The Wedsworth-Townsend Act

Seeing a dire need in the community for on-the-spot medical assistance, LA County Firefighters Roy DeSoto (Kevin Tighe) and Johnny Gage (Randolph Mantooth) attempt to convince their staunchest opponent, Rampart General Hospital's Chief of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller), to support paramedic legislation. Because of his pride, Dr. Brackett ridicules field medical response by firefighters—even trained and qualified ones—as an absurd notion. Rampart's Chief Nurse of the Emergency Room, Ms. Dixie McCall (Julie London), also Roy's and Johnny's mentor and friend, encourages Brackett to reconsider his stance. Their colleague Dr. Joe Early (Bobby Troup) also lends his support to Johnny and Roy. Dixie's life is saved by paramedics after she is rendered unconscious in an accident.