In a Heartbeat is a drama television series inspired by real life EMT squads whose staff consists of high school students in Darien, Connecticut.

The series is fact-based, as there are teenage volunteer EMTs in service all across the United States.

[1] 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.

Variety's 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.