Episode 3 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.

SIREN WAILS

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...

BABY CRIES

..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...

In Scotland, Search and Rescue race to the aid of a grandfather

who has been thrown overboard.

On the Isle of Man, paramedics speed up-country to a biker

knocked-out in a one-in-a-million collision.

Any pain, just say, "Yes."

And on Lake Windermere,

a warden rushes to find teenagers lost in a storm.

Where's the one missing? Where's the other person?

Scotland, its world-famous landscape is one of dramatic extremes.

From towering mountains...

..to thunderous seas,

there's something here to inspire

and challenge everyone - young and old.

And if anyone should ever find themselves in danger,

the Royal Navy's HMS Gannet Search and Rescue team

will get to them wherever they are.

Rescue 177 airborne.

The team respond to over 300 incidents a year

and they fly where no-one else can,

in the most extreme conditions,

rescuing on land...

..and sea.

Air crewman Alan 'Speedy' Speed is the medical technician on the team.

I enjoy the fact I get to engage with members of the public and

help them and, you know, sometimes

you do make a real difference in people's lives.

Sea temperature's 13 and there's a low, rough, north-westerly swell.

Today, the team's on duty and attending a briefing.

A call comes in.

A man has fallen from a boat.

With a life at stake, the team get airborne quickly

and prepare themselves en route.

It will be Speedy's job to winch down and get him out.

Generally, with someone in the water

you need to be pretty rapid to get on scene.

My immediate thoughts were, "I need to get

"into some gear that will allow me to winch somebody out of the water."

I was preparing all of that.

Observer Chris Flynn finds out all he can about the incident.

He radios the Belfast coastguard who deal with all 999 calls

made from the south-west coast of Scotland.

The grid reference is for the waters just off Tarbert harbour.

From Prestwick, the village is a 40-mile flight due north-west.

It sits on Loch Fyne, Scotland's longest sea loch.

Even in late summer

water temperatures here don't rise far above 10 degrees.

September temperatures around here are some of the warmest.

It gives the...

The water's had a chance to heat up through the summer,

but still, if you're not in any sort of protective clothing,

then you will very quickly cool.

An 82-year-old man with a heart condition

can't survive in the waters of Loch Fyne for long.

The Gannet team need to get to him fast.

You're looking at probably less than half an hour for,

especially a chap of that age,

to be surviving in the water.

Not sure what to expect at that point.

So for all I knew the gentleman could be face down in the water,

or, you know, sinking under.

We didn't know if he had a life jacket,

what kind of clothing he had on.

If he was in a cardiac arrest,

I also need to be ready to treat that accordingly.

Then new information comes in.

In a helicopter it can be quite difficult communication-wise

because you've got the pilots

who are trying to talk to the air traffic control.

Kinloss Rescue. Kinloss Rescue. Rescue 177.

You've also got Chris who is basically trying to contact

Kinloss, who are the tasking authority,

and then, on the other hand, you also have,

because it's in the sea, it's the coastguard, as well.

So basically, there's three different conversations

going on on radios.

The Belfast coastguard have put out a Mayday call to all

boats in the area.

It's been confirmed the casualty

has been pulled from the water

by the crew of a boat called the Maighdean Mhara.

We'd found that he'd been taken onto a boat,

so immediately, I kind of relaxed a little bit.

This is Belfast coastguard.

But then a new problem arises.

The tide is out at Tarbert which means climbing up a vertical

ladder from the boat onto the jetty.

The Maighdean Mhara crew say the casualty is immobile

and very difficult to manoeuvre.

Added to that, Tarbert is a small fishing town

edged by the rocky slopes rising out of Loch Fyne.

The nearest landing ground to the harbour is a football pitch

around a mile away.

With the casualty freezing and immobile, it's a mile too far.

We had a discussion in the crew.

We decided that it might be better

to get the boat to head back out to sea.

It's a busy harbour.

Flying a 56-foot, 9.5 ton Sea King helicopter in

to winch amongst crowded boats is a risky option.

The crew of the Gannet have directed the Maighdean Mhara

back out of the busy harbour to where Loch Fyne

begins to open out into the Firth of Clyde.

There it will be safe for Speedy to winch down to the casualty.

But winching onto a small moving vessel will be no easy task,

and with time ticking, the risks to the 82-year-old casualty increase.

150 miles south of Loch Fyne is Windermere,

another great body of water that meanders through a valley

carved out by glaciers 13,000 years ago.

Things have warmed up a lot since then and when the sun comes out

these days, this 10.5 mile lake is awash with boats of all sizes

from passenger ferries...

PASSENGERS CHEER

..to canoes.

It's the South Lakeland District Council Lake Warden's job to

help out people in trouble on Windermere...

whatever they are doing.

-LISPS:

-Captain Scuttle at your service, sir.

Martin Dodgson has been a warden for 18 years.

He's a Windermere man, born and bred,

and he has his own rescue story.

I, myself, got saved from drowning many, many, many years ago.

I fell in and there was this almighty big hand of God came in

and rescued me from out the water.

It's been a real good inspiration in my life

being able to help other people enjoy the lake in a safe manner.

And Martin has never looked back.

I would say it would be a contender for one of the best jobs.

And one of the best offices.

Sometimes I feel guilty for picking my wages up at the end of the month.

At times I should think about paying THEM!

In the early afternoon, Martin gets a call from base.

Centre lake?

There you go. Might be something to do, might not be.

The broken-down boat is four miles

to the north of the lake warden's base,

on the ferry pier at Brockhole.

Been having a bit of a problem?

THEY BOTH SPEAK OVER EACH OTHER

Christine, Michael and their four-year-old son Alexander

were about to take their boat to shore for a picnic

when their engine stopped.

Luckily, Michael managed to tie the boat up, but he's tied up

on one of Windermere's busiest passenger ferry piers.

There are over 16 passenger ferries sailing Windermere.

The biggest weigh over 200 tons and carry over 500 passengers.

THEY CHEER

On a high summer day like today,

the ferries are scheduled to make over 20 stops here.

Does it turn over at all, or not?

I always try to see if there's anything... An easy fix, basically.

Cos it can be something straightforward

where the engine's not starting.

Just out of curiosity, just try turning it over

when I start doing this and put your throttle into neutral.

Right, and just try turning it over.

So you just go through one or two of the basic things.

Checking his isolator switch.

You see, usually, you'd hear the starter motor clicking

or something like that.

Battery cable's loose.

Actually, I just changed it for a charged-up battery.

As it happened, the whole engine was dead.

Is there any fuses on the dashboard that pop out?

They're out of ideas

and the broken down boat is causing the ferrymen a headache.

Martin decides to tow them away before they cause a ferry jam.

The warden's doing an excellent job, particularly today!

The young boy was very relaxed.

He was loving the attention, he was loving the biscuits, as well,

Mum kept feeding him.

He fell asleep, as well.

It's tired him out. It's the fresh air.

What a way to grow up, working and playing with boats.

Can't ask for anything better, can you?

Just under two hours after their breakdown,

they're back on dry land.

Come on, young fella.

HE GROANS

I wish I... I weighed that weight once.

I really did. Believe it or not.

It's been a straightforward rescue.

-Very kind.

-No worries.

But not every job is as simple.

Glorious weather is great, as people look at you thinking, "Look at them!

"They're going out and getting paid for swanning about on the lake, doing nothing."

Little do they know what we can end up coming across.

Martin's day is about to take a turn for the worse.

On Loch Fyne, Scotland's longest sea loch,

HMS Gannett's search for an 82-year-old man

has turned into a time-critical rescue.

It's been 40 minutes

since a 999 call was made from a small boat near Tarbert Harbour.

The man was thrown into the loch's cold waters for 15 minutes

until rescued by a private boat, the Maighdean Mhara.

Now the team are preparing to winch medical technician Speedy

down onto the moving boat.

We got visual, we identified the boat correctly and,

from the air, I could see someone sat on the back of the boat

who appeared to be an elderly gentleman.

Observer Chris is now operating the winch.

It's a 40ft drop to the boat.

The chopper has slowed to 12 knots,

just over 13mph.

With Speedy safely down, the chopper moves away from the boat.

Finally, Speedy gets to the casualty.

He was shaking, which, generally, with hypothermia is a good sign.

If they're shaking...

It's when they stop shaking we've got to start worrying.

Sandy was out in his small speedboat

with 13-year-old grandson Andrew when he fell overboard.

Unable to pull him back in, quick thinking Andrew

tied his grandpa to the boat and called the Coastguard.

Sandy was rescued from the water by the crew of the Maighdean Mhara.

Sandy has a chronic heart problem.

After the trauma he suffered, there is still a serious risk

of a heart attack.

As the helicopter approaches,

Speedy moves anything that isn't securely fixed down.

The downwash from the rotor blades is strong enough to blow

objects and people off the boat.

Ten yards. Good line.

Eight yards. Good line.

Going up.

INDISTINCT

Lower the winch. Lower the winch, lower the winch. Safe on board.

Stop the winch. I've got it.

Rescue 177 - casualty on board.

Just over an hour after falling into Loch Fyne, the team flies

Sandy to the Mid Argyll Community Hospital in Lochgilphead,

12 miles away.

INDISTINCT

And off air.

He's been rescued from the freezing waters of Loch Fyne,

but he still needs urgent medical attention.

In the secluded blue centre of the Irish Sea

lies the Isle of Man.

It may only be 221 square miles of rolling green land,

but it's world-famous for many things.

Like the Tynwald, the oldest parliament in the world.

And...

motorbike racing.

It's September and the Festival Of Motorcycling is taking place.

A two-week long celebration of all things bike,

when the island's twisting tree-lined public roads

are turned into the world's most challenging racetrack.

But it's not just the Grand Prix riders challenged by these public roads.

The island's ambulance service deals with over 90 road traffic accidents every year.

Emergency medical technician Lisa Montgomery

joined the ambulance service in 2007.

I applied for the ambulance service

and the first time I applied for it I actually got in.

That's after sitting an entrance exam which I thought I'd failed.

Then I had a driving assessment, which I thought was rubbish.

And then I had a formal interview.

And then I got a phone call that day telling me I had the job.

Today, she's on duty with paramedic Kevin Airey and a call has come in.

Go ahead.

Received. Thanks for that.

A motorcyclist has crashed into a drystone wall.

The team blue-light from their base in Douglas north to the crash site

near injured Injebreck Reservoir.

A journey of around five miles.

But on the winding roads out of town,

it will take around 11 minutes.

From the information we have where the collision has taken place,

the road is quite narrow up there.

Around 600 motorcyclists die on the UK's roads every year,

and there are an average of 19 serious injuries a day.

The thoughts that we normally have, like,

how fast was he going on the impact? Is there any spinal injury?

Obviously, the update we've had from control

is that he's bleeding from the mouth.

Obviously, you need to make good progress to get to the RTCs.

Bearing in mind this poor gentleman has actually hit a brick wall

and brick walls don't move.

But the country roads are full of unpredictable dangers.

When you're driving to a 999,

you've got to have your wits about you the whole time.

We actually came across a peacock that was in the main road.

Luckily, we didn't hit it!

All sorts of wildlife over here!

They'd been on the road for ten minutes.

We shouldn't be too far away from the accident now.

We're in the right area.

-Ah, here we are.

-116, arriving on scene.

Hi. What have we got, mate?

A local off-duty police officer was first on scene

and has pieced together the freak accident.

-So a branch has fallen on his head, has it?

-It's just come down.

I don't know if it landed on his head or whatever, but knocked him off his bike.

-Right.

-Fortunately this large brick wall here broke his fall.

-OK.

The biker has propped himself up where he landed.

-Hello, mate. What's your name?

-Bobby.

-Bobby, OK.

-How do you feel at the moment?

-Er...

Not too bad. A bit sort of rough.

45-year-old Bobby was on his way to take-up

his post as a marshal at a motorbike trial event.

-Is your vision OK?

-Is pretty good, yeah.

I think I might have been slightly knocked out

because I can remember the branch and then the rest was a bit like...

-You saw the branch dropping?

-Yeah.

And took a whack on the head when it came down.

-Did you stay on the bike or were you knocked off straightaway?

-Er...

Perhaps that was a bit of a...

That's the bit that's a bit of a mystery.

-Right. OK.

-Then what I can remember was crawling through...

-Right.

Do you know whereabouts you are?

-West Baldwin, just next to the reservoir.

-Right, OK, that's good.

With no signs of memory loss,

Bobby doesn't seem to have suffered any immediate damage to his brain.

What we need to do is just get this helmet off you

so I can check your spine.

But with 11% of all motorcycle accidents resulting in severe

spinal injury or paralysis,

Kevin and Lisa need to remove his helmet

to check Bobby's neck and spine.

Just try and wiggle that off as best I can without trying to take your ears off.

Oh...

Yeah, there's a bit of pain on the right-hand side there.

-Right, hang on, we'll check it out.

-Whereabouts? This...

-Oh, on your face?

-Yeah.

-OK.

We're just going to check your neck, check the bony part of your neck.

Any pain, just say yes.

-Any pain?

-No.

-What about there?

-No.

No, that's fine.

Initially, just checked his spine to make sure that was all OK.

No pain there.

There was no pain on movement, so it was OK to clear that.

And, um...he could move all four limbs, which was great.

Let me just feel that jaw. Right, close your mouth.

Ow!

-Right, where? Just here?

-Yeah.

-Right, OK.

Just watch your elbows there, Bobby, as we go through.

In the ambulance, Kevin and Lisa can give Bobby a more thorough examination.

Can I just check your...your pupils here? Just shine a light in them.

Fast pupil reactions confirm there are no signs of brain damage.

But his jaw is still a worry.

I think by the looks of your jaw, the swelling there,

we think your jaw might be... might have a fracture to it.

And, um...

Everything else seems OK apart from that pain to the left leg as well.

Yeah.

Bobby will need to go to hospital for further tests.

There will be no helping out at the motorcycle trials today.

Well, I've actually had a branch fall on me on the way there.

I'm getting carted off in the back of an ambulance at the minute!

Here we are, Bobby.

I can see where the tree has skidded over top of my helmet there.

Oh, yeah!

There was a fair weight in that branch, you know?

It was quite a big one, wasn't it as well? There you go.

This is Bobby.

A branch has fell off, hit him,

caused him to collide with a wall and he's been thrown over the wall.

Got a small laceration on his right leg and bruising.

But he has complained of quite a lot of pain

in this area on his left leg.

Bobby's jaw and leg will be X-rayed for signs of fracture.

Nice to meet you.

-Right, OK. Thank you.

-No worries.

-Hopefully, I don't see you again!

-Yeah.

-All right?

But it could have been a whole lot worse.

Very lucky.

No spinal injuries.

A couple of abrasions and lacerations and what have you,

but, on the whole, a very lucky man.

He should buy a lottery ticket!

66 miles due east of the Isle of Man,

Martin Dodgson is still on duty on Windermere.

So far, it's been a glorious summer's day.

-Come on, young fella!

-HE GRUNTS

But the weather here can change in an instant.

There will be an awful lot of people out cos the...

The schools are still out for summer,

and I think this is their last week.

Hopefully, this weather, we shall keep as good as this.

But the country around Windermere is the wettest in England,

with an average yearly rainfall of nearly seven feet.

The weather's on the turn and Martin's in a spot of bother.

We're overheating, which is not uncommon,

but there's no panic at the moment

and, as it happens, we've got a radio,

and we're in the middle of the lake, in no immediate danger,

and the Rangers should be somewhere behind us now. Look.

Fortunately, the Lake Windermere Rangers,

who police the waters, are on hand.

-This boat is now yours.

-LAUGHTER

-Permission to board your boat, Sir?

-Yes, it's...

going to have to scuttle. I'll let you do that.

Martin's boat is serviced every 200 hours, so it rarely breaks down.

It even happens to the professionals!

Luckily, he's an experienced marine engineer and fitter.

ENGINE RUMBLES

He fixes it himself.

It is embarrassing to break down but, it just shows,

anyone can break down.

I mean, all you have to do is look at Formula 1, they break down,

Royal Naval ships and tanks break down,

and even sometimes I feel like breaking down.

It's almost 7pm and Martin is about to finish his shift.

THUNDER RUMBLES

Later on that Sunday,

the weather did come in and it chucked it down -

absolutely hammering it down.

Then, a call comes in.

Yeah, I receive. Thanking you.

There is a group of around six lads overdue by a couple of hours,

somewhere, middle of the lake.

An extremely worried parent dialled 999.

The coastguard were alerted and the wardens called.

Six boys, aged between 14 and 18, are missing,

and Martin's heading out to their last known location.

When we received that call from the coastguard,

we had got the details of the rough location

and we proceeded flat-out, basically, cos we were thinking,

you know, "It is life at danger."

The boys went out on a dinghy earlier

and haven't come in since the storm began.

They've been missing almost two hours.

Being there sooner rather than later is always the best way

and every second counts, basically, with water.

You can't hold your breath for a long time under the water.

In just three minutes, Martin spots something.

There's some people waving here, I think, with a...

a dinghy. This could be them but it's not six of them.

It's three of them.

-One to Base.

-'Yeah, go ahead, Martin.'

Yeah, am I still right in assuming that it was six people?

Cos I'm now approaching a dinghy with three young lads in.

'No, negative. Four people - four 16-year-old lads in a dinghy.'

The initial information was wrong.

Four boys were reported missing

but there are only three boys on the boat.

Yeah, I was very worried for them,

and especially when we got closer to the boat,

and I could only see three people.

Well, I had a report of four.

The main concern was, "Where's the other person?"

Right, where's the one missing?

Where's the other person?

Right...

The fourth boy, wearing a life jacket, swam for the shore.

The others saw him climb out of the lake.

And then how come there's only one of you with a buoyancy aid on

in this weather?

The one that's walking back?

Yeah.

That's handy.

There is three in this boat. The other one has walked back.

'Arriving on scene and finding one person only with a life jacket -'

they should have had one each.

Well, the Liverpool Coastguard have been in touch.

People drown in Windermere,

so, can one of you - you - get in here?

-Go on, jump in.

-Oh, that's dangerous.

-And you.

-BOY GROANS

Look at the state of you, lads.

Two of the boys don't have life jackets and they're soaked through.

In clothing like this, they would soon be at risk of hypothermia.

I don't want to go out and pull people out of the water.

I can't think of anything worse. You know, I've had to do it in the past.

'Yeah, a request from Liverpool.

'Can we confirm that the fourth person has been accounted for,

'safe and sound?'

I will do in a minute.

I can see, that's the boathouse,

there's another gentleman,

another young lad with an orange buoyancy aid on.

'We took them back to the jetty

'and we had a long talk to the father'

and I think he gave them a suitable telling off.

Your mother's worried sick.

Eh? What's wrong with playing around here?

Why did you have to go right over there in conditions like this?

The boys were supposed to stay close to the shore

but had, instead, decided to row to a nearby island.

You can fall into the lake and drown. You're freezing as it is.

Well, you've done a great job. Thank you.

-We were getting a bit worried.

-Yeah, ta, bro.

You're not meant to be heading that far in these conditions.

-You know you weren't.

-It was sunny...

-Clear off. Get home. Go on.

-See you!

-See you later!

Hey, we were boys once.

-I know, I must admit it.

-LAUGHTER

-Anyway, thanks very much.

-No worries.

Thank you!

On Windermere, our history, sort of, says, one fatality a year.

I don't think their dad will be letting them out

on a boat without the proper gear on again.

In the West Coast of Scotland,

where the inner seas run into Loch Fyne,

an urgent helicopter rescue has taken place.

Lower the winch. Slow and steady.

Out and lowering.

82-year-old grandfather Sandy fell overboard

and was in the Loch's icy waters for 15 minutes.

Sandy's grandson bravely secured him to the boat

and called the Coastguard.

After winching him to safety,

HMS Gannet sped Sandy to a nearby hospital in Lochgilphead.

Three, two, one, and on there.

Amazingly, just 18 hours later,

Sandy was back home in Tighnabruaich and back with his grandson Andrew.

'The helicopter service was absolutely superb.

'They did a fantastic job,'

and I think, time-wise,

by how cold I was and everything,

time was of the essence.

It was absolutely essential for the rescue that they did for me.

2177. That's... The casualty is an 82-year-old male.

The Royal Navy and the Coastguard certainly played their part

but Sandy wouldn't be here now

if it wasn't for the amazing efforts of his 13-year-old grandson.

What he did for me that day was he saved my life.

That's what he did.

'We'd been to Tarbert and we were just leaving'

and we were about mid-channel

and we were...

A wave hit us on the port side

and the boat went up, like, vertical,

and then he flew out into the water.

When I was under the water, I didn't know what was happening.

I pulled my kill cord out really quickly to stop the boat,

and then I seen him coming up to the surface, so I reversed back.

And, when I saw him on the boat,

I knew he would do something about it.

That's how sure I am of my grandson.

And the main thing on my mind was saving him

and getting him tied to the boat and getting help.

After tying his grandpa to the boat, Andrew called the Coastguard,

who put out a Mayday call.

Andrew held on to his grandpa and sounded an alarm

until the Maighdean Mhara arrived...

..and he stayed by his grandpa's side

until the helicopter took Sandy to hospital.

When he was getting pulled up into the helicopter, I just prayed

that he'd get up there and he would be all right and get to hospital.

This calmness and determination has earned Andrew a unique award

from the UK Coastguard.

SEAGULLS SQUAWK

Alex Smith, the Maritime Operation Controller at Belfast Coastguard,

answered Andrew's emergency call that day.

I nominated Andrew for a Chief Coastguard's commendation.

I don't think we've ever given it out to anybody

in these circumstances before.

A certificate of recognition to Andrew Scott Paton.

He reported calmly and concisely to Coastguard

that his 82-year-old grandfather, who had a heart condition,

had fallen from the boat but was unable to climb back on board.

Andrew managed to get a line to his grandfather, and was holding

on to one end of the rope, whilst making the 999 call from the boat.

He has since made a full recovery.

Andrew is congratulated for his calmness,

bravery and effective actions on the day,

which undoubtedly saved his grandfather's life.

Andrew, well done, son.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

There, a Coastguard hat to keep your head warm. OK?

LAUGHTER

Andrew is the youngest person ever to receive

the Chief Coastguard of Great Britain Certificate of Recognition,

and the team of HMS Gannet also specially fly by to salute

a 13-year-old boy who saved his grandpa's life.

I'm glad I had a life jacket and he had a life jacket on.

I'm glad I had radios, equipment, everything -

it all paid off at the end.

Exceptionally proud.

I really am, yeah.

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

At hospital on the Isle of Man,

it turned out Bobby had broken his jaw and fractured his leg,

but he's fixed up his bike and is again ready to ride.

In the Lake District,

the four teenage boys rescued by Martin were grounded.

They vowed never to go out on the lake without life jackets again.

And, in Scotland, Andrew has decided to become a lifeboatman,

and grandad Sandy has promised his wife

he's retired from sailing for good.

And who said it was quiet in the countryside?