Episode 8 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 wilds.

But with that comes danger.

He's steady. He's on the life raft.

The emergency services north of the border

have to deal with extreme challenges every day.

Nobody in their right mind should have

attempted to drive through this.

From severe weather and treacherous terrain...

Hello!

..to covering huge distances on rural roads with time against them.

The GP's upgraded the call to an emergency.

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 hurt and 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, a Royal Navy Search and Rescue team are on a mission

to find three stranded climbers in Glencoe.

Are you visual with the aircraft at the moment?

'No, we can hear it, but we're in the cloud just now.'

On a country road, police catch a young tractor driver

using his mobile phone.

You were clearly on a mobile phone, all right?

I wasn't on my mobile.

Come on, we'll get in the back of the car and talk about it in there.

And we join the staff of a rural hospital's

Accident and Emergency unit during a busy shift.

Caden's unfortunately swallowed a coin.

Over 12 million people live in the British countryside.

Unlike urban populations, scattered rural communities

are much harder for the emergency services to get to.

They must negotiate large distances, severe weather,

and difficult terrain - all of which can affect how quickly

999 organisations are able to reach people.

On Scotland's south-west coast is HMS Gannet,

a Royal Navy Search And Rescue base.

This rapid response unit covers a large area of Scotland

and Northern Ireland, and also parts of the North of England.

A huge area of 98,000 square miles.

For forty tango and twenty tango that are activated

for operations of low flying, daily operation hours are published.

Senior observer, or navigator, Richie Lightfoot,

has 27 years service.

Today, he's leading the four-strong helicopter crew

on a training exercise in the mountains of Glencoe.

Britain's stunning mountain ranges

are a playground for the outward bound,

attracting hundreds of thousands of walkers and climbers each year.

But being on these mountains can be a treacherous business.

In the last nine months, HMS Gannet has rescued over 90 people,

off mountains like these, in Glencoe.

Back only three yards, just off his dispatcher.

He's now clear of his dispatcher and lowering.

On their way back to base, a call comes in from local police,

a few miles south of Crianlarich.

This is Rescue 177.

We are visual with the two police cars that are in the lay-by,

I'm assuming that that's your current location, over.

Yes, yes, I'm dealing with an ongoing incident on Beinn a'Chroin,

with three climbers in the mist, lost at the summit.

The three men began the 3,090 foot walk up

the rocky Beinn a'Chroin in clear weather.

But, at the top, the cloud quickly closed in.

Without a compass or map,

relying solely on their mobile phone for navigation,

the men have got completely lost.

Crew winchman, Mike H Henson, could be going down after them.

Walking the hills is dangerous any time of year, however,

it's October now, the nights are drawing in,

so navigation isn't easy at the best of times, even with a map

and compass, you know, that you can, you can use. However, these guys

were walking with just a smartphone which is never a good idea.

Kinloss Rescue Navy 177,

now we've just been contacted by a police unit

currently involved in a mountain rescue incident,

looking for three climbers in the Beinn a'Chroin area

just to the east of Oban.

we're currently in the area and have...

They've asked for our assistance.

The visibility is extremely poor.

With limited daylight left,

the situation could turn very serious, very quickly.

Back on the ground,

and 160 miles south of Glencoe, is the town of Dumfries.

The local police here cover a huge area of rural villages,

towns, farmland and coastline.

From its winding, country roads...

..to an arterial route, bridging Scotland and northern England -

road accidents are one of the area's biggest problems,

causing over 400 casualties last year.

PCs Ross Dickson and Stewart Rae have just started their day shift.

They're part of the Landward team,

who specialise in policing rural areas.

Ross has lived in Dumfries all his life

and knows that on these country roads, you have to be vigilant.

Today, the officers have spotted a traffic offence.

It's an accident waiting to happen.

So we've been holding a road check, looking for any offences,

mobile phones etc, and, as luck would have it,

a tractor towing a trailer has driven by us, and,

the young boy driving the tractor has been using his mobile phone.

So we're just going to follow the tractor

and find a safe place to stop, and we'll get out and deal with it.

22% of road deaths are caused by 17 to 24-year-old drivers.

Tends to be young boys, you know, that are driving the tractors

that tend to be using their mobile phones.

Driving a tractor, it's a very large vehicle,

towing a long trailer, it's completely unacceptable.

It puts other road users at risk, so he'll be suitably advised

regarding that, as well, as well being issued a fixed penalty ticket.

Weighing up to 24 tons,

tractors are a common hazard on rural roads.

The driver of this tractor could be

facing a fine and a few points on his licence.

-How are you doing, you all right?

-You all right?

I'll come round here and speak to you.

Do you know why we've stopped you?

No, sorry.

Right. Think about it.

You're driving up, you're driving up the 701, right,

what are you holding in your hand driving...looking at?

-Nothing.

-Mobile phone.

No, you were clearly on your mobile phone, all right?

I wasn't on my mobile.

Come on, we'll get in the back of the car and we'll talk about it in there.

During his four years service, Constable Ross Dickson

knows all too well that people will say anything

to try and get out of trouble.

This young tractor driver is no exception.

Me and Stewart, both seen you, clearly, driving,

looking at a mobile phone.

I was, I had, there's a phone thing there,

but I don't bring my phone to work, I get a works phone.

Well, you had a mobile phone in your hand.

It wasnae, I was checking something in my wallet but,

honest, I did not have my phone in my hand, like.

Over one million people have been caught using their mobile

whilst driving since it became illegal nine years ago.

You werenae looking at the road ahead.

You were looking down, at a mobile phone.

It wasn't your wallet you were looking at.

I got a text, yeah, about, from my boss, but...

Right, so you were using your mobile phone?

I just flicked it off and then put it back.

Aye. Listen. You're still using a mobile phone, all right?

If you're reading a text while you're driving a tractor, or driving

anything, you're driving that, and you're towing that trailer, right?

No clever, all right. Got any points on your licence?

-Yeah.

-How many have you got?

-Three.

-You've got three.

Right, unfortunately it's another three points.

BLEEP

How long have you had your licence?

Just, well, nearly a year now.

Getting six points in your first two years of driving

can mean a day in court and the loss of your licence.

Listen, you cannae be using a mobile phone when you're driving, all right?

Especially, especially, you're driving something like that,

it's not the most manoeuvrable vehicle in the world, OK?

The slightest wee deviation off the road and you've lost it.

As PC Dickson lays down the law,

he's interrupted by a 999 call.

133 - go ahead.

'This is a report of a lorry,

'log lorry that's lost one of the logs on the A75

'just near to the roundabout at Cast.

'Apparently the log has struck another vehicle.

'Requesting police, we're just trying to get information from her,

'we lost her call.'

Roger. That's all received, thank you.

Anyway, you're going to have to get on your way the now,

cos we've got a 999 call to go to, all right?

Clear left.

The accident is seven miles away.

A log has fallen off a lorry and hit a car,

so the officers need to get there fast.

In the West Highlands of Scotland,

the Royal Navy Search and Rescue team have arrived in Glencoe.

They are searching for three missing climbers, but visibility is poor.

Now looking at it, you've got this high peak,

and then one, well, you've got this peak here at the one o'clock

and it's between the two, which will tie in at two miles.

The cloud cover is making the search difficult,

and their fuel is running low.

Police mobile whisky 17, we've been cleared to assist,

we have approximately one hour on the scene before we need to go

and refuel, but we will proceed to the grid as you've passed.

So far, they don't know if any of the party are injured,

which could make the rescue more complicated.

Police have given Richie Lightfoot a mobile number.

He hopes it will lead straight to the climbers.

'Hello?'

Hello, this is rescue helicopter 177.

We're actually searching for a party of three climbers.

Are you one of those climbers, over?

Are you visual of the aircraft at the moment?

You're in the cloud.

OK, are you on the path at the moment?

Are there any injuries, with those in your party?

OK, that's copied.

They sound like they're OK, but they've just got completely lost.

It's pretty steep around here if they...

He says he's got less than 50 metres visibility,

he's right up on the top.

Daylight is dwindling and the temperature's plummeting.

The crew decide they must persevere to locate the missing climbers

before the chance of exposure escalates.

Later, it's a tense game of hide and seek

when the search and rescue team and the lost climbers

try to find each other.

Hello!

That's the log there.

In Dumfriesshire, the police catch a lorry driver

carrying a dangerously unsecured load of timber.

Technically, that could be a charge of

a vehicle in a dangerous condition, all right?

But first, we join the staff on a busy shift at a rural A&E.

Caden's unfortunately swallowed a coin.

The emergency services in rural areas like this

work together to prevent as many serious accidents as they can.

But, when they do happen, the injured are taken

to Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary...

..which covers a huge geographical area of 2,400 miles.

Compare that to Manchester,

where you're never more than five miles away from an A&E department.

Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary

serves a scattered, rural population of 148,000 people,

many of whom are fishermen, forestry workers and farmers.

Helping to run this hectic department as smoothly as possible

is nurse practitioner of 13 years, Kevin Fergusson,

who's tending to a rather unusual farming incident.

What happened?

Just a slight farm accident. I was clearing a forage wagon,

it had blocked up with silage, with a Grape, and was working

with my left hand and trying to clear the silage and it slipped.

Just one of these cases of more hurry and less speed.

A Grape is a sharp pronged implement used to break up soil on the farm.

It may not look as dramatic

as a stab wound found in an urban hospital,

but, because it happened on a farm where the risk of infection is high,

it could become serious.

Farmer Kenny drove the half hour journey himself from his farm,

13 miles away in the village of Cummertrees.

It's now been four hours since his painful accident.

How deep did the fork penetrate your hand?

I don't know, actually.

-I don't think it's gone in that far, actually.

-OK.

Kenny's also had an X-ray done

to check for any broken bones on his right hand.

This is where the metal fork penetrated the hand,

so if there was any fracture there with the puncture wound,

it would change the management, cos it'd be classed as an open fracture.

But the X-ray looks great and there's no fractures seen.

We're basically treating this as a soft tissue puncture wound,

with the risk of tetanus with it being a dirty wound.

So the main concern with the wound is obviously the fact that

it's been in a farm, and the risk of tetanus.

Tetanus, also known as lockjaw, is a serious infection

caused by bacteria found in soil and animal waste.

If not treated, the bacteria can create a poison,

which affects muscles and nerves.

OK, so what we'll do is put some local anaesthetic in

round about the wound, and give it a good clean. Then we'll have to

give you a couple of vaccinations,

one of them being an active tetanus vaccination, OK,

-so a couple of jags for you, if that's OK?

-Aye.

First, Kenny gets an injection of anaesthetic.

Bit stingy. That OK?

Aye, it is a wee bit, but, aye, it's fine.

Kevin gives Kenny's hand a thorough clean

to make sure there's nothing dangerous left in the wound.

Although the wound looks small,

it's really the depth of how deep the fork's went

that's the worry because the bacteria go into the hand.

So obviously, the most important thing is a good clean.

Once sanitised, the wound is dressed.

Farms can be hazardous places,

with over 1,000 recorded injuries to farm workers last year alone.

A lot of folk getting caught in machinery and one thing

and another, but that's really just stupidity, while mind you,

can't be any worse as that, but, it's just one of these things.

Two anti-tetanus jabs later, he's good to go.

We'll let you get away home now.

Good, good, good.

Rural A&E departments deal with a different range of cases

than city hospitals, but some accidents are universal,

as we will see later, when two-year-old Caden

has swallowed something he shouldn't have.

I was sitting on the sofa and he came round and he said,

"Mummy, penny, lost."

And I was thinking, "Oh, it's under the sofa."

And he said no, "Mouth, belly."

And I was like, "No, he can't have."

The British countryside is stunning.

But the emergency services

don't always have time to take in the scenery.

PCs Ross Dickson and Stewart Rae have been dealing with

a young lad using his mobile phone whilst driving a tractor.

They're now on a 999 call

to another road incident that's just come in.

We're off down to the A75. There's a wood lorry that's been

transporting logs, it's shed... One of the logs has fell off

and it's struck another vehicle, so we're making our way there just now.

We haven't got any more details than that, so we don't know

if anyone's injured or not, so we're just going to try

and get there as quick as we can and see what's happening.

Southern Scotland has woodland areas as big as the whole of Cornwall,

and the sight of a log lorry on the road is commonplace.

A large vehicle spilling logs onto roads like this

could easily cause a pile-up.

Do we know if the log is off the road?

'Roger, sorry, we're unaware of that.'

There were nearly 48,000 accidents on country roads last year,

and most fatalities happen on roads exactly like this one.

We're hoping that the road is going to be clear,

there won't be any obstructions on the road.

Make sure there's no damage hopefully,

too much damage to the vehicles, no injuries.

SIRENS WAILING

There's the log there.

We've just passed the log in the road

that's caused the damage to the vehicle and it's off the actual road,

off the carriageway, so it's not causing any obstruction,

so that's certainly a bonus.

The vehicles involved are parked just ahead.

Everyone OK?

Well, everyone's still standing.

Still standing, OK.

Fortunately, the damage to the car is relatively minor,

concentrated around the front right wheel arch.

If the log had gone through the windscreen,

the outcome could have been much more serious.

Constable Stewart Rae gets the driver's version of events.

For James in the car behind, it was quite an alarming ordeal.

It happened that quick, like.

The log was on the road, virtually coming towards us.

And, my front wheel has run over it, doing damage to the vehicle.

So I'm OK, like, but it was a bit of shock, this log coming off.

I'm pleased it stayed on the road and didn't bounce up in the air.

The log lorry driver thinks he knows the reason for the accident.

With all the rain on the trees, made the trees slippy,

and I pulled up to that roundabout, they slipped forward.

Saw it in me mirror.

Actually didn't know I'd hit that car, but we'll sort it out,

with the insurance.

But securing the load is the pressing concern,

to stop this from happening again.

His load's unsafe, so what he's doing is just trying to make it safe

and then he can strap it better before he can go on on his journey.

The driver adjusts the logs with the crane attached to the lorry.

But Ross can't leave it at that.

It's still your responsibility to make sure that that wagon is safe

all right? And technically that could be a charge of

vehicle in a dangerous condition.

Either that or you're going too hard up to the roundabout,

which I think is probably the case, cos these other women stopped

and told us you were maybe going a bit hard,

so watch your speed and make sure that they are strapped down.

Just for the record, they were strapped, like.

OK, I'll take your word for it.

Yeah.

After consulting with police HQ, Ross decides there's only one option

in this case - to press charges.

Just, due to the circumstances, the fact that the load shouldn't have

came off, it has to get reported to the court, OK, sir?

So basically that's a charge of the vehicle being a dangerous load,

which is Section 40 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, OK?

Do you have any reply to make to the charge?

No. No point, is there?

Thank you very much, sir. I'll let you get on your way now.

I'll no doubt hear from you.

You might not hear from us, you'll hear from the court probably.

Thank you, sir.

All right, OK. See you then.

The decision's been made to charge the driver of the vehicle.

It's his own company anyway, it's his own vehicle.

He drives it, self-employed so he's in charge of the vehicle

being secure, making sure the load's safe and secure.

He hasn't done that because one of the logs has fell off

and you heard him say there that the logs are slippy and they were wet.

He should have made extra care that the logs were secured.

There's also the possibility

that his driving hasn't exactly been perfect.

Ross and Stuart aren't even halfway through their shift

when they get another 999 call to a fire

near a residential area ten miles away.

160 miles north, the Royal Navy search and rescue team

are trying to find three lost climbers on a mountain in Glencoe.

Stuck in cloud, with just a phone for navigation,

the climbers are lost, cold and tired.

100 yards? Good?

'Look for the driest bit.'

The helicopter fuel is getting low, and there's limited daylight left.

Senior observer Richie Lightfoot decides to land the helicopter

at the foot of Beinn a'Chroin.

They'll work together with local police

and try to pinpoint the exact location of the three men.

What we could do is have another quick search.

We've got about an hour's worth, to get fuelled and then...

They're in the cloud at the moment, but they're on a path.

Now, do you have a map with a position on it or a grid?

I've got the grid reference, it's back in the vehicle right enough.

Have a quick look and then....

Using their smartphone, the climbers manage to give the police

coordinates of their rough location.

But the thick cloud meant they can't see or be seen

by the helicopter.

What I think they've initially done is they've gone a wee bit to

the east, and then they've got themselves not quite crag-fast,

but they've got themselves in the top of the crags.

To be crag-fast means to be stuck. Unable to move up or down.

Since these climbers can move, the police think they might be able

to get to a place where the helicopter can pick them up.

If they moved back to the summit, where they've given us...

You reckon they're just here?

I reckon, yeah.

-From, between the two there. In about there somewhere.

-Right.

Carrying out this kind of rescue in darkness

could mean major risks for the aircraft, mountain rescue team

and the missing men.

Richie is determined to find them

before they lose any more light or need to refuel.

So what we'll do is we'll go back and have another search.

If you could see if you can't get either a more accurate position

off them, where they actually are right now.

I reckon we've got about another half-hour, 40 minutes

that we commit before we have to go to fuel.

With the mountain rescue team on standby,

and the police trying to narrow down the search area,

Richie hurries back to update the crew.

The weather's getting even worse,

so Richie phones the climbers again to check on their rough position.

-Hello?

-Hello, yes, we're hovering over the path,

this is about as high as we can get due to the cloud base.

Are you visual us and can you hear the aircraft? Over.

If you could walk down the path towards

the sound of the aircraft, hopefully you'll come down eventually

below the cloud line, and this is where we will be.

With the threat of darkness, and the weather closing in,

Richie decides their best option is to land the ten-ton Sea King helicopter,

close to where they think the men are.

OK, you are clear left, look over to your left.

There's a quite large rock just under my window at the door.

Go down slowly.

Three feet to the tail, two foot to the tail.

Coming down now. Now.

The landing has been carried out safely.

Now the job is to try and find the three lost climbers.

At Dumfries Royal Infirmary, the accident and emergency department

have to deal with a range of injuries.

Nurse practitioner Kevin Ferguson has patched up a farmer,

who managed to stab himself with one of the sharpest tools on the farm.

Working alongside Kevin is Doctor Niall Campbell.

You've got some blood on your hands.

Is that cos you've cut them or from your face?

Niall is two and a half years into his first consultancy post.

Getting to grips with the mix of cases that rural A&E can throw up

has kept him very busy.

Today, Niall is dealing with two-and-a-half-year-old Caden,

who has swallowed a coin.

I was sitting on the sofa and he came round and said,

"Mummy, penny, lost."

I was thinking, "Oh, it's under the sofa".

And he said, "no, mouth, belly", and I was like, "no, he can't have".

I phoned the doctor and the doctor said that

if it's not, like, in his windpipe, it should just pass

when he goes to the toilet,

and then I just kind of worried cos he said he had sore stomach,

so I came up to A&E.

We'll just come on round to....

Caden's X-ray results are just in.

On the X-ray, we can see that Caden's unfortunately swallowed a coin.

The good news is this won't likely result in any problems.

It's a 1p and anything up to about a 50p in size

should just pass itself.

Mum, you don't need to watch his toilet. It should just pass itself.

In the unlikely event there's any problems,

if he was getting abdominal pain or getting constipated

or you were worried,

you just bring him back any time and we will have another look at him.

How long will it take to come out?

It could take anything up to a few days.

It's not necessarily going to be the next time goes to the toilet.

If he's going to the toilet as normal and eating as normal,

you've got nothing to worry about.

80 children every day are taken to hospital after choking,

and coins are the most common non-food cause for toddlers.

Thankfully for Mum and Dad,

the penny has passed safely into his stomach.

Children will tend to swallow things they shouldn't,

sort of put things they shouldn't into their ears or their nose.

My own son's done something similar,

and, yeah, so it's not a rare thing to occur,

and usually, and fortunately if it's a small coin like this,

it's going to just resolve and not result in any problems.

But getting things stuck where you shouldn't

isn't just a pastime reserved for children.

Consultant Pete Armstrong has ten years' experience

dealing with all the challenges a busy A&E department throws at him...

He's got a wound across the middle phalanx on his ring finger.

..including the fiddly minor ones.

Just going to go and see the next patient,

who's a 20-year-old lady who's got a cotton bud stuck in her ear,

so we're just going in here.

Is it Greta? Hi, Greta. My name's Pete Armstrong.

I'm the A&E consultant on tonight.

You've got a cotton bud stuck in you. How long has it been there?

About half an hour. I feel so silly.

OK. These things happen.

You know that the smallest thing you should put in your ear is your elbow?

Tell me, was there any bleeding or anything coming out?

-No. No.

-OK, fine.

Just a bit sore.

Cotton buds might seem harmless,

but 7,000 of us end up in hospital because of them every year.

OK.

You sometimes feel a little bit of a scratch just as this goes down.

Ow.

Sorry. I might just have to get a slightly different...

I think we'll need to get a slightly... There we go.

Yay!

I feel really silly.

-I don't think you'll want it back, will you.

-No!

SHE LAUGHS

With Greta, it was relatively straightforward.

You could see the cotton bud very easily,

and just with some fine forceps was able to lift it out

and remove it very simply.

Greta seems glad it's all over, but something as seemingly benign

as a cotton bud can be really bad news for your ears.

I mean, usually what will happen is

you can cause sort of localised trauma to the ear canal,

which can cause some cuts.

If you couldn't get it out, it could become infected.

If you push it down far enough, one first thing,

if there's any wax in there, you'll actually push that down against

your eardrum which will reduce your hearing in the short-term,

and if you keep pushing far enough, you can actually burst your eardrum.

So, all in a day's work.

In Dumfries, south-west Scotland, PCs Ross Dickson

and Stewart Rae are nearing the end of a very busy shift.

They've already pulled over a young lad for using a mobile

whilst driving a tractor, and they've charged another driver

after a log fell off the back of his lorry,

damaging the car behind and narrowly avoiding a more serious incident.

Now they're racing at speeds of over 60 miles an hour

to another emergency call-out.

SIRENS WAILING

We're currently en route to New Abbey.

There's an electrical substation on fire. Fire service are attending so,

we've also got to attend, make sure that it's not near any property.

Eight miles south of Dumfries, New Abbey is home to around 800 people.

If the fire is in a built-up area,

they may need to evacuate people from their homes.

Roger, that's all received, thank you.

Just had further information there that the fire's actually

at a sawmill, so, again,

potential for it being quite a large scale fire could be pretty big.

There is some residential houses near this sawmill, so...

Hoping the fire will be contained to the actual substation itself.

When it comes to any fire,

a stockpile of dry wood is the last thing you need.

So a fire at a sawmill could be catastrophic.

This is us just entering New Abbey just now.

Can see there's some smoke, quite a lot of smoke actually.

The sawmill has a large amount of timber on-site,

so the effect on business could be devastating.

Ross and Stewart are first on scene.

Through thick smoke, they must find the source of the fire.

Just trying to get everyone away from this.

SIRENS WAILING

The sirens signal that the fire service is not far away.

The police officers ensure the area is evacuated.

One, three, three, Oscar three.

'Go ahead.'

Roger, sarge, just for information,

it's an electrical fire within one of the sawmill buildings.

The workers are telling us that it is bursting into flames

every now and again and they're continually putting it out.

Fire service are just approaching now.

I'll give you an update once they can assess the situation.

This type of fire isn't unusual.

Around 60% of accidental house fires

are caused by electrical equipment.

Thankfully the fire fighters have arrived to take charge of the scene.

Basically, one of the workers over there

has been told to start a machine up.

As he went to the power source to start it up,

it's just burst into flames,

so everyone's been evacuated from the building.

We're just here to make sure that people are OK

and everyone's fine so it's up to the fire service now

to make sure it's safe. It's a good morning. Good morning.

And a busy one at that, but now Ross and Stewart's job here is done.

Back in Glencoe...

..the Navy Sea King helicopter has landed on Beinn a'Chroin.

Now, winch-man, trained medical technician and experienced

hill-walker H sets out on foot to try and find the three men.

As we all know in hills, you know,

while you can hear something coming it can echo off things,

so my initial worry was that they would end up going off track

basically, and getting themselves into further danger.

So, my plan was to go into the distance,

just to try and cut that gap down, of margin for error down,

and then sort of guide them visually back to the aircraft.

He's dropped out. I'm going to try and call him again.

Richie's on the phone, trying to lead the climbers towards H,

but he doesn't know if they're going the right way.

The visibility is reducing the higher up H gets,

and in these conditions,

there's a real risk the two parties might miss each other altogether.

Hello!

In very low visibility,

H has climbed almost 600 feet in 15 minutes.

At last, he hears a whistle in the distance.

WHISTLING

Hello!

WHISTLING

I can hear ya!

I've got a visual now.

Believe it or not, it was the old-fashioned whistle

that came in handy.

And actually saved the day because as I was approaching them,

I was shouting over them, they were blowing their whistle

and it gave me vectors to be able to eventually get visual with them.

How you doing? You must be the three missing climbers?

All right...

No problem at all, no problem at all.

We're about, we've got about another sort of ten to 15 minute walk

down the path, where they're waiting for us

but we've only got about ten, 15 minutes' worth of fuel

so we'll have to go as quickly and as safely as possible.

OK. You guys all fit? There's no injuries or anything, is there?

The three men are cold and tired,

but they've still got 600 feet of rough terrain to descend.

You all right, buddy? You look a bit exhausted.

At last, they catch their first glimpse of the rescue helicopter.

After four hours of being lost and stranded in dense cloud,

it's a huge relief for the three men.

They won't have to spend a lonely night on the freezing mountain.

These are your men.

No problem at all!

With around 300 call-outs every year,

rescuing an average of over 300 people,

it's another positive result for the crew.

Hey, no worries. Take care, all right? Take care.

Job done.

-Back for tea, biccies and medals. I think so.

-Beautiful!

And for pilot Geoff "Spuggy" Richardson,

it's been another good day at the office.

Really, we were quite lucky in the fact that there was just

a slight break in the cloud that allowed us to land

about 400 feet below the summit.

Which then allowed us to despatch our mountain goat, H,

to go and seek them out, which he successfully did.

So from our perspective it was great

that we were able to you know, basically, achieve the aim,

at quite an early stage before it escalated, before it got dark

and before the weather deteriorated, so a very pleasing job all round.

It doesn't get any better than that.

We managed to get three people off the hill,

uninjured, before dinner, before dark, so, yeah, great result.

What started off as a training exercise

turned into a full-scale rescue of three climbers

lost at the top of a mountain in Glencoe.

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

The young tractor driver pleaded guilty

to driving whilst using a mobile phone.

He was fined and got three points, but kept his licence.

The log lorry driver pleaded guilty to the offence.

He was fined £100 and received three points on his licence.

And the three climbers rescued from the top of a mountain in Glencoe

by the Royal Navy are now safe and well after their ordeal.

And you thought it was quiet in the countryside.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd