Paramedic Trent Bowers received a call on a recent January night: A woman had been beaten at a St. Louis Family Dollar store.
When Bowers arrived, the woman showed him injuries across her body.
“This looks like it’s out of place,” he said, looking at her knee. He suggested she take the ambulance to the hospital, but the woman said she couldn’t afford it without insurance.
In less than an hour, a recording of the exchange reached hundreds of thousands of viewers on national TV’s “Live Rescue,” an A&E reality series that features “almost live” feeds of fire crews and emergency medical service units in seven U.S. cities.
Since its premiere in April, the St. Louis Fire Department has been one of the show’s most reliable stars.
Last month, fire officials agreed to participate in a third season.