Original subtitles

Marco, yeah, I gotta admit, you were right.

I was wrong.

Spaghetti and chili is incredible.

Thanks, John.

It was kind of tasty, if I do say so myself.

Well, let's get the place cleaned up.

We've got work to do.

Hey, Cap, you know that green car the chief engineer drives?

- What about it? - It just drove in.

You're kidding me. You're-- you're not kidding.

Look at the mess. Let's get-- no, forget it.

Come on. Let's go.

Go.

[music playing]

Come on.

Line up.

Line up.

This isn't my hat.

Will you guys knock that off?

That's not my hat.

That's not my-- that's not my hat.

Station 51, A shift on duty, Captain Hank Stanley, Chief.

- Captain, good to meet you. - Thank you, sir.

Uh, this is Firefighter Specialist Mike Stoker.

Stoker, good to meet you.

Firefighter Chester Kelly.

Kelly, good to meet you.

Firefighter, uh, Marco Lopez.

Lopez, good to see you.

Firefighter Paramedic Roy DeSoto.

DeSoto, it's a pleasure.

And Firefighter Paramedic John Gage.

Gage, good to meet you.

Thank you, sir.

By the way, get your hair cut.

Yes, sir.

It's-- this is not my hat.

Stand easy, men.

Would you, uh, like to inspect the station now, sir?

Well, actually, Captain, this is not a routine inspection.

I have letters here for Roy DeSoto and John Gage.

Normally, you would receive them through the regular department

channels.

But, frankly, I wanted the privilege

of meeting you and giving them to you personally.

On behalf of the Los Angeles County Fire Department,

I commend you in the highest possible terms

for courage and dedication.

On August 9, you responded on a rescue call.

Before other units reached the scene, and showing

complete disregard for your own safety,

you and your partner with great difficulty

extricated the victims, unquestionably

saving their lives.

Your coolness, bravery, and persistence in the face

of intense personal jeopardy reflect great credit

on yourself and are in the finest

tradition of this department.

Richard H. Houts, chief engineer.

DeSoto, Gage.

Thank you, sir.

Congratulations to you both.

On behalf of, uh, Station 51, I'd

like to congratulate you also.

John.

Thank your, sir.

- Sorry, Chief. - It's all right, any time.

Thank you.

Would you, uh, like to inspect the station now, sir?

Is there any coffee around here?

Well, of course, it's a fire station, yes, sir.

Let's go.

Congratulations.

Congratulations.

This is great.

Yeah.

What, uh, what did we do to get this?

I was just about to ask you the same question.

Well, what do we do?

Why don't we check the log?

Good idea.

[alarm sounding]

MAN [ON SPEAKER]: Squad 51, man down, unknown injury,

2732 North Claymore, in the rec room, cross street Lakeside,

time out 14:08.

JOHN: Squad 51, KMG365.

[emergency sirens]

[music playing]

[theme music]

That was kind of incredible.

I don't believe I saw that.

Well, it just goes to show you, you're never too old.

What kind of a place is this?

Over here.

What happened?

Well, I took a little tumble.

A little tumble?

Almost pulled me down with him.

And if I could have gotten you down,

you wouldn't have got up in a hurry.

Oh, Amos.

All right, this is the leg here, huh?

- Yeah, that's it. - OK, let me take a look at it.

You tell me when it hurts, all right?

Little higher, little high-- ooh, there, there.

Yeah, he's got some swelling here, and it's black and blue,

a possible fracture.

Might have a possible fracture here on your ankle.

Oh, poor dear.

[buzzing]

JOHN [ON PHONE]: Uh, Rampart, this is Squad 51.

Go ahead, 51.

Uh, Rampart, we have a male, approximately 70 years old.

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Let's get that right, young man.

Uh, stand by, Rampart.

Uh, I'm sorry, sir.

How old are you?

Uh, Rampart, correction, uh, the gentleman is 94 years old.

Yeah, I was-- I was born during the administration

of President Chester A. Arthur.

And I was with Teddy Roosevelt at San Juan Hill.

150/80.

All right, you got normal respiration.

You got a pulse of 75.

Uh, Rampart, victim has a possible broken left

ankle on the right side. - Oh, here she is.

I thought you'd never show up.

This is a hot water bag to stop the swelling.

Maybe we can hold back on that,

and we'll just put a splint on him, all right?

Respirations seem to be normal.

Anybody knows, you don't put heat on a thing like that.

Well, I do, and I raised four more children than you did.

And married two more husbands.

Girls, girls, cool it.

It's very sweet of both of you, but, uh--

The guy is 94?

51, what's your patient's overall condition?

Uh, Rampart, I would say he's in very good condition.

Oh, here is my heart's true love.

I got here as quick as I could.

What are they doing here?

Uh, hush up and give me some sugar.

Uh, excellent shape, he's in excellent shape.

How bad is it?

Oh, he says it's broken.

He has a possible fracture in the ankle.

It's nothing serious.

Uh, uh, excuse me.

Are-- are you in any-- any kind of pain?

Only when I dance.

We had to help him to the chair,

half carried the poor soul.

You've been dancing the hustle again, huh?

No No, no, honest, honest, that's out.

Now it's the roller coaster.

You know, I'm gonna have to see that you move from here

to someplace where you can get a little rest,

away from, uh, these bad influences.

Ladies, I think it's time for your afternoon naps.

Yeah, that's right, ladies.

Toddle along home now.

Try to control yourselves.

Bye-bye.

OK, uh, we're gonna have to take you in the hospital.

Oh, that figures.

Uh, Rampart, uh, we'll let you know when--

when an ambulance comes.

10-4, 51.

Can I go with him?

Are you a relative?

Well, not yet, uh, the 5th of next month.

Mm-hmm.

Oh, you-- you're gonna get married, huh?

Yep.

Oh, uh, that's something.

Oh, not to him, to his grandson.

Oh, I thought you guys were getting married together.

You-- you were thinking it was me?

Yeah, well, you know.

Well, now that was a kind thought.

Now if I was 20 years younger--

Aw, 10 even.

Oh, she's a great woman, isn't she?

Yes.

A terrific liar, and she's only got one flaw 'cause, uh,

she hates to see me dance.

Uh, there's the ambulance.

I'll go guide them in.

Oh, here we go.

WOMAN [ON SPEAKER]: Dr. Baker, outside call, please.

Dr. Baker, outside call, please.

Oh, John, congratulations.

Oh.

I couldn't be more pleased for you.

Thank you.

I think it's just great.

Oh, oh, thank you very much, yeah, yeah.

I just think it's so super.

Oh, well, thank you very much, uh, appreciate that.

Yeah, I see you showed them the letter.

Yeah.

Oh, I-- I just, uh, I-- can I talk to you just for a second?

Why did you show them the letter?

I just thought they might be able to tell

us something about it.

I didn't know they would make such a big deal out of it.

Yeah, well, why didn't you tell me that you were

going to show them the letter?

Going around, shaking my hand, I don't know

what they're talking about.

Hey, John, this letter is really very nice.

But, uh, it's not very detailed.

Yeah, I know.

Yeah, and Roy won't tell us anything.

Well, you know what, Dix.

Uh, there's-- there's really not that much to, uh, tell.

Well, it must have been a terrible fire.

Fire?

It-- it was.

It was terrible.

The, uh, the victims, were they--

were they very badly hurt.

Uh, well, you know, you'd know more about that than me, Doc.

You know, I can't quite place them.

There must have been burns or smoke inhalation or something

like that.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

- Yeah. - Burns and smoke inhalation.

Of course, I could have been off that day, too.

Yeah, they probably took them straight to the burn ward.

Yeah.

Yeah, right.

- Straight to the burn ward. - We'd better get going.

No, no, no, no, no, no, stick around.

This is all very interesting.

I want to hear some more about it.

Now come on.

Quit embarrassing them.

[buzzing]

- Excuse me. - John.

- Oh. - Great job.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate that, Doc.

See you later.

Buh-bye.

Bub-bye.

Buh-bye, see you later.

I couldn't come right out and ask them.

Well, at least you could tell me what you're gonna do.

Well, do you remember anything?

I don't remember anything.

Now if you-- if you don't remember something like that,

people are going to think you're kind of weird.

Yeah, but that was, what, two months ago?

You know, we get a couple dozen runs a week.

It's understandable.

Yeah, well, Joanne is gonna want to know something,

and the kids are gonna want to know something.

And, uh, I mean, I don't know what

the heck I'm gonna tell them.

Well, I want to know just for my own personal satisfaction.

What about the captain?

He's gotta know.

Yeah, but we don't even know that the engine

was on the run with us.

[music playing]

Hey, there they are.

Well, how does it feel to be heroes?

[mumbling]

I don't want to promise you guys anything.

But from what I understand, you've got a pretty good shot

at the valor award.

That's great.

Well, uh, look, Cap.

We didn't get a chance to thank you before.

We really want to thank you.

For what?

Well, turning us in for that commendation.

I mean, it must have really been something

that stuck in your mind, huh?

You know, they check these things

out very thoroughly before they go handing out these awards.

But, uh, I had nothing to do with it.

As a matter of fact, what rescue was it?

Why don't you grab a chair?

I want to hear about this.

- Oh, uh-- - Well--

We gotta go wash up.

We're gonna have to go out there and--

Yeah, we have to go out and check--

[mumbling]

We'll see you after supper, probably.

Yeah and we'll let you--

Maybe there's been some kind of mistake.

Well, you heard what he said.

They really check these things out.

Besides, I really feel that deep down we really deserve it.

Yeah, for whatever it was we did.

That's true.

[phone ringing]

Rampart emergency, Ms. McCall, I see.

What seems to be wrong with him?

What room are you in?

We'll be right there.

Put that down, stat.

Get a crash cart.

Dr. Brackett, we've got a possible MI

in the dental clinic.

A patient's unconscious.

Hurry up with that crash cart.

Sorry, folks.

We got an emergency upstairs.

We need this.

Everybody off.

Emergency upstairs.

Bring a stretcher, dental clinic.

How long has he been out?

It just happened.

As soon as he went, I hollered to Beth, told her to call you.

I ran next door and grabbed the oxygen.

- What's the flow? - Uh, about eight liters.

Oh, real good.

Here, let me get out of your way.

Sir, can you hear me? Sir?

[moaning]

Let's get an EKG.

I figured it could be an MI.

I didn't want to take any chances.

Is that what it is, his heart?

Why, did he complain of chest pains?

Well, no.

60/20.

Dix, let's get an IV with D5WTKO.

What's up, Kel?

Oh, he's been out for a few minutes.

Pressure is low.

Pulse is about 52.

EKG seems to be all right.

He's perfusing poorly.

Yeah, let's get his legs up, huh?

Can you get this up any higher?

Oh, that's it.

Do you want to hand me that pillow, please?

Thank you.

OK, Dix?

Yeah, go ahead.

Did you give him anything?

Yeah, I just started the local.

Lidocaine?

Yeah, uh, I-- I don't think it's anaphylaxis.

I'd hardly started when he shoved my hand out of the way.

Uh, he started breathing fast, and he passed out.

His chest seems clear.

Dix, get another BP.

Did you get a medical history on him?

Yeah.

Uh, he's taking hydrochlorothiazide

and methyldopa.

He's hypertensive?

Mild hypertension.

BP is 100/70.

This guy has been nothing but trouble.

Oh?

My assistant had her hands full last

week just getting his x-rays.

Ah, he's coming around.

Let's get him downstairs.

Let's get that gurney in here.

What's wrong with him?

Well, I'm not sure.

He may have had a vasovagal attack,

but we'll check him out. - Let me know what you find out.

Sure.

Let's keep his feet up.

Did you find it?

- No, not yet. - August 9.

Yeah, I know. I got that part.

It happened in the evening, according to the letter.

Yeah, OK, this has got to be it then.

OK, now this was logged at 5:20 in the afternoon.

Yeah, right, OK, but-- but-- but read this.

It says-- it says extra engines were called to the scene.

People were evacuated from the burning building.

Now, we-- we-- we could have been there for an hour or more.

That would explain the evening part.

I think I remember it.

It's a two-story frame house.

Remember?

Right, in the middle of the block, right?

In the middle of the block. - That's right.

Well, what else?

I don't-- I don't remember anything.

Do you?

No.

Darn, boy, it's nice to look back on something,

you know, especially when it's, uh, something, uh, you

know, like, uh

Outstanding?

Go ahead.

You can say it in front of me.

I understand.

It's a good feeling, isn't it?

Yeah, if we can remember.

But what?

Well, look.

We're gonna be thinking of something else,

and then all of a sudden the whole thing

is gonna come back to us, just like that.

Roy, there's one problem with that.

It says here that the engine responded with us.

So why doesn't the captain remember?

WOMAN [ON SPEAKER]: Dr. Mendez, outside call, please.

Dr. Mendez, outside call, please.

Mr. Wiler, how are you feeling?

Kind of shaky.

Uh, what-- what happened?

It's something serious, isn't it?

Well, I'm about 99% sure you had a vasovagal attack.

Yeah?

Yeah.

Going to the dentist kind of bothers you, doesn't it?

Me?

No way, not at all.

Well, when was the last time you went to the dentist?

I was in the service.

How long ago was that?

About 25 years ago.

Why did you wait so long?

I've never had any trouble with my teeth.

Yeah, but they're bothering you now.

Well, I got a couple that hurt a little bit,

you know, once in a while.

I guess I'll just have to hang onto them for a while.

No, no, I wouldn't recommend that, Mr. Wiler.

I think you should have them taken care of as soon

as possible.

Well, I will, as soon as I get this vaso thing,

or whatever it is, taken care of.

- No, no, I mean right now. - No, no, no, no, look.

I just had one attack.

I gotta get cured first.

The teeth can wait.

Look, if dental work bothers you--

Doesn't it bother everybody?

There's nothing to it.

You can go under a general anesthetic.

Uh, they put you to sleep.

You wake up, and it's all over with.

I can arrange it if you want.

No, no, no, why do you keep talking about my teeth?

You're not a dentist.

What's wrong with me?

What brought on this attack?

That's what I want to talk about.

Mr. Wiler, I'm afraid that's what we've been talking about.

You see, a vasovagal attack is simply a physical reaction

to extreme emotion.

You fainted.

There's nothing else wrong with you.

Oh, lord, I was hoping that--

I'm sorry, but you're fine.

Please, Doc.

I can't go back up there.

Are your teeth hurting you now?

I got one back here that's just killing me.

All right, look. Just relax and take it easy.

I'll get a nurse to come in and give you something for it, OK?

You mean they can knock you out before they do the work?

Right now.

Well, at least I can think about it.

I'll check back with you later.

Thanks a lot, Doc.

Are you guys kidding?

- No. - No, you can't be serious.

- I swear. - It's the truth.

Well, look. I know we get a lot of runs.

Everything sort of runs together.

But you gotta remember something about it.

We can't. I swear.

You mean you don't remember any of it?

I remember it's a two-story framed house

in the middle of the block. - No, I remember.

It was a stucco house on the corner.

No, it was a Spanish type with a tile roof.

You're right, Chet.

Yeah, because you guys got the call about 7:30.

Well, you're wrong about that.

The squad got the call at 5:20, and the engine

rolled on it at 5:28.

I looked it up in the log.

Yep, well, at least we got the time right.

[alarm sounding]

MAN [ON SPEAKER]: Station 51, man stranded on a cliff

with injuries on the Mount Waters fire road, 2

and 1/2 miles north of Topanga.

Mount Waters fire road, 2 and 1/2 miles north of Topanga,

time out 17:06.

Station 51, KMG365.

[music playing]

What happened?

Mike's still up there.

- Uh-huh, are you hurt? - Don't worry about me.

You gotta get Mike.

OK, tell me what happened.

On the cliff, can you hear me?

This is the fire department.

This is the fire department.

Wave if you can hear me.

Go on. Go on.

What happened?

Mike and I were coming down from the top,

and he skidded down about 30 feet right into me.

Yeah.

He nearly took me off, too.

LA Engine 51, respond an ER ambulance to this location

to evacuate a victim. - OK, how long ago was this?

It must be about an hour.

I tied him to a-- to a, uh, drill bit with the rope

I had left over.

And I scrambled on down.

Listen, was he bleeding?

Not much, no, but he's in bad shape.

He hurt his head.

- He hurt his head? - Yeah.

Yeah, I got a collar in here for him.

- What do you think? - How did you get up there?

The trail around the back, it took us a couple of hours.

Now that's rough.

We've only got 20 minutes of light left here.

You're gonna-- you're gonna have to go up the face.

Free climb it?

Yep.

OK.

Got the air ambulance on the way for you.

OK.

Make sure he only has one victim to take out.

We'll do our best.

Free climbing this thing is gonna be rough.

By God, he could have picked an easier

spot to be trapped in.

We'll

Right here at the base of this little ravine,

start there and work our way up [inaudible].

[inaudible]

Well, I'll just climb on up, then throw you a rope down.

OK.

That's it.

OK.

COPTER 14 [ON RADIO]: Engine 51, Copter 14, our ETA is 1 minute.

You on?

OK, ready.

I'm just gonna keep your slack up.

OK.

OK, yeah, now I have to tie up.

You know what?

If you were leading, and you fell, and I couldn't hold you,

I'd go with you.

Yeah, well, that's, uh, that's reassuring.

Yeah, OK.

How you doing?

Pretty good, what do we got, Hank?

Well, the paramedics are trying

to free climb up the cliff.

Uh-huh, is there anything we can do to help you?

Well, so far I only need you for evacuating the victim.

But who knows?

OK, boy, he sure got himself in a mess, didn't he?

He sure did, didn't he?

Roy, there's a real steep part here.

Be careful.

Oh, man.

Roy, I'm losing it.

You all right? You guys all right?

Thanks, Cap.

We just can't get to him from here.

We'll use the copter then.

You can rappel down to him from the top.

Captain, we don't have enough daylight left.

I mean, there's no way we can pull him off during the dark.

I'll have LA respond a light unit.

Uh, you guys arrived just in time.

Is there any way that we can get a chopper up there on top?

Yeah, when we flew over, it looked all right.

We'll need the night goggles, though.

All right.

OK, Kelly, you and Lopez go along for some manpower.

LA Engine 51, request light unit 103 at our location.

MAN [ON RADIO]: Engine 51.

We'll just have to wait for it to get here.

Light unit 103, assistant Engine 51,

Mount Waters fire road, 2 and 1/2 miles north

of Topanga, time out 17:40.

HANK [ON RADIO]: LA Engine 51, what is Light 103's ETA?

MAN [ON RADIO]: Stand by, 51.

Light 103, Engine 51 requests your ETA.

Engine 51, Light 103 reports 5 minutes.

10-4.

MAN [ON RADIO]: Copter 14, Engine 51, go ahead.

Light 103 will be at scene in 5 minutes.

MAN [ON RADIO]: 10-4, Engine 51.

- We're ready to go, I guess. - OK.

Do you want to read off the instruments?

I'll go ahead and lift off. - 10-4.

OK, coming in with the power.

OK, torque is 35, 36, 37.

We're headed out now.

What's the air speed?

Can you read it?

OK, just coming up on 25, 30.

OK, and you're clear left of this mountain.

All right, turning left.

Coming up on the ridge.

OK.

OK, we'll just go on in and land now.

- OK. - I'm reducing, Ty.

Are we clear left?

We're clear.

OK, we're on the ground.

Can't see a thing.

Engine 51, this is Squad 51.

We're ready to go.

Light Unit 103 is just arriving.

All right, we'll go ahead then.

10-4.

Put your light up on that cliff, as high as you can there, OK?

HT 51, Engine 51, you're 20 feet too far to the left.

10-4.

Chet, did you hear that?

Gotcha.

OK, can you lower me down about 3 feet?

Right.

Hold it.

Hold it.

All right, down a little more.

That's good.

Watch it.

OK, straight down, Chet, just lower us.

That's it, more slack, more slack, more slack.

A little more.

Yeah, good, all right, keep coming.

Why don't we lay the stokes right on his--

on his left there? I'll get over on his right.

Should I move over more?

No, you're fine.

BOTH: A little more.

OK, he's hooked in there pretty secure.

A little more, just about another 2 feet.

There we are.

Hold it.

Whoa, whoa.

What do you got?

Strong and steady pulse.

OK, we'll set up some blankets here.

I'll get you a cervical collar.

All right, now we gotta get down.

He feels real cold.

All right.

I've got the collar now.

Huh?

I've got the collar.

OK.

OK.

I've got the airway standing by when

we're-- when you need it.

Got it?

Yeah.

OK, I'll tilt it a little bit.

OK.

OK, here it goes.

Now hurry.

Unhook him.

OK.

I'm gonna help bring this over for you a little bit.

Can you pull from that side?

Yeah, wait a minute.

Can I lift it up for you a little?

Got it.

There you go.

Whoa.

All right, I got him.

All right, pull up a little, just a little bit.

OK, OK, that's good.

Whoa.

That is tight.

OK, here's the airway.

[inaudible]

OK, there we are.

Are you all right?

Yeah, just get him to take us up about a foot

once we get up over that ledge there.

OK, up a foot.

OK, all right, Stoker, pull it.

OK, drop us, Chet.

All right.

Oh, boy, we've gotta go.

[music playing]

Keep it coming.

Come on.

Keep coming, good.

Stoker, give us a hand.

They're all in and ready.

OK, everything looks green, so we'll just go ahead and lift.

- You're approaching now. - OK.

We've got about 50 feet in front of us,

so we're about 50 feet over them.

OK, we'll go ahead and let down and land in the clearing

now.

Johnny, meet you at the hospital.

Yeah, all right.

OK, let's go.

You did a heck of a job.

That doesn't seem like much, just-- just saying thank you.

Well, that covers it just fine.

Uh, Rampart, we have a male, approximate age

about, uh, 40 years old.

He was involved in a climbing accident.

Uh, our ETA is about five minutes.

Boy, I don't want to go through to many more

rescues like this one.

This was a rough one.

Yeah, and that's not the only thing that's gonna be rough.

I'm starved, and Stoker is cooking.

You guys want to step in the office for a minute?

Sure.

Oh, hi, Chief.

Hi, Chief.

Well, um, anything wrong?

Well, we do have one small problem.

I think I'll go see how Stoker is doing with supper.

I'm starved.

Excuse me, Chief.

About those commendations.

It was a mistake?

To put it briefly, yeah.

Apparently, what happened, the victim

told the doctor in ER, who wrote a report to his boss, who

wrote a report to his boss, who sent it to the fire department.

It came to me through the regular channels, which-- well,

anyway, the bottom line is that somewhere along the way

a clerk made a simple typing error.

It was Squad 15, not 51.

That makes sense.

Well, it makes a heck of a lot more sense than us

not remembering the rescue.

Yeah.

Well, uh, what happens now?

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry.

OK if I buy in for dinner?

Well, yeah, uh, no, it's-- I mean, uh,

you see, uh, Stoker is cooking.

And, uh, his food is a little hard to take.

You know what I mean?

Gage, you don't get to be chief of this department

without having a very strong stomach.

Let's go.

OK.

By the way, don't forget to get your haircut.

[music playing]

[theme music]