In a Heartbeat is a television series inspired by real life EMT squads whose staff consists of high school students in Darien, Connecticut. The series follows the lives of several teenagers who volunteer as part-time EMTs while going to school and trying to maintain their lives as normal teenagers. In Canada, the series was aired on Family Channel while in the United States it was aired on the Disney Channel. The series is fact-based, as there are teenage volunteer EMTs in service all across the United States.
Synopsis
The EMT squad is made up of Hank Beecham (Danso Gordon) who manages playing football with the high school team as well as being the EMT-Intermediate of the group; Val Lanier (Reagan Pasternak) who is noted for being an excellent student and cheerleader; Tyler Connell (Shawn Ashmore), a football player and Hank's best friend; and Jamie Waite (Christopher Ralph), the newest member of the squad initially there not by his own choice but as a result of a new program to help troubled teens get their life together by becoming EMTs.
Other characters in the series are Brooke Lanier (Lauren Collins), Val's twelve-year-old sister who volunteers with the squad after school and whose main job consists of managing the paperwork; and Caitie Roth (Jackie Rosenbaum), Val's best friend, a goth who is known for her dark clothes and purple-streaked hair.
Cast
Danso Gordon as Hank Beecham
Reagan Pasternak as Val Lanier
Shawn Ashmore as Tyler Connell
Christopher Ralph as Jamie Waite
Lauren Collins as Brooke Lanier
Jackie Rosenbaum as Caitie Roth
Nikki Goodell as Penelope London
Episodes
Reception
Varietys Laura Fries reviewed the show favorably, remarking that "Disney's original high school drama series "In a Heartbeat" has characters every bit as appealing as anything you'd find on the WB, only a heck of a lot smarter." Lynne Heffley of Los Angeles Times described the show as "surprisingly watchable".