Randolph Mantooth, who portrayed paramedic Johnny Gage on Emergency! spoke to the crowd and received perhaps the loudest applause and warmest welcome of the day. He started off his talk by reporting his amazement with the attendance and continuous love the attendees have for the series. “It is the little show that won’t die. I am overwhelmed by the fact that you guys would travel as far as you have. I never thought that this show would have the impact it has had on emergency medicine.”
Mantooth said that both he and co-star Kevin Tighe (Paramedic “Roy Desoto” on the show) were anticipating the show being cancelled because, for many years, it ran in the same time slot as the popular show “All in the Family.”
Mantooth, who still lectures internationally on the history of EMS, the show Emergency!, and the Pioneers of EMS in America, spoke of the impact the show had and what it meant to him. He praised Emergency! producer Bob Cinadar for convincing Universal to allow the show to depict realistic scenarios and scenes, including showing blood and allowing people to die. He concluded his remarks by telling the crowd that his involvement with the Emergency series represented “the greatest seven years of my life!”
Check out Mantooth’s website and Facebook page for more.