Episode 13 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.

SIRENS BLARE

You're under arrest for failing 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...

BABY WAILS

..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,

we celebrate 40 years of missions as HMS Gannet Search and Rescue

marks its final year.

Nicely done, guys.

Warwickshire countryside cops

uncover more than they bargained for.

Was in the centre console on plain view,

and he's just admitted that there is some paraphernalia in the car,

and potentially some needles as well that I need to watch out for.

And an Isle of Man ambulance crew

give emergency care to an unconscious woman.

Open your eyes up for me.

Scotland.

From its remote islands

to its towering mountains

this dramatic landscape is the ultimate playground for

thrill-seeking adventurers.

But when things go wrong and lives are at risk...

..the team from HMS Gannet have been stepping in to help out

for 40 years.

This Royal Navy Search and Rescue squadron

has flown thousands of missions,

saving countless lives.

But, in January 2016, they flew their last.

Give me winch control. We'll winch Red down.

We're looking back over some of the squadron's most challenging rescues

from their final years before operations passed over

to the Maritime Coastguard Agency.

Just coming aboard now.

In 2015 they rescued a grandfather

who'd fallen overboard into an icy sea loch.

Winching him from a moving boat took precision timing

and great communication skills.

Slowly, slowly, slowly, safe onboard, stop the winch.

In the same year,

they relied on nerves of steel on the Isle of Arran...

..when a mid-air paragliding collision left three men

clinging to a cliff face,

one in a serious condition.

Casualty onboard

and you're bound to Glasgow University Hospital.

And in 2013 in the Lake District,

Gannet joined forces with the Mountain Rescue team.

When time was critical they sped the walker to hospital.

The men and women of Gannet have risked their lives to save others.

In 2012 they were tested to their limits

when this mountain, Buachaille Etive Mor,

became the scene of an emergency rescue

in the dead of night.

It's 6pm in winter.

Three experienced climbers are lost and separated in the pitch-black.

They took a wrong turn on the 3,353 foot peak.

It's sub-zero and snowy.

Terrible conditions to be stranded in

and for carrying out a rescue.

As an experienced winchman, Taff Ashford knows this mountain well.

In these circumstances, it will be a tough challenge.

To make matters worse, observer Angela Lewis knows

severe weather is due in two hours.

The crew have the climbers' rough positions

but in complete darkness, they'll be hard to find.

We'll be there in three minutes' time, three minutes.

Night-vision goggles will enable the crew to see

white light from two miles away.

They spot some bright lights.

The rain's lashing down

and freezing rain is imminent.

With just a few feet between the nine-metre long rotor blades

and the mountain face, one wrong move could end in disaster.

The pilot must hover extremely steadily

while winchman Taff descends 80 feet into the rainy darkness

to recover the first man.

There's a bit of a nerve factor involved.

We are hovering very close to the mountain.

When it is dark, obviously you start thinking that, actually,

you've got someone concentrating on looking down at winching,

getting me in safe, you've got to keep that scan going

to make sure the blades don't impact the rocks.

Taff shouts to be heard above the helicopter noise.

The climber must hold his backpack

to ensure there's no danger of him slipping through the strop.

The first climber's safe

but his two friends are 25 feet further down.

And it doesn't take long to retrieve the second.

That's two in

but there's still one man left.

At last, all three climbers are safely onboard.

The night could have been totally different for these three men.

They've had a lucky escape, thanks to the team from HMS Gannet.

From swift rescue by air to life-saving treatment on the road,

our rural emergency services go the extra mile to help those in need.

The Isle of Man sits in the centre of the Irish Sea,

at the heart of the British Isles.

Looking after 85,000 residents is the island's ambulance service.

Paramedic Sean Crellin and emergency medical technician Sean Cannon

make a tight team.

We're known as the two Seans but we're not famous for it.

It makes it easier for the patients

who've only got to remember one name.

We've both only got to remember one name so, yeah,

makes life a bit easier.

Myself and Sean have worked together now for nearly three years.

We get on very well.

48 hours a week.

48 hours a week, it's definitely more than I spend with my wife!

SEAN CHUCKLES

I do get on very well with my wife(!)

The crew are in the north of the island

when a 999 call comes in.

Yeah, treble-nine, please.

'Unconscious, unresponsive 70-year-old female...

That's all received.

We're probably about six miles away.

Yeah, it's a female at her home address.

Unconscious but is breathing normally.

She's six days post-op as well, from a broken hip.

From their position on a mountain road,

they need to get to the island's capital, Douglas,

where the patient's been found unresponsive in her home.

While they blue-light to the scene,

a first responder on the outskirts of Douglas has been sent ahead.

In 15 minutes, they arrive.

Former nurse Kathleen is in a bad way.

She'd been doing well after an operation

six days ago, following a hip fracture.

But today, husband Anthony found her unconscious in a chair.

Straight onto a chair, bring her down to the ambulance, we'll

do some more assessments there and get her, get her stabilised, OK?

First responder Pete is a fully trained paramedic.

He's measured 73-year-old Kathleen on the GCS,

or Glasgow Coma Scale, a system used to measure levels of consciousness.

When we first got there, Pete was on scene already.

He'd done a few assessments, said she had a reduced GCS.

She wasn't responsive initially.

Kathleen needs life-saving treatment in the ambulance

before they even attempt the journey to hospital.

Open your eyes up for me.

That's great, thank you.

We're going to pop you onto a chair.

Yeah, we'll pop you on a chair and get you down to the ambulance,

get you bit more comfortable.

'She had a high temperature.'

From a history taken we believe that she'd not long had an operation,

so we thought there might be an infection from that.

We're going to pop you on a chair now.

-There you are.

-Thanks very much.

Just sit back in that chair now.

OK, you all right there?

How are you feeling now, Kathleen?

I'm OK, just a bit shaky.

A bit shaky. OK.

The crew think Kathleen could have an infection in her blood

following her recent operation.

She has a high temperature and has been sick this morning.

Now her blood sugar levels are a concern.

-You're not diabetic, are you?

-No.

OK. Cos your blood sugars are very low at the moment.

Kathleen, just need you to keep this arm very,

very still and relaxed for us, OK?

SHE MURMURS INAUDIBLY

That's it, you're doing really good. Keep nice and relaxed for us.

You're not diabetic, but you haven't had much to eat today?

No, I was sick.

Low blood sugar, or hypoglycaemia, can lead to coma.

Kathleen needs rapid-acting glucose to raise her levels.

And the best way to get it in her system is intravenously.

-Right, what we need to do, Kathleen, is give you some glucose.

-OK.

Going to give you that through a little vein in your arm

-if we can get one. Is that all right with you?

-Yes.

OK. That's it, and just rest that arm down for us,

and, if you can, give my hand a little squeeze there.

That's it, that's really good.

There you go, just relax back there while we sort ourselves out.

Keep your arm nice and still for me there, Kathleen.

OK, so what we'll do, we'll give you what effectively is

a sugary solution, which will bring your blood sugar levels up a bit.

They're a little bit low, they're 2.7, they were,

which is...below the level we want them anyway,

and the effect of that can make you feel sort of drowsy and unusual.

Hopefully this will pick her up a little bit, the sugar.

It's a worrying time for Anthony.

I found her slumped in the chair, and not responding.

We couldn't get her to respond at all

-so that's why we decided we should call you.

-Yeah.

Do you feel any different, any brighter, any worse?

Yeah, little bit better.

That sugar will hopefully have helped you,

bring you to a little bit.

-How's your breathing been feeling today?

-OK.

Been feeling OK,

-not been feeling short of breath of anything?

-No.

-That's good. You've had no pains in your chest?

-No.

Kathleen is starting to respond to the treatment,

but despite the glucose she's been given,

her blood sugars are still too low.

Blood sugars have come up a little bit, Kathy, but not enough,

not yet, so we'll give you a little bit more.

-Do you know what day it is today?

-Tuesday.

-Good.

Give you another 50 ml of glucose and then hopefully,

-it'll have us in the right area of blood sugar levels.

-Thank you.

I'm feeling a bit chilly

You're feeling chilly? Put your hands under there, if you wish.

Her blood pressure's a little bit lower than we'd like.

When we're in the house, it felt very low.

This patient's fluctuating condition is keeping the crew on their toes.

They don't know the cause of her symptoms for sure,

but by using the ambulance as a mobile hospital,

Sean and Sean are doing everything they can to stabilise Kathleen.

From the Isle of Man...

..to Northern Ireland...

..to the Lake District and across Scotland...

..another emergency service, HMS Gannet,

has played a vital role in keeping people safe.

In 2016, this naval squadron's work

was passed to the Maritime Coastguard Agency.

But the bravery of Gannet won't be forgotten by those they rescued.

We will attempt to recover the life raft.

In 2012, the team flew out into the Atlantic

to save two fishermen whose boat had sunk.

At the door, retake winch control.

That winter, in freezing conditions,

they joined other emergency services...

..to help car crash casualties in the remote Scottish Highlands.

We are now bringing the helicopter in,

get the two walking wounded in and off straight away.

And, in torrential rain a year later, they rescued

an injured worker who'd fallen on remote hillside.

But in 2013, it was the landscape itself that would force

the crew to make a risky rescue.

A forestry worker was trapped under a tree in isolated woodland

on the Cowal Peninsula.

The injured forestry worker is with his colleague

at least a mile from the nearest road.

So a helicopter rescue is the only option.

They've spotted his colleagues,

but don't know how far into the forest the casualty is.

The terrain's too uneven and boggy to land the ten-tonne helicopter.

So the only choice is to lower winchman

Lee Haggerty down to find him.

Start the winch. Just mind those logs.

Coming down with ten feet to the ground,

five feet to the ground, on the ground.

Disconnected. Raise the winch.

Raise the winch.

All right, you OK, sir?

We thought he was stuck under a tree?

Right.

Unbelievably, 24-year-old Brent has managed to get out from under

the tree and drag himself 30 feet to the edge of the forest.

Take it off.

Considering a hefty 80-foot tree has crushed his leg,

Brent's remarkably calm.

Winchman Lee's trained to ambulance technician level,

so will do what he can to treat him until they get to hospital.

-Get these breeks off?

-Just leave them there.

The kneecap's slightly off to the left.

What exactly...? Just having a look.

He's badly injured.

So the transfer to the helicopter could be painful.

-Sure you don't want any pain relief?

-No, I'm fine.

We're going to be moving you, it might mean bit of pain,

but just let me know.

Brent's been a lumberjack all his working life.

Astonishingly, he's showing no signs of pain in what Lee

believes to be a broken tibia in his lower leg.

So the tree sprung out?

Just sprung against me and trapped me against...

We were cutting this one with a chainsaw, and it sprung this way.

-Oh, right, OK.

-Bent him at the ankle and whacked him at the knee and knocked him flat.

Brent needs hospital treatment, but there's a problem.

They need to get him clear of the trees,

so they can winch him onto the aircraft.

Lee's stabilised Brent's leg with a vacuum splint,

ready to move it.

-OK?

-Fine, aye.

-Is that compressing

at the bottom of your leg as well? Can you feel it?

Yeah, yeah, I can feel it.

The downdraught from the helicopter's nine-metre rotor blades

will make the transfer across very rough terrain even more difficult.

Thankfully, Brent's workmates are on hand

to help perform a lumberjack lift.

Ready? Right, go!

I feel like I'm sinking. Go on.

The environment's horrendous.

When you're on the ground, it's undulating,

you've got the tree stumps everywhere,

we had a small stream that we had to actually extract him across

and being only three guys there, he's a pretty big lad, as well,

it was pretty difficult.

Observer Phil must guide the helicopter in as close

to the trees as he dare.

Right only, 25 yards

and continue down 20 feet, slowly.

Every member of the crew uses focused effort to pull off

this dangerous manoeuvre.

They must steer clear of the tree tops,

flying just 130 feet above the ground.

Seven yards, five yards, four, advance two,

four yards.

Now you've just tipped over the trees.

Two o'clock, right at the top of the trees.

Easy, easy, steady there, good position.

Brent is put in a cradle attached to a weighted line, or highline,

so he's as stable as possible whilst the aircraft is in a tilted position

to keep them clear of the trees.

OK, raise the winch just level with the door.

OK, and stop right, you take winch control.

We have, right, lower the winch.

Lower the winch, stop the winch.

Now Brent's safe, the crew head for Glasgow.

Give us 1778, I'm happy with Glasgow Southern General, over.

There, Brent is treated for a broken knee and tibia.

Brilliant example of how we "train hard, fight easy"

and we brought all the skills together there

so it was excellent.

Another successful rescue -

just one of the thousands made by the men and women of HMS Gannet

during their four decades of loyal service.

Warwickshire, West Midlands.

With no cities on this landlocked patch of Britain,

it's a big county full of big country.

But when it comes to policing...

..that brings its own set of problems...

Get out of the car! Get out of the car now!

Hands behind your back!

..as PC Craig Purcell knows only too well.

Not too many of the criminals that I'm out looking for

live on our area. They tend to be travelling through.

Sometimes they pass straight through,

other times they use the road network

in order to pop off into the villages and commit crime.

Craig covers a patch of 150 square miles,

crisscrossed by arterial and country roads.

This officer's got his work cut out.

Today Craig's patrolling the A3400 near Alderminster

on the lookout for suspicious vehicles...

..when a car comes to his attention with a driver he knows.

There a red Seat Leon.

It's registered to a male who, last time I checked,

had an expired driving licence.

He's also known for drug use in the past

so we'll just go and have a stop of the vehicle and see what we've got.

SIRENS

You got a licence?

No, I haven't.

No. Say again, sorry?

I've just literally got it on the road.

Got it on the road. Come and have a seat in the car, then,

so I can check it through.

Have you sorted your driving licence out? Cos it was expired.

It had been revoked, hadn't it?

Leaving a passenger in the vehicle,

Craig wants to speak to the driver on his own turf, in the police car.

So go on. What were you saying happened with your driving licence?

What have you done with it?

Did you send your driving licence somewhere?

Got ya.

With this lad claiming he just bought the car

and just sent off for a new licence,

Craig's got a bit of digging to do on the Police National Computer.

Calling control papa 51, please, over.

Thank you. It's 1681 requesting a traffic stop

on the A3400 at Alderminster.

Sure, he will be on there.

And it seems Craig's digging just dug up more dirt.

Yeah, that's copied, thank you.

You haven't paid a fine.

I don't know what the fine is

but there's a warrant out for your arrest.

So the driver's licence was revoked

when he didn't sent it to the DVLA to get points added.

Now it seems he's also been dodging an unrelated 36 quid fine.

A warrant's out for his arrest.

At any point, if you're stopped, you get arrested.

That's how it works, unfortunately.

So at the moment you're under arrest,

because that warrant's still active.

You don't have to say anything but it may harm your defence

if you fail to mention when questioned something you'll

later rely on in court and anything you do say may be given in evidence.

Let me look more into it, but I have to arrest you first,

because we're going to be detaining you. Pass me that hand over.

I'll do some more digging into it before we start driving off

anywhere, but...just lean your hands up a little bit

so I can double lock them.

There's a non-payment of fines warrant out for this gent's arrest

at the moment, so I've arrested him for it,

I'll look into it a bit more, see if there's anything else we can do

rather than take him over to custody but at the moment he's under arrest.

Craig decides a search is in order.

Jump out.

Pop your hands on top of the car for me.

Nothing sharp?

No pins, no, no knives from work or anything like that, no?

I'll try and figure it out for you.

If I haven't got to take you in, then I won't take you.

The driver might be clean, but the car's another case altogether.

Chuck us that.

The blue thing.

How does that unflip?

Craig's retrieved a retractable knife in the front of the car.

Why is that sat in your centre console, mate?

You can't be driving round with that in your...say you get into

a road rage incident with someone.

You know the deal with regards having knives

and sharply bladed articles and driving around with them,

and I know you might have been at work

but the only thing that's sat out and on view at the moment

in your centre console is that.

I'm gonna search the car.

Are there any drugs in it, any bits of cannabis or anything like that?

No, but there is paraphernalia.

Just the paraphernalia. Any sharps in there?

-Yeah.

-Where are they?

-Glove box.

-In the glove box, OK.

With a knife, no valid licence, a warrant out for his arrest

and an admission of drugs paraphernalia in the car,

this routine stop's anything but routine.

In an ambulance on the Isle of Man, crew members Sean Cannon

and Sean Crellin are giving life-saving treatment to Kathleen.

They're fighting what they think are symptoms

of an infection in her blood.

Blood pressure's a little bit on the low side as well.

-It wasn't initially, but...

-What is it?

It is now, right now, it's 83 over 59.

-Really?

-Yeah. That's a bit low, isn't it?

-Yes.

Don't worry, we'll sort that out.

Kathleen was found unconscious at home by her husband Anthony.

Well, I was extremely worried.

There didn't seem to me to be any reason why

Kathleen's condition should have deteriorated so quickly

and so dramatically, and they were obviously concerned about

her blood sugar levels and her blood pressure,

which was very... Both were very low.

And they felt the need to try and at least stabilise that

before setting off to go to the hospital

and that's what they were working on in the ambulance.

We believe that she was suffering from an infection

in the bloodstream,

possibly from the operation she had in the previous weeks.

We gave one gram of IV paracetamol.

That's going to help take her temperature down.

We gave her the glucose, which will help pick her sugar levels up,

and then we gave her some fluids,

which help pick her blood pressure up and also help flush out the acids

that have built up in her blood stream.

After half an hour of emergency treatment in the ambulance

the crew were on their way to hospital.

It's a little bit bumpy as we go down through here,

just heading to the bottom of Tromode.

As they arrive, Sean checks Kathleen's blood sugars again.

Just have one of your fingers there on your left hand.

That's it.

Your blood sugar now is up to 4.6.

That's a lot better than it was when we first got here.

Your pulse is a little bit irregular.

Is that something that's normal for you?

-No.

-No.

-I feel shaky.

-Yeah.

We're at the hospital now, Kathleen, so we're not going to be long.

We'll get you moved out.

Sean and Sean's focused attention

in the back of the ambulance has been critical.

It's not always obvious what the patient's problem is

so sometimes you just have to treat what you see,

and then see what the result of that is and then move on from there,

and just make sure you don't miss anything out, and, you know,

if you do that then you'll hopefully come up with an answer.

I think we both enjoy the challenge of diagnostics.

We like to define the problem, and the equipment we've got

now in the ambulances is absolutely fantastic.

And it gives us such a clear view of the patient's condition

and hopefully we'll detect what the problem is

and if we can, we'll rectify it as quickly as we can.

Sean's a good technician.

I trust him thoroughly. He's great to work with.

I think he trusts me. Sometimes he knows what

I'm thinking before I even think it so, it works well, yeah.

It's time for the A & E medics to take over.

Two weeks ago, nurse Orla Pierce met Kathleen when she broke her hip.

I know her and this is not her. She was so lively when she came in,

even though she was waiting so long and she still kept to herself.

Very smiley lady she is.

We're gonna take some blood tests just to analyse,

then we're gonna ask one of the ED doctor to see her,

and then we'll take it from there,

and then we'll arrange some CT scan, just to see

she hasn't fractured any of her skull.

That will be it.

My little angel here!

THEY LAUGH

Kathleen now faces an array of tests

to find the cause of her sudden decline and treat it, fast.

In Warwickshire, PC Craig Purcell is about to search a vehicle

he's pulled over.

The driver's licence has been revoked,

and he's a known class A drugs user.

After arresting him for an unpaid fine,

Craig's found a retractable knife in the front of the car.

But that's not all.

It was in the centre console on plain view,

and he's just admitted that there are some paraphernalia in the car

and potentially some needles as well that I need to watch out for

so, they're supposed to be in the glove box.

The passenger is asked to leave.

Just step out for me.

See, that's burnt.

So he's got a note from the warrant officer,

knowing that there's a warrant out for his arrest,

and then as soon as you open the glove box there are,

needles there, it's wet inside, you can tell it's been used,

you've got the burnt tin,

tissues with little bits of blood on,

there's definitely class A drug use going on,

it's just a question of the paraphernalia.

Have we got any actual drugs in the car?

Craig doesn't believe the driver is under the influence at the moment

and he's found no drugs

but there's still the outstanding issue of the driving licence.

So you haven't got a driving licence at the moment.

So good news, bad news. It is 36 quid for your fine.

I'll work with you for that, I'm not taking you over it,

we know where you live in the past, I'm not taking you over,

Bad news, you can't drive the car and it's gonna be seized.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Your licence is revoked. There's nothing I can do about that.

And it turns out it's no recent thing.

The licence was revoked five years ago.

So you know when that happened, 2010?

What, it's been revoked since then?

Yeah, well, that's what it says on that one.

There are so many different systems with it on, but, yeah,

on the main DVLA one, that's what it's saying, 2010.

This lad's not feeling lucky now,

but Craig could be doing him a favour.

If they are involved in a collision

and there's an issue with the driving licence,

the insurance company may choose to look into that

and may choose not to pay out on any insurance claim that's made.

That can have an impact on the individual, you know,

the financial impact of that can be severe

to the point where people lose their jobs, they lose their livelihood.

I'm gonna de-arrest you in relation to...the warrant.

Rather than leave this lad and his mate stranded,

Craig's giving them a lift to Stratford-upon-Avon.

But this driver will need to fork out to get his wheels back.

You're looking at 150 quid.

Is it, and no more?

It's 150 quid straight, if you pick it up tomorrow, 150 quid.

For every day after the initial 24 hours that it's there,

it's an extra 21 quid a day.

He needs to sort out his driving licence, get his car back

and pay off his outstanding fine.

It's quite a checklist.

People might travel through thinking there aren't any police

in the area. We are in the area.

There weren't any class A drugs in it

but there's class A drug use, certainly,

and plenty of needles in there,

and driving with a five-year revoked driving licence.

We are about. If you're driving through, we'll catch you.

From keeping our roads safe

to critical care in an ambulance,

rural emergency services across the nation are saving lives

and fast-tracking recovery.

When Anthony found his wife Kathleen slumped unconscious in a chair,

Isle of Man ambulance paramedics arrived in 15 minutes.

Right, Kathy, what we need to do is give you some glucose.

OK.

The specialist skills of team Sean Crellin and Sean Cannon

improved Kathleen's condition enough to take her to hospital.

So she'll be looked at by the doctors, they'll do a blood test,

and try and investigate the reasons for her problems today.

After being admitted to hospital,

Kathleen was moved to intensive care.

They were worried about her blood sugar and her blood pressure

and they got her into the ICU as quickly as they could.

And she was in the ICU for 36 hours.

Now, five weeks after her spell in intensive care,

Kathleen is back home.

I was in hospital for nearly two weeks.

I got pneumonia.

But I didn't realise I'd got a chest infection previous to that.

But obviously by the chest x-rays,

they could see the shadows on my lungs.

I was shown the X-ray by the consultant, showing the dark spaces

where the lungs are, and that space was substantially filled, 50-60%,

with sort of snow, the sort of thing you see on the television

when you lose the picture.

And he said, "That's the infection."

The cleaner came. I couldn't...

Well, I let her in, but I wasn't still not feeling

very well, so I came and sat down here

and the next minute I knew, I was in the ambulance

with the paramedics.

And also she said that Kathleen was quite confused

and in fact, instead of handing her the basket

with clothes to be ironed,

she tried to hand her a bag of rubbish

that was waiting to be taken out to the skip.

Oh, did I?

Yeah. Jo told me that.

I don't remember that!

She said that you really didn't,

-you know, you weren't yourself at all.

-No.

But the former nurse does remember who looked after her

in the ambulance.

The paramedic that looked after me is called Sean, and another Sean.

SHE LAUGHS

And they were great.

And I couldn't speak more highly of them.

They took care of me very well.

It was nice to get home.

Always nice to come home.

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

In Warwickshire, PC Purcell reported a man

for driving other than in accordance with a licence.

He's likely to face three points and a £100 fine.

After failing to pick up his car, it was disposed of.

Kathleen is getting over her pneumonia,

but her fractured hip will take another few months to mend.

And HMS Gannet's crew saved lives till their final days of duty.

And you thought it was quiet in the countryside!