While covering RescueVerse: A Salute to TV’s First Responders in New Jersey, I had the chance to speak with 9-1-1 stars Aisha Hinds and Kenneth Choi about the convention experience, which season 9 moment made them most proud of their characters, and more. The ABC procedural drama returns on Thursday, April 30.

9-1-1 explores the high-pressure experiences of first responders — including police officers, firefighters and dispatchers — who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking and heart-stopping conditions. These emergency responders must try to balance saving those who are at their most vulnerable with solving the problems in their own lives. The show draws from the real lives of first responders who regularly face situations that are often unpredictable, intense and uplifting at the same time.

This was Hinds’ first RescueVerse convention, and the actress opened up to me about seeing the impact of the series in a new way: “There’s nothing like it. I absolutely love and am impacted when I see people curate and create community amongst themselves. When you’re kind of reminded about the world that we live in and seeing the world literally on fire, you know, the world is on fire in a way that the 118 can’t put out, but at the same time, we are given the privilege and the opportunity to be the 118 that gets to put the fire out in some homes across the world. For that one hour, we’re putting out some fires in homes and making people feel good. People are just creating community around the conversations that happen with the themes and the characters on our show, and it’s really nice to see the community come together.”

Meanwhile, this is Choi’s second RescueVerse. “I think it’s just nice to see firsthand the effect that we have. The fans for 9-1-1 are rabid, and it’s lovely to see. I’ll put it on the TV, and I’ll see an episode, I mean, I don’t remember this at all, and they remember all the episodes. So, it feels to me like the shows that I’m a big fan of,” he expressed. “I see the same love they have, and it’s kind of nice to be on the other side and to experience that.”

Watch my full interview below:

Creation Entertainment’s RescueVerse: A Salute to TV’s First Responders tour continues with Nashville, Tennessee, on May 30-31 and Austin, Texas, on June 6-7.