0:00:02 > 0:00:04They're the Brits who race to the rescue down under.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06'Multiple patients critical.'
0:00:06 > 0:00:09Everyday heroes saving lives.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11'12 miles to run.'
0:00:11 > 0:00:12Battling fires...
0:00:12 > 0:00:13It's too late!
0:00:13 > 0:00:16It can be extremely dangerous.
0:00:16 > 0:00:17..and fighting crime.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19- Put your arm down! - Police! Open the door!
0:00:19 > 0:00:22From the big city to the Outback.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25Our policing district is bigger than the whole of the UK.
0:00:25 > 0:00:26From the bush...
0:00:26 > 0:00:30'He's been crushed between one of those dingo diggers and a ute.'
0:00:30 > 0:00:32..to Bondi beach.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34'The search continues for a British tourist
0:00:34 > 0:00:37'who hasn't been seen since he went for a swim.'
0:00:37 > 0:00:40You never quite know what you're in for or what's going to happen.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42'Three-three-two, mate, on the head in.'
0:00:42 > 0:00:44Very high impact. He's really quite critically injured.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Brits on blue lights under blue skies.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55Today down under -
0:00:55 > 0:00:59a fathers' day shopping trip ends in a terrible accident...
0:00:59 > 0:01:01'We've been tasked to a four-year-old boy
0:01:01 > 0:01:03'who's apparently got his arm trapped in an escalator
0:01:03 > 0:01:04'at a shopping centre.'
0:01:06 > 0:01:09..a driver tries to outrun the police in Perth...
0:01:09 > 0:01:13I mean, we are not hanging about as we're going to catch him
0:01:13 > 0:01:17and pull him over, and we've not caught up to him yet.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20..and flight nurse Steve is scrambled to a 13-year-old girl
0:01:20 > 0:01:22with a critical brain condition.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24- How many fingers are there?- Two.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26The brain tissue is dying.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER
0:01:43 > 0:01:45It's Fathers' Day in Australia,
0:01:45 > 0:01:47but for one family, a trip to the shops
0:01:47 > 0:01:50has ended in a terrible accident.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04Flying doctor Chris Cheeseman from Staffordshire
0:02:04 > 0:02:06must rescue the young patient.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09We've been tasked to a four-year-old boy
0:02:09 > 0:02:12who's apparently got his arm trapped in an escalator
0:02:12 > 0:02:13at a shopping centre.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16And that arm is twisted and deformed.
0:02:16 > 0:02:17Um...
0:02:17 > 0:02:20so it could be quite a difficult extrication with a four-year-old.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Crewman John Legge's an RAF veteran
0:02:23 > 0:02:26whose job it is to identify a landing site
0:02:26 > 0:02:29as close as possible to the scene of the accident.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Are you guys happy to talk for a sec?
0:02:32 > 0:02:33Yeah, go ahead.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35OK, um...just at the moment,
0:02:35 > 0:02:37I think the plan should be we'll land at that site,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41you guys get picked up, and we'll just shut down in that...
0:02:41 > 0:02:44In that area there, just waiting to hear back from you.
0:02:44 > 0:02:45'Roger.'
0:02:46 > 0:02:49The accident's happened at an out-of-town shopping centre.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52I reckon that's a good spot to land as well, where they are.
0:02:52 > 0:02:53Yes, looks good.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56- You've got the...- Yeah, and it's got the fence open as well.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00- Yeah, there's a second copper in there waiting for us.- Oh, yeah, OK.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03Coming over the taller crease here or just a little bit left...
0:03:03 > 0:03:05INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER
0:03:05 > 0:03:09250 to run, 80 below the crease, lines look good.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15Ten to run. Five, four, three, two, one.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21Volunteer rescue workers had to dismantle part of the escalator
0:03:21 > 0:03:22to free little Jackson Keane.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26His hand was crushed by the mechanism.
0:03:26 > 0:03:27Hey, guys, how are ya?
0:03:27 > 0:03:29Hey, mate, how are ya?
0:03:29 > 0:03:30I'm Greg, and this is Chris.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32This is young Jackson.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35Jackson's being very brave, he's hardly even cried throughout.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37Now he had his, er...
0:03:37 > 0:03:40right hand sucked in through here.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43When we arrived, obviously, a bit of a distressful scene.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47Straight away we isolated the escalator,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50started removing basic plastics around the patient's hand,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53and then we disassembled part of the mechanisms to actually remove
0:03:53 > 0:03:56the child's hand, and with a bit of patient manipulation,
0:03:56 > 0:03:59we were successful in removing the child.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01I hear you've been very, very brave, haven't you?
0:04:01 > 0:04:03Good lad. Let's have a look at this, then.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Can you feel me touching here?
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Dr Chris can see his four-year-old patient
0:04:08 > 0:04:12has what could be a very serious injury.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14Can you wiggle your fingers round?
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Bit more? What about this one?
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Oh, that's fabulous, isn't it?
0:04:19 > 0:04:22I'd probably say he's sort of broken it around that region, hasn't he?
0:04:22 > 0:04:26That sort of deformity, certainly got a bit of tenderness there.
0:04:27 > 0:04:28So he's got a deformity here,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31- so he's got a sort of fracture there, I'd say.- Yeah.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33- Quite a lot of swelling of the hand.- Yeah.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37- Fusions?- Fusions OK, movements and sensations OK.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40I think we should probably take him to Westmead, OK?
0:04:40 > 0:04:42And it might turn out that he's had a lucky escape
0:04:42 > 0:04:44and there's not been that much in the way of any injury, OK?
0:04:44 > 0:04:47It's certainly fractured there, so that's going to need looking at.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52Jackson slipped on the escalator and forget to let go of the rail.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54He was trapped for 20 minutes.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57Dad, can I have a look at your hand, mate?
0:04:57 > 0:04:59Let me have a look at your hand, eh? How did you hurt your arm?
0:04:59 > 0:05:02His dad was also hurt trying to rescue him.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04He, too, has a hand injury.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07But he doesn't care about his own pain.
0:05:07 > 0:05:08So it's quite sore there, isn't it?
0:05:08 > 0:05:12All right, listen, I think you need, you need to have treatment for this.
0:05:12 > 0:05:13- OK?- I think it'll be fine!
0:05:13 > 0:05:17No, you might well have broken your hand there, OK, mate?
0:05:18 > 0:05:22Dr Chris wants Dad to go to the hospital, too.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25- I mean, you can go to the Westmead Adults down there...- I'll...
0:05:25 > 0:05:27..and get it X-rayed and things.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29I'll just go wherever he's got to go.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31Jackson's mum is trying to comfort him.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34They were out buying a present for his dad.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38- Ready?- OK, yep, on yours, buddy. - One, two, three...
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Good work, buddy, eh?
0:05:44 > 0:05:46Sleepy, aren't you, eh?
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Jackson's remarkably calm.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50Eh?
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Dad's thanking his son's rescuers.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57All good, mate. Get yourself sorted, OK?
0:05:57 > 0:05:58You got your teddy?
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Hey, good teddy!
0:06:00 > 0:06:01You got two teddies!
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Half an hour after the accident, and Jackson's on his way
0:06:04 > 0:06:06to the Westmead Children's Hospital in Sydney.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11Your dad's coming with us.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14And he's just over there, cos I think he's hurt his hand as well.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16Ever been on a helicopter before?
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Wow! So it's going to be a good day for you, isn't it?
0:06:19 > 0:06:21Go in a helicopter?
0:06:21 > 0:06:22MACHINERY BLEEPS
0:06:22 > 0:06:26'He was probably trapped for about 40 minutes, and during that time'
0:06:26 > 0:06:29he was quite calm and hardly cried at all - very brave little boy.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33The Careflight team has already alerted plastic surgeons,
0:06:33 > 0:06:36who are awaiting Jackson's arrival.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38He was right at the base of the escalator,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41so I don't know how he managed to get his hand trapped there.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43Were you just exploring it, were you?
0:06:43 > 0:06:45Yeah, wondering what was going on inside.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47There we go.
0:06:47 > 0:06:48Budding engineer!
0:06:49 > 0:06:52His dad may require surgery, too.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Got matching injuries. Father and son injuries.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Was your dad trying to rescue you, was he? Yeah.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59So his dad's also probably fractured his hand,
0:06:59 > 0:07:00and he'll need looking at
0:07:00 > 0:07:04at the adult hospital next door to the children's hospital.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09We're en route to you with a four-year-old child
0:07:09 > 0:07:12who's crushed his right hand in an escalator.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14Er...which was trapped for about 40 minutes.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16He's got obvious fractures to his right hand,
0:07:16 > 0:07:18but he's otherwise clinically stable.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20It's an isolated injury.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Um...we're also conveying his father, who's got a...
0:07:24 > 0:07:25also fractured his hand.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27Obviously that'll be for the adults' hospital,
0:07:27 > 0:07:30but we'll be bringing him initially to...
0:07:30 > 0:07:34Um...to the children's to accompany the child.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER
0:07:37 > 0:07:39'Coming up.'
0:07:44 > 0:07:48B...Y... Turning to the right.
0:07:48 > 0:07:49Roger.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55Dr Chris is now very much at home in Australia,
0:07:55 > 0:07:59and some things are the same at home and abroad.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02Treating injured children can be traumatic for medics,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05no matter where the accident happens.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10You...you just...maintain that professional detachment,
0:08:10 > 0:08:12get on with the job in hand.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER
0:08:22 > 0:08:24That is enough ground speed there.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27- OK, to the right.- Roger.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29- Oh, and we've got a porter!- Yeah.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38By coincidence, their freak accident has led to identical damage
0:08:38 > 0:08:41to the same tiny bone in each of their hands.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46Doctors discover that both Jackson and his dad
0:08:46 > 0:08:48have been very fortunate.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52They're sent home with little more than painkillers and bandages,
0:08:52 > 0:08:55and soon regain full use of their hands.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Dad got his present the next day.
0:09:00 > 0:09:01But for Dr Chris,
0:09:01 > 0:09:05Fathers' Day ends on the beach with his own daughter.
0:09:08 > 0:09:09Is that better?
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Yep. Good.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15'2006 is when I first arrived in Australia.'
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Hit it?
0:09:18 > 0:09:20'I was supposed to stay for 12 months,
0:09:20 > 0:09:22'but I kind of forgot to go back home.'
0:09:22 > 0:09:23Wow!
0:09:23 > 0:09:24Look at that!
0:09:24 > 0:09:26'Certainly the transition of medical practice'
0:09:26 > 0:09:29between the UK and Australia is relatively easy.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Certainly Australian doctors and UK doctors interchange all the time.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36We do get to see plenty of unusual cases
0:09:36 > 0:09:37which you wouldn't see in the UK.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Particularly the envenomations - the snake bites, the spider bites.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45Rare infectious diseases, er... that you wouldn't get in the UK as well.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47Particularly in the Northern Territory,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50you have patients who may have had their illness for many,
0:09:50 > 0:09:54many weeks before they actually even manage to get to a remote clinic,
0:09:54 > 0:09:56let alone to a decent-sized hospital.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17Perth in Western Australia is one of the world's fastest-growing cities.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Two million people and rising,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23attracted by high salaries and great weather.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26But with them has come crime.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40Rob Rixson spent seven years in the Met patrolling the streets of London,
0:10:40 > 0:10:42dealing with armed robbers and knife crime.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46When I worked for the Metropolitan Police I worked in Streatham,
0:10:46 > 0:10:51in Lambeth, and we were very busy there. I was on a response team.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55Colin Todd is a Scot who joined Western Australia Police
0:10:55 > 0:10:57after a career in the Royal Navy.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00'When I was growing up, you always kind of looked up to police officers.'
0:11:00 > 0:11:03There isn't really anything else I would want to do in Australia.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09Together, they keep the peace in the Northern Perth suburbs,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12and they're equipped to deal with anything.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17We carry a baton, er...
0:11:17 > 0:11:21OC spray, Taser, handcuffs,
0:11:21 > 0:11:22and a Glock.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27TASER CRACKLES
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Once you start carrying a firearm,
0:11:31 > 0:11:32and you get your head round it, you...
0:11:32 > 0:11:34you do police slightly differently.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38Er...in regards to grabbing hold of people and being close to people.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42You certainly keep a little bit more distance between yourselves.
0:11:42 > 0:11:43Um...
0:11:43 > 0:11:46got to think, yeah, most people come round to the idea pretty quickly.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48I think most people are comfortable carrying a firearm.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52Rob and Colin police a city
0:11:52 > 0:11:55founded by criminals transported from Britain,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58but it's actually a safer place than the UK
0:11:58 > 0:12:01when it comes to most categories of crime.
0:12:02 > 0:12:03It's 10 o'clock at night,
0:12:03 > 0:12:09and a small red car has attracted Rob's attention.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12Uh, just this car here that's taken off pretty quick up the road.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Just going to give him a traffic stop.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20RADIO CHATTER
0:12:21 > 0:12:26The driver of the car they've pulled over seems familiar.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28I've met you before, eh? Yeah.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32I wouldn't live and police the people that I live with, whereas here I do.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34I police the suburbs I live in.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36It's a routine stop.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38The driver's identity checks out
0:12:38 > 0:12:41and he's allowed to go, with a friendly warning about speed.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44Remember built-up area is 50, OK, not 60.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46I fairly regularly bump into people that I lock up.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50In the supermarket or out in the park with my kids,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53I will see people and there is never an issue there.
0:12:56 > 0:13:01Back on patrol, Rob and Colin find two cars parked by the sand dunes.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03Smoke is coming from the 4x4.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05What's down here?
0:13:05 > 0:13:08It's just the tail lights of a car, two cars.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11That is not a full drive to them.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17Want to go the red one and I'll go to the blue one?
0:13:22 > 0:13:25OK, whose cannabis is it?
0:13:25 > 0:13:27That's ours, mate.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30- Ours? OK. Anything else in here or just that?- That's it.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32- OK, what about...- There is a bong.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35- You've got a bong by your feet? - Yeah. I'll be honest with ya.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37If you stop someone in a car in Streatham, the first thing
0:13:37 > 0:13:39they'll say is, "I bought the car yesterday."
0:13:39 > 0:13:42You stop a car here and probably the first thing they might say
0:13:42 > 0:13:44to you would be, "I've got no driving licence,"
0:13:44 > 0:13:45or something like that.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48So, people are pretty quick to stick their hands up here
0:13:48 > 0:13:49if they've done something wrong.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51And probably the completely opposite
0:13:51 > 0:13:53when I was working in Lambeth.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56- Did yous come down with them? - No, no, we didn't.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01But what, to park next to another car. Do yous not usually try and... If you don't know them...
0:14:01 > 0:14:03Oh, no, no. We know.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06- Oh, you know them? - We've been here before.- Right, OK.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10The two girls in the red hatchback appear to have nothing to hide.
0:14:10 > 0:14:11Just sit tight, guys. All right?
0:14:11 > 0:14:14- I'm just going to check your IDs out.- Yeah, that's fine.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18That can't be said for the four lads in the four-wheel drive.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21- So you've made that yourself? - No, I got it off of someone.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23- It's still smoking, mate.- Pardon?
0:14:23 > 0:14:25It's still smoking.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28- That's been sitting there for a while.- Has it?- Yeah.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32- Is it home-made, though? - I believe so, yeah.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36Just jump out that side, guys, and come round and keep your hands where we can see 'em.
0:14:36 > 0:14:37Just so we can give you a search.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40- Has anybody got anything on them they want to tell us about?- No.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42Do you give consent to the search?
0:14:42 > 0:14:44- Go for it.- All right, bud.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48Anything on you, you shouldn't have?
0:14:48 > 0:14:50- No.- No. Anything that can hurt me?
0:14:50 > 0:14:51- No.- No.
0:14:53 > 0:14:54Nothing further is found,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57but cannabis use is still illegal in Western Australia.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59Have you got a top under here?
0:14:59 > 0:15:01They'll escape a conviction, but instead
0:15:01 > 0:15:06they will have to spend time at a compulsory drugs education centre.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08Yeah, satisfied with these girls, if you want to...
0:15:08 > 0:15:11Have you got their names, do you want to run them up or...?
0:15:11 > 0:15:13Yeah, I've checked everybody.
0:15:13 > 0:15:14I'm just going to get phone numbers.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16The girls are free to go.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19There's no evidence they were involved in anything illegal.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23And so are the lads, if they can find someone who's fit to drive.
0:15:23 > 0:15:24You're obviously driving tonight.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26Are you safe to drive from here?
0:15:26 > 0:15:29- You know you can't drive with cannabis in your system?- Yeah.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31- Yeah, you know?- My house is literally, like, just down the road.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35If you've been smoking cannabis you can't drive, OK? Can you?
0:15:35 > 0:15:37- Me?- Yeah.- I can drive.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40Well, you can't if you've been smoking cannabis.
0:15:40 > 0:15:41So you'll have to...
0:15:41 > 0:15:44One of the girls might have to drive your car down there, eh?
0:15:44 > 0:15:46- Oh, I haven't had any. - Oh, you haven't?
0:15:46 > 0:15:49- No, I was just about to have one when you..- OK. You got a licence?
0:15:49 > 0:15:52- I sure do, yeah. - OK, there you go. Problem solved.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55More than half the residents in the suburbs
0:15:55 > 0:15:58Rob and Colin police are British ex-pats.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01But Perth is the world's most isolated city,
0:16:01 > 0:16:04and the social problems caused by bored young people,
0:16:04 > 0:16:06often missing the UK,
0:16:06 > 0:16:10mean that this is unlikely to be the last drugs bust of the night.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19- NEWS REPORTER:- Cloudy at times today as we head for
0:16:19 > 0:16:23top temperatures of 22 degrees on the coast and 25 in our west.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26Fantastic. All right, everyone gets a name badge.
0:16:26 > 0:16:27Presentation commencing.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31So, Group R - Gillian Adams,
0:16:31 > 0:16:33Blake Casby and Rod Wheatley.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36- APPLAUSE - One at a time.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39Dr Sarah Coombes grew up in Yorkshire, trained in London,
0:16:39 > 0:16:42and is now one of Australia's top flying doctors.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44And Michael Lauria.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49OK, if you can get your ambulance ready to go,
0:16:49 > 0:16:51we're going to start packing up some stuff.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54She's in charge of attracting new British recruits,
0:16:54 > 0:16:56and helps supervise much of their training.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00That's fine. But before they start pushing drugs you want to... Go, BP. What's... OK.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04Obviously propofol would be a completely disastrous choice of drug.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07But in an isolated burn patient, then, you know,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10it's not what we would normally use but it's a fine drug to use.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15Ambulance emergency. What town or suburb?
0:17:15 > 0:17:19But she also takes her turn working in the control room,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22which scrambles more than 30 air ambulances every day
0:17:22 > 0:17:26to emergencies all over New South Wales.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30He's been crushed between one of those dingo diggers and a ute.
0:17:30 > 0:17:31Is he breathing?
0:17:33 > 0:17:36RADIO CHATTER
0:17:47 > 0:17:52The work we do here covers obviously a much bigger area -
0:17:52 > 0:17:55four times the size of the UK - New South Wales.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59So we'll do a clinical phone call,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02find out what's wrong with the patient, give some ongoing
0:18:02 > 0:18:05clinical advice to try and improve the patient
0:18:05 > 0:18:07while we get a team to them.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12And then we make the decision on the level of escort they need.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15And the timeliness of that transfer.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19And a check on whether they're going to the appropriate destination.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27It's early morning at the Westmead Hospital in Sydney,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30home of the children's air ambulance team.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35It's about to transport a critically ill patient.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39We're going to Orange, which is about 45-minute flight,
0:18:39 > 0:18:43and we're going for a 13-year-old girl
0:18:43 > 0:18:47who has come in in the last 24 hours.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50The child's life could depend on this flight.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53Because of the, you know, rarity of the condition,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56I'm a bit worried that if she does keep on developing
0:18:56 > 0:18:59neurological signs that the brain stem function may become an issue.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02So I'll have a talk to the people in ICU.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05Kate Smith has a rare form of encephalitis -
0:19:05 > 0:19:06a swelling of the brain.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09Her mum brought her to the local hospital.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12She was so dizzy she could barely stand.
0:19:12 > 0:19:13Then she had a seizure.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21Time could be running out for Kate,
0:19:21 > 0:19:24unless she's flown back to Sydney for specialist care.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43Her life will be in the hands of flight nurse Steve Face,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46a veteran of London's Great Ormond Street Hospital.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48They can rapidly deteriorate.
0:19:48 > 0:19:49She's currently stable,
0:19:49 > 0:19:52but the potential to become unwell quite quickly.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59To protect Kate, doctors at the Orange Base Hospital
0:19:59 > 0:20:02haven't told her the seriousness of her condition.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06- What's your favourite subject at school?- Art.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08Next year I do textiles and...
0:20:08 > 0:20:11I can't remember what the other is.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13Textiles and something else.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16- How are you feeling at the moment? - A lot better.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19And how about funny vision?
0:20:19 > 0:20:22SHE ANSWERS SLURRING HER WORDS
0:20:22 > 0:20:26Can you close your eyes properly or does it feel difficult?
0:20:26 > 0:20:28It feels weird.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32Children's doctor Stephanie Boyd fears Kate is getting worse.
0:20:32 > 0:20:33How many fingers are there?
0:20:33 > 0:20:35Two.
0:20:35 > 0:20:36SHE MUMBLES
0:20:36 > 0:20:39- Just the finger.- Two.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42Two, two. Sorry I couldn't see.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45It's hard, isn't it? Doesn't make you feel a bit sick, does it?
0:20:45 > 0:20:47No, sorry, I just couldn't see then.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50She was a little bit more sleepy and disorientated from what
0:20:50 > 0:20:53they said earlier in the day, whereas she's interacting now.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55Uh, you can see that she's definitely got some weakness
0:20:55 > 0:20:59and you can see in her face that she's got a bit of weakness.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01And she's quite alert
0:21:01 > 0:21:04but some questions she's not quite responding as, you know,
0:21:04 > 0:21:08appropriately or getting slightly mixed up with her responses.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12And looking at her at the moment, I think that we'll just
0:21:12 > 0:21:16transfer her as she is with all the things prepared that we said
0:21:16 > 0:21:18just in case she does deteriorate.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Do you know why you're going to Sydney?
0:21:23 > 0:21:25So you get to fly in a helicopter.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Well, they want to work out why sometimes it's hard for you
0:21:28 > 0:21:30- to do things at the moment.- Yeah. - And it's a bit harder to talk.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33That's sort of why things can be strange.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Yeah, so they're going to try and work that out for you.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38- They've had a look at the pictures that we took of your brain.- Yeah.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Um, and they think they have some idea what the problem might be.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43They want to get you down there
0:21:43 > 0:21:46so they can keep a close eye on you and do some more tests.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50It's hard to reassure Kate's mum.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54She is aware how serious her daughter's condition is.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58What we're going to do now is speak to the neurology team
0:21:58 > 0:22:02at the children's hospital in Westmead
0:22:02 > 0:22:05and just discuss with them what our findings are.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09Um, and there's a few questions we have just in that if they would
0:22:09 > 0:22:12want to continue some of the medications that she's been on
0:22:12 > 0:22:14and, if she did have further seizures,
0:22:14 > 0:22:15how they would want us to manage that.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19So we get all those things ready, generally drawn up, ready to go
0:22:19 > 0:22:23just because it's very difficult to do once you're flying.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26At least their patient's not fazed by her flight.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30- Just sit here for a sec and just see how you feel.- Yeah.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33- Are you feeling dizzy? - Just a little bit, yeah.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36We'll just wait for the dizzy to go away a little bit.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42SHE SLURS HER WORDS
0:22:42 > 0:22:44- Still feeling dizzy?- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48So just take some long... nice, long deep breaths for me.
0:22:48 > 0:22:49That's it.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55Kate's flight from the rural town of Orange to Sydney is
0:22:55 > 0:22:59a relatively short one, just 150 miles.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02You feel like you're in the movie Harry Potter?
0:23:02 > 0:23:05- She's in the MOOD for Harry Potter. - Oh, in the mood.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07Are you a bit of a fan, are you?
0:23:07 > 0:23:11A bit? I absolutely love Harry Potter!
0:23:11 > 0:23:13Every movie of him.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15The Nets team carry with them
0:23:15 > 0:23:19everything they need to keep patients alive.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22A life-support unit is even mounted on Kate's stretcher.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24Thank you ever so much for all your help.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26Really appreciate it. Bye-bye.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29The team's flying Kate direct to
0:23:29 > 0:23:33specialists at the Westmead Children's Hospital in Sydney.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Nurse Steve and Dr Stephanie are constantly
0:23:36 > 0:23:38monitoring Kate's condition.
0:23:38 > 0:23:43It can be stressful, you know, when a child is unwell and you're
0:23:43 > 0:23:47flying in a helicopter or in the back of an ambulance and you don't
0:23:47 > 0:23:52have the backup that you would have on a ward or in an ED department.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54But I think you train to do certain jobs.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57You train to cope with the stressful situations.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00You train to look after children when they're sick.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05We've now handed over her to the care of
0:24:05 > 0:24:08the children's hospital where they'll do further investigations
0:24:08 > 0:24:12to try and just work out exactly what's going on with her.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15So it's just a little bit of a walk along the corridor, OK?
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Kate received intensive drug therapy over several days.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27The swelling in her brain finally reduced
0:24:27 > 0:24:30and she's now back home in the country.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43The sprawling city of Perth covers 4,000 square miles.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46Most households have several cars.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52And expat policemen Rob and Colin spend a lot of time policing
0:24:52 > 0:24:55the traffic that comes with living in a booming city.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58So just now we are heading to Merriwa,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01which is just a suburb just down here.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04Someone's called in and they can hear a car hooning.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08In the UK, they used to be called joyriders.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11Down under, "hooning" is a major problem.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Rob's eagle eye spots a likely candidate.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Check this guy out first.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21A station-wagon with four teenagers on board.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29- This car?- It's got a big dent in it, I reckon this is your hooner...
0:25:30 > 0:25:34Despite Rob's advanced driving skills and one of the fastest
0:25:34 > 0:25:38saloons on the road, he's not closing on the vehicle.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41We were just driving out to that job, that 319,
0:25:41 > 0:25:44and a car's passed us going the opposite direction.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46It's got a big dent on the side of it.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48So we're just going to have a look at it.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58He's doing a fair speed as he's going through the suburbs.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02I mean, we are not hanging about as we're going to catch him
0:26:02 > 0:26:05and pull him over and we've not caught up to him yet.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Fortunately, he's behind this car, so that should slow him down.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15The driver's not giving up but the road's a dead end -
0:26:15 > 0:26:18it leads to the sand dunes that line the Perth seafront.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30But the other driver has other ideas.
0:26:30 > 0:26:31Has he got in dunes?
0:26:35 > 0:26:37Good luck, mate.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41Rob can't follow without writing off his patrol car.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44- Where does that lead out? - It doesn't, it goes to the beach.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47Beach or... good luck driving on the beach.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50They call in reinforcements.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57We just had a car take off from us, gone into the dunes up in Jindalee.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00We haven't got Polair, have we?
0:27:00 > 0:27:02But there's no police helicopter available to
0:27:02 > 0:27:04search for the car from above.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07RADIO CHATTER
0:27:07 > 0:27:10The vehicle has vanished.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12He's obviously...he obviously knows the area.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15He's deliberately came down here knowing that there's
0:27:15 > 0:27:16access to the dunes there.
0:27:16 > 0:27:17RADIO CHATTER
0:27:20 > 0:27:23So we've got...the dogs come out.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25And the dog handler's took his dog through the dunes
0:27:25 > 0:27:28there to see if he could fine the car that took off from us.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30He's took a decent walk in there but he's come across a car
0:27:30 > 0:27:32but it's a different one so...
0:27:32 > 0:27:36The dunes stretch for hundreds of miles. The police know
0:27:36 > 0:27:40that they will have little chance of tracking the vehicle until daylight.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43The tracks are pretty long in there and, without a helicopter,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46it'd be a bit of a frustrating search to take it any further.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49So, unfortunately today, we'll...
0:27:49 > 0:27:51on this, we'll call it a day and just keep an eye out for it.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54See if he comes out and we might see him out on the road.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58The expat police don't always get their man
0:27:58 > 0:28:00and the driver was never charged.