RENO - Paramedic Glen Jones and his partner respond to a call to find a 72-year-old man lying unconscious on the floor of his home.
His mouth hangs open, and his wife hovers nervously above him answering the paramedic's questions.
"He was hospitalized last December and then again quite recently," she says, watching her husband turn purple as he lies motionless.
"Is he breathing?" she asks, as Jones inserts a plastic tube in her husband's mouth and covers it with a mask. The paramedic replies calmly, "Well, he really doesn't seem like he is right now, but we're breathing for him, OK?"
Later, at the hospital after the unconscious man had been admitted, Jones explained his somewhat blunt answer: "The honesty you relay to the family members at the scene is really important. "
Jones is a member of Reno's Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority. REMSA paramedics will be featured on the fourth season of The Learning Channel's "Paramedics" television program, beginning today.
The real-life documentary follows emergency medical technicians and paramedic teams to emergencies in seven different cities across the country, tracking patients on their way to the emergency room.
"Critical Care," the first of two one-hour Reno episodes, premieres at 8 p.m. today on The Learning Channel. Four video teams spent more than a month with REMSA following paramedics using small digital cameras without lights.
"I thank The Learning Channel for the chance to go nationwide with REMSA," says paramedic Brad Drum, Jones' partner. "Because we're all really proud of it."
Drum, giving the paramedic's perspective on the filming during a private screening Tuesday, said: "The one recommendation I have is that they get zoom lenses. Those cameras were always, like, right here." He gestured with his hands at his shoulder as if the cameras were right over his back.
No sound person or boom mike was used in the filming, giving the footage an edgy, intimate feel that enhances the series' realism.
Footage on tonight's episode shows Jones and Drum warming up for a shift by tossing a flying disk.
"It's amazing how fast you go from relaxed to frantic when you get a call," said Drum. "When I arrive on the scene, I try to present a real calm and even front," added Jones. "And it is just a front sometimes because we show up at some very hectic situations."
TLC producers estimate that 80 million households in the U.S. and Canada will tune in to tonight's premiere.
"After spending more than 200 hours filming with REMSA, viewers across the country will now be able to see the amazing dedication, talent and compassion of the REMSA staff and medical team," said Stephen Schwartz, executive producer of The Learning Channel. "We have searched the United States for paramedic units to feature, seeking those that have shown the highest level of integrity, and REMSA was at the top of our list."
REMSA is a private, not-for-profit organization providing the area with ambulance services with quick response times, the Care Flight Emergency helicopter and emergency medical dispatch services, all at relatively low costs with no taxpayer support or other subsidies.
The organization was formed in 1986 through an agreement between Washoe County and the cities of Reno and Sparks. Its board of directors includes representatives from the region's three major medical facilities, Northern Nevada Medical Center, Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center and Washoe Medical Center.
Although the introduction into Thursday's Reno-based episode of "Paramedics" describes "The Biggest Little City" as "usually bringing to mind gambling and prostitution," it goes on to describe the city as full of friends helping friends.
Tom Rady, another featured REMSA paramedic, described his reaction to helping a beat-up homeless man who awoke from a seizure in a casino bathroom. Rady arranged for the man to use a bed to sleep in at a local mission.
"We plug people in where they need to be plugged in," he said. "We become very good trench social workers."
The paramedics featured in the program gathered for the early screening Tuesday at Reno's Hilton. Lined up in front of an enthusiastic crowd, the life-savers shone like real-life super heroes.
"We don't do it for profit," said Rady. "We don't do it for any other reason other than just helping people."
