By EMS1 Staff
YONKERS, N.Y. — A new television spinoff series will follow EMS crews around the country as they work the overnight shift.
The New York Post reported that A&E’s “Nightwatch Nation,” a spinoff of “Nightwatch,” will follow three crews from Empress Ambulance in Yonkers, as well as crews from Austin, Tucson and Baton Rouge.
The show is a spinoff of “Nightwatch,” which followed first responders in New Orleans and Tampa.
The show is produced by Dick Wolf, who created “Law & Order” and also produces “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago PD.”
“The preponderance of interesting calls are at night,” Wolf said. “There are a lot of emergencies that happen during the daylight hours, of course, but in terms of stuff that may be anything from bar fights to shootings, it’s much more prevalent at night. We were forewarned what we were going to see.”
EMT Jamiel Cunningham said the film crew made an effort to not interfere with the crews’ work.
“They did a good job staying out of the way and filmed everything from a safe distance,” he said. “If we went into a private residence [the camera crew] didn’t come in unless they got the go-ahead [from the person being treated]. Some people just say no. It varies from call to call.”
Cunningham added that one call stood out while they filmed for the show.
“It was a choking victim,” he said. “He choked on a steak sandwich and his heart stopped beating. We were able to get there on time and did what we had to do and actually got him back [to life] to go to the hospital. He was home just a few hours later.”