# The First Responders

The First Responders (Korean: 소방서 옆 경찰서) is a South Korean television series starring Kim Rae-won, Son Ho-jun, and Gong Seung-yeon. The first season aired every Friday and Saturday at 22:00 from November 12 to December 30, 2022 on SBS TV (KST). The second season premiered on August 4, 2023 and aired every Friday and Saturday at 22:00 (KST). It is also available for streaming on Disney+ in selected regions.

## Synopsis

It depicts the joint response field log between the police who catch criminals, and the firefighters who put out fires. The police and fire station jointly respond to fierce scenes of crimes, disasters and emergencies.

## Cast and characters
### Main

* Kim Rae-won as Jin Ho-gae, a police detective team inspector in Taewon who was formerly from the Regional Investigation Unit.
* Son Ho-jun as Bong Do-jin, a firefighter at Taewon Fire Station (Fire Bridge) who works as a fire investigator.
* Gong Seung-yeon as Song Seol, a paramedic at Taewon Fire Station who cares for even the smallest wounds.

### Supporting
#### People around Taewon Police Station

* Seo Hyun-chul as Baek Cham, the chief detective of Taewon Police Station.
* Kang Ki-doong as Gongmyung Pil, the talented sergeant with great agility and good relationships, and the pillar of Taewon Police Station.
* Ji Woo as Bong An-na, chief of the Science Investigation Team of Taewon Police Station, and Bong Do-jin's younger sister.
* Baek Eun-hye as Woo Sam-soon, Forensic Team leader.

#### People around Taewon Fire Station

* Woo Mi-hwa as Dok Go-soon, an on-site fire police, and commander of Taewon Fire Station.
* Jung Jin-woo as Choi Ki-soo, a rescue worker at Taewon Fire Station who has a heart softer than anyone else.
* Lee Woo-je as Han Dong-woo, a doctor at Taewon Fire Station, and Song Seol's partner as an ambulance firefighter.

#### People around national forensic scientist

* Son Ji-yoon as Yoon Hong, a forensic officer in the autopsy room.

#### People around Taewon General Hospital

* Yang Jong-wook as Cha Jae-hee, an emergency medicine doctor a.k.a Teacher Cha. A specialist with a double board certification in emergency medicine and general surgery.
* Lee Hwa-jeong as Han Su-jin, a 2nd year resident at Taewon General Hospital's Department of Emergency Medicine.

##### Season 1

* Heo Ji-won as Kwak Kyung-jun, Taewon General Hospital's emergency room head nurse. He was the real culprit who kidnapped Kim Hyeon-seo 7 years ago.

#### Others

* Jo Seung-yeon as Jin Cheol-jung, prosecutor of the Eastern District Attorney's Office and Jin Ho-gae's father.
* Lee Do-yeop as Ma Tae-hwa, son of the next presidential candidate and party leader, Ma Jung-do.
* Jeon Kook-hwan as Ma Jung-do, member of the National Assembly, and the next presidential candidate. Ma Tae-hwa's father.
* Seo Jae-gyu as Yeom Sang-goo, a prosecutor at the Eastern District Attorney's Office.
* Jo Hee-bong as Yang Chi-young, Ma Tae-hwa's lawyer who has multiple CPA Accountant Certifications.
* Oh Eui-shik as Kang Do-ha, National Forensic Officer and former Republic of Korea Air Force's EOD Captain.
* Jeon Sung-woo as Han Se-jin / Dex Kates, a Korean-American professor of forensic medicine at Aewol University in Jeju, and a forensic scientist assigned by the National Forensic Service. He was adopted by an American family.

### Extended

* Lee Ji-won as Kim So-hee, the kidnapped victim in Episode 1.
* Yoon Seok-hyun as Jo Doo-chil, the murderer who tried to kill Kim So-hee, and who met Jin Ho-gae again in prison.
* Jung Jae-eun as Kim So-hee's mother.
* Kim Min-seo as Kim Hyeon-seo, high school student who attempts suicide due to blackmail.
* Cha Seong-je as Yang Jun-tae, Hyeon-seo's class president. The person who was the direct cause of Hyeon-seo's suicide, he introduced illegal internet gambling to Hyeon-seo.
* Noh Sussanna as Woo Mi-young, Park Tae-hoon's ex-girlfriend. Later revealed as Park Tae-hoon's killer.
* Won Woo-jun as Park Tae-hoon, reported missing while preparing for the civil service exam. Woo Mi-young's ex-boyfriend.
* Jung Wook-jin as Choi Seok-doo, a part-time employee in a convenience store, and the real drug buyer.
* Ji Hyung-jun as Kim Hyung
* Hwang Young-hee as Song Hee-sook
* Kwak Ji-hye as Song Ha-eun, an 18-year-old old high school student who aborted her baby and disposed of it in her mother's bag.
* Lee Ji-ha as Gong Ju-soon
* Choi Hee-jin as Bang Ja-kyung, Song Ha-eun's mother.
* Lee So-ee as Kim Hyeon-seo, a girl who was kidnapped 7 years ago, and was last seen by Jin Ho-gae.
* Choi Won-young as Ha Young-doo, Korea's first serial arsonist.
* Park Min-jung as Seo Mi-jung

### Special appearances

* Yoon Seo-hyun as Cho Man-sik, Kim Hyeon-seo's real father.
* Moon Won-joo as Kwak
* Lee Tae-gum as Min Won-in, the owner of the car that Choi Ki-soo drives.
* Choi Moo-sung as Seok Mun-go, an anesthesiologist and Seok Mi-jung's father.
* Seo Dong-won as the Mutual Aid Company president.

## Production
### Casting

On January 24, 2022, actors Kim Rae-won, Son Ho-jun, and Gong Seung-yeon were confirmed to have joined the cast as the leads.

### Filming

On March 3, 2022, it was reported that PD Lee Him-chan, who was working as a producer for The First Responders, had died on January 30, and his family complained that it was due to the pressure of hard work. Due to the incident, filming for the series was halted in February 2022, and it was resumed in May.

### Release

The series was originally scheduled for release in the first half of 2022, but was postponed to the second half of the year.
On January 5, 2022, it was reported that the series would have a total of two seasons with 12 episodes per season. In September, it was officially announced that the first season would air on November 12, while the second season would air in the second half of 2023.
On November 22, 2022, writer Min Ji-eun confirmed in an interview that there will be a second season.

## Viewership

| Season | Season | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Average |
| Season | Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Average |
| | 1 | 1.619 | 1.836 | 1.685 | 1.447 | 1.487 | 1.933 | 1.678 | 1.635 | 1.743 | 1.531 | 1.907 | 1.959 | 1.705 |
| | 2 | 1.399 | 1.084 | 1.273 | 1.261 | 1.332 | 1.162 | 1.213 | 1.122 | 1.098 | 1.392 | 1.451 | 1.865 | 1.304 |

### Season 1

Average TV viewership ratings (season 1) :
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | Average audience share | Average audience share |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nielsen Korea | Nielsen Korea | TNmS |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide |
| 1 | November 12, 2022 | 7.6% (2nd) | 7.8% (2nd) | 6.9% (3rd) |
| 2 | November 18, 2022 | 9.4% (3rd) | 10.0%(3rd) | 7.1% (6th) |
| 3 | November 19, 2022 | 8.5% (2nd) | 9.0% (2nd) | 8.3% (2nd) |
| 4 | November 25, 2022 | 7.6% (4th) | 7.6% (5th) | 6.8% (7th) |
| 5 | November 26, 2022 | 7.5% (4th) | 7.8% (3rd) | 7.2% (4th) |
| 6 | December 2, 2022 | 9.4% (5th) | 9.8% (5th) | 9.5% (5th) |
| 7 | December 3, 2022 | 8.4% (4th) | 8.9% (5th) | 8.0% (6th) |
| 8 | December 9, 2022 | 8.2% (4th) | 8.5% (4th) | 7.5% (7th) |
| 9 | December 10, 2022 | 8.2% (3rd) | 8.7% (2nd) | 7.6% (3rd) |
| 10 | December 16, 2022 | 7.7% (5th) | 8.2% (3rd) | 7.5% (7th) |
| 11 | December 23, 2022 | 9.7% (3rd) | 10.4% (3rd) | 8.8% (6th) |
| 12 | December 30, 2022 | 10.3% (3rd) | 10.9% (3rd) | 8.5% (7th) |
| Average | Average | 8.5% | 8.9% | 7.8% |
| In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. ||||||

### Season 2

Average TV viewership ratings (season 2) :
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | Average audience share | Average audience share |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nielsen Korea | Nielsen Korea | TNmS |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide |
| 1 | August 4, 2023 | 7.1% (5th) | 7.5% (3rd) | N/A |
| 2 | August 5, 2023 | 5.1% (4th) | 5.4% (8th) | N/A |
| 3 | August 11, 2023 | 6.5% (7th) | 6.7% (7th) | 6.3% (9th) |
| 4 | August 12, 2023 | 6.0% (3rd) | 6.1% (2nd) | 5.6% (6th) |
| 5 | August 18, 2023 | 6.3% (7th) | 6.5% (5th) | 6.0% (10th) |
| 6 | August 19, 2023 | 6.1% (3rd) | 6.0% (3rd) | N/A |
| 7 | August 25, 2023 | 6.2% (7th) | 6.5% (5th) | 4.9% (12th) |
| 8 | August 26, 2023 | 6.3% (3rd) | 6.6% (3rd) | N/A |
| 9 | September 1, 2023 | 5.5% (7th) | 5.7% (8th) | 5.4% (12th) |
| 10 | September 2, 2023 | 6.5% (4th) | 6.4% (4th) | N/A |
| 11 | September 8, 2023 | 8.0% (3rd) | 7.8% (3rd) | N/A |
| 12 | September 9, 2023 | 9.3% (2nd) | 9.0% (2nd) | N/A |
| Average | Average | 6.6% | 6.7% | — |
| In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. N/A denotes that the rating is not known. ||||||

## Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination :
| Award ceremony | Year | Category | Nominee / Work | Result |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2022 | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries Genre/Fantasy Drama | Kim Rae-won | Won |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2022 | Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Genre/Fantasy Drama | Gong Seung-yeon | Won |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2022 | Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries Genre/Fantasy Drama | Kang Ki-doong | Won |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2022 | Best Young Actress | Kim Min-seo | Won |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2022 | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Kim Rae-won | Nominated |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2022 | Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries Genre/Fantasy Drama | Son Ho-jun | Nominated |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2022 | Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries Genre/Fantasy Drama | Ji Woo | Nominated |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2023 | Best Supporting Actress in a Seasonal Drama | Son Ji-yoon | Won |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2023 | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Kim Rae-won | Nominated |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2023 | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Seasonal Drama | Kim Rae-won | Nominated |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2023 | Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Seasonal Drama | Gong Seung-yeon | Nominated |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2023 | Excellence Award, Actor in a Seasonal Drama | Kang Ki-doong | Nominated |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2023 | Excellence Award, Actress in a Seasonal Drama | Woo Mi-hwa | Nominated |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2023 | Best Supporting Actor in a Seasonal Drama | Oh Eui-shik | Nominated |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2023 | Best Young Actress | Ahn Se-bin | Nominated |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2023 | Scene Stealer Award | Jeon Sung-woo | Nominated |