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 (15)
1. Episode 701
Aired 12 September 1995 • 60 min
Plane loses power in the dark (March 28, 1995. Albany, New York); Teenagers in car t-boned by school bus (December 9, 1994. Upper Marlboro, Maryland); Drugstore robbery (December 9, 1994. Fresno, California); Girl trapped in plaster body cast (September 25, 1989. San Jose, California)
2. Episode 628
Aired 1 February 1996 • 60 min
Pet python locks onto woman's arm (March 27, 1995. Milwaukee, Wisconsin); Bystanders discover man in cardiac arrest in parking garage (June 23, 1994. Wheaton, Illinois); Robber abducts employee from fast food restaurant (November 3, 1993. Parkersburg, West Virginia); Boy call 911 on cell phone when his mother passes out in the car (February 28, 1995. Deltona, Florida)
3. Episode 629
Aired 8 February 1996 • 60 min
Teenager falls from cliff (April 26, 1994. Port Angeles, Washington); Teenage diver with the bends (July 28, 1991. Muncie, Indiana); Semi truck's container falls on car and knocks the driver unconscious (March 2, 1994. Turner Turnpike in Oklahoma); Iguana falls from tree into swimming pool (February 10, 1995. Beverly Hills, California)
4. Episode 707
Aired 15 February 1996 • 60 min
State trooper and fiancée injured in head-on collision (Powhatan, Virginia); Man does rescue breathing on his wife when she has an asthma attack (February 27, 1995. Deerfield, New Hampshire); Car goes off road and crashes into whitewater river (June 14, 1995. Longmont, Colorado); Three children stuck at the top of a 60-foot high pine tree (June 23, 1995. Boynton Beach, Florida)
5. Episode 709
Aired 22 February 1996 • 60 min
Police search for a missing transplant recipient when a donor kidney becomes available for her (June 24, 1995. San Francisco, California); Boy overcome by freon fumes drowns in fishing boat's refrigerated water system (June 20, 1993. New Jersey); Two officers on patrol wounded in shootout (July 30, 1992. Phoenix, Arizona); Girl gets tongue stuck in bottle (May 6, 1995. Clayton, North Carolina)
6. Episode 708
Aired 29 February 1996 • 60 min
Blind woman in traffic accident; Scuba diver runs out of air; Suicidal man threatens to jump from bridge; last segment unknown
7. Episode 630
Aired 7 March 1996 • 60 min
Boy severely cuts arm on window glass (May 2, 1994. Saint Paul, Minnesota); Man electrocuted while trying to fix dishwasher (August 15, 1994. Evanston, Wyoming); Beached humpback whale (November 1, 1993. Santa Barbara, California); Store manager gets fingers stuck in safe (March 8, 1995. Richmond, Virginia)
8. Episode 626
Aired 28 March 1996 • 60 min
first segment unknown; Man has heat stroke while dirt biking in desert (July 10, 1994. Phoenix, Arizona); Teenage girl falls 200 feet down mountainside and waterfalls (February 26, 1994. Issaquah, Washington); Collie alerts family when baby stops breathing (June 19, 1993. Trotwood, Ohio)
9. Episode 712
Aired 4 April 1996 • 60 min
Band member electrocuted by guitar (April 25, 1995. Lexington, Kentucky); other segments unknown
10. Episode 710
Aired 11 April 1996 • 60 min
Irate man with bomb and gun takes hostages in library (March 5, 1994. Salt Lake City, Utah); Woman has premature baby in car (April 11, 1995. Cope, South Carolina); Couple on snowmobile falls into glacier fissure (June 21, 1991. Iceland); Pet lizard locks onto toddler's thumb (April 25, 1995. Quarryville, Pennsylvania)
11. Episode 913H
Aired 23 April 1996 • 60 min
Fleeing suspect shoots police dog (January 20, 1995. Tucson, Arizona); Boy trapped under the dirt and root-span of a fallen tree stump (June 2, 1995. Franklinton, Louisiana)
12. Episode 627
Aired 2 May 1996 • 60 min
Baby stops breathing in crowded parking garage (Saginaw, Michigan); Toddler alone in runaway car (January 21, 1995. Irvine, Kentucky); 13-year-old girl calls 911 when intruders break into her house (July 9, 1993. Surrey, British Columbia, Canada); Documentary follows premature baby's stay at the neo-natal intensive care unit at Children's Hospital (November 15, 1994. Akron, Ohio)
13. Episode 711
Aired 6 August 1996 • 60 min
Couple injured in dune buggy crash (June 4, 1995. Stanford, Kentucky); Toddler stuck in pool filter (June 27, 1995. Sacramento, California); Para glider's parachute catches on tram line (June 6, 1994. Aspen, Colorado); Officer discovers abandoned baby while investigating domestic violence call (Spring 1994. Highland Township, Michigan)
14. Episode 713
Aired 20 August 1996 • 60 min
Teenage boy pinned under tractor; First grader gets her finger stuck in desk (Bangor, Maine); Fleeing suspect shoots police dog (January 20, 1995. Tucson, Arizona); Boy trapped under the dirt and root-span of a fallen tree stump (June 2, 1995. Franklinton, Louisiana)
15. Episode 714
Aired 27 August 1996 • 60 min
Boy stops school bus when the driver collapses (October 3, 1995. Saint Louis, Missouri); Four children hit by a car are treated at University Medical Center (July 6, 1995. Las Vegas, Nevada); Water-skier on kneeboard slams into trees (October 26, 1991. North Little Rock, Arkansas); Baby opens door and falls from moving pickup (April 15, 1995. Loves Park, Illinois); Boy collapses in snow while trying to walk home in sub-zero temperatures (January 18, 1994. Detroit, Michigan)