About this season
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 (29)
1. Episode 201
Aired 11 September 1990 • 60 min
Peeping Tom in apartment complex (October 9, 1986. Gainsville, Florida); Girl saves sister from fire (November 29, 1989. Dallas, Texas)
2. Episode 202
Aired 18 September 1990 • 60 min
Divers trapped in underwater cave (May 19, 1990. Gainsville, Florida); Man shot over seven times (January 17, 1989. Fresno, California); Heart transplant on a newborn baby (1987. Vancouver, Canada/Loma Linda, California)
3. Episode 203
Aired 25 September 1990 • 60 min
Magician falls forty feet from burning rope (September 22, 1989. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); Woman shot by ex-husband (June 16, 1989. El Cajon, California); Girl dangles from ski lift (January 1990. Ogden, Utah); Electrocuted Bear (August 14, 1989. Albuquerque, New Mexico)
4. Episode 204
Aired 2 October 1990 • 60 min
Woman trapped in burning car (April 26, 1990. Osage City, Kansas); Man holds his four-year-old son hostage (May 10, 1990. Tampa, Florida); Boys struck by lightning (July 24, 1987. Gulfport, Mississippi); Woman at home alone pinned against wall by sofa screams for help (February 11, 1990. Beaverton, Oregon)
5. Episode 208
Aired 9 October 1990 • 60 min
6. Episode 205
Aired 19 October 1990 • 60 min
7. Episode 206
Aired 30 October 1990 • 60 min
Elderly woman goes into shock after being bitten by a black widow spider (June 2, 1990. Las Vegas, Nevada); Father and children trapped in burning trailer (November 19, 1988); Man with car phone tails bank robber (April 11, 1990. Miami, Florida); Child drowns while fishing in a pond (April 29, 1990. Rushville, Indiana)
8. Episode 207
Aired 5 November 1990 • 60 min
Three teenagers stranded on cliff (November 20, 1988. Pacoima, California); Prospector trapped underwater by boulder (Red River, California); Escaped prisoner takes paramedic hostage (May 3, 1982. Essex, Vermont); Babysitter tries to save choking toddler (June 16, 1990. Loveland, Ohio)
9. Episode 209
Aired 17 November 1990 • 60 min
10. Episode 211
Aired 20 November 1990 • 60 min
11. Episode 210
Aired 27 November 1990 • 60 min
Occupants of truck stranded on flooded road (August 15, 1990. Phoenix, Arizona); Teenager sustains severe head injury after a car crash (April 27, 1989. Manassas, Virginia); K-9 unit searches for missing woman (September 6, 1987. Elizabethtown, Kentucky)
12. Episode 212
Aired 4 December 1990 • 60 min
Dispatcher instructs parents how to do CPR when their son has an asthma attack (March 1, 1990. Omaha, Nebraska); Cop crashes during pursuit after dreaming that his wife was killed in a car accident (April 4, 1988. Knoxville, Tennessee); Man drowns in river (April 28, 1990. Arlington, Virginia); A stabbing victim and a baby injured in a car accident are treated at Ben Taub Trauma Center (Houston, Texas)
13. Episode 213
Aired 18 December 1990 • 60 min
Logger's find abandonned newborn baby (December 7, 1989. Klamath Falls, Oregon); Dog being strangled by phone cord calls 911 (July 19, 1990. Ridgecrest, California); Chief firefighter suffers a heart attack (May 21, 1990. New Canaan, Connecticut); Man in Santa suit saves choking boy (December 13, 1988. Phoenix, Arizona)
14. Episode 214
Aired 24 December 1990 • 60 min
15. Episode 215
Aired 8 January 1991 • 60 min
16. Episode 216
Aired 15 January 1991 • 60 min
17. Episode 217
Aired 22 January 1991 • 60 min
18. Episode 218
Aired 29 January 1991 • 60 min
Horseback rider hits tree (January 7, 1990. Mount Pleasant, Texas); Undertow carries woman and rescuers out to sea (January 15, 1990. Port Saint Lucie, Florida); Cleveland's Metro Life Flight helicopter transports car accident victims to the hospital (Valley City, Ohio); Dispatcher has stroke (August 21, 1990. Kingsland, Georgia)
19. Episode 219
Aired 5 February 1991 • 60 min
Boaters carried toward Niagara Falls (August 24, 1988. Ontario, Canada); Dispatcher tries to convince a suicidal man with a shotgun not to kill himself (August 16. Seattle, Washington); Vet documentary (July 23, 1990. Boston, Massachusetts)
20. Episode 220
Aired 12 February 1991 • 60 min
21. Episode 222
Aired 5 March 1991 • 60 min
Hang glider stranded in frigid waters (October 23, 1988. Lincoln City, Oregon); Hiker falls 25 feet (August 28, 1988. Maquoketa Caves State Park, Iowa); Cleveland's Metro Life Flight transports victims injured at a stock car race to the hospital (July 28, 1990. Amherst, Ohio); Boy calls 911 for ailing mother (July 14, 1990. New Brunswick, New Jersey)
22. Episode 223
Aired 12 March 1991 • 60 min
23. Episode 221
Aired 19 March 1991 • 60 min
24. Episode 224
Aired 19 March 1991 • 60 min
25. Episode 225
Aired 26 March 1991 • 60 min
Man bitten by pet cobra (November 20, 1989. Miami, Florida); Man falls over 200 feet into cave (October 28, 1990. Rural Alabama); Other segments unknown
26. Episode 226
Aired 12 April 1991 • 60 min
27. Episode 227
Aired 16 April 1991 • 60 min
28. Episode 228
Aired 23 April 1991 • 60 min
29. Episode 229
Aired 14 May 1991 • 60 min
News reporters in helicopter pursue armed robbery suspect (February 9, 1988. Denver, Colorado); Parents must do CPR on their baby after she drowns in a swimming pool (July 28, 1990. Keller, Texas); Officer and civilian try to save occupants of burning car (May 30, 1990. Santa Ana, California)