emergency

Randolph Mantooth (1945-2026)

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This is the link to the Hollywood Reporter obituary of Randolph Mantooth, who died on Thursday at the age of 80.

A sad day for those of us who grew up with him and Kevin Tighe who played Johnny Gage and Roy DeSoto, respectively on the hit television show, Emergency!.

I still hum the music when I’m backing my car into the driveway.

When the show came out, there were only a handful of paramedics. The show was practically a public service announcement for recruitment. The profession was so unknown when Randy was told his role would be as a paramedic, his question was, “what the hell is a paramedic?”

Decades later, we all know how crucial those paramedics and EMTs are in an emergency and the show was integral in expanding that reach. Mantooth and Tighe continued to support the fire service and the LA Fire Museum over the years.

We introduced my oldest son, then three or four years old, to the show in reruns when he was obsessed with fire trucks and fire fighters. He dressed up as one for Halloween when he was four. He visited fire stations wherever we traveled including his uncle’s fire station on Long Island. He even went to college for fire protection/safety and became a volunteer fire fighter and an EMT during and after college. Emergency was a favorite show of his.

A few years ago, he was in California for a training session for his job, and he visited the Los Angeles Fire Museum, and got himself a Squad 51 t-shirt.

Part of the museum’s statement is below:

From Los Angeles County Fire Museum

Thank you Randy for your friendship!   You will be sorely missed. 

To Randy’s wife Kristen and Randy’s family.  We are here for you all and want to thank you for sharing Randy with us and the world. 
We are so very sorry for your loss. 

The Museum will be accepting condolence cards for the family.  If you would like to send a card please send to the Museum’s shop address at:

LA County Fire Museum
9834 Flora Vista St
Bellflower Calif 90706

KMG 365

Fire Safety

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This week is Fire Prevention Week. My son, who recently graduated from Fire Fighter I had two Fire House Open Houses this past weekend. Local firefighters came to my daughter’s elementary school to talk about fire safety, show the kids the equipment to expect the firefighters to wear, and gave out pencils and fire extinguisher sharpeners. It’s a good way to get the kids involved and to ask their parents questions to keep the whole family safe.

Some suggestions and important things to remember:

1. Do you have smoke detectors on every floor of your house? And inside every bedroom?

2. For second floor bedrooms, do you have an escape ladder or fire escape for your apartment?

3. Do your smoke detectors work? (A good rule of thumb is to change your batteries twice a year – when you change your clocks for Daylight Saving Time, change your smoke detector batteries.)

4. Before you go to bed, clean and straighten your house. Make sure there is a clear path to your exits.

5. Have a meeting place that is away from your house that even the youngest children can remember and find.

6.  My mother always had an emergency bag next to her bed. In it, she kept a flashlight, an emergency phone list, a bottle of water, an extra set of prescription medication, and sometimes a cell phone. I don’t think she ever used it for an emergency, but being prepared is still a good plan to have.

7. Get out of the house, and THEN CALL 9-1-1 from a neighbor’s house or from your cell phone.