History Series / Rescue911

* ForWantOfANail: Often, people interviewed will speculate what might have happened had something not gone correctly.
** For instance, in many stories about a house fire, interviewees say that opening a door that felt warm might have led to a backdraft and near-instant death. The girl interviewed in "Sisterly Save" said she had learned that safety tip in school.
** {{Discussed|Trope}} by the lady rescued in "Train Track Hero." She compares the titular hero to Creator/JimmyStewart's character in ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'', saying that if Luis hadn't been there to save her from the train collision, then she wouldn't be around for things like the birth of her first grandchild or her daughter's wedding.
** Also discussed by the victim in "Heat Stroke Hiker," who says that if the other people hadn't been present to help her, then she wouldn't have lived to get married and have a baby.

* CanadaEh: While the majority of episodes took place in the United States, a few took place in Canada, and got to show off just how badass Canadians can be.
** "911 Ottawa Bank Bust" is a great example. The bank robber is coolly stared down by a bank patron who decides to follow him by truck (getting shot at for his trouble), and one of the hostages later in the episode kicks the gun out of the robber's hands and gets himself and the other hostage free.
** "Teen Hides from Intruders" takes place in Surrey, British Columbia, and the responding officers are RCMP.

** Some of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning actually mirror the flu--a common pattern was that the family poisoned by CO thought that they were coming down with something.

** Shatner would open the segment in a 911 call center or in front of emergency vehicles, delivering an OpeningNarration to introduce the segment.

* EmergencyServices

* HumiliationConga: A RealLife example happened to the titular crook from "Chimney Trapped Crook." First, he got stuck in the fireplace after [[WhatAnIdiot trying to break in through the chimney]] right around Christmastime. The homeowners had a good laugh, then called the police, who showed up and had a good laugh. Then a fire/rescue crew showed up, and ''they'' all had a good laugh. Then the homeowners started taking some pictures to send to friends and family, further adding to the humiliation. Then, after spending half the night upside down, he is freed from the chimney--only to get tackled by some cops and firemen, arrested, and (later) sentenced. THEN some producers made an episode of ''Rescue 911'' about it...

* SpiritualSuccessor: The show was basically a real life ''{{Series/Emergency}}''.

* CoincidentalBroadcast: "St. Louis Gas Leak" involves a man taking his wife to the hospital because she thinks she's getting ill. At the hospital, they view a rerun of Rescue 911 in the waiting room with the episode about a couple experiencing similar flu-like symptoms that were from carbon monoxide poisoning. As soon as the father sees that, he realizes that [[AdultFear his four children are still in the house]] [[OhCrap that is slowly filling with carbon monoxide]].

** OnlyAFleshWound: The mother of a boy who accidentally shot his sister with a rifle, while understandable scared for her daughter, initially assumed that "it was gonna be, you know, kinda like in the movies, you know; you've been shot, you go in, they take the bullet out, you're fine." As it turned out the bullet had entered her abdomen and exited her chest, meaning that the little girl's liver and spleen were severely damaged and she was in very serious danger of bleeding to death within hours.

* ForWantOfANail:

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Often, speculation as to what might have happened had something not gone the way the rescues went. For instance, in many stories about a house fire (one example is "Sisterly Save"), opening the door when the door feels warm [[note]]-- the girl who was interviewed said she had learned that safety tip in school (to never open a door that feels warm) --[[/note]] might have led to a back draft and near-instant death.

* OhCrap: A common reaction by 911 operators and paramedics when they discover how severely someone is injured, or if the victim is a close friend/family member of the dispatchers or medics, or by the victims themselves when they realize something bad is about to happen.

* AdultFear:
** Your kid could get struck by lightning, get run over by a school bus, drown, have to hide from dangerous burglars, fall out of a multistory building, choke on something, get burned, get electrocuted, get shot... pleasant dreams!
** And don't forget how if a kid doesn't get hurt, s/he has to ''watch'' an adult or another kid being hurt, and they can't do almost anything about it but call 911 and wait. The mere idea of having a kid subjected to trauma like that is freaking scary for adults.
** In small towns with volunteer firefighters and paramedics, when they respond to a call, often it's because ''someone they know'' is in trouble. Many of the volunteer first responders point this out in interviews.
* AllPartOfTheShow[=/=]RealityIsUnrealistic: A few times, people assume that the victims are joking.

* SocietyMarchesOn: In a few episodes, callers didn't ''have'' a 911 service, so they called a specific number for a police or fire department. The show's popularity actually coincided with the adoption of the 911 emergency service in the U.S. and Canada, and certainly helped spread public consciousness about it.
** This was notable in "Wrong Number Rescue," where the girls had to look up the emergency numbers, since they lived in a town that was too small for a 911 service.
** There are also scenes of people bicycling without helmets and children's car seats placed in the front of vehicles, neither of which would be acceptable today.

* RealityEnsues: Because the show is based on real life stories, a lot of tropes normally associated with drama & fictional medicine are averted. Here are a few.

** "911 Lansing Stabbing" doesn't say if the intruder was found or arrested, or even still at large.

** Your kid could get struck by lightning, get run over by a school bus, drown, hide from dangerous burglars, fall out of a multistory building, choke on something, get burned, get electrocuted, get shot...pleasant dreams!