Cynthia Hawkins

With the volunteer efforts from members of the L.A. County Fire Department, L.A. County Fire Department Museum Committee, and the L.A. County Fire Department Explorers' Program, convention attendees relished in there days packed with "Emergency!" video marathons, bloopers, antique fire engine displays, favorite episode role-playing, auctioning of "Emergency!" memorabilia, as well as the question-and-answer sessions, autograph signings and photo opportunities with the cast and crew. In conjunction with the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, the entire cast and crew were honored in a special awards ceremony for their contributions to the influence of Emergency Medical Services throughout the country.

Fans were also treated to guided tours of Station 127, Harbor General Hospital (AKA Rampart), and Los Angeles County Fire Department Headquarters, where a special effects team from Universal Studios put on a car explosion show, overhead helicopter water drops, and rappelling demonstrations by LACoFD. Everyone went home with fond memories to last a lifetime!

Moved by the success of the Convention, and the esteem in which the attendees held "Emergency!" and its cast and crew, Cynthia decided that "Emergency!" could be celebrated further and honor all the men and women of EMS by being accepted into the Smithsonian as a part of American History. She put her B.S. in Marketing/Computer Science from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and her event-organizing skills to good use. Her goal was to honor the show for representing entertainment from the 1970's, and for its great influence on the emergence of emergency services in the field. Cynthia, as Randy Mantooth called her, is relentless when achieving a goal, and within eight months the 'nation's attic' had accepted original memorabilia from the show. The process normally takes two years.

Having worked as a marketing representative for major Fortune 500 corporations, Cynthia now works at Wachovia Merchant Services in Atlanta as an Account Executive for the inside sales division. Other than time spent with her husband, Fernando, and their two daughters, Jessica and Alexis, Cynthia enjoys reading books and traveling out West.

James O. Page, Esq.

August 7, 1936--September 4, 2004

In 1971, Jim was assigned by his department to coordinate the countywide implementation of paramedic rescue services. At the same time, he served as technical consultant and writer for the "Emergency!" television series. In 1973, he resigned from the fire department to accept the new position of Chief of EMS for the State of North Carolina.

Mr. Page spent the next ten years based on the east coast. In 1976, he was selected as Executive Director of the non-profit ACT (Advanced Coronary Treatment) Foundation. In 1979, he founded JEMS (Journal of Emergency Medical Services). Over the years, it has become the centerpiece of Jems Communications, the world's most respected source of information for emergency medical services.

In 1984, Jim returned to the California fire service while maintaining a leadership role in Jems. In 1989, he retired as Fire Chief for the City of Monterey Park (in Los Angeles County) and returned to full-time service as Chairman and CEO of Jems Communications.

Over the years, Jim Page has published five books, written more than 400 magazine articles and editorials, and given more than 700 public speeches. He has established and funded an EMS educational foundation at Palomar College near San Diego. In 1995 he was honored by the International Association of Fire Chiefs when they created the annual "James O. Page Award of Excellence." This year, he will be featured by Fire Chief Magazine as one of the 20 most influential fire chiefs of the 20th Century.

Currently, while continuing to serve as publisher of JEMS and Fire Rescue Magazine, he is a partner in the law firm of Page, Wolfberg and Wirth, with offices in California and Pennsylvania. Mr. Page is a father of four, a grandfather of six, a private pilot, and a collector of vintage fire and rescue equipment.

Assistant Fire Chief Donato M. Dingillo (retired)

In addition to his vast fire and emergency services experience, Chief Dingillo also has considerable experience in emergency resource management with his assignment as Dispatch Section Chief. During his tenure in the Dispatch Section, Chief Dingillo often stepped into the role of Region 1 Coordinator when the Fire Chief was not available. During the 1993 Firestorms, Chief Dingillo served as Liaison Officer for the Old Topanga Incident, and later served as the Governor's Liaison for the Firestorms. Chief Dingillo also worked with the many refineries in the South Bay to help implement the Inter-Refinery Mutual Aid Project.

Chief Dingillo's training and education has been concentrated in fire and emergency services, receiving accreditation in Fire Command, Fire Instructor, Fire Investigations, Fire Prevention, Special Rescue Systems and Fire Dispatch - Emergency Medical Dispatching.

Besides his official duties within the fire service, Chief Dingillo has also been actively involved in numerous fire service organizations, including serving terms as President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer for the Chief Officer's Club. Chief Dingillo is married with two children and two grandchildren.

Gino Grimaldi

Gino Grimaldi was born into a show business family in Hollywood, California. As a child actor, he performed in several television shows that his family produced in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In his early teens, he trained as an apprentice film editor while attending Hollywood High School, and continued to do so throughout his college years at the University of Southern California, where he majored in Cinema.

After being accepted as a member into the Film Editors' Guild of America, Gino secured an editing position in the Editorial Department at Universal Studios, working on various television productions and motion pictures. He was a major force in bringing to Universal Studios Chrysler Presents in the Bob Hope Christmas and Vietnam Specials. Two of these productions won an Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special.

In 1971, Gino became the Associate Producer of a new television series entitled "Emergency!", and soon after advanced to Producer. "Emergency!" ran for seven years, for a total of 129 episodes, and six two-hour specials. Following "Emergency!", he went on to co-produce and direct second unit for four pilots and four four-hour mini-series: "The Immigrants", nominated for a Golden Globe Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, "The Rebels", and "The Seekers", both honored by the National Scholastic Federation, and "Condominium".

After the completion of his association with Universal Studios, he partnered with Robert Blake to produce Blake's television series, "Joe Dancer", and the critically acclaimed television remake of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men", which won the Writer's Guild Award for best television movie, and an endorsement from the National Scholastic Federation.

Returning to Universal Studios, Gino produced the television movie, "Midnight Lace", and a two hour pilot, Code of Vengeance. This was followed by producing and directing first and second unit on the television series Knight Rider, which was on the air for four years: 88 episodes and four two-hour episodic specials.

Gino then opened his own production company, Midnight Productions, Inc., to develop and produce his own projects. Two projects were sold to CBS: "The Master Detective", a half-hours series, and a two-hour television movie adapted from the novel Going Downtown, "The War Against Hanoi and Washington". This was followed by a production deal with Fu Ngai Film Productions, to produce a feature motion picture entitled "Shanghai: 1920".

Several years later, he produced the television movie, "A Promise Kept: the Oksana Baiul Story", for CBS and Hallmark Hall of Fame.

Currently, Gino and his partner, Robert Fuller, are developing a new television series titled "Target Arson", in association with the Los Angeles County Fire Department's Arson Investigative Unit and the Los Angeles Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm's Arson Task Force. He is also Vice-President on the Board of Directors of Project 51, Inc.

Hannah Shearer

As Executive Story Editor for "Star Trek, the Next Generation", she was praised for her ability to evoke emotion and create humanistic stories set in the vast arena of space.

As an independent writer and producer, she created "Nashville Beat", and worked on the series "Cagney and Lacey", "Hyperion Bay", "Deep Space Nine", "Tales of the South Seas", "Walker, Texas Ranger", "MacGyver", "Pacific Blue", "VIP", "General Hospital", and many others. At present she is writing for the daytime series, "Port Charles".

She's a frequent columnist for Written By, the Maggie-award-winning Journal of the Writers' Guild of America, Inc. Active in the Writers' Guild of America, West, Inc., she was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Producers' Guild of America, Inc.

Ms. Shearer is currently a director of the non-profit organization, Project 51. Project 51 is raising funds and planning a cross-country tour with artifacts from the television show "Emergency!", which are being donated to the Smithsonian Institute in May, 2000. "Emergency!" is being honored by the Museum of American Natural History for its major contribution to emergency medical care in the United States.

Ms. Shearer is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, where she majored in journalism while working on the Daily Californian newspaper. A native Californian, she now lives in Sherman Oaks, where she is writing a novel in addition to her television scripts.

Steve Martin, Captain, Los Angeles County Fire Department (now Battalion Chief)

In 1984, prior to coming to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Martin organized and implemented the Emergency Services Program, along with the Emergency Response Team (ERT), at Universal City, California.

In 1997, he piloted a community-based Public Education Program (PEP) for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. That program is now based County-wide, and serves over 3,000 public and private schools in an area over 2,000 square miles, with a population of over 3.5 million.

As a Captain in the Community Services Division of one of the most respected fire service organizations in the world, Martin says "I am able to fulfill my goal of 'giving back' to my Department, and the community which has given me this tremendous career opportunity."

Randolph Mantooth

Soon after graduating from the Academy, Eleanor Kilgallen of the Universal Studios talent program spotted Randy in a play and offered him a contract. Randy moved back to California, where he did small roles, honing his craft. The executive producer of Emergency!, Robert A. Cinader, saw him in a small, pivotal role on "The Bold Ones", and knew instantly he had found his Johnny Gage.

Randy starred in "Emergency!" for six-and-a-half years, then went on to the comedy series "Operation Petticoat" and "Detective School". He made many guest-starring appearances in mini-series, episodic, and Movies of the Week, before he moved back to New York to become a series regular on "Loving" and ABC's "The City".

Randy has guest-starred in various television shows such as "JAG", "Diagnosis Murder", "Walker, Texas Ranger", "Promised Land", and the films "Enemy Action", and most recently, "Captured", with Dolph Lundgren.

He has several projects in various stages of development, but the one closest to his heart is a new series, "USAR1."

Ed Self

Included among Mr. Self's TV movie credits are, "THE INCIDENT" (Emmy and Christopher Awards), "AGAINST HER WILL: INCIDENT IN BALTIMORE" (Christopher Award), and "SEPTEMBER GUN" (Western Heritage Award). As Supervising Producer, he worked on "SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL" (highest rated Hallmark Hall of Fame of all time, and highest rated network movie of the 1990's) and the sequel, "WINTER'S END."

The first TV movie Mr. Self produced, "HELP WANTED: MALE", garnered a 47 share for CBS and was the second highest movie of the season. Other notable projects are "THE YEARLING" and "THE INHERITANCE" (Kraft Premier movies), "THE FIRE NEXT TIME" (CBS mini-series), and "IN THE LAKE OF THE WOODS" (Fox Network).

Mr. Self also created a half-hour syndicated series ("LEARNING THE ROPES"), spent two years as Executive Vice President for Disney's Television Division, and was Executive in Charge of Production for five Sunday afternoon movies on CBS. He is currently on the Board of Directors of Project 51, and is developing a fire-department series entitled, "LIVES ON THE LINE."

Jean Cinader

Kevin Tighe

When the show ended in 1978, Tighe moved to New York to study with Bobby Lewis and Stella Adler, to "redefine myself and begin again".

During the years since "Emergency!", Tighe has appeared in a multitude of feature films, including "Matewan", "Eight Men Out", "City of Hope", "School Ties", "What's Eating Gilbert Grape", "Mumford", and "We Met at The Vineyard", as well as numerous television movies, mini-series, and series, such as "In Cold Blood", "The Descendant", "Under Suspicion", "Murder One", "ER", "Star Trek - Voyager", and "Freaks and Geeks". During his illustrious career, Tighe has also been a director and writer under an N.E.A. Fellowship at the Seattle Repertory Theater. He received a Genie Award as Best Supporting Actor in "I Love a Man in Uniform".

Most recently, Tighe just finished shooting a network television pilot.

John Michael Criley, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.CC.

Dr. Criley, a California native, was born in Los Angeles and attended John Marshall High School. He graduated from Stanford University, Stanford Medical School, and received six years of postgraduate training at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. After completing training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology, he joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins as Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, and as Assistant Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Radiology.

He was appointed Chief of the Division of Cardiology at Harbor General Hospital (later Harbor-UCLA Medical Center), a position he held for 20 years before serving as Medical Director of the Saint John's Heart Institute while maintaining his faculty status as Professor of Medicine and Radiological Sciences at the UCLA School of Medicine.

Dr. Criley has written over 100 journal articles, 28 chapters, edited six textbooks, produced two educational motion pictures for the American Heart Association, and created interactive medical multimedia CD-ROM programs in English, Spanish and Japanese. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Radiological Sciences at the UCLA School of Medicine, and continues to serve on the faculty of the Division of Cardiology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Leonard Cobb, M.D.

Dr. Cobb, a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School, received post-graduate training at the University of Iowa, University of California, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (Boston) and Stanford University. He served as Chief of Cardiology at Harborview Medical Center for over 25 years, and is now Professor Emeritus of Medicine and a member of the Cardiology faculty at Harborview.

Eugene L. Nagel, M.D.

The first successful rescue performed by the rescue part of the Miami Fire Department was in June 1969. A heart attack victim was defibrillated in the field, his treatment was continued in the hospital, and he successfully recovered.

Dr. Nagel believes that the television show "Emergency!" had a profound affect on EMS throughout the country. "The dramatic series 'Emergency!' was responsible for spreading the word to the four corners of the United States, creating almost instant demand for the services viewed on the family TV set. I can't think of anything that advanced emergency medicine in this country more than that program did."

Dr. Nagel has had a close association with the Fire Service for many years, as well as serving in several hospitals, including St. Luke's at St. Louis, the Presbyterian Hospital, New York City, and Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.

Dick Friend, Public Information Officer, Los Angeles County Fire Department (retired)

Dick Friend was born in Long Beach, Calif., in 1929 and became involved in the fire service during World War II as a sophomore at Narbonne High School in Lomita with the County's Fire Station 6. Because many regular fire department members had gone into the military, departments recruited and trained "auxiliaries." He later was named a "paid call fireman" and worked full shifts at various Los Angeles County fire stations to supplement the manpower. In 1949, he and another 18-year-old actually placed the Rolling Hills Volunteer F.D.'s war surplus pumper into County service as Engine 56 - a one-man per-shift operation in rural Rolling Hills in the Palos Verdes Hills.

After graduation from college and service in the Army's 6th Infantry Division from November 1952 - 1954, Dick worked for several newspapers (including the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Los Angeles Mirror, Los Angeles Times) as reporter, photographer and editor. In 1967, he joined the Los Angeles County Fire Department and served as its public information officer for 14 years. He responded to almost every major emergency day or night - fires, floods, plane crashes, etc., working with the news media.

Producer Bob Cinader, who created Emergency! for NBC, first contacted Dick in 1971 to learn about this new paramedic concept just getting underway in the Department. Dick was named production coordinator by Fire Chief Richard Houts and oversaw script preparation and review, ordered necessary fire equipment and off-duty personnel, and helped coordinate the major incidents filmed on location.

In 1973, Dick, Mike Stoker and two other members of the fire department brought the brand new Ward LaFrance fire engine from Elmira, NY, to Los Angeles. It became Engine 51 in the TV program for the next 7 ½ years. The 26-day trip was to further acquaint fire agencies and the public with this new life-saving concept seen on TV. ("Yes folks. It is real."). Dick retired from the department in 1984. He then worked 11 years for Southern California Gas Co. as one of its' News Bureau representatives, responding to gas-related emergencies.

As part of the Project 51 Team in the spring of 2000, Dick traveled with Squad 51 and two dozen other fire department members and retirees and TV producers and cast members from Emergency! to the Smithsonian Institution where paramedic equipment was "inducted" into the National Museum of American History.

He is a life member of the Southern California Assn. of Forester's and Fire Wardens and the Los Angeles Press Photographer's Assn. He was a member of many national fire service organizations, and currently is active with the Chief Officers' Club of L.A.Co.F.D.

Robert A. Cinader

The show, perhaps even nationwide Paramedic Programs, would not have existed without him.

Universal Studios asked Bob to come up with an international rescue show, but he discovered something better, something closer to home: a pilot "paramedic" program, originated in Northern Ireland and mandated by the California State Legislature for a probationary period in L.A. County.

Bob created a show around the program, his theory being you could educate people if they didn't realize you were doing it. What he created was a phenomenon which helped create paramedic programs all over the country.

Robert A. Cinader, also fondly known as RAC, was born on November 10, 1924. He was raised in New York City, where he attended prestigious Townsend Harris, an experimental prep school open only to those public school students with extremely high IQ's. He enrolled at New York University for a semester before being called to duty with the Army as a logistics expert. He always said that the war changed his view of life: he was aware of the planned invasion of Japan, and was certain he would die on the beaches of Japan before his 21st birthday. When Japan surrendered before America invaded, Bob felt the rest of his life was a gift. After his service, he returned to NYU and entered a pre-law/liberal arts curriculum, majoring in English literature. Attending school the year round, he completed a four-year course in two years.

He took the entrance exams for law school and passed them in the top two percent of his class. On his first day at NYU Law, he turned around, marched from the room, certain this was not for him. He turned to the creative field instead.

Encouraged by a college professor to try his hand at writing, Bob did some freelance work, and then took a position in the research division of Holiday Magazine. Shortly thereafter, he departed Holiday for the publications division of the United Nations, where he quickly advanced to department head. During this time, he met his wife, actress Jean Aubuchon.

When Bob left the U.N., he had his first exposure to the world of television and broadcasting, joining Ross Reports, an informational service to the broadcasting industry, as an editor.

A year later he joined the William Morris Agency in New York in the area of television packaging. Ultimately he handled all of the company's foreign operations and syndication sales, accomplishing a phenomenal feat -- he sold $5,000,000 worth of product in one month, the equivalent today of approximately $30,000,000.00

In 1956 he joined California National Productions (CNP), a subsidiary of the National Broadcasting Company, in New York. One of his projects was distribution of Badge 714, the syndicated title for the original Dragnet series. Appointed to the post of Vice-President, Programming at CNP, Bob and Jean moved to California, where he created "The Silent Service" -- a submarine series which initiated outstanding new close-up techniques. The show was a tremendous monetary success. Following this he created two new series, "Union Pacific", and "Boots and Saddles", with Gardner McKay.

After his tenure at CNP, Bob went to work for the Hal Roach Studios, putting together television packages.

In 1962 he was appointed Vice-President and General Manager of the "Red Skelton Studios", and remained there until that studio was sold to CBS, when he moved to Warner Bros. as a story consultant. Bob joined Mark VII Ltd. at Universal as producer of Dragnet 1968. He became deeply involved with the Los Angeles Police Department, working on story ideas in connection with the show.

While working on "Dragnet", Bob conceived a show about two uniformed police officers, something that hadn't been done before. Thus, "Adam-12" was born. It was the first vignette show on television, a form that became very popular with most police shows in the last 30 years.

In 1971, Bob became immersed in his research on the paramedic program. From that passion, which lasted the rest of his life, "Emergency!" was created. The show was an immediate success, and continued to be watched by large audiences until the day it left the air in 1978. From the first half-season in 1971, to the last season of six two-hour specials in 1978, Bob's genius guided the writers, actors, and production crew.

The show itself brought attention and acclaim to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. More important, it showed the general audience and public officials across the country that lives could be saved by local paramedic programs. Emergency Medical Services organizations from all over the country have acknowledged and honored Bob for making significant contributions to improving emergency medical services across the country.

During his leadership, Bob became intimately involved in the County paramedic program. His involvement and commitment was so intense, and his study of emergency services so thorough, that he became an expert in the field. He eventually used his expertise to formally advise City Government with his appointment to the County Emergency Medical Services Commission.

In recognition of his extraordinary public service, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to pay special tribute to Bob by naming fire station 127 in Carson, the home station of Emergency!, as the Robert A. Cinader Memorial Fire Station. Several years later the County Fire Station situated on the Universal Studios Lot was christened Station 51.

The television show "Emergency!" produced a group of about 100 people who evolved into a family. Those who worked with Bob Cinader will never forget the privilege.

Robert A. Cinader died on November 16, 1982, after a battle with cancer. He left his wife of 31 years, Jean, and hundreds more friends who loved, respected and admired him.

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