Rescue 911 is an informational reality-based television series that premiered on April 18, 1989 and ended on August 27, 1996. The series was hosted by William Shatner and featured reenactments of emergency situations that often involved calls to 911.
Though never intended as a teaching tool, various viewers used the knowledge they obtained watching the show. Two specials, titled "100 Lives Saved" and "200 Lives Saved," were dedicated to viewers who had written to CBS with their stories on how the knowledge they obtained watching the show allowed them to save the life of someone else. At least 350 lives have been saved as a result of what viewers learned from watching it. The show's popularity coincided with the widespread adoption of the 911 emergency system, replacing standalone police and fire numbers that would vary from municipality to municipality. The number is now universally understood in the United States and Canada to be the number dialed for emergency assistance nationwide.
Episodes
S01E01 Episode 101
September 5, 1989 60 min
Boy swept away in flooded arroyo (June 10, 1988. Albuquerque, New Mexico); Skydiver is knocked unconscious (April 18, 1987. Coolidge, Arizona); Robber takes grocery store employee hostage (August 1, 1987. Elkhart, Indiana); Documentary of New...
Construction workers trapped upside-down in collapsed cherry picker; Mother must perform CPR on her baby (May 16, 1988. Xenia, Ohio); Toddlers play on tracks as train approaches (May 1, 1989. Ramsey, New Jersey); Teenage car...
High school football player goes into cardiac arrest (November 7, 1986. Springdale, Arkansas); Helicopter rescue of a hiker who fell from a cliff (July 1, 1989. Los Angeles, California); Prospector trapped underwater by boulder (Red...
Bystander attempts to rescue two women trapped in a submerged car (Elkhart, Indiana); Woman stabbed by intruder (October 16, 1988. Lansing, Michigan); Rafter caught in dam's undertow (May 24, 1989. Hamilton, Ohio); Documentary of three...
Toddler falls into narrow hole (April 24, 1986. Colts Neck, New Jersey); Helicopter pilot attempts to locate a kidney recipient before the donor kidney expires (March 25, 1989. Glamis, California); Children burned in propane explosion...
Spelunker trapped in flooded cave (July 1, 1985. Spring Mill State Park, Indiana); San Francisco neonatal hospital documentary (March 1989. San Francisco, California); A family is robbed at home (February 12, 1989. San Dimas, California);...
Funny car explodes (July 22, 1989. Denver, Colorado); Helicopter pilots use infrered device to track burglary suspect (July 18, 1989. Fort Worth, Texas); Teenager on motorcycle falls off cliff (August 16, 1989. Amarillo, Texas); Elderly...
Woman hides from intruders (September. Los Angeles, California); Aerovac documentary-Helicopter picks up victims of a head on collision and a girl kicked in the face by a horse (Phoenix, Arizona); Car accident with downed power...
Woman outsmarts her assailant (May 5, 1989. Tucson, Arizona); Dispatcher's husband has heart attack (July 1, 1989. Kingwood, Texas); Cocaine user hijacks ambulance and takes four paramedics hostage (October 18, 1985. West Windsor, New Jersey);...
Woman shot by mentally ill brother (July 20, 1989. Dallas, Texas); New Years Eve fire at a Puerto Rico hotel (December 31, 1986. San Juan, Puerto Rico); Boy performs Heimlich maneuver on choking bother (April...
Seattle Cop Shooting: Police officer is shot, good samaritans aid in the chase (May 15, 1989. Seattle, Washington); Carbon Monoxide Save: elderly couple are overcome by Carbon Monoxide fumes (November 6, 1988. Skokie, Illinois); Santa...
Dynamite explodes in construction worker's hand (August 17, 1989. Western Washington); Ex-convicts rob a winery (September 1988. Brookfield/New Milford, Connecticut)
Fighter pilot crashes into runway at air show (April 24, 1988. El Toro, California); Documentary of the Charles Stuart murder case (October 23, 1989. Boston, Massachusetts); Man has heart attack while driving car (February 14,...
Intruder in a deaf mother's house (October 25, 1989. Chattanooga,Tennessee); Lumberjack pinned between logs (August 10, 1989. Bellingham, Washington); Racer trapped in submerged speedboat (August 12, 1989. St. Louis, Missouri); Documentary of a New Orleans...
Elderly man shot outside his home (October 24, 1989. Taft, Florida); Toddler drowns in pool (September 24, 1989. Claremont, California); Climbers stranded on Mt. Whitney (July 25, 1987. Mount Whitney); Paramedics pick up elderly women...
Parrot alerts sleeping family of gas leak (September 23, 1983. East Boston, Massachusetts); Boy's clothes catch fire (October 30, 1988. Pasadena, Texas); Fishing boat sinks, leaving three men adrift at sea (October 16, 1989. Bradenton,...
This special episode re-aired some the first season's best stories: Police officer stops runaway boxcars pushing automobile down train tracks (October 3, 1985. Northville, Michigan); Husband must deliver wife's baby (September 3, 1989. Huntington Beach,...
Girl accidentally stabs brother (December 1989. Atlanta, Georgia); Prisoners escape by taking four paramedics and prison personnel hostage (April 13, 1988. Nashville, Tennessee); Girl run over by school bus (November 28, 1989. Smyrna, Delaware)