Episode 3 Countryside 999

Rural Britain has some of the most challenging

environments in the world.

In Scotland, the mountains, lochs and coastline encourage tourists

and locals to get out into the wild, but with that comes danger.

Keep your arms by your side!

The emergency services north of the border have to deal with

extreme challenges every day.

Oh, don't stop right in the middle of there.

Come on, we need to get through.

From severe weather and treacherous terrain...

-Is the pain getting worse, do you think?

-Yes.

..to covering huge distances on country roads

with time against them...

So we'll just get him out ASAP.

..they work around the clock,

battling against some of the most difficult situations.

We'll be right at the heart of the action,

side-by-side with air rescue saving lives,

on the road with paramedics caring for the injured

and following the police fighting crime,

as the emergency services work together

to pick up, patch up and protect the public in rural communities.

This is Countryside 999.

Coming up, the Navy Search and Rescue

take a very sick girl to intensive care.

Police are on the lookout for motorists

driving illegally on rural roads near Dumfries.

Apparently he's hit the curb a few times, mounted the verges.

It is a possibility he could be a drink-driver.

And ski patrollers in the Cairngorms assist in the rescue

of a seriously injured snowboarder.

-BLEEP!

-No, it's all right, because you're moving.

-I think that's my bone coming out there.

-Yeah.

In rural Britain, search and rescue helicopters play

a vital role in serving isolated communities in hard-to-reach places.

HMS Gannet, home of one of the Royal Navy's

busiest search and rescue teams.

The Prestwick-based helicopters cover a massive

98,000 square miles, including a large area of Scotland

and parts of Northern Ireland and the North of England.

Today, the team is being briefed for a training exercise by Geoff "Spuggy" Richardson.

So a bit of low fog and stuff like that in the Clyde Valley, with Glasgow being out.

Other than that I think we'll be able to bang up and go straight to wherever we want to go.

-Just watch out for the fog in the valley. Other than that I think it'll be absolutely fine.

-Sir.

As ever when flying helicopters, the weather is a major concern.

Fog in Glasgow is already disrupting flights.

Air ambulance can't get airborne in Glasgow Central. Sort that.

The Air Ambulance is fogbound in Glasgow.

So it's down to the Navy's helicopters to help

the sick, injured and stranded over land and sea.

It's not long before a call comes through on the radio.

The team immediately divert to the small town of Lochgilphead.

We'll just go straight in, because the wind's pretty light.

It'll just be a right-hand turn.

A 16-year-old girl, Rosie, has suddenly taken very ill

and has been admitted to a local hospital with suspected meningitis.

She needs to be transferred to an intensive care unit

as fast as possible.

Lochgilphead hospital is a very, very convoluted route to get to it.

The roads are very narrow and the distances required are huge,

therefore in this terrain, in this area, helicopter is by far

the quickest means of getting a casualty to hospital.

Two specialists have driven to Lochgilphead from Glasgow

to assess Rosie and to travel with her in the helicopter.

The helicopter reaches Lochgilphead and lands in the hospital grounds.

Now on scene at the landing site.

177 is now on the ground.

Rosie's parents are waiting anxiously

for the transfer to Glasgow.

But, as the helicopter crew stand by, it becomes clear Rosie is

very ill indeed and cannot be transferred straight away.

No, that's fine, she is pretty poorly so that's fine.

I think the doc was just not wanting to...go without having everything,

you know, sorted.

It's vital the doctors get Rosie stable enough for air transfer

but, with daylight fading, the team face the prospect of a night flight

in deteriorating weather conditions with a very sick passenger.

Policing large rural areas also has its challenges.

In Dumfries and Galloway, the smallest police force

on the British mainland look after an area of over 2,600 square miles.

It's 11pm and PCs Ross Dixon and Matt Tate are on the nightshift.

Their team specialises in policing rural areas,

where drink-driving is a big problem.

123, go ahead.

A member of the public has called the police to report someone

driving erratically a few miles outside of Dumfries.

The blue lights go on.

Navigating rural roads in wintry conditions

can be dangerous in daylight.

At night it can be lethal.

Just a few minutes into their search, they spot the suspect.

The car's parked up in a lay-by, just up here.

I'll just go and have a word with the driver, see what the...score is.

-How are you getting on, are you all right?

-Fine, thank you.

Are you stopping off here for a reason? Are you having a rest, or...?

We got a phone call worried about the manner of your driving.

They seem to think that you've clipped the curb a couple of times

about three or four miles back there towards Dumfries.

-Are you aware of that?

-Yeah, I did.

I wasn't reading the studs too well and I did clip one or two... You know, side... The studs.

-We're smelling a bit of alcohol or something. Have you had a drink today?

-No, I haven't, no.

-You've not had anything at all?

-Not for driving, no.

-OK, no problem.

As the man's been seen driving erratically,

the officers decide to breathalyse him.

-Obviously we've just got to check you out.

-Aye, no problem.

We'll do a drink-drive procedure, breathalyse you, just in case.

Obviously, your driving has been a bit erratic.

I'm going to require you, under the terms of Section Six of the Road Traffic Act 1988,

to provide me with a specimen of breath for a roadside breath test.

-Yes.

-I must warn you that failure to provide a specimen of breath

is an offence and may render you liable to prosecution.

Have you blown in one before?

-Right. How did the results come out?

-Negative.

-That's good.

-Do you want to stand out the vehicle to do this?

-Oh, I'll stand outside.

-Just makes it easier for you.

-Yeah, OK.

Right, do you understand what's going to happen? I'll hold this.

Nice seal around the mouth, please, and then start to blow. Blow hard.

Keep blowing. Keep blowing. Keep blowing.

MACHINE BLEEPS

That's it.

We'll wait for it to come up and see what it's going to tell us.

-It's analysing. You see that?

-Mm, it's going to the green button there. Or the green LED.

So we'll wait for it to come up.

-BEEP

-That's it, negative as well.

Can I ask you to hold that piece there, the mouthpiece? Hold it.

-OK, OK.

-Yeah, yeah, just today's...

-Souvenir.

The police warn the driver to be more careful,

especially given the freezing conditions.

So the manner of your driving's a wee bit, er, below standard, OK,

so if you need to park up for a couple of hours and have a sleep.

I think I'll probably get about an hour down the road and go for another kip, you know.

Getting a couple of calls within the day about your driving's not a good start.

Plus, when you get on the motorway late at night, it's even harder.

-Aye, you don't want to be going... all over the place.

-No.

-No, I'm glad everything's all right.

-OK, Cheers.

Later, PC Matt Tate follows up a call about a man reported

not moving in a car in a lay-by.

So we're going to go, have a look,

and if he is there we're just going to make sure he's OK.

On Scotland's West Coast, the Royal Navy search and rescue team

are at the local hospital in Lochgilphead

to airlift 16-year-old Rosie, who has suspected meningitis.

A consultant and a critical care practitioner have driven up

from Glasgow and are battling to stabilise her,

as she's too ill to be moved straight away.

She's not ready for transfer yet,

so they reckon 45 minutes to an hour, so we've shut the aircraft down.

With the delay, that means the weather's going to deteriorate

as it cools down, we'll get more fog.

The helicopter team must sit tight

and keep an anxious eye on the time - and the weather.

Over an hour later, preparations for Rosie's transfer

to an intensive care unit are finally under way.

But, as her condition is so serious,

Rosie's parents, Garret and Fiona, can't travel in the helicopter.

I think I said something about Garret following in the car

and he said, "You won't be able to come."

I mean, he...he told us that it was due to health and safety,

but I would imagine it was more that

if Rosie deteriorated further and the doctors needed to work on her

they don't need a mother there becoming very anxious.

We'd got to let her go in that helicopter on her own

and then not see her again.

It just... It really did hit me,

and that was the first time that

I felt things were spiralling away from me.

Rosie is unconscious but is being kept stable.

Dr Pete Davies and critical care practitioner Neil Sinclair

from the retrieval team in Glasgow

travel with her in the helicopter for vital medical backup.

The paramedic asked her if she knew who was sitting next to him

and she looked at me and...there was no Rosie behind those eyes.

To have your child look at you and not recognise you is just terrible

and you realise that there is something very, very wrong.

As fog is restricting access to Glasgow, the team decide

to take Rosie to University Hospital on the outskirts of Ayr.

There were some areas of quite dense fog,

particularly over the Glasgow area,

which was the area that they wanted us to take the casualty,

so my job as the aircraft commander, really,

was to weigh up the pros and cons of trying to get into Glasgow

but also trying to get the patient to hospital by the quickest means possible,

and I think, given her state and her health,

it was imperative that we got her to hospital as quickly as possible,

so therefore we elected to go in a straight line to Ayr,

which we knew was clear.

With Rosie in a critical condition,

they desperately need a clear run and good visibility.

They can't afford to lose any more time.

Later: as night falls,

the search and rescue team needs to get Rosie into intensive care fast.

The police in Dumfries and Galloway follow up a worrying call.

But first, we go out on the slopes of the Cairngorms,

with the ski patrol.

It's all right.

I think that's my... I think that's my bone.

Scotland is home to Britain's most mountainous terrain,

providing some of the most challenging conditions

for the emergency services, especially in the freezing winters.

But these peaks are a huge draw to millions of visitors,

many heading to ski and snowboard on Cairn Gorm mountain.

And keeping them all safe are the Cairngorm ski patrollers.

Specially trained first aid responders and skilled skiers,

they attend all manner of incidents on the slopes.

In freezing temperatures, the ski patrol's priority is to

get their casualties safely off the mountain.

It's a busy Sunday and the slopes are teeming with skiers

and snowboarders, despite the icy conditions.

And already, ski patrollers as Dave Rutledge and Jim Cornfoot

have been called to a serious incident on one of the slopes.

28-year-old snowboarder, Phil, has fallen, badly injuring his arm.

In these bitter conditions, the ski patrol team need to get him

off the slopes fast or he runs the risk of getting hypothermia.

Phil is taken off the mountain by skidoo,

a bumpy journey down the slopes.

How are you feeling now, Phil? Are you still wiggling your fingers?

-Still got feeling in there?

-Very, very minimal.

-OK.

-Is shooting up into my neck.

-OK.

Phil's pain is getting worse and the treatment room is another

agonising 600 metres down the mountain funicular.

Phil, can we get that glove off?

It's coming off. There you go, well done.

Phil's been given pain relief but he's still a lot of discomfort

and once they reach the treatment room, it becomes clear why.

Ow!

No, it's all right...

I think that's my bone coming out there,

that's what I was just about to say.

OK, OK.

That's... I think that's actually... That right there. Is that my elbow?

Phil has a severe break in his arm. His brother, Johnny, watches on.

You are doing well. Good lad.

When you fell over, did you have your arm outstretched or something?

Yeah, I was going to...

I knew I was going to come down so I was trying to break my fall

with my arm.

I ended up breaking my arm with my fall.

Still wiggle your fingers. What's that?

I can wiggle my fingers.

Good, good.

Is the pain coming up the arm?

It's actually coming up and in front of my arm.

The pain is shooting right up there, just below my neck.

That's why it's really important you can feel what's going on

-in your fingers, yeah?

-Yeah.

What we don't want is for nerves to get trapped, OK?

So if you can feel that pain coming up, that's actually

a good sign. Yeah?

Finally, the paramedics arrive

and Phil is taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

But just as Phil's being driven away to hospital,

an RAF search and rescue helicopter flies in overhead.

Another casualty came off and slid all the way down.

We're just standing by in case they do need to land in the car park

and transfer to an ambulance.

The mountains of Scotland are a playground for thousands

of visitors every year.

But the British countryside is home to over 10 million people.

For many living in scattered rural communities,

a car is often the only means of getting from A to B

But driving in the country presents residents

and police with unique problems.

In Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland's smallest mainland police force

oversee 2,500 miles of mostly rural roads.

Working the afternoon shift, PCs Matt Tate

and Stewart Ray have just received a call from a member of the public.

This is a call that a motorist has passed

a lay-by on the edge of Dumfries, a couple of hours ago

and there was a car sat there with a gentleman in it.

She's just gone by again now. The car is still sat there

and the gentleman is still sat in the car which she finds suspicious.

So we're going to go, have a look and if he is there,

we're going to make sure he's OK.

It's an unusual case as the car has been parked for a number of hours.

Concerned about the welfare of the driver,

Matt and Stewart blue light through Dumfries.

-Don't stop right in the middle...

-Keep going.

-We need to get through.

SIREN SOUNDS

The car is in a lay-by on the main road from Dumfries to Dalbeattie,

about four miles out of town.

It's a relief.

The driver has left his engine on but he's just been asleep.

We've had somebody phone in because you've been sitting here

for quite a while. They were a bit concerned.

-You all right?

-I'm fine.

How long were you asleep for?

They were saying it's been quite a while.

That's why they phoned in.

They've gone past a couple of times and you've been sat here.

The driver, Robert,

seems unsure of how long he's been parked in the lay-by.

Matt senses something is not quite right.

Have you had a drink today?

Last night? I thought I could smell something just then.

Did you have a lot last night?

Just because I can smell drink on you, I'm going to do a breath test.

Are you all right? Just wait there.

I'll get your details and then we'll go through the procedure.

The engine is running,

making Robert, the driver, in control of the vehicle.

So Matt and Stewart decide to breathalyse him.

Robert, because we can smell alcohol on your breath, under Section 6

of the Road Traffic Act 1988, it requires you to give me a sample...

15% of road deaths are alcohol-related.

Being drunk in charge of a vehicle can lead to a driving ban

and even a prison sentence.

Have you ever done this before?

Nae problem. It's just like blowing up a balloon.

So just take a deep breath and put a full seal around that.

I'll keep a hold of the machine and then blow.

Keep going, keep going, keep going. Ideal. Thank you.

That's showing me there, Robert, that you've failed a breath test, OK.

Right. As of now, you are now under arrest, OK?

I arrest you for being drunk in charge of a vehicle.

We've turned up, you're sitting there with it running, OK?

Do you want to step out of the car at the moment, please?

Checked in to make sure he was all well and good.

Whilst speaking to him, we could smell alcohol,

so we've took him for a roadside breath test, which he's failed.

He's now been arrested and he'll be conveyed to Dumfries police station

where we'll put him through the Intoximeter procedure and see what the readings come out like.

And we'll take it from there.

The handheld breathalyser isn't accurate enough to provide

conclusive evidence in court, so at the station

he gives two breath samples into the much more sensitive Intoximeter.

Take a nice, deep breath and just a nice, wee, continuous blow into there.

Keep a wee eye on your stars, OK? There you go. That's excellent.

Keep it going until it tells you to stop.

The law requires Robert to give two samples

and the lowest reading will be used.

If there's more than 35 micrograms of alcohol in his breath,

he's over the limit.

Bit more. Excellent. Thank you.

35 is the legal limit. You are over the limit,

between 43 and 41. 41 is what we will use.

Robert has tested positive again, but only just. He's borderline.

The lower of the two tests is 41 micrograms, which means he has

one last chance, a blood test.

I understand you've opted for a blood sample

because the breath test was borderline. OK?

Local doctor Bernard has arrived to carry out the blood test.

Roberts blood sample will be sent to a lab in Glasgow.

If that's over the limit, he'll face prosecution.

It's been a close call.

Next-day driving after a night on the drink can be risky.

Driving with a hangover can still put you over the legal limit.

We're going to keep hold of his car at the police station.

When he wants it back, he's going to have to come in,

provide a negative breath test on the handheld device.

If he comes in and he's below the limit,

we'll give him his car back and he can drive away.

We'll keep the car but he's got to be released and he's got to wait

to get the results from the lab test in due course.

In Lochgilphead, the Royal Navy search and rescue team are

assisting in the airlift of Rosie, a 16-year-old critically ill patient.

Rosie's parents have been with her since she became ill.

I think they fairly rapidly came to a diagnosis of septic shock

but they couldn't rule out meningitis

because it was too soon to take blood, or to analyse anything.

Doctors at the local hospital have been battling for hours

to stabilise her, for an urgent transfer to an intensive care unit.

On board, the retrieval doctors, Pete and Neil, are doing everything

they can to keep Rosie stable.

They prepare a saline drip

and adrenaline to reduce the chance of her heart stopping.

Hold it right up. That's cool. And we're on 10 of adrenaline.

That's good.

Unable to travel in the helicopter because Rosie's condition is

so serious, her parents have an agonising 120-mile journey

to Ayr Hospital by road.

It was the hardest thing to let her go

because it hadn't occurred to me

that I wouldn't be able to go in the helicopter with her

and I fully understand the reasons why I couldn't

but it just hadn't occurred to me and so that came as quite a shock.

The condition of the casualty at the time was pretty grave

and everybody was particularly worried about her

and we needed to get her to hospital care as quickly as possible.

It is not clear what Rosie has contracted, initial suspicions were meningitis.

But further tests suggest it might be E coli.

Suddenly, this catastrophic nightmare is occurring in your lives and it doesn't seem real.

You know you've got to do it, you've got to get down there

and stay in one piece for her.

-That's what we had to do.

-Yeah.

The Sea King makes its approach to land at University Hospital, Ayr.

The local paramedics quickly get Rosie off the helicopter

and into the waiting ambulance.

In the Cairngorms ski resort,

the emergency services face a unique set of challenges.

And a very inhospitable environment.

On a busy day, the ski patrollers can average 16 to 25 calls,

ranging from minor injuries to high-end trauma.

SCREAMING

BLEEP!

-It's all right.

-I think that's my bone.

At the base station, the ski patrollers have treated Phil,

who broke his arm while snowboarding.

OK, you're doing well. Good lad.

But, just as Phil is being driven away to hospital,

an RAF search and rescue helicopter flies in overhead.

There's been another accident.

Are you just up the top yourself, Nancy?

A skier has fallen a staggering 100 metres down a cliffside

after skiing off-piste.

Another casualty came off the head wall,

I think they were ski tourers or climbers and slid all the way down.

Rescue 137 from Lossiemouth has flown in,

and met some of the patrol who went to the casualty up there,

so that's them just about to lift him with the helicopter.

It's unclear if the helicopter will take the seriously injured skier straight to hospital

or to the waiting patrollers at the ski station.

We're standing by in case they need to land in the car park

to transfer to an ambulance.

Experienced skier Martin lost control on icy snow, and, gaining speed, slid into the boulder field.

His friend Chris was about to go down the same route

when he was stopped by a ranger.

Martin is an expert skier, I've very rarely seen him fall,

and as I watched him, he made three really strong turns,

took a slide, and once he slid on that sheer ice below the powder

he kept tumbling and tumbling

and when I saw him going over the ridge I knew what was below, there was no stopping him from there.

He just tumbled over a bed of rocks.

From then I knew it was an emergency situation.

Just as the helicopter gets Martin on board it is called to another incident.

The helicopter needs to leave immediately,

so Martin is dropped off at the ski station car park.

One, two, three.

In these freezing conditions, it is vital to get Martin into the warmth as soon as possible.

The team move him quickly to the treatment room.

Martin's fall down the rocky cliff has left him

with numerous injuries, including possibly a broken ankle.

It's a relief when the paramedics arrive.

One, two, three.

Incredibly, despite the 100-metre fall in treacherous conditions,

it looks like Martin might have had a lucky escape.

He's an expert hands, these guys obviously come cross this situation

a lot and we're very fortunate we were looked after so well.

He's off to the hospital now

so we'll get a diagnosis hopefully in the next hour.

He's a bit beat up but he'll live.

In Dumfries and Galloway, police officers Matt Tate and Ross Dixon are back out on patrol,

on the lookout for drivers who aren't abiding by the law.

They specialise in policing rural areas.

Earlier, we saw them deal with an erratic driver...

The car was hitting the kerb a few times, mounted the verges.

..and another who failed a roadside breathalyser test.

Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going. Ideal. That's you.

On country roads like these,

motorcyclists attract particular interest from the police.

Faulty brake lights mean that this bike is not in tiptop condition,

which could mean a fine.

-Is this registered to yourself?

-It is so.

-It is.

-Yeah.

Unfortunately,

if it's not taxed then we will have to issue a bit of paperwork regarding that.

Give us two secs, I will just check your details.

Matt gives the bike the once over and checks with the control room that it's insured.

Basically I'm going to a friend's to get the electrics repaired

and the bike has no tax on it. Routine check, done me for tax.

Could be worse. At least it's insured.

As Raymond was on his way to get the bike fixed,

the officers decide not to fine for the broken light.

For the lack of tax, they issue a £60 fixed penalty notice.

That is the point of...

It is cheaper than getting the bike, getting ticketed for the light as well.

So, driver explanation, why don't you have it?

-So your explanation is that you wanted to get the bike roadworthy first?

-Basically, aye.

I need to caution and charge you for driving the vehicle on the road without a licensed, taxed vehicle.

-Is there anything you would wish to say in reply to the charge?

-No.

-Fine.

-Fair cop, isn't it?

The Royal Navy search and rescue team from HMS Gannet

were called to transport a critically ill girl, Rosie, from a local hospital

in Lochgilphead to intensive care at University Hospital, Ayr.

Her heart was going crazy trying to get her blood pressure.

Straight away they knew how serious she was.

Rosie had a life-threatening infection.

The condition of the casualty at the time was pretty grave,

and we needed to get her to hospital care as quickly as possible.

Due to the severity of Rosie's condition,

her parents were unable to travel with her in the helicopter.

They made the 120-mile journey by road.

Doctors battled through the night to save Rosie's life.

She spent the next eight days in intensive care.

It was the thought that there may have been brain injury,

due to the low blood pressure, and at that point you just think,

"We'll get her back, then we'll deal with whatever we have to deal with."

And you just go into... "Step at a time, step at a time."

As she slowly came round,

one symptom of Rosie's condition was that she could recognise her

mum and dad in photographs but not in the flesh.

When I came round,

I thought there was a couple of random people in the room with me.

I didn't recognise that they were my parents

until about three days after I'd woken up.

When I left her she was looking through photographs,

but she still wasn't acknowledging that I was her mum.

When I came back five hours later, and I walked past the window

and she waved to me,

when I went in she put her arms round me and gave me a hug,

-and that was the moment when she was back, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

-If the helicopter hadn't been there, I don't think Rosie would be alive.

-She wouldn't be.

We get a huge amount of satisfaction when the outcome is good,

and in this case the patient has made a fantastic recovery

and it's due in no small part to the ability of the medics and also

the ability to get her to care as soon as possible, and we played a small

part in that so we are fantastically thrilled she's made a recovery.

I'm glad that everyone worked as hard as they did.

I probably wouldn't be here if they hadn't.

It has been all go for the emergency services in Scotland's rural areas.

Phil's shattered arm is now held together with two metal plates and 24 bolts.

He's decided his fledgling snowboarding career is probably over.

Martin dislocated his left shoulder and had multiple fractures.

But, despite all that, he can't wait to get back on the slopes again.

After drinking the night before, Robert's blood test came back negative,

so he wasn't charged and kept his licence.

Doctors never did find the source of Rosie's infection,

but she's fine now,

back at school and riding her horse at local events.

And you thought it was quiet in the countryside!

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