Episode 1 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.

You're under arrest for failing to stop for police.

..going hundreds of miles against the clock,

battling the elements

and braving the weather.

Lower the winch.

From fields and forests

to cliffs and country roads,

we'll be right at the heart of the action

with police fighting crime...

I've got suspicions that there might be cannabis being used.

..paramedics saving lives...

..and wardens safeguarding our lakes.

Move 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...

A mid-air paragliding collision has HMS Gannet speeding to

a life-saving cliff rescue.

Paramedics race to help a 90-year-old woman

on the Isle of Man.

Take a big breath in for me.

Does that hurt anywhere?

And in Herefordshire,

police deal with a drunken and dangerous incident.

The West Coast of Scotland.

One of the most rugged and awe-inspiring landscapes in the UK.

Every year, millions of people walk, climb

and sail in the wild beauty of its mountains, islands, and sea.

It's also a magnet for people seeking

the thrills of adventure sports,

with the island of Arran high on the list for paragliders.

But in such challenging landscapes,

accidents do happen.

And when crisis hits, HMS Gannet Search

and Rescue is just a flight away.

Over the last 40 years,

the men and women of HMS Gannet have saved countless lives

and flown tens of thousands of missions from their base

in Prestwick.

But 2015 marks their final year of duty

before air search and rescue operations

are handed over to the Maritime Coastguard.

Observer paramedic Rob Suckling is the squadron's winch operator today.

I think when people come to search and rescue,

they want to help people.

They want to put into practice what they've trained,

which very few people have the opportunity to do.

And it's satisfying to be able to test yourself, to be able to

rescue someone from the side of a mountain in awful conditions.

It's just a great feeling.

Today, Rob's on shift with winchman

and trainee paramedic Alan "Speedy" Speed.

And a call comes in.

We've just been called to a hang-glider that's crashed on Arran.

The position's about a mile south of Lochranza, so the top of the island.

Belfast Coastguard are coordinating, and that's all the details we've

got, so we're going to route direct and go and see what we can see.

They scramble in under five minutes.

Paragliding causes an average of four deaths

and 40 serious injuries a year.

All good, lad. Roger.

From their Prestwick base, they're racing 30 miles to Arran

and Catacol Bay in the island's north west.

While pilot Jon Green speeds them there,

the Belfast Coastguard who initially took the call

and rescue services keep the team informed.

With two casualties

and a medical trauma team also on route,

the situation sounds increasingly serious.

There is a risk the downwash from the Sea King's powerful

rotors could make a bad situation worse.

Then there's another update.

It's a terrifying scenario.

The two paragliders are suspended on a cliff side.

One with possible spinal injuries.

It's taken the team 17 minutes to reach the incident.

Now they need to find the injured paraglider.

They spot the police, ambulance, and mountain rescue vehicles.

A local coastguard is coordinating from the ground.

As they circle closer, they spot the injured paraglider.

He's 300ft up a sheer cliff,

being held fast by two other paragliders.

They need a closer look.

This here was certainly one of those jobs that you think, "Right."

My adrenalin was pumping as soon as I saw the situation.

As we got closer to the scene of the incident,

I could see on the side of the cliff that there were two people

already with the casualty and he didn't seem to be moving.

But as they get nearer,

the two paragliders supporting the injured man start to wave them away.

We didn't want to get too close, and as soon as we did start to

approach, one of the casualties started to frantically wave us off.

We were totally aware that our downwash was going to affect

that chute, but we really needed to have a look at the scene

to make a plan of what we were going to do next.

If the helicopter gets any closer,

the downwash of air from the rotors could blow the injured

man off the cliff.

The Sea King is forced to retreat.

Sitting in the middle of the Irish Sea

lies the Isle of Man.

The beautiful countryside, stunning beaches and quiet way of life -

part of the attraction for its 85,000 residents.

With 20% of the population aged over 65,

the island's ambulance service is a lifeline.

Paramedics Kerry McShane, Mark Dodd and the team

are frequently called out to older people.

I'm Kerry, and this is Doddy.

Can you remember how you came to fall?

A large proportion of the population is elderly.

And, actually, that reflects in the jobs that we go to.

I mean, we get a diverse range of jobs,

but, actually, a lot of them are falls.

And they typically are the elderly.

You feel OK? You feel as good as you normally do?

And, unfortunately, the elderly, their reflexes aren't great.

So, when they start to fall, they either hit their head,

or they go down directly on their side, so they might fracture a hip.

They tend to do themselves a little bit more damage than, you know,

a younger person would if they had the same fall.

It's 9:30 in the morning.

A call has come in.

We're going to a 999 in Douglas, and it's for a fall.

That's all we know at the minute.

Received.

SIREN BLARES

The team beelines from their base in Douglas

to a block of sheltered housing less than a mile away.

-I think it's round the other side, isn't it?

-Can you see the numbers?

Or is there anybody waving at you? There she is.

We think there's some carers that have called it.

The call came from the centre's staff.

Hello.

Have you been able to get in to the lady?

So they've got through the door?

During her morning round,

warden Annette found 90-year-old Betty lying on the floor.

She seems to have fallen.

-You don't think you fell?

-No.

-So, how would you be on the floor, do you think, then?

-I'm not sure.

-You're not sure?

-No.

Does this look like it's fallen over, this stuff here? Is it normally...

Yes, she must have, when she fell, brought it all down.

Betty, can you taste any blood in your mouth?

-No.

-No? OK.

Cos you look like you might have bitten your lip or something.

It looks like there might be a little bit of blood there.

Right, now, Betty, cos we don't know what's happened to you,

what I'm going to do, I'm going to press your head and all down

your body and you're going to tell me if I touch anything that hurts.

-OK?

-Yes.

So, let's start with your head.

First, Kerry checks if Betty has broken any bones.

So, you've not got a headache or pain anywhere at all, have you?

Let's have a look. Take a big breath in for me.

Big, big breath in.

Does that hurt anywhere when you do that?

Betty's muddled state is also a concern.

Don't worry. We'll sort you out.

Now, then.

Have you felt unwell today, yesterday, at all?

-Is she normally this confused?

-No.

-No?

-No, she's not.

She... Betty's usually quite OK.

-She just has problems with her mobility.

-Yeah.

We do get some patients who don't remember,

but a lot of our patients have some recollection of what's happened.

Whether it's a vague recollection or a good, accurate description,

usually they have some idea of why they've fallen.

But Betty was very confused.

Did you see her yesterday, anybody?

We do a call every single morning to her.

-She wasn't complaining yesterday of any...

-No.

-..of any UTI symptoms at all?

-Nothing.

No, no, she was bright, cheerful.

-Answered her call bright and cheerful, as she always does.

-OK.

What we're going to do is we're going to get you up

-and see how you feel, OK?

-Yes.

-Were you?

-Yes.

Well done, you.

And you're in good health, really, aren't you, for 90?

You're hardly on any tablets.

Betty, can you get a hold of my elbow? Just there, that's it.

Now, I'm going to put my hand behind you.

And we're going to just sit you up, all right?

Suspecting a urinary tract infection, or UTI,

Kerry wants to take Betty to hospital.

Urinary tract infections, for most people,

don't have any other problems,

other than you have a burning sensation when you go to the toilet.

The urine is very strong.

Betty, we'll sort everything out for you, OK?

And we'll ring your family and let them know. All right?

But it seems to knock the elderly quite badly.

It can cause confusion

and it actually can cause them mobility problems.

If it is a urinary tract infection, Betty will need medical treatment.

Without it, UTIs can become serious,

causing kidney infections and even kidney failure.

What we're going to do now, Betty, is take you up to A&E at Nobles.

Let the doctors check you over.

Oh, that's what they're there for.

Just going to pop a little tube on your nose,

just to give you some oxygen.

And then we'll get going.

Now, this is just going to slightly sit in your nose.

Kerry keeps Betty alert.

What did you used to do, Betty? Did you work?

Did you make your own clothes, Betty?

The latest fashions?

KERRY LAUGHS

Betty, you definitely don't have any new pain anywhere at all?

So, do you have any children of your own?

Your four nieces?

Within eight minutes, they arrive at the hospital.

This is Betty.

She's 90 years old.

The warden has found her lying on the floor.

Oh, is that...?

That's what happened, yeah, you were on the floor.

And there was evidence of things having been knocked over.

Now, Betty can't remember at all the fall.

She's not normally confused at all.

This is very unusual for her.

I'm going to leave you now, Betty. You take care.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome, bye-bye.

-Thank you.

Betty will be kept in for now.

And her nieces are on their way to look after her.

She was very sweet.

She'd be nice to talk to when she's less confused,

because I'm sure she's got some stories!

Bless her.

100 miles north of the Isle of Man,

on the Isle of Arran,

a paraglider has crashed into a cliff.

He is being held on to the rock face by two fellow paragliders,

and is seriously injured with suspected spinal damage.

HMS Gannet Search And Rescue are on scene.

But can't get close enough

for fear of blowing the injured man off the cliff.

There's no choice but to make a new plan.

Several rescue agencies have met by the shore.

Rob Suckling and Alan Speed are met by local coastguard, Fiona Lang.

-Is it you I was speaking to on the radio?

-Yeah.

-OK.

She's coordinating radio communications

between the paragliders and emergency services.

Who are they up there?

As far as I'm aware,

they can't actually get down to him because of the way he's suspended.

What happened is starting to become clear.

And was captured by another paraglider on his chest camera.

Two friends, Malick and Andy,

were flying from the top of the cliff when they hit turbulence.

They collided, causing their chutes to collapse.

Grabbing each other, Andy pulled his reserve chute.

But Malick fell and crashed onto the rock face.

Andy landed near him, and crawled across the sheer cliff,

where Malick was choking on his tongue.

He cleared the airway, saving his friend's life.

Other paragliders on the ground were able to communicate by radio

with the pair.

The comms were picked up by the chest camera

on this nearby paraglider.

Paolo, a trainee paragliding instructor, in blue,

flew to the scene to help.

Now, he and Andy are clinging onto the sheer cliff face,

holding unconscious Malick between them.

The mountain rescue team and police are already on scene.

As is local coastguard volunteer, Fiona.

The only casualty care concern is depending on how spinal injury

the spinal injury is,

and whether the cliff rescue team can get a rope down to him.

And get him from that position onto a flat stretcher

and bring him up flat.

-And how long that's going to take.

-Yeah.

An NHS trauma chopper flies in three paramedics and a doctor.

Hi, Stephen. All right? Good to see you, yeah.

He'll assess what's best for the patient.

If he needs a stretcher,

mountain rescue will have to rope down to secure him.

-I want Fiona to coordinate this with the police.

-OK.

I want to speak to the doctors

-and see what their medical assessment is of the casualty.

-OK.

Any situation like that, multi-agency, we need to take charge.

And that's why I just went up to Arran Mobile,

which is a lady called Fiona, who's a volunteer.

It's not normally her day job.

And I said, "I want you to coordinate all the people."

I was paged at about four o'clock from Belfast Coastguard.

And as I only live ten minutes away,

I was first on scene to gather the information.

I just wanted to get the head of the MRT,

the police and the head of the heli-med all in one location,

so we could talk to them and make sure that whatever we came up with as a plan was agreed

and also the best way forward for the person who was

hanging on the hillside.

Basically, with the injuries,

we're either going to do a cliff rescue team rope down to him,

secure him, and they'll bring him off.

Or we'll go and winch him off.

Trauma consultant Stephen Hearns is also an experienced member

of the Mountain Rescue Team, or MRT.

Malick's suspected injuries are too severe for him

to be winched by strop.

The Sea King will drop the doctor and MRT at the clifftop.

They'll scale down and manoeuvre the injured man onto a stretcher,

so that HMS Gannet can winch him to safety.

It's now nearly 5pm.

Malick has been lying unconscious for almost an hour and a half.

In two hours, it will start to get dark.

There's no time to waste.

Herefordshire.

Miles of rolling countryside

and home to one of England's most beautiful valleys.

It's an agricultural county, with fields of potatoes for crisp-making

and acres of cider apple orchards.

And a huge amount of land for the local police to cover.

But Police Constable Sarah Smith wouldn't trade it in.

I'm a country girl at heart.

I've got horses, dogs, chickens.

I lead the good life.

I think that helps a lot to build bridges between myself

and people I speak to.

For example, if somebody's had their saddlery stolen,

I do understand the significance of that,

in that they can't actually exercise their horse tomorrow morning.

So I think it helps that I can talk the language of rural folk

because they know that I understand what they're going through.

Sarah and colleague Sam work in the Operational Patrol Unit,

which means they can get deployed to more serious incidents.

Occasionally, we'll be called to back response officers up at jobs.

Because we've got the fast cars and the advanced driving training,

it's assumed that we can get there top speed.

Additionally, we carry Tasers.

So, if there's any mention of a knife or a weapon,

we will automatically start heading towards that direction.

It's nearly 1am,

Friday night, on a Bank Holiday weekend.

Two officers have just called for assistance.

Someone has been threatened with a knife.

They're racing 13 miles north from Hereford Police Station

to a house in Leominster.

Do you want us to go in this side?

More information has come in.

Apparently, it was a flick knife.

Flick knife with a blade, and Stanley knife.

Over the last year, knife crime in England and Wales rose,

with a 13% increase in the number of assaults with blades.

Right, we've just been called to a knife incident

where somebody has been threatened with a flick knife.

I think it's brothers - or family members, anyway.

We're backing up the locals because we've got Tasers.

So let's get in there.

Two police officers are already on site,

along with at least five members of the public.

DOG BARKS

Right, OK.

All right, then.

Officers, please, listen...

All right, you two come out here and stand out the way.

BLEEP.

All right, then, just come out the way, then.

THEY CONFER LOUDLY

Right out the way.

Just get right out of the way.

-He's got his blade in his hand... He was trying to...

-He's got a knife.

-No, stop!

Stop, stop. Stop!

It seems two brothers have had an argument,

with one allegedly threatening the other with a knife.

-BLEEP.

-Go away.

Go away.

Right, give her some space, please.

Or else we're going to be tripping over you. Please.

See you later, lads, by the looks of it.

Some brother you are, lad. Some brother.

-All right, shh.

-BLEEP.

Stop, go away. Shush.

Listen, listen...

Sarah has to deal with the brother's mum and mates outside.

We're now here. We are...

We are now here, and we are dealing with the incident.

..before I do something really stupid.

-Right, why are you still here?

-I don't know.

Well, go on, then. Off you go.

-What do you mean?

-Off you go.

-I need to get my cider.

-OK, off you go now.

We're dealing with an incident. You can't come in for a minute.

Just walk away.

Come and get it tomorrow.

-Just walk away.

-Yeah, I don't want to be here.

Go and walk up the road.

We will bring you your cider in a minute, OK?

I'll walk in front of you.

Stand right on the road.

'From the time of knocking on the door, we've got no idea what we're walking into.'

And the local officers followed us behind us because, obviously,

we didn't know what number of people were in the house.

As it was, there were...

..probably about five or six people, I think, in the house.

All having had a drink.

So, we cleared the room

and then started addressing the lad who allegedly had the knife.

The priority is to find the knife.

But Sarah's getting distracted.

You've called the police, you've asked us to deal with this.

What I'm asking you to do is give us some space.

I know, I know. The sooner we deal with this...

-Now, I can't deal with this because...

-He's got a knife.

I'm having you talk to you, aren't I?

There's four of us here, we're dealing with it.

Only three of them can deal with it

because I'm having to come out and make sure you lot are OK.

SHE SIGHS So far, there's no sign of any knife.

If there's no knife, there's no evidence.

There's a mum and some brothers or cousins,

and, apparently, the one threatened the other one with a knife.

They've all had a drink.

We can't find a knife. We searched him.

He's said there is no knife.

All right, at the moment, standing here waking your neighbours up,

shouting, isn't going to help, is it? So we'll go and find knife.

Turns out, the man who's so keen to get his cider

apparently knows where the knife is.

OK, another quick update.

Apparently the witness who saw the lad waving the knife

has now not seen him waving the knife.

He just saw him holding it and it's a fishing knife.

So, I'll relay that back to the guys inside.

The brother suspected of wielding the knife

is taken away for questioning.

But for one of his mates, there's a more pressing matter.

Are you happy for this young man to have some cider out of there,

-so he can go home?

-No.

-No?

-You heard him yourself, officer.

You know he had the knife.

-OK, is the cider his that's in there?

-Yeah, a little bit.

Shall we just give it to him so he can go home? Yeah?

Right, I'm going to go and get your cider so you can go home.

What is your cider? Where am I looking?

-Up there on that left-hand side of the cupboard.

-Right.

-Right, if I give you this, you just go home.

-Yeah.

And then you're one less person to worry about.

Night-night, thank you very much.

The cider drinker's finally dispatched.

And then... Result.

We found the knife.

It's a small three-inch pocketknife, penknife.

So we'll just sort that out and the officers will take statements

off whoever would like to give a statement to say what's happened.

The lad's been arrested.

And when he's sobered up, he'll be interviewed.

This is a typical... Typical Friday night.

Lots of alcohol, families having a row.

In the heat of the moment in an argument, he's got it out,

waved it around.

So they've panicked and done the right thing, really,

and called the police.

The two officers have taken the suspect down to Hereford custody

and we'll be going shortly.

Sarah and Sam have another hour on shift.

Welcome to Leominster.

-THEY LAUGH

-Yeah!

Found the knife, anyway.

The locals will deal with the incident itself.

Whatever threats were or weren't made with this knife,

they'll take the statements.

It's not about the job itself, it's all the add-ons.

The neighbours came out, and that other lad that came out.

We have to politely ask them to go.

-But we got there.

-We got there.

On the Isle of Arran,

paraglider Malick is now conscious.

But is critically injured with suspected spinal damage.

He's stranded on an almost vertical cliff face.

A trauma doctor and mountain rescue team have been dropped by chopper

at the top of the cliff.

They must abseil 150 feet down to secure and stretcher

the injured man.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We've got enough fuel.

As soon as you've got an update, let us know.

HMS Gannet waits.

But as soon as they get the green light, they can start winching.

177, we have the casualty packaged and our MR stretcher,

and everyone is ready for uplift, over.

Rob decided that I was going to be winched down.

Now, I knew that I was up, this was my moment and it was pretty...

I've got to admit, I was pretty scared, pretty pumped.

But it's what I trained to do.

As winchman Alan Speed prepares to be lowered 200 feet down,

there's a problem.

Where we were, we were pretty close into the cliff.

And I know the pilot was working extremely hard.

Out of the corner of my eye,

I saw something moving around the tail rotor,

and we realised that we were blowing up a secondary chute.

Luckily, quick thinking by the Arran Mountain Rescue Team,

they sent a guy down who managed to stow that away pretty quickly.

If that had hit the tail rotor,

it could have caused a massive control malfunction.

We could have ended up spinning out of control

and, potentially, crashing into the side of the cliff.

With disaster averted and the helicopter in a stable hover,

the team start winching.

Still working again.

Raising the winch.

Malick will be winched up last,

as the stretcher could swing and knock other people off the cliff.

Right, let's go.

Paolo, the paragliding instructor who flew in to help,

it first to be lifted.

As soon as I got down,

I realised it was a lot steeper than it looked from the air.

There was a bit of a snagging hazard with the rope work.

So I had to do a little bit of a dance about on the cliff

to get the first guy in.

I could see he was extremely scared.

So at these points, you have to kind of manhandle people

a little bit, which it may seem that you're being a bit rough,

but their safety is your concern at the end of the day.

Next is Andy, the paraglider who collided with Malick.

He's been clinging on to the cliff side,

holding on to his friend, for two and a half hours.

HE GRUNTS

Now, it's the turn of trauma doctor Stephen.

OK, lowering the winch.

He's attached to both the cliff side and the stretcher.

Steady. Back only two yards.

But before Speedy's able to help the doctor fit the harness securely,

the winch starts to tighten.

And raise the winch.

And Speedy's uncontrollably lifted into the air.

And raise the winch.

Stop! Stop, stop, no!

Stop!

As Speedy drops back to ground,

Stephen detaches from the cliff side.

He's now only attached to the stretcher.

At this point, Stephen was attached still to the stretcher,

which was not ideal because the aircraft's pulling him one way

and the stretcher's pulling him the other.

I immediately just got on the radio and said, "Stop, stop, lower him."

But at this point,

Stephen had become detached from the side of the cliff.

Speedy secures Stephen just in time.

And, finally, they begin to lift.

Speedy's coming up.

And bring him into the aircraft.

There you go, back into the seats.

That's how you do it.

So a little bit of a kerfuffle,

but I got him up safely and he was still smiling

when I got him in the aircraft. So I was happy.

With three on board, it's now Malick's turn.

Steady.

Steady.

He's strapped to the MRT stretcher,

which is tethered securely to the cliff side.

At this point, I needed to explain to Rob, who was 200 feet above me,

that he needed to winch very slowly

once I was connected to the stretcher.

Because what we need to do is get the tension on the wire

for the aircraft.

And as soon as I got that tension,

I know I'm not going to swing out or fall down the cliff.

I get the mountain rescue guy, who's got a knife ready,

to cut the ropes that are holding the stretcher to the side of the cliff.

You don't want to get this part wrong,

because if you do, then a disaster will soon follow.

They cut the rope.

It's taken incredible precision and coordination

between the rescuers.

And raise the winch.

Raise the winch, raise the winch.

Stop the winch!

And lower the winch.

Lower the winch.

Lower the winch, lower the winch.

Lower the winch...

Stop winch.

But they make it.

While the MRT climb back up the cliff on ropes,

pilot John heads for the meeting point by the shore,

where Andy and Paolo will be looked after

by the awaiting emergency services.

With the light fading, the team must speed to Glasgow

with critically injured Malick,

who's watched over by the doctor.

Search and rescue is a team effort.

For me, it's been great to be involved in that environment,

that search and rescue club.

You've gone through all that training.

To be able to put that into practice and, at the end of the day,

help somebody.

Sometimes, you do make a real difference in people's lives

and it's a real exciting experience.

But I certainly feel privileged to do the job.

20 minutes after leaving Arran,

and as night falls,

the team arrive in Glasgow.

Where Malick is transferred to the waiting A&E.

It's been all go for the emergency services across the British Isles.

90-year-old Betty spent two weeks in hospital

recovering from her infection.

She's now moved to a care home, where help is on hand.

In the town of Leominster, Herefordshire,

the brother arrested in the knife incident was released.

No charges were made.

And on Arran, a life was saved.

After being lifted from the cliff side to hospital,

the full extent of paraglider Malick's injuries came to light.

He suffered a number of fractures to his spine

and spent nearly two months in hospital.

He's now learning to walk again.

And who said it was quiet in the countryside?