weekly series to the recurring made-for-tv movies, and to see if one could spawn a spinoff.

* DoingItForTheArt:
** The stars playing the paramedics, Tighe and Mantooth, took the regular paramedic training regime, and apart from skipping the final certification exam, were otherwise fully qualified as the real thing.
** Despite being a recognizable actor in his own right, Randy Mantooth is still associated with his role as Johnny Gage to the point that he still speaks at fire service and EMS conferences, and rides along with the LAFD to this day. Also sometimes a bit of IAmNotSpock. He's said he likes to remember it as an important part of his life while still moving on to new roles.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: ''Series/{{Emergency}}'' is this due to attempts to be as medically and technologically up-to-the-minute accurate as possible. In addition to the ScienceMarchesOn and TechnologyMarchesOn notes above, the hair and clothing styles, and the now-antiquated tech and "mother-may-I" need to talk to the doctors at the hospital to do anything, the show is very firmly entrenched in the 1970s.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: ''Series/{{Emergency}}'' is the due to attempts to be as medically and technologically up-to-the-minute accurate as possible. In addition to the ScienceMarchesOn and TechnologyMarchesOn notes above, the hair and clothing styles, and the now-antiquated tech and "mother-may-I" need to talk to the doctors at the hospital to do anything, the show is very firmly entrenched in the 1970s.

* SocietyMarchesOn:
** Paramedics are now allowed to operate under standing orders in the field, meaning they have protocols to follow but don't necessarily require a "mother may I" system to function. Modern paramedic training has expanded from [[Film/DrKildare "90-day Kildares"]] to an associate's degree-level of education. They can still call a doctor to receive further orders or to get permission to do something out of protocol.
** Ambulance drivers have long since become more than glorified medical chauffeurs since it is now standard in most that paramedics drive the ambulances themselves. However, some agencies (including LA County Fire) still use ALS squads staffed by firefighter-medics in conjunction with private-contract transport ambulances, as this setup gives greater operational flexibility[[note]]The majority of medical aid calls do not require paramedic-level interventions while en route from the scene (where the medics assess and if necessary stabilize the patient) to the hospital and can be handled by basic [=EMTs=]. For those that do, one firefighter-medic will ride with the ambulance while the other follows in the squad[[/note]]. Many other fire departments run ALS engines, on which at least one of the crew is a firefighter-paramedic, with all of the necessary gear, since as the series demonstrated, fires and routine rescues can often present medical issues as well.
** Frequently on the show you'd see the other fighters standing around while Roy and Johnny handled all the casualties, even the ones with minor injuries (although Chet gradually came to do more). These days every firefighter is expected to have enough first aid and emergency response training that they would be assisting with casualties as necessary. For some fire departments, a paramedic license (or at the minimum a Certified First Responder or basic Emergency Medical Technician) is now a requirement to even be accepted as a trainee or probationary firefighter.
** The series has Roy and John driving Squad 51 [[NoSeatBelts without wearing seatbelts]], although it probably came from the factory without them in 1972. Today, it is inexcusable for any EmergencyServices personnel to neglect using that basic auto safety equipment, and most fire and EMS departments today will impose disciplinary action for not using seat belts.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Due to trying to be very state-of-the-art for its time. Everything the Station 51 crew did, both firefighters and medics, were by-the-book depictions of LA County Fire at the time. The hairstyles of the cast, the cars, and the fashions worn by the victims of the day and background characters further cement the show in the middle 1970s.

* DummiedOut: ''Emergency 4'' (at least) has [[ZombieApocalypse zombie behavior]] coded in, meaning that people can be set to the "zombie" role in the [[LevelEditor editor]]. Zombies will shamble toward non-zombies, moaning, and then infect them, repeating the cycle. This behavior was only ever implemented as a Free-Play event (that, by default, only occurs on Halloween) in the Deluxe version.

** All the doctors except Morton at Rampart are shown wearing neckties. Now, neckties are no longer allowed during hospital duty since a dangling piece of cloth that nobody ever thinks to wash is just asking for an infection risk for patients. Thus Morton, who wears an older design of a hospital uniform with an attached raised collar, is actually now can be seen as better dressed for the setting.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Due to trying to be very state-of-the-art for its time. Everything the Station 51 crew did, both firefighters and medics, were by-the-book depictions of LA County Fire at the time.

** Frequently on the show you'd see the other fighters standing around while Roy and Johnny handled all the casualties, even the ones with minor injuries (although Chet gradually came to do more). These days every firefighter is expected to have enough first aid and emergency response training that they would be assisting with casualties as necessary. For some fire departments, a paramedic license is now a minimum requirement to even be accepted as a trainee or probationary firefighter.
** The series has Roy and John driving Squad 51 [[NoSeatBelts without wearing seatbelts]], although it probably came from the factory without them in 1972. Today, it is inexcusable for any EmergencyServices personnel to neglect using that basic auto safety equipment.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Due to trying to be very state-of-the-art for its time.