Roy DeSoto

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Roy DeSoto is a fictional character from the NBC / Universal TV series Emergency! (1972-1977). He was portrayed by actor Kevin Tighe. DeSoto worked with partner John Gage as a firefighter/paramedic for the Los Angeles County Fire Department at Station 51. He first met Gage when he was recruiting personnel for the newly designated paramedic program, of which he was in the first group of six graduates. He assisted the physicians with instruction during Gage's class at Rampart General Hospital. He was married (his wife's name was Joanne) and had a son and a daughter, though only his wife appeared as a minor character twice during the series.

While his single partner was often portrayed as intense and impulsive, DeSoto was more quiet and often served to keep Gage under control. The relationship (and physical appearance) between the two was purposely made similar to that of the main characters of another successful Jack Webb production, Adam-12, where the older, more experienced character of Officer Pete Malloy served as a brake on the sometimes impulsive rookie Jim Reed. As with his partner, very little is discussed about DeSoto's life prior to the fire service, other than he spent some time in the military (Tighe himself was in the U.S. Army) during the 1960's.

During the early seasons of the show DeSoto is offered a promotion to engineer and also captain, both of which he turns down. However, in the last episode ("Greatest Rescues of Emergency!"), he, along with his partner Gage, is promoted to captain and assigned to a new station.