Episode 7 Countryside 999

From the Highlands of Scotland

to the coast of Cornwall,

the Great British countryside is spectacular.

But we work and play in it at our peril.

And when things go wrong,

the emergency services race to the rescue...

This chap is having a heart attack and we need to get him in quickly.

There's no police courses for this.

..going hundreds of miles against the clock,

battling the elements and braving the weather.

MAN GROANS

From fields and forests

to cliffs and country roads,

we'll be right at the heart of the action...

..with police fighting crime.

Could seize the dog, could seize the van.

But I'm going to summon you all to court.

Paramedics saving lives...

BABY CRIES

..and wardens safeguarding our lakes.

Come out of the way!

We're there as the emergency services pull together

to pick up, patch up and protect the public.

This is Countryside 999.

Coming up...

Battling bad weather to reach car crash casualties in North Yorkshire.

Can you take a deep breath for me?

WOMAN GROANS You can't?

Fast responses...

..need fast reactions.

Cross-country emergencies in Dumfries and Galloway.

And County Durham cops on a manhunt.

There are funny goings-on above a fancy dress shop.

North Yorkshire.

Famous for its dales, high moorland and picture-postcard villages.

It attracts over seven million tourists every year -

and most come by car.

But round every corner, there are dangers for visitors

driving unfamiliar country roads.

In Britain, rural roads are more dangerous than city streets

or even motorways.

Over half of all road fatalities happen in the countryside.

And in North Yorkshire, over 40 people die on the roads every year.

On a rural B road, there's been a car crash.

It's in a remote spot, so it's a job for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Established in 2000, the Air Ambulance service

covers over 6,000 square miles...

...and looks after some five million people.

Using the helicopter saves time and helps save lives.

Crewing the chopper today are pilot Ian Moussette,

with paramedics Leon Baronowski and Pete Vallance.

The county covers, you know, a massive area

and land crews can be travelling, you know, 40 minutes, 45 minutes

with critically injured casualties.

Travelling by air can reduce those times significantly.

The team are briefed in the air.

There's been a head-on collision

40 miles drive from the nearest hospital.

From their base at RAF Topcliffe, near Thirsk,

the heli-medics are flying 30 miles east to the accident,

near Malton.

They'll then take any casualty to hospital in Scarborough or York.

Weather conditions are poor.

The helicopter has run into low cloud.

But, 15 minutes in, pilot Ian spots blue lights.

Ambulance, police and fire crews are already at the crash site.

With the road closed, the helicopter lands close by.

Pete and Leon head towards the wreckage for an emergency briefing.

The black car, with three people in it, has hit a lorry.

One passenger walked away, relatively unhurt.

But two young women - the driver and a second passenger -

are trapped inside.

That vehicle was sort of unrecognisable

from its form before it hit the lorry.

And as a result of that,

you're looking for the occupants to have received a significant injury.

Certainly, you fear the worst

when you turn up and see a wreckage such as that.

As Pete re-assures the girls, fire crews try to cut them free.

The girls are frightened and have serious injuries.

Can you take a deep breath for me?

WOMAN GROANS You can't?

does that make your pain more severe?

All right, I'm just going to feel around your wrist there.

In the car are 19-year old Elly and her friend Billie.

After a day at a nearby theme park,

the friends were driving home on wet roads

when their car collided with the 18-tonne lorry.

The lorry driver is unhurt.

I was coming back to depot.

Obviously, rained earlier on and just made the road a bit slippery.

And next thing I know, there was this car coming in front of me.

So, it...

Yeah. Head-on.

Elly? Elly, if I touch up here, is that hurting?

-No.

-What about as I come down there?

With both girls unable to move,

it's impossible for Pete to make a full examination of their injuries.

So, it's your left arm and your right leg. Yeah?

There were two casualties in the vehicle that we needed to extricate,

so you've got to put a plan together,

and we work very closely with the fire services when we're doing that

to see which order the casualties are going to come out on.

Sometimes, we need to remove the less injured casualty

in order to get to the more seriously injured casualty

and remove them in a more controlled manner.

In this instance, both casualties

had potentially life-threatening injuries

and you had crews working either side of the vehicle.

Pete.

The fire crews are finally able to peel away the car roof.

Heli-medic Leon can now get to the rear passenger, Billie.

Though she's in a lot of pain,

Leon feels it's safe to get her out of the wreckage.

But the impact of the crash could have damaged her back and neck.

The medics must move her carefully.

If we get the stretcher behind, then what we'll do is we'll get it

all set up behind the car so we can come straight out of there.

-Are you happy...?

-I think boarding underneath her bum.

We've got plenty hands and we'll just support her back.

-Spin her round the side?

-Yeah, yeah.

I think that's going to be the better option.

And the quickest as well, cos she's quite cold and wet.

Ask one of my colleagues. I'm not sure out of the two

which one we're going to take.

So, for now, if we just get her out, get her comfortable,

then we'll be able to have a proper look from there, won't we?

There's room for only one patient in the air ambulance,

but both girls are badly hurt.

Leon and Pete must decide who needs to get to hospital the quickest.

All right, Billie, we're just going to get you straight out, OK?

Then we'll get you some pain relief once we've warmed you up

and get your jacket off, all right?

You just need to bear with us whilst we move you, OK?

There's going to be a little bit of discomfort.

We'll do it as quickly as we can.

How long will it take you to transit to York by road from here?

-35, 40.

-Yeah.

Having weighed up Billie's injuries, the heli-medics make a plan.

30, 35 for them to go by road to York.

This lady is still trapped, we need to get her out,

-so we'll be longer in the car, won't we?

-Yeah.

Do you think, if we take anyone, it's going to be her. All right.

It's decided.

Billie's going to hospital by road. The helicopter will wait for Elly.

But she's still trapped in the wrecked car.

It's a sunny Sunday morning in Dumfries and Galloway,

southwest Scotland.

For most, weekends are for rest and relaxation

on the spectacular coastline

or in the stunning countryside.

But wherever people go and whatever people do,

there are always accidents, illnesses and emergencies...

..testing the skill and dedication of the region's emergency services.

At Dumfries ambulance station,

trainee paramedic, Emma Luebke is starting her Sunday shift.

Emma's been with the ambulance service for two and a half years

and is working her way up.

I'm currently working as an ambulance technician.

I had to complete a year's training to be an ambulance technician

and I'm now in the process of doing my paramedic training,

which is another year total to qualify as a paramedic.

I like getting out there.

It's definitely a rewarding job and there's no two days the same.

Weekend shifts can be hard to predict.

A lot of people think that weekends are quite quiet

out in the country, but that's not the case.

Generally, a lot of people are attracted to the area,

so you get a lot more visitors

who perhaps might not know the roads quite so well.

There's a lot of farm traffic out on the roads in the summer

with the harvesting that's going on.

So, you can be called to some road traffic accidents,

motor bikers, horse-riding accidents.

Yeah, there's a lot going on at weekends.

Today, Emma's partnering lead paramedic Michael Harmjanz,

and a call's come in.

They're blue-lighting it to the tiny village of Templand, near Lockerbie,

a 12-mile journey along challenging country roads.

SIREN WAILS

We're going now to a 70-year-old male...

..who appears has fallen and hit his head.

He's got some cuts to his hands as well.

He also has an existing heart condition

and it is about 15 minutes drive away.

But obviously, the patient is going to have to wait that bit longer

for us to get there.

And we want to get there safely as well.

There is an ambulance crew based nearer to the incident,

but they're busy with another emergency.

We feel the pressure sometimes to get there quickly

so that we can help that person.

And the longer that our journey is, you know,

the more that you're feeling sometimes a bit frustrated

that you can't be there as quick as you'd like to be.

It's a nice day, it's Sunday.

There's a lot of traffic about.

A lot of drivers are looking at the countryside,

so their awareness of other vehicles is not quite what it should be.

HORN BLARES

SIREN WAILS

HORN HONKS

I'll just get horn happy, then.

Yep. Just up there.

Whilst Emma's still in training,

German-born Michael has 15 years' experience as a paramedic.

They work together as a team.

-Hello there, sir.

-Hello.

-What's happened today, sir?

Ah, right.

How are you feeling just now?

70-year-old Jim and his wife, Anita, are from Northern Ireland.

They're visiting their daughter.

We're going to get a blood pressure and everything

and we'll have a wee look at your heart

just to see what is going on there.

So, have you been feeling well today otherwise?

-No. He's been complaining.

-Well, my head has been a wee bit light.

Of recent weeks, they increased my blood pressure tablet.

-Right.

-My blood pressure had gone up a wee bit.

OK.

-No, that's fine.

-Your blood pressure's OK.

-Right.

It's only 20 minutes since the call-out,

but if there is a problem with Jim's heart,

Emma's training tells her every second counts.

Just take your temperature, sir.

Usually, elderly gentlemen for unknown collapse,

we'll tend to always do an ECG on them

just to check that it's not anything that's going on with the heart.

Sometimes it can show up that these patients are having a heart attack,

which is obviously a life-threatening condition

that needs, you know, emergency treatment.

ECG looks a bit low. It's a bit slow.

And he told us that he does have existing problems with his heart,

but we don't want to be taken down a specific route.

We've got to be open to other possibilities

of why this gentleman has taken unwell.

Jim has a complex medical history.

The paramedics are taking no chances.

Is it OK if we take you to Dumfries Infirmary, Jim?

-Yes, sure.

-Just to find out why you actually had a faint.

-All right.

How long do you reckon has he been...?

-Very...

-Just seconds.

-Just seconds.

-Not long.

-Right, OK.

-Do you remember everything as well, do you?

-Yes.

As Michael gets ready to leave, Emma bandages Jim's arms,

bruised and bloodied from the fall.

It seems a bit extreme, putting a huge bandage on,

but it's better just to get them covered just now.

-Bit of a bumpy ride back into Dumfries now.

-Mm.

-Completely different in the back of an ambulance.

-I know.

You'll get to see some of the...

This is your...? Oh, well.

Welcome to Scottish Ambulance Service.

SHE CHUCKLES

At the hospital in Dumfries,

Jim is handed over to the medical team in A&E.

Listening to his history,

we just felt that it was best for the patient

to go to hospital for an assessment.

He's had a fainting episode.

He didn't have any warnings of it coming on.

He does have a cardiac history and a history of hypertension.

They can do extra blood tests that might, you know, find anything

that's caused his collapse that we might not be able to pick up.

-OK? Take care, Jim.

-Thanks very much.

-I'll go and get your medication.

-They're still an ambulance.

-Yes. Wonderful service.

Enjoy the rest of the holiday.

-JIM CHUCKLES OK?

-Thank you very much.

Take care. Bye just now.

On a country road in North Yorkshire,

the air ambulance is on scene at a head-on collision.

Three friends were returning from a day out at a theme park

when their car hit an 18-tonne truck.

The car was destroyed.

Two passengers have been taken to hospital,

but 19-year-old Elly is still trapped in the driver's seat.

How's your pain at the moment?

If you had to score it out of ten, if zero is no pain at all,

ten is worst pain you can imagine,

whereabouts are you on that scale?

Ten! Is that your chest or your leg?

Which is the worst?

Let's just see if we give you something

to ease that pain a little bit.

Her leg is crushed in the wreckage and she has serious chest pain,

but Heli-medic Pete Vallance can do little

until fire crews free Elly from the mangled car.

Time is of the essence

when patients have received major traumatic injuries.

Can you open and close this hand a few times for me?

By constantly talking to them, reassuring them

and keeping them informed on what the intent to do,

then hopefully you can keep that patient in the best spirits.

Where were you off to then, Elly?

-Flamingo Land?

-Yeah.

-Oh, right.

Have you had a good day, then?

Yeah.

The weather's making the rescue more difficult.

It's wet and cold, factors which may have contributed to the crash.

Local police officer Dan Hughes was one of the first on scene.

We've got looming fog, we've had rain

and the roads are wet and slippery.

It is, unfortunately, quite a common factor

to deal with collisions involving young people

and sometimes attributed to excessive speed.

Perhaps not for the speed limits in place - this will be a 60mph road -

but excessive for the road and weather conditions.

With the roof and sides of the car cut away,

Elly can at last be carefully lifted from the wreck.

Are you ready?

-So, the board's moving here, not the patient.

-Yes.

-Ready?

-Just stay where you are.

-One, two, three.

Right, it's about halfway.

Only now can Pete properly assess her injuries.

Elly, I just need to determine where that pain is.

Is it in your hip or further down?

-Further down.

-OK. Here?

-Yeah, it hurts there!

-OK.

One, two, three!

I think we've got two- or three-inch shortening on this thigh.

Yeah. Do you want to...?

Yeah.

Elly's femur - her thigh bone - is broken,

an extremely painful injury that requires immediate attention.

Just so I can cover you up.

-We're going to need put a splint onto this leg to pull it straight.

-OK.

What we want to do is put a splint on there,

which one - prevents moving,

secondly - it will stretch the limb out

hopefully to the desired shape that it should be.

SHE CRIES AND SCREAMS

SHE WHIMPERS

What that will do is ensure as well that any tissue beyond that injury

gets the necessary blood supply

to ensure no permanent damage is caused by it.

The thigh bone is the biggest bone in the body.

It takes a massive force to break it.

Car crashes like Elly's are a common cause of thigh bone fractures.

Elly, I'm just going have a listen to your chest

while your breathing on that.

Pete's also concerned about impact injuries to Elly's chest.

They could restrict her breathing. She needs urgent hospital treatment.

43 minutes after the air ambulance landed,

Elly's stretchered to the waiting helicopter.

Yeah, that right leg, Ian, just be careful as we go in.

Touch further.

How are we doing, Elly?

Yeah, it's nice.

You are, yeah.

Elly's ready for the ten-minute flight to hospital in York.

But the weather's closing in.

We'd had some quite heavy downpours,

so along with that we get low cloud,

you get mist forming and poor visibility.

It's touch and go whether they can fly Elly to York

and the treatment she desperately needs.

County Durham in England's northeast.

From river valley to high moor, it's a land of wide open spaces.

But if it looks peaceful,

countryside coppers have as big a challenge fighting crime

as their inner-city colleagues.

On the eastern edge of the Pennine Hills sits the town of Consett,

one of the largest towns in the area,

and its police station, one of the busiest.

On shift today, with 15 years' experience

in the Durham Constabulary, is PC Scott Crowhurst.

My father was a police officer, my grandfather was a police officer,

so is my uncle.

And I decided, when I was around about 19, that's what I wanted to do.

What I'm involved in is looking at the risk to the community

from crime, antisocial behaviour,

so it could be drug dealing and burglaries and things like that.

My role is to come up with solutions to protect the community.

A 999 call comes through, and it's close by.

Inspector Keith Wardle cuts through the traffic as passenger

PC Scott gets further details.

Yeah, it's been reported burglary in progress

at an address in Blackhill.

I think it's above a florist's, it seems that she was saying,

so that will be what we call a burglary other,

like a non-dwelling.

But obviously, we'll have to see what it is when we get there.

When we initially got on the scene,

we all went round to the rear of the premises thinking

if there's someone on there and it's a burglary in progress,

we can end up getting to grips with somebody,

so the adrenaline is flowing.

Scott runs to the front of the shops.

Initial information suggested this was a florist's -

instead, he finds a fancy dress shop.

-Is the address above Fantasia, the fancy dress shop?

-'Yes.'

The shop owner has made the 999 call

and thinks there's still something dodgy going on in the flat above.

-I saw him round the back on the back door.

-OK. Oh, right.

Which door was that?

-Want to go and show him?

-Could you show us? That'd be great.

Then we know what we're on about. That'd be brilliant.

-No, no.

-Instead I'd just come straight round.

-OK. Lovely.

So last seen on the roof?

-Yeah, he was crouched down on that roof over there.

-Right.

If this flat is being burgled, they could catch the thief red-handed.

We'll try and knock on the door whilst my colleague is up there,

if there's obviously an insecure window or whatnot.

We're knocking on the door to see if there is anybody in.

It just could be a person's not at work today and they're in.

My colleague is up on the roof at the moment and he's going to see

if there are any open windows are out like that,

or in fact if the lad is still up there doing something daft.

Obviously, if he is, we'll speak with him.

What we're looking for are signs of entry.

If it looks like a window has been forced or something,

then obviously we would be looking at going in via that opening

or maybe forcing this door.

Hang on, there's a window open there.

You mind if I have a quick...?

There's no sign of forced entry into the flat above the shop,

but Scott spots an open window in a neighbouring flat.

That's where...

I might actually get him to show me upstairs just to make sure

he hasn't gone in there.

Obviously, we've seen the window open round the back there.

Just want to check that he hasn't gone into another address.

We've had a report from the fancy dress shop there's been a lad

hanging round the back,

maybe he tried to get in the fancy dress shop.

But it's also been reported he's been on the low roof just by your window.

You haven't had anyone try to get in the back of your house or

-seen anything, have you?

-No.

If there was a thief here, it seems he's gone.

Gareth, the shop owner, explains why he dialled 999.

Basically, I'd gone round the back to the stockroom

and I heard commotion in the yard adjacent to my own.

So I decided to go on and investigate.

I think he saw me

cos he was crouched down on the roof on the telephone.

If the suspect spotted Gareth,

Gareth also saw enough of the suspect to give a description.

Tracksuit bottoms, trainers, and like a dirty white T-shirt.

And there's a breakthrough.

There's a lad been stopped up the street

matching the description of the person.

I'm just making sure we're going the right way here.

Yeah, further up here.

Based on Gareth's information,

Inspector Keith's been on the lookout and has come up trumps.

Myself and a colleague quickly realised

that about 100 yards up the street,

a person matching the description was walking up the street.

We stopped a young lad. He was obviously heavily intoxicated.

What have you been up to today, mate? Out and about?

Kick your shoes off for us, mate.

Well, a person matching your description

has been reported up on the roof.

We managed to establish the lad had an argument with his mum.

He was a bit confused.

He'd just gone back somewhere he was familiar with,

he obviously hadn't done anything wrong.

There's been no offence committed, but Scott has a quiet word.

We don't want you going back down there and doing 'out daft, all right?

Especially if you had a bit of a ding-dong with your mam and whatnot.

He was, you know, he was drunk, but he was very cooperative.

He was having a joke with us.

When given the reason why we want to search him, he accepted that.

He had nothing on him that would help him to break into the premises.

He had no stolen property on him.

There was no reason to take it any further, if you like.

-Right, we'll see you later.

-Cheers.

-Right.

-Take care, mate, yeah?

That's job done for the Consett coppers.

So Scott reassures Gareth

there'll be no more funny business above his shop.

-Thank you very much.

-You're welcome.

-Cheers.

-Thank you.

-Take care.

In the market town of Dumfries in southwest Scotland,

paramedic Michael Harmjanz and ambulance technician Emma Luebk

are preparing for another day out on the road.

I think the public probably have this perception that there's

endless amounts of ambulances driving around the countryside,

because there are, you know - there's a lot of jobs in a day

and we're going in all directions.

We only have two ambulances working out of Dumfries station so we can

sometimes be quite pushed to our limits, really,

as far as resources go.

150,000 people live in Dumfries and Galloway,

spread across 2,500 square miles.

And with nearly a third over 60, looking after them is a tough call.

Working in this rural environment you do get a mixture of jobs.

You've got your jobs in the town on a Saturday night, the usual,

but you've also got farms that are in quite rural areas.

People that have perhaps lived in these houses up in the back

and beyond for their whole entire life

and they've now become quite elderly and quite dependent on other people.

They feel quite isolated sometimes.

Emma and Michael have just taken an emergency call.

It's a road traffic accident in the country.

From their Dumfries base,

it's a 15-mile trip north

to the village of Thornhill.

This time Emma's in the driving seat.

To drive the ambulances,

we've got to receive a three-week training that strips

back our normal driving,

teaches us more advanced driving techniques to make you more

aware of other road users, just to make you anticipate

any hazards that you might find on the roads.

There's another ambulance close by

which will get to the incident first.

But with more than one casualty, both crews are needed.

They still don't know how serious the incident is.

Michael monitors communications.

It's taken just 16 minutes to make the 15-mile journey.

The first ambulance is on-site.

A van's crashed into a parked car. There are two casualties.

Michael and Emma are briefed by colleague David Dale.

The 90-year-old driver, Mick, seems remarkably unharmed.

-OK, we'll take you to the hospital, all right, Mick?

-Yeah, OK.

His passenger's been taken by the first ambulance.

Michael and Emma look after Mick.

Mick. Right, Mick, how are you doing?

All right, sir.

A bit wobbly?

Let's get you onto this bed.

He's in good enough shape

to get himself out of the smashed-up van.

Just a bit of a step back onto the... There you go.

Thanks, Dave.

Can they stop the traffic?

Once Mick's safely in the ambulance...

How feeling there? You comfortable enough?

Yes.

..Michael gives him a thorough check-over

for signs of any head injury.

Can you remember what happened?

Do you know where you are at the moment?

Where are you?

That's right. You've been in Dumfries, have you?

Emma turns her attention to Mick's diabetes.

Right. Is it OK to do another blood sugar test just to check and see

-what their levels are at now?

-No charge.

-Aw, free of charge.

'In this case, you are doing this blood sugar test

'because he is a known diabetic.'

You know, it really points us to the reason for him passing out

while he is driving.

He had been explaining that he had been feeling quite sleepy

as he was driving, which can be, you know, a little sign

for diabetics that their blood sugar levels are getting low.

You know the process with us. Just a scratch coming up now, OK?

-Oh, oh, good grief.

-You have done this a few times.

-She's torturing me.

SHE CHUCKLES

There we go. Mick, your blood sugars are 3.2.

I'm guessing that is still quite low for you, is it?

-What would you sit at normally?

-Oh, don't ask me.

All right, you don't check them regularly

-or anything like that?

-No, no.

After giving Mick glucose to get his blood sugars back to normal,

Emma takes him to hospital in Dumfries.

Despite the crash, he seems in pretty good spirits.

OK.

-Thank you for driving, my dear.

-You're very welcome.

But if Mick has fallen unconscious due to his diabetes,

he'll need a thorough examination before getting back home

or back on the road.

On a North Yorkshire back road,

another car crash has left a young driver with serious injuries.

-Think we've got two- or three-inch shortening on this thigh.

-Femur.

Yeah.

-SHE WAILS

-Nearly done.

Student Elly has been loaded onto the air ambulance.

She has a fractured thigh

and a chest injury that could be a damaged lung.

She needs to get to York hospital.

But heli-medic Leon Baronowski is concerned about the 40-mile trip.

The weather started to close in on us whilst we were on scene.

I think it was something we were all mindful of.

Dark, gloomy, and wet.

But the weather particularly that day was probably some of the worst

that I've flown in on my two years working on the helicopter unit.

Leon helps the pilot navigate the difficult conditions.

Now I'm operating as that pilot's second eyes of the aircraft

in that front left-hand seat and I'm looking out for obstacles.

We've got pylons 200-, 300-foot high, aerials, wind farms, masts -

some of them that are popping up left, right, and centre

without actually appearing on the maps.

The patient is flat on their back, often looking at the ceiling.

They can't see where we are, they just see cloud.

I can recall that the aircraft was quiet.

And you know when the aircraft is quiet that everyone is working

hard to try and figure out where they are, what we are doing,

and how we are going to get from A to B.

I was sweating.

After a tricky flight,

the helicopter reaches York.

The crew head for the landing site.

Not every hospital has a designated landing site.

In this case, we land on a field next to the hospital.

The team transfer Elly from the chopper into the waiting ambulance.

She's taken the last few hundred yards into A&E,

where she'll undergo emergency surgery.

But this is all that's left of her first car.

Five months later, Elly's back home in Stockton.

I broke my femur. I broke my elbow and dislocated it.

And I broke my nose and I broke one of my ribs.

Then I bruised my lungs.

I was in hospital for about two weeks.

I had surgery there where I had a needle into my femur to put

it back together and then I had wiring put into my elbow.

Then, just a process of going from not being able to even sit up

on my own to the physiotherapist helping me stand up

and then walk a couple of steps and then walk a couple of more

steps, it's just literally been building it up every day.

I can't remember the actual impact.

I just remember, like, it was pouring down with rain

and the roads were really slippy.

There was, like, a big bend in the road and the wheels locked and

I couldn't turn the car and we just went straight head-on with a wagon.

I couldn't have gone by road to the hospital.

The hospital was 45 minutes away by ambulance and, like, with my

injuries, I was in so much pain that

I couldn't have gone over roads. I couldn't have done anything,

the helicopter got me there in nine minutes. It was really good.

It's been all go for Britain's rural emergency services.

After the horrific car crash,

student Elly is back studying and working part time.

Jim's recovered from his faint and has returned to Dumfries

and Galloway to visit his daughter.

His problem was caused by a change in blood pressure tablets.

And all being well, trainee Emma will qualify as a fully-fledged

paramedic in the summer.

And you thought it was quiet in the countryside.