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 (28)
1. Episode 301H
Aired 17 September 1991 • 60 min
Toddlers trapped in sinking car (November 30, 1990. Conroe, Texas); Man lies unconcious on subway tracks (September 7, 1987. New York, New York)
2. Episode 302
Aired 24 September 1991 • 60 min
Boy trapped in runaway hot-air balloon (January 7, 1990. Colorado Springs, Colorado); Man trapped in house fire (July 15, 1990. Spencerport, New York); Man has heart attack at Civil War reenactment (May 26, 1990. Felton, California)
3. Man Collapses
Aired 1 October 1991 • 60 min
Man collapses on ski lift (January 12, 1990. Copper Mountain, Colorado); Girl saves siblings from house fire (December 1990. Blowing Rock, North Carolina); Woman with placenta previa has labor complications at home (December 1990. Austin, Texas)
4. Episode 306H
Aired 8 October 1991 • 60 min
Van rear-ends log truck (October 23, 1990. Russellville, Arkansas); Boy accidentally hangs himself (February 24, 1991. Ruston, Louisiana)
5. Episode 305
Aired 15 October 1991 • 60 min
6. Episode 307
Aired 29 October 1991 • 60 min
Boy falls through ice on frozen lake (December 20, 1990. Englewood, Colorado); Robbers stab video-store owner (July 11, 1988. Bedford, Indiana); Neo-natal documentary (Cincinnati, Ohio)
7. Episode 308
Aired 5 November 1991 • 60 min
Two teenagers injured when shotgun backfires (September 23, 1989. Newberg, Oregon); Police attempt to locate suspects who robbed a house (March 28, 1991. Indianapolis, Indiana); Bay Flight helicopter picks up a teenager injured in a car accident and an elderly woman hit by a car (Saint Petersburg, Florida)
8. Episode 309
Aired 12 November 1991 • 60 min
Skydiver's parachute lines become entangled (November 12, 1989. Frankfort, Indiana); Woman injured while attempting to stop runaway car (May 15, 1990. Tecumseh, Oklahoma); Boy attacked by alligator (August 2, 1991. Refugio, Texas)
9. Episode 310
Aired 19 November 1991 • 60 min
Wing walker dangles beneath plane (June 15, 1991. Portland, Oregon); Russian boy's clothes catch fire (September 17, 1990. Magadan, Siberia/Galveston, Texas); Burglar trapped in restaurant calls 911 (July 11, 1991. Los Angeles, California)
10. Episode 311
Aired 26 November 1991 • 60 min
Firefighters attempt to rescue two men trapped on the twelfth floor of a burning building (May 14, 1991. New York, New York); Police search for shot cab driver (Saturday. Oakland, California); Man must deliver wife's baby in the back seat of their car (May 3, 1990. Lake Charles, Louisiana)
11. Episode 312
Aired 10 December 1991 • 60 min
Man trapped on sinking sailboat (December 2, 1990. Sanford, Florida); Man holds his brothers hostage (November 10, 1989. Newington, Connecticut); Boy gets tongue stuck in freezer (August 9, 1990. Altoona, Pennsylvania); Elderly runner collapses (Shippensburg, Pennsylvania)
12. Episode 313
Aired 17 December 1991 • 60 min
Avalanche buries plow operator (January 11, 1988. Jackson, Wyoming); Civilians aid unconscious man trapped in burning pickup truck (August 26, 1989. Fort Collins, Colorado); Toddler found frozen in snow (December 23, 1990. Elkins, West Virginia)
13. Episode 314
Aired 7 January 1992 • 60 min
Paramedics attempt to stop a runaway car with an unconscious driver (April 11, 1990. Pekin, Illinois); Deputy wounded in shootout (May 7, 1989. Tonopah, Nevada); Girl calls 911 when her mother has chest pains (May 26, 1991. Dearborn Heights, Michigan) ; New Years Eve documentary-Shooting victim, man falls from Christmas tree (San Francisco, California)
14. Episode 315
Aired 14 January 1992 • 60 min
Raft capsizes in frigid waters (July 3, 1990. Valdez, Alaska); Boy's clothes catch fire when he pours gasoline on fire (February 12, 1990. Aurora, Illinois); Pickup truck crashes in isolated area of the Everglades (November 21, 1990. North Lauderdale, Florida)
15. Episode 316
Aired 24 January 1992 • 60 min
Ice diver's air tanks fail (March 1988. Logan, Utah); Toddler bitten by cottonmouth (July 4, 1991. Saint Tammany Parish, Louisiana); Hospital documentary-deaf stabbing victim (February 24, 1991. Newark, New Jersey); Runaway four-year-old calls 911 (December 4, 1990, Santa Barbara, California)
16. Episode 317
Aired 28 January 1992 • 60 min
Teenager's airway closes when she has an allergic reaction (November 27, 1989. Cape Elizabeth, Maine); Fast food restaurant robbery (April 18, 1991. Bakersfield, California); Teenager dives into shallow pool and becomes paralyzed (May 1991. Greenville, South Carolina); Girl calls 911 when her diabetic father passes out (May 29, 1991. Douglasville, Georgia)
17. Episode 318
Aired 4 February 1992 • 60 min
Girl on go-kart stuck by truck (March 4, 1988. Lilburn, Georgia); Deputy and dog wounded in shootout (September 19, 1988. Indianapolis, Indiana); Firemen trapped under fallen facade (October 10, 1990. Santa Ana, California); Boy stops truck when his mother passes out at the wheel (July 9, 1991. Evansville, Indiana)
18. Episode 954
Aired 7 February 1992 • 60 min
New Segments: A cop is shot by a burglar and his wife is a paramedic at the scene (August 23, 1989. South Orange, New Jersey); Boy accidentally inhales freon (March 10, 1990. Kernersville, North Carolina) Repeated Segments: Couple discovers python living under their house (August 1989. Fort Lauderdale, Florida); Good samaritan pulls paramedics from burning ambulance (October 1, 1989. Macon, Georgia)
19. Episode 319
Aired 3 March 1992 • 60 min
Girl falls from 100-foot cliff into canyon (February 14, 1991. Mount Shasta, California); A rapist stabs a woman 21 times (September 21, 1989. Grand Island, Nebraska); Five-year-old boy receives heart transplant (January 1988. Loma Linda, California)
20. Episode 320
Aired 17 March 1992 • 60 min
21. Episode 321
Aired 24 March 1992 • 60 min
A woman calls 911 on her car phone when a police impostor tries to pull her over (September 3, 1991. Chapel Hill, North Carolina); Jockey injured at horse race (May 30, 1988. Belmont Park, New York); Crash victim impaled by fence post (January 3, 1991. Maple Valley, Washington); Girl stuck in tree (October 31, 1991. Atlanta, Georgia)
22. Episode 322
Aired 7 April 1992 • 60 min
Bystanders try to rescue girl trapped in burning truck (February 2, 1991. Paso Robles, California); Couple leads police to bank robbers, then a shootout ensues (December 4, 1989. Knoxville, Tennessee); Girl is severely cut after running into glass storm door (August 13, 1991. Renton, Washington)
23. Episode 323
Aired 28 April 1992 • 60 min
Woman aids car crash victim, unaware that the victim is her son (June 24, 1987. Knoxville, Tennessee); Baby drowns in swimming pool (October 3, 1991. Merlin, Oregon); Documentary of Arizona's Victim-Witness program-a restaurant manager is shot in the face (Tucson, Arizona); Boy stops school bus after the driver collapses (December 18, 1991. Dunnellon, Florida)
24. Episode 324Q
Aired 29 April 1992 • 60 min
Pipe bomb is discovered under a vehicle behind college dorm (May 18, 1991. Lawrence, Kansas)
25. Episode 304H
Aired 5 May 1992 • 60 min
Baby attacked by fire ants (April 7, 1991. Macon, Georgia); Woman trapped in burning apartment (January 8, 1991. South River, New Jersey)
26. Episode 325 (International Edition)
Aired 12 May 1992 • 60 min
Girl trapped under flaming tanker truck (August 9, 1990. Auckland, New Zealand); Paraglider's parachute catches on crane (Chamonix, France); Man in truck struck by train (Memorial Day Weekend 1991. Onalaska, Wisconsin); Father and son on snowmobile fall through ice (February 1, 1990. Huntsville, Ontario)
27. Episode 326
Aired 19 May 1992 • 60 min
Climbers tumble down glacier (May 13, 1989. Central Oregon); Dispatcher tries to convince a suicidal woman not to shoot herself (November 15, 1990. Kalama, Washington); Dog trapped in house fire (December 29, 1991. Vandalia, Illinois); Boy aids choking cousin (February 8, 1991. Downey, California)
28. Episode 309R
Aired 23 June 1992 • 60 min
Skydiver's parachute lines become entangled (November 12, 1989. Frankfort, Indiana); Convenience store robbery (December 2, 1989. San Angelo, Texas); Woman injured while attempting to stop runaway car with children inside (May 15, 1990. Tecumseh, Oklahoma); Boy attacked by alligator (August 2, 1991. Refugio, Texas)