Mike Stoker was on hiatus when he was called back into service for the recent dedication of Emergency! memorabilia to the Smithsonian. "I've been in Mexico the last six or seven months," Mike explains. "I dropped out and wasn't in contact with anybody. I have a home in Montana, and when it gets cold I'm out of there. Then I got a call saying there was a big thing going on in DC, and I said
'I'm there, count me in.' It's a good opportunity to see the other guys."

His lasting friendship with his co-stars is only one of the many benefits Mike has gotten from working on Emergency! "My wife was a paramedic instructor - one of the original paramedic instructors for the city of Los Angeles. I met her on the set," Mike explains.

The show also brought him quite a bit of notoriety. "[I was recognized a lot] when I was in uniform. It was fun. And I was always in uniform," Mike says with a laugh. "I was at the studio, and then I'd had other firemen work for me, so I paid them back with time to keep them working for me. So I was always working. I was single the first five years of the show - only in the last one was I married
- so I was free to work seven days a week"

The most rewarding result of this hard work is having been a part of a show that had such an impact on the fire service and emergency medicine.  "I spent 30 years as a fireman, and it was very important in the progress. That's very rewarding," says Mike. "Seeing the great turnout (in DC and Hyattsville, MD) and all the firemen coming up to me telling me we had such an impact on them -- to be a part of that is so rewarding and fun."

written and submitted by Caelie Ryan