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.

SIRENS WAIL

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.

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...

in Cornwall, air-ambulance paramedics rush to the rescue

of a badly injured rugby player.

..the police on night patrol find more than they bargained for

in Herefordshire...

Out in the countryside, you just never know

what you're going to come across.

..and on the Isle of Man,

paramedics race to save a man who's having a severe asthma attack.

Asthma is a dangerous condition. It can be a killer.

Cornwall.

For 2,000 years, England's southernmost county

was world-famous not for its natural beauty but for its mining.

Cornish mines and quarries gave the world tin, copper, slate...

and the Cornish pasty, the original miner's snack.

Today, visitors flock here to enjoy

every aspect of the glorious landscape.

Even some of the quarries have a new life - as racetracks.

And if anyone is injured anywhere in the Cornish landscape,

the Cornwall Air Ambulance is there to help.

The first air ambulance service of its kind in the UK,

it's flown over 25,000 missions, saving the lives of thousands.

Cornishman Steve Garvie

has been a paramedic with the air ambulance for seven years.

The job can be very challenging at times. One of the most challenging

aspects can be dealing with younger patients,

because no-one really wants to be involved in that situation

if they can help it.

At their base at Newquay Airport, a call comes in.

Cornwall. Steve speaking.

Yep.

Mm-hm.

All we know at the minute is we've got a 12-year-old male

on a motocross bike, reported as he's come off his motocross bike,

unconscious initially.

01 Alpha. Ready to lift. I'm secure.

When we were tasked to this incident,

being a 12-year-old lad who's fallen from his motorcycle,

it does heighten your senses a little bit more.

From their base at Newquay, it's a five-minute hop to the casualty,

who's on a motocross track in Summercourt, five miles away.

Motocross can be a dangerous sport.

Riders can come off their bikes onto rough ground at great speeds.

Broken limbs are a common injury,

but the most life-threatening are head injuries.

1-5-0.

Landing isn't going to be easy.

The track is on the uneven approach to a deep quarry,

and it's crossed by a web of electricity lines

coming from a nearby National Grid substation.

There's some massive wires coming along, isn't there?

The high-voltage power lines carry up to 400,000 volts of electricity.

The wires spread apart, don't they?

Getting the chopper tangled up in those could endanger

hundreds of people below.

Wires and helicopters do not mix.

There was also quite a large wind turbine, so it was hazard central.

In difficult circumstances it's a safe landing,

but Steve's still got a long way to go.

Ground paramedics are already on scene.

I have a boy myself who's a similar age to the lad I'm going to treat,

and it really brings it home as to how the parents would be feeling.

It makes it very much an emotionally charged incident.

Do you remember everything that happened, Brad?

Don't remember at all? OK.

Will he have been going fast on that, Dad, when he comes down here?

Brad's dad saw the accident.

Martin Graham, one of the race medics, was first on the scene.

The rider's actually gone sideways over the jump

and then barrel-rolled himself along the track.

Obviously, our concern is head injury or brain injury.

-Is there anything that's hurting you at the minute, mate?

-No.

Not at all?

Brad's head has been braced to protect his upper spine.

They can't risk moving him any distance

until Steve's done a full examination.

What we're going to do is go to that ambulance there,

make sure there's nothing glaringly obvious we've missed,

then we'll make a decision in there as to whether he goes by road

or with ourselves, but either way he's going to be well catered for.

-I'll leave that with you guys.

-Yeah, no problem, bud.

'The father was obviously concerned for his boy.

'But I think he was relieved to see all the medics arrive quickly.'

That was able to reassure him that we were all going to be

working swiftly to do our best for his boy.

-What's your name?

-Scott.

-Scott, I'm Steve.

-Thanks, Steve.

-No worries.

'Children compensate very, very well with trauma injuries.'

And they compensate up to a point,

and then, if all systems fail, they can crash extremely quickly.

Everyone got some?

Rest here for a second, if you like, mate.

He's a little bit pale.

-All right?

-Yeah.

Get these bits off.

Just saying on the way you've got pins and needles in both arms, yeah?

Is that right?

The tingling sensation of pins and needles

could be a sign that Brad has damaged his spinal column.

You don't feel sick at all, mate?

A little bit?

Do you know what day of the week it is today, Brad?

Saturday. OK, mate.

I had an underlying suspicion that there was...

certainly at the very least a minor head injury.

You need a drink? All right, mate.

It's all right, Brad.

The oxygen that you've had on you, mate, will have dried you out.

All right, Brad.

Brad, Brad, we don't have any drinks available at this stage, mate.

So, as soon as we get you to hospital we can get you a drink.

BRAD GROANS

All right, mate. OK, Brad. Brad, what are you doing?

You going to be sick?

HE VOMITS

All right, Brad. OK, love.

'Another significant head injury sign is vomiting,

'so we were well aware for the potential for vomiting,

'but it still kind of caught us out.'

But we were able to turn him on his side while still maintaining

some spinal alignment for him.

-Don't worry about that, mate.

-Don't you worry about that, Brad.

You're not the first, and you won't be the last.

-You got any pain at all?

-Not any more.

Not any more. You're getting better.

-Good man.

-Vomiting's made you feel better, hasn't it?

I thought you were looking pale.

Amazingly, Brad's colour has returned,

and his speech is much clearer.

His nausea has lifted, making him feel a lot better.

The head injury isn't as bad as Steve had feared.

We'll wipe all that off you, buddy.

We'll get you cleaned right up in a minute.

You've had a pasty, haven't you?

If all is generally well, sometimes humour can be a great aid

and a great analgesic property.

We'll stretch to getting you a blanket.

Brad's recovery is so quick, Steve thinks it's safe for him

to go to hospital by road.

Steve's job here is done.

Sorry about your ambulance.

I should have been quicker on the ball there.

I'm used to it, don't worry.

It was only 15 to 20 minutes' drive away, and Dad was able

to go with him, most importantly - so father and son stayed together.

Thank you, thanks very much, mate. Thank you, really appreciate it.

Over 400 miles due north of Cornwall lies the Isle of Man -

an emerald jewel in the deep blue Irish Sea.

It's been a holiday destination

ever since the Victorians discovered its temperate climate

and stunning views around every corner of its 100-mile coastline.

Today, tourists still flock here,

with nearly 3,000 visiting every year.

And if any of them need medical help in a hurry, the 42 personnel

of the island's ambulance service are there to help.

Paramedic Team Leader Kevin Airey signed up to the service

22 years ago, and every day is as fresh as his first.

'That's what I love about the job.'

Every day can be so different. You don't know where you're going

to end up, who you're going to meet and in what circumstances.

Kevin and Emergency Medical Technician Lisa Montgomery

are on a blue light.

A lorry has left the road, driver's a query - a head injury.

Apparently, one of our community responders is on scene,

and that's all we know, really.

The accident is around six miles away.

From Douglas,

they're heading towards Peel,

along the main east-west trunk road,

the A1.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

There are around 680 miles of public road on the island,

and outside towns and villages, most of them have no speed limit.

But with many roads narrow and winding, drivers have to be safe.

Alpha 116 arriving on scene at Greeba Bridge.

-Oh, yeah...

-He's in the hedge.

-Oh, yeah, he's...

Oh, he's done a good job there!

It looked as if the truck driver had come round the corner

and then gone a little bit further and then mounted the hedge.

-Hiya.

-Hello.

-Hiya. I'm Lisa.

-Ed.

Around 20 minutes ago,

Ed's 25.5-ton tipper truck came off the road.

Just five minutes after the accident,

a Community First Responder found the 56-year-old

in a dazed and confused state.

I tell you what, Ed, shall we just get you in the back of the vehicle

-and we can have a proper look?

-Yeah.

All right? We'll get you off here. Just take your time.

-I'm all right.

-You OK?

-Let's just get you in.

So do you think you've blacked out, Ed?

He's got an abrasion here, Kev, on his head.

I think that's new as well.

Lisa and Kevin are checking for damage caused by the accident,

and also for problems that might have caused it.

What have you done here,

if you don't mind me asking? I know it's nothing to do with this.

No diabetes, no breathing problems, no cardiac?

-No.

-No? Just sciatica.

-Yeah.

Are you on any medication?

-Yeah, co-codamol.

-Is that just for your pain, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Right.

I'm just going to try and do your blood pressure again.

Just try and relax that arm for us, as best you can.

It's very high.

For a healthy man of his age,

Ed's blood pressure should be around 120/80.

Right now, it's 210/113,

which would explain his confusion and nausea.

Roughly how fast were you going, when you come round that corner?

-About 35.

-About 35.

Whatever the cause of the accident, Ed needs to be checked out

at Noble's Hospital, around six miles away.

Hey, you've walked away from it, so you're all right.

Right, swing your legs round for us. There you go.

Main concern is his blood pressure. It's through the roof.

The first one we did was 210/113.

The second one was 201/119.

Ed's safe.

But the outcome for him and other road users

could have been very different.

Bit scary, really - you know, it's a busy road.

There's lots of cyclists on that road,

there's lots of cars on that road.

It's a busy road, it could have been worse.

Over 300 miles due south of the Isle of Man,

Steve Garvey and the Cornwall Air Ambulance Team are back at base.

But within 30 minutes, another call comes in.

OK, mate. No worries, we're on the way. Cheers. Bye.

Right, this call is right down in West Cornwall,

so quite some distance away.

Playing rugby, involved in a collapse

in a tackle with a neck injury.

They need to get to the casualty fast, but he's lying unconscious

on one of the most remote rugby pitches in Britain.

From their base in Newquay, St Just's rugby club

is around 40 miles to the southwest.

Two miles further west, mainland Britain stops at Land's End.

Flying down the coast,

the chopper will get there in around 20 minutes.

Rugby players can hit each other head-on

with forces of up to a quarter of a tonne -

the equivalent of jumping from a 12-foot building.

They're attempting to land as close as is safe.

But second paramedic Paul Simons spots a figure below.

They'll have to land further away.

In an emergency like this, the difference between life and death

could be measured in seconds.

You all right?

A Community First Responder...

..and a paramedic in a rapid-response vehicle

arrived on scene first.

-What's he called?

-Phil.

-Phil?

Phil is in the Royal Navy.

He was playing for his hometown team during shore leave.

Phil? All right, bud? Phil?

Phil, you want to talk to me, mate?

No?

You don't know what's going on, Phil?

The GCS, or Glasgow Coma Scale, rates levels of consciousness,

with a number from three to 15.

Phil's eyes are open, but he's not responding to questions,

or reacting to physical stimuli.

The first responder rates this GCS6,

which generally indicates severe brain injury.

Do you want to go down to skin?

I'm not concerned of anything anywhere else, really.

More...just a bit of exposure - just to have a look,

see if there's any obvious signs of injury.

The land ambulance team arrive.

Phil's suffered a major axial load -

a hit to the head with such a force that it sends the shock

through to the neck and body.

This would be the cause of the initial concussion,

but there must be something else keeping him in this state.

Steve needs to find out more.

Do you know if he's got any medical history?

He had a stroke five years ago?

'There are a lot of people at scene. The patient's dad was also there.'

This is very handy in this sort of situation, really,

because he was able to fill us in on previous medical history

and problems that his son had suffered.

-Hello, Dad, all right? My name's Steve.

-Hello, Steve.

Yeah, OK, so he's had a...he's 26, he's had a stroke, five year ago?

-Yeah.

-Quite young, isn't it?

-He's in the Navy, so...

Right.

The new information isn't good.

Phil may have had a seizure,

or heart complications could be affecting blood flow to his brain.

So, Dad, we're going to take him to Treliske Hospital, all right?

He's going to be in the emergency department up there,

so he can be assessed.

'He has history of, as I say,'

of stroke, and he's suffered a significant head injury.

'Potentially very serious.'

Ready, lift.

We'll look after him, all right, buddy? We'll look after him.

Phil's dad will drive to the hospital,

but Phil needs to get into the air - fast.

En route to hospital,

we were further evaluating his vital signs,

so we're constantly monitoring and rechecking, just to see if there's

anything that can have been missed or anything that's changed.

They've found that Phil's blood sugar levels are dangerously low,

which could have led to hypoglycaemia

and could contribute to an extended loss of consciousness.

Give you a hand to drive. He's quite a big chap.

All right, can do you do it? We're moving, watch your fingers.

But Steve and Paul don't want to leave Phil just yet.

They're hoping he's in there - somewhere.

Phil, Phil can you hear me at all? Phil?

Give my hands a good squeeze there, buddy.

Phil, give my hand a squeeze.

You got a pen torch on you?

Just going to shine a light in your eyes, bud.

GROANING

Was that a groan?

GROANING

There's a faint sound.

Phil, can you hear me? Eh?

For the first time since his injury an hour-and-a-half ago,

Phil is trying to communicate.

It's been a difficult mission. But at its end, there's hope.

Phil may be coming round.

Around 200 miles to the northeast of Cornwall,

Herefordshire rolls out over 840 square miles

of prime agricultural land.

Two in five people here live in areas so remote,

providing public transport is a big challenge.

That's why more people travel to work by car, van or tractor

in Herefordshire than in any other country in England.

PC Sam Davies has been policing the roads

of rural Herefordshire for three years.

But she's lived here all her life.

I am very much a country girl.

Although I was born in one of the market towns

in Herefordshire,

I spend most of my life out in the countryside.

I've got horses, I've got dogs -

I can't think of anywhere better to be.

It's early evening at Peterchurch Police Station.

And Sam's joining PC Tom Milton for a night-time investigation.

It's here somewhere.

Tom's had a call about a suspicious store of fuel containers,

and his informant has sent him pictures.

This is a woodland - this is all woodlands here

and basically, the road is running here.

There's a T-junction

and then that brings you back out onto a slip road up under the trees.

So you've got two bits of ply board and then behind the ply board,

you can see there's loads of drums and this wheelbarrow,

and they've got remnants of red diesel at the bottom of them.

Red diesel is a cheap government-subsidised fuel

for working vehicles such as JCBs and tractors.

And diesel thefts are a large contributor

to the £610,000 a year cost of rural crime in Herefordshire.

He's targeting the farms that are so big

that they're just not noticing...

That's what I was thinking.

..three or four of these smaller barrels going.

It's mid-September and with farms stockpiling fuel for the winter,

the police are being extra vigilant.

Due to the time of year, farmers could easily not notice

a few hundred gallons of diesel going missing, because they're

bringing so much fuel onto site to cope with the harvest.

Tom's been informed that the containers are visited by a man

in a vehicle during the night.

It's 8pm, and they're on the lookout for a suspicious car.

-Literally down the lane, yeah?

-Yeah.

But first, they want to see the fuel containers for themselves.

We're just making our way down to the area

that these diesel drums are stored.

-Little track here on the right.

-Yes.

-Is that it?

-Yeah.

The containers are well-hidden in the corner of a remote field.

Look at this lovely little hide.

If you were using it to just go in and out of - you were using

it as a storage, you're not going to have a tree across the way.

You're going to have it somewhere where, if you're using

it for legitimate purposes, that you've got easy access to.

Back on the road, new information comes in.

We have had one call already tonight from a member of the public

not too far away from here about a suspicious vehicle,

so we're obviously keeping our eyes out for that as well,

just in case we come across that.

It's 10pm, and they come across

a car pulling out of a petrol station.

As we pulled on the forecourt,

quite a shabby-looking old Vectra has left the forecourt.

Something just didn't look right.

Gut instinct. Traffic officer gut instinct - didn't look right.

YK, can you run...?

Tom calls in the number plate.

And the details come back in seconds.

Pull it in Kingstone, in the actual village itself.

We've got more chance of it being lit up, then, haven't we?

-So it's got no insurance.

-No insurance, got a brake light out.

They need to stop the car

where there'll be no risk to other road users.

-Let's get out the way of the pub, shall we?

-Yeah.

QUICK BLAST OF SIREN

He is stopping.

Hello, do you want to just switch the car off for me?

-Switch them off for me.

-It's all right here?

-Is it all right here? What, stopping the car?

-Yeah.

Yeah, it's absolutely fine. Have you got your driving licence on you?

-Have you got some driving details? Could I have them, please?

-OK.

The reason we stopped you - you've got a brake light

out on the back of your car, OK? And running it through the system,

it's showing the car hasn't got any insurance.

Lovely, thank you very much.

And have you got any insurance papers with you

or anything like that?

-You understand everything?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

The driver is from Poland.

He's just finished work at a local farm.

There was a slight language barrier. I did check with him,

to make sure that he wasn't...

that he understood everything I was saying and he was fine.

It's clear the driver isn't involved in any diesel theft,

but driving without insurance is a crime.

He says he recently bought the car from a friend,

and his friend swapped the insurance from his old car.

The vehicle's showing on our systems as having no insurance

and you've also produced me with a certificate which is

for the wrong car which is out of date, OK?

It doesn't sound good. But the driver is adamant he's insured.

But there's no proof.

Sam will have to take the car off the road.

I'm going to give you a form to say that we've seized your vehicle, OK?

Do you understand?

-I think so.

-Yeah?

My car, what... Is it now just gone?

Yeah, it's going to be towed away.

What you need to do then,

I'll explain to you how you get that back, all right?

To reclaim his car, he needs to pay £150,

plus £20 for every day it's impounded.

He decides he doesn't want the car back at all.

-Sure?

-Yeah.

-Cos once it's gone, it's too late.

-I'm sure.

Having no car leaves the driver with the problem of getting home,

around four miles away.

But public safety plays a big part in Sam's job.

I was very kind, I'm a very nice officer, and due to the location

and the fact it was very, very dark,

I didn't want a casualty on our hands

and he lived just up the road in a farm, so I gave him a lift home.

Come on, seatbelt.

-We'll be back shortly.

-OK, see you later.

-No worries. You take care.

-You walked?

-Take care. I walked.

-Thank you.

They didn't find the diesel hoarder they were looking for,

but the police in rural Herefordshire have to be prepared for anything.

Unfortunately, shows you should be paying for your insurance.

And yeah, we'll go and have a look and see if we can find

the people we were looking for in the first place, then, and see

what else we come across, but, this job, you just never know,

out in the countryside you just never know

what you're going to come across.

Wherever you are in the British Isles,

the emergency services are only three digits away...

..night...

or day.

On the Isle of Man, it's early afternoon.

Paramedic Kevin Airey and emergency medical technician Lisa Montgomery

are responding to a 999 call.

They're heading from coast to coast.

From their location

just outside Douglas on the east of the island...

they're speeding west to the port town of Peel.

If an asthma sufferer has called 999,

this could be a serious medical emergency.

Asthma is a dangerous condition, yeah, it is, you know,

it can be a killer.

It's estimated that someone has a life-threatening asthma attack

in the UK every ten seconds.

Around ten minutes after getting the call, Kevin and Lisa arrive.

As we went in through the front door,

and then through the hallway into the front room,

the first thing I saw was Wesley on his hands and knees.

Wesley? I'm Kevin. Is it your asthma, is it, yeah?

Can I have a little listen to your back, here, OK?

Wesley is 32 years old.

He's suffered from asthma since he was a child.

He was chatting to partner Stephen when the attack started.

He couldn't breathe,

he was on his hands and knees, asthma attack,

and he was gasping for air, yeah.

Right, got two of the ipratropium and two salbutamol, please?

Asthma is a condition of the bronchioles,

the tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs.

When the lungs become irritated, the air tubes inflame

and close up, making it difficult or even impossible to breathe.

Going to give you some salbutamol now

and some Atrovent in there and hopefully...

we'll get you sorted out.

OXYGEN HISSES

Kevin's giving Wesley pure oxygen mixed with a large dose

of drugs designed to relax his bronchial airways.

Are you able to sit up more so that...

that drug'll work better? There we go.

OXYGEN HISSES

Wesley's calming down.

It'll help your breathing, just relax, if you can.

Right, OK if I do your blood pressure on this arm?

Is that OK?

WESLEY COUGHS

160 over 84.

His blood pressure is high, which may be the result of the attack,

or it could be related to what caused it.

To find out, Kevin needs more information.

Just kind of give me the story from this morning

and, you know, what you've been doing in the run-up to this.

Have you got some antibiotics from the doctor?

All right, OK.

So your temp is up, so, you know, this chest infection, that would be

the reason, probably, why your meds can't cope with it, you know.

In five minutes,

Wesley's breathing easily enough to be moved to the ambulance.

Give us a hand there, mate, if you want.

Up you come.

Right, just take it easy.

You all right?

Just lift yourself up on that step, it's a bit steep.

I'll follow in the car, I'm just going to sort the dogs out.

All right?

It's been a severe attack,

which came on suddenly just under an hour a go.

I think with this chest infection sitting...on his chest as well,

he's had a struggle...

Around six million people in the UK have asthma.

And three die of asthma attacks every day.

-OK, Wesley?

-Yeah.

Thanks to the Isle of Man Ambulance Service, Wesley's safe.

Bring your feet up here.

Yeah, course you can.

They were absolutely fantastic.

I was really embarrassed at the time, but I'm glad I phoned.

If I hadn't phoned them, I would have been very ill.

Once he's been checked out, he should get back home today.

I'm just going to go to bed.

HE CHUCKLES

And he's going to look after me.

He'll milk it.

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

In Cornwall, Brad was concussed

but thankfully there was no serious injury to his spine.

After five hours of tests in hospital, he was back home

and two days later, he was back on his bike.

In Herefordshire,

investigations into the theft of red diesel are ongoing.

And back in Cornwall, doctors feared Phil had broken his neck,

but tests came back clear

and the following morning,

the morning of his 27th birthday, he finally woke up.

Amazingly, he was back aboard ship with the Royal Navy

the following day and given the all-clear three weeks later.

And you thought it was quiet in the countryside...