Episode 3 Emergency Rescue Down Under

They're the Brits who race to the rescue down under.

Multiple patient, critical.

Everyday heroes saving lives.

Five miles to run.

Battling fires...

Do not go out now! It's too late.

It can be extremely dangerous.

..and fighting crime.

-Put your arm down.

-Police, open the door.

From the big city...to the outback.

Our policing district is bigger than the whole of the UK.

From the bush...

He's been crushed between one of those dingo diggers and a Ute.

..to Bondi Beach.

-NEWSREADER:

-The search continues for a British tourist

who hasn't been since he went for a swim.

You never quite know what you're in for, what's going to happen.

332, mate, on the head in.

Very high impact. He's really quite critically injured.

Brits on blue lights, under blue skies.

Today down under,

a farmer's fighting for his life.

It's up to British pilot, Mike, to save him.

An 88-year-old male has been stabbed by a cow horn

in the abdomen.

Flight nurse Juanita comes to the rescue of a cancer patient.

Can't get in to Young, we'll have a look, erm,

to see if we can get her in to one of the other airports.

And policeman, Rob, is on the hunt for drugs.

There's a little bit of cannabis in your wallet.

Anything else on you?

Ambulance emergency, what channel suburb?

It's midday in Australia's cattle country

and an elderly famer desperately needs help.

Yeah.

OK.

He is 160 miles from the nearest trauma unit.

And he's losing blood fast.

British helicopter pilot, Mike De Winton,

is charged with saving his life.

'There's an 88-year-old male there

'that's been stabbed by a cow horn in the abdomen.'

Mike's rescue chopper can reach 160mph.

But the flight will take more than an hour.

It may not be fast enough.

Give you a call as soon as we're able. You guys got anybody else?

-'OK, thank you.'

-No problem. Thanks for that. Bye.

-RADIO:

-Medical control, this is Westpac 1,

we have five POB

starting at Newcastle Helicopter Base for Stroud.

We have an ETA of approximately 12:25.

One, two, two five.

Westpac 1 Company, thank you.

-223 take off.

-Hey, you guys, left up,

nose to the right, vertical climb to about 80 feet, rolling,

looking for about, er, 80 feet and 40 knots.

You've got traffic over to Westpac 1, medi-vac 412,

to come airborne Westpac base, tracking north for the...

Stroud area, Westpac 1.

-INDISTINCT

-Go and turn left.

-30 feet.

A local paramedic team has reached the injured farmer.

John Murray has a massive wound in his thigh

and has lost a lot of blood.

We'll go round a right turn and come in over the top of the trees straight towards him.

-OK.

-Got the cattle in the, er, park,

so they'll be beyond us on the left-hand side.

OK, got it.

-INDISTINCT VOICE ON RADIO

-A horse is bolting.

Cattle are on the move.

Coming over the top of the trees there now. Well clear.

-About 80% power there.

-Roger that.

Come in four, five...

four, three. Two, one. Hold.

John and his family have been waiting more than an hour

for the rescue helicopter to arrive.

Yes, that's pretty good, right above a bit high.

INDISTINCT

Here we go, the patient is in the 12 o'clock now, about 100 metres.

Go out the right hand door, please

and just watch out for the slope on the left.

Pilot Mike has landed the medics seconds from their patient.

-So, John, have you got any health problems at all?

-No.

Only that I'm getting old.

-OK, all right, you're not on any medications at all?

-No.

So you weren't injured in your chest at all, John?

It's just in your leg?

-I think so.

-He needs a transfusion.

It's just below the groin,

so I think it'll be a femoral artery vein,

so it's not going to be tourniquet-able.

OK, so what I think we need to do,

I think it's going to be, what's it going to be?

It's a vascular thing, so I think...

Yeah, so I have this expiratory 26th of October, RH negative.

Yeah.

The accident happened when John was helping his son, Glen,

-with the cattle.

-We were trying to move a heifer,

which has been having difficultly calving,

and it got out of the Ute,

erm, and the heifer's a bit of a wild one,

erm, and she must have, I didn't see it,

but she must have turned around and raced back at him

and she's horned,

erm, and she quite obviously got a horn in to his right thigh area.

Pilot Mike knows that the speed of his helicopter

could help save John's life.

The property we're on now is probably an hour to two hours' drive

from the nearest hospital,

so access is really quite difficult, erm, and also, erm,

the regional ambulances do a tremendous job,

but they've got huge distances to cover just to get here,

so, er, this job, you know,

the ambulance only got here about five minutes before we did.

Judging by what we're seeing at the moment, he's actually got

quite a significant injury and a lot of bleeding, so, medical crew

are trying to stabilise him before we take him back to the hospital.

But stabilising John could be impossible.

The position of the wound means flying doctor Mary

can't use a tourniquet to staunch the flow of blood.

Unless they're careful, moving him may kill him.

-RADIO:

-Partly cloudy, it's 08.02, Thursday 29th October.

Good morning. I'm Sarah Forster.

Cloudy at times today,

as we head for top temperatures of 22 degrees on the coast and 25...

On the banks of Sydney Harbour,

British flight nurse, Juanita Ameghino,

finds yoga is the cure for the stress of her job.

I started yoga seven years ago.

I wish I'd started it 27 years ago.

It definitely, definitely works.

You just slow your breathing down,

your brain starts thinking clearly

and so that really helps, as well, with my nursing.

Juanita has a high-flying job, based at Sydney's International Airport,

she crews the small planes that are the ambulances of the Outback.

I'm proud to call myself a British-trained nurse.

It's really nice to be able to take that patient,

knowing that they're critically ill

and continue giving them that clinical care in the environment,

like a very small plane,

getting them to the other side and getting them to the hospital,

where they can receive definitive care. It's great. It's what we do.

-Now, are you comfortable there, Michelle?

-Yes.

-As comfortable as can be expected?

-Yeah.

Juanita will bring you something to eat and some booze later on!

Michelle Richards is heading home from surgery in Sydney

to the small town of Young, an hour's flight away.

I've flown in little planes before but, you know,

never in this sort of vulnerable lying-down position.

So I'm feeling quite comfortable but nervous.

Few of Juanita's flights are routine.

OK, homeward bound.

Let's do it.

In Australia, the distances between the hospitals is so vast,

it would take you three hours to even get to a base hospital.

So then, if you wanted to get to a specialist hospital,

sometimes you're looking at six, seven, eight hours' driving.

In England, of course, you could get on a road ambulance

and you could be there in 20 minutes,

there's hospitals dotted everywhere.

The plane can carry up to three patients at a time.

And they need to pick up another before Michelle arrives home.

We are going to Griffith first, yes.

It's about an hour and a quarter to get to Griffith.

Now, I've got the kettle on. Would you like a cup of tea?

-Really?

-Yes.

No, I don't think I will, actually. I'm sure...

-No, I'm all right.

-All right.

See, there's nothing I can't do.

So I understand that your family

have been involved in the G-Nome Project?

Yes, that's right.

It was discovered a number of years ago

that the family had a genetic disorder

and the family ended up being perfect candidates

to help out with the human G-Nome.

Michelle's recovering from an operation

to remove a thyroid tumour caused by the family genetic disorder.

But first, they need to pick up a pensioner

diagnosed with a slow heartbeat.

So Saturday morning, I went over backwards.

I've been in hospital for a week, waiting to be sort of sorted out

and they're going to send me down

and have this pacemaker put in, an angiogram,

to see if there's any blockage, besides that.

Bob's your uncle, I hope I come home and be able to...

..be, er, fit.

74-year-old Merv began work as a butcher here,

in the small town of Griffith, at 12

and only recently retired.

Now he needs surgery in Sydney.

I love the people we pick up.

They're very country people, very laid back.

A lot of them are farmers. A lot of them have done really hard work.

See? I just do as I'm told.

They don't make a fuss.

They're very, very grateful to the Royal Flying Doctors' Service.

I love that.

Now, we can just... Oooh, just get that moon boot.

-You won't fit it.

-No, the moon boot won't fit, Merv. Otherwise...

Full reclining seat. We've got a little TV here, all right?

-Later on, we'll fill that up with booze for you.

-Oh, right.

We're going to lift you up,

pop you into the back of the plane.

But there's a problem...

-How long before we take...?

-Before we take off?

-Oh, I don't know yet.

-You don't know.

-We've got a few things we've got to work out with the weather.

-Oh, yeah.

Rain and high winds are sweeping in from the sea.

Visibility is falling fast at their next destination.

Young is marginal.

-We have a go.

-We'll have a go? Sure.

Michelle needs to get back to Young.

If we can't get into Young,

we'll have a look to see if we can get her into

one of the other airports closer.

Maybe to Forbes or to Parks,

cos we don't want to have to take her all the way back to Sydney.

Bit of a wasted round journey.

I mean, I know that my company is scintillating at the best of times,

but we don't want to have to do that to you, do we?

Until the low cloud on their route clears,

Juanita and her patients will be grounded in the bush.

On a remote farm in Australia's Hunter Valley,

former Royal Navy pilot Mike De Winton's helicopter

is injured farmer John Murray's only hope of survival.

He's losing blood fast after being gored by a cow.

So what I want to do, we'll get some blood going and...

Flying doctor Mary knows that, without careful handling,

John could bleed to death in minutes.

-Second line is what we need.

-Yep.

And I want to try and pack pressure dressing onto this,

before we then move him.

Cos I think it's going to start bleeding significantly

once we start trying to move him.

His wife Wendy is by his side.

Mum and Dad have been here for 54 years.

Mum, maybe five years ago, had a fall off a horse

and was similarly medevacked to the John Hunter Hospital.

She had some broken ribs.

It's up to you, Wendy.

If you want to come with us, we've got space in the aircraft.

If you want to nip up to the house

and grab some stuff quickly for Wendy, I'm happy for you to do that.

So, John...

So everything looks OK.

Obviously, we're concerned about this wound to your groin.

We need to get you to the John Hunter quickly.

We'll get another line in you, once we get you to the helicopter.

We just want to carry you over there,

get you out of the blinding sun.

This is Australia's most famous wine-growing region

and every year the Hunter Valley raises millions

to keep the rescue choppers in the air.

But for John and Wendy today,

Westpac 1 and its British pilot are priceless.

Watch your fingers now. Make sure the wheel's on, OK?

So watch your fingers.

OK, I've got it. Do you want to get the top end?

They're just wiring up for sound, OK?

Few Aussie farmers retire.

And Mike knows that, even at 88,

men like John are tough.

I think his son's been helping him here for a period of time, as well,

so it's pretty impressive, actually.

You see this guy's 88

and he's wandering around the paddocks chasing his cattle up.

It's pretty good. It's pretty good.

I wish I could do that.

I don't think I'd be flying in when I'm 88!

Don't think anybody would trust me.

What seat do you want, Mary?

But the team's patient is growing weaker.

John is losing blood almost as fast as the medics can replace it.

Just going to get you comfortable. Are you warm enough at the moment?

OK, takeoff.

OK, so coming up, nose to the right.

So I go across the corner there.

So I'll go vertical climb, as much power as I can get, then we'll roll.

OK, so a good, positive rate of climb. I'm going to roll now.

It's 160 miles to hospital.

An hour-long flight.

At speed, it comes alive.

Lovely.

Westpac 1 identified,

one to five miles north of Lampier.

John has been given almost all of the blood the chopper is carrying.

Westpac 1, cleared direct, John Hunter Hospital. Notified 15.00.

Good afternoon from Westpac 1. We've departed the scene for the hospital.

We have an ETA at John Hunter of approximately 13 minutes.

But John is resilient.

Thanks to several transfusions,

he survives to reach the trauma unit in the city of Newcastle.

He undergoes emergency surgery

and is soon well enough to return to the Hunter Valley

and to the cattle that almost killed him.

The city of Perth is a paradise for the young and the adventurous.

The climate has made this one of the world's fastest-growing cities,

with a healthy, wealthy population

and an outdoor lifestyle.

For British police officers, life at the nick isn't bad, either.

Oh, Sunday morning, nice and casual.

Er, washing the car.

You see, all that training's not wasted!

One of the teams each time

is nominated to cook breakfast for the other team.

I think, in the UK, you'd get your barbecue on maybe...

once or twice a year.

Out here, there's once or twice a year when you can't put it on.

But what the tourist brochures don't tell you

about life in Western Australia

is the feeling of isolation.

Set sail from this shoreline

and the next place you'll see is Madagascar, 4,000 miles away.

Antarctica's actually nearer.

And not everyone is happy here.

To me, with the youths over here,

I think there's more problems with self-harm

and alcohol, compared with what I'd dealt with in the UK.

It seems to be, like, the in thing for the young people today

to cut themselves and to self-harm.

And especially with the poms that are over here,

you think, "God, you've got a fantastic life here.

"Live it, instead of doing whatever you're doing."

When the sun goes down, the British officers sometimes see

the toll life down under takes on settlers.

Officers Rob Rickson and Colin Todd have been sent to an incident

in a new upmarket housing estate involving two teenagers.

Two kids are self-harming, one's unconscious

and another one's got razors.

-Just be careful, mate.

-Yeah.

There are two girls in a state of distress.

-No, she's moving, she's moving, she's moving.

-Lie down.

The ambulance is just pulling up on scene now.

One has severe cuts to her arm. Both appear to have taken drugs.

She's had two tonic chronic seizures since we've been here.

-Since you've been here?

-Yeah.

-OK.

-Cut herself anywhere else at all?

-Not that I can see.

She's got scarring on her other arm,

-so it'll be a job to get a line in.

-Yeah, I have the same with...

GIRL STARTS TO MOAN

Lie down. Don't kick, don't kick.

Just relax for us. Lie down.

-You want to just give a lift from here?

-Sure mate.

-Up.

And we'll head feet to the kerb.

Got it?

What did you cut yourself with, mate?

SHE MOANS

-It's bleeding pretty well, eh?

-Yeah, it is.

-You got that on?

-Yeah.

Relax.

Just stay still, so we can help you, please.

-It's not helping your cause, mate, all right?

-It's not at all.

I'm still alive!

Suicide's the biggest cause of death among young people down under.

44 Aussies kill themselves each week,

many of them under 25.

How many of those tablets from the pot did you have?

The clonazepam? How many clonazepam?

All right, we'll need another one on there, eh?

I think the Medaz is working now.

Tell you what, sats are good.

Pulse, she's tachy, but expected.

-Get rolling, eh?

-Yeah.

Both girls will be treated in hospital.

And they'll be offered psychiatric help.

It could've been life-threatening if it was left.

Speaking to one of the girls,

they suffer from personality disorders, both of them.

So that's only going to make it worse,

if you've a mixture of alcohol and prescription medication

in situations like this.

Officers Colin and Rob say they're here to stay down under.

But the Australian dream will always turn sour for some

in the world's most isolated city.

In the small town of Griffith, in New South Wales,

British flight nurse Juanita Ameghino,

pilot Bob Welch and their two patients are grounded,

waiting for low cloud to lift.

No, I'll get the 11 o'clock update,

looking at an 11.15 departure out of here.

And then we'll try and work the schedule from there.

Currently, as we stand at the moment, we're at Griffith,

which is clear, but we still had to check with the weather forecast.

And the pilot's just established that we are able to get into Young.

We've just got to sit tight here for half an hour while the fog lifts.

We do know what we're doing.

We just maybe don't look like it all the time!

Trust me, Merv. I'm a nurse.

Thousands wouldn't, but I believe you. Yeah.

Cancer patient Michelle Richens is flying home.

Pensioner Merv Hill is on his way to surgery for his heart condition.

I've just had a nice little... supposed to be a sedative,

because I get claustrophobia.

And they give me that

and I'm feeling all right at the moment, yeah. Feels pretty good.

So, I'll just lay back and relax.

And don't panic.

At last, they're clear for take-off.

And as soon as I start to do anything, I run out of air.

I can get a bit dizzy,

so they reckon this pacemaker will stop that.

So I'm hoping it'll give me back a bit of air,

not quantity but a bit of quality life.

Nurse Juanita, originally from Jersey, is reassuring Michelle.

I always talk to the pilot, I say, "Is it OK to get up?"

And they'll either say, "Yeah, go for it" or, "No, stay in your seat."

Sometimes they say, "Yes, but be careful."

So I stay low.

And there's not much room between our head and the top of the plane,

so, yeah, I don't want to become another patient.

Half an hour after take-off,

Michelle's touching down in her home town.

I'm really glad I've landed back in Young.

It would've been a big disappointment

if I'd had to go back to Sydney, when I was on my way home.

I'm looking forward to seeing all my family.

Bit of a long journey for Merv, isn't it?

-But you're comfortable, are you, now?

-Yeah.

-Yeah. All the best.

Thank you very much for your care.

That's all right. And I'm so glad we made it to Young.

Yes. It was a bit of an adventure, wasn't it?

Didn't want to have to take her back to Sydney.

Michelle's soon back home and recovering from her surgery.

But for Juanita and pilot Bob, there's more work to be done...

We've just had clearance to get into Canberra.

We thought we wouldn't be able to because of the weather.

So into Canberra, we're going to pick up another patient

to put on the plane with Merv and then we're going back to Sydney.

Then it'll be lunchtime!

Merv arrived in Sydney in time for pacemaker surgery

and after two weeks in hospital,

he caught another flight back to his home in the bush.

Half the people in some parts of Perth emigrated from the UK

and there are so many British newcomers,

builders aim their ads at them.

-TV AD:

-Our first home should be three storey with a sea view.

Oh, sure, mate! Quality built and cheap as.

British police officers Rob Rickson and Colin Todd

often find suspects are fellow ex pats, or their children.

It's dusk and in a street, where a drug dealer is known to live,

a teenager has aroused their suspicion.

So why was you going down that road?

Well, I was going over there.

Not going to buy drugs?

No.

-Do you buy drugs from down there?

-No.

-OK.

Stay there.

What's in here, mate?

What's in that Calypso bag?

Rob has little doubt why he's here at this time of night.

Just be honest with me.

-Yeah, OK, it's weed.

-Cannabis?

-Yeah.

-OK, have you got any other drugs on you?

-No.

-Right, so you've got a bit of cannabis in your wallet.

-Yeah.

-Anything else on you?

-Er...

You know I'm going to search you.

So probably may as... Just tell me where it is, mate.

What have you got on you?

I can't really remember what I put in my bag.

You don't know what you've got in there?

I can't remember what I put in my bag. I don't have a good memory.

OK, you remember what you put in there?

-What?

-What have you put in there?

Rob is beginning to lose patience with his suspect.

-Look, I don't remember.

-OK, you're making this really difficult.

-Let me grab this off you.

-Oh, sorry, I actually don't remember.

-OK.

Sure, mate.

So there's drugs in your bag

and you just don't know what they are, or where you put them?

No, I know where I got them, but they're drugs.

OK. Cannabis?

-Yeah, it's cannabis.

-OK.

You're making it quite complicated for a bit of weed.

What do you mean, complicated?

Well, you've got a bit of weed on you and I've asked you the question.

Most people would just answer it, straight

rather than saying all this,

"I don't I don't know where it is and I don't know what it is."

-Should be a bag of cannabis in there, as well.

-It's not cannabis.

-Pills.

-Oh, yeah, they're pills.

It's not looking good for their suspect, but he has an explanation.

Those are prescription Stilnox.

Prescription...?

-Stilnox.

-What are they for?

-Sleeping pills.

If you've got a prescription, why are they in a Calypso bag?

Oh, it's just the way I hold them.

Like, stuff falls out of my pockets all the time.

Why...? So they come in a bottle or in a blister pack?

-No, they come in, like, a little thing. I just...

-In a thing?

The contents of his bag look suspicious.

-OK, let's

-ID. Yeah.

Colin is going to check out his record.

What's been in these deal bags, mate? Speed?

Speed?

Well, it's a white powder.

-White powder?

-Yeah.

Well, they're in your bag.

But despite the fact he admits to possessing cannabis,

Rob can't find it.

And the powder could be innocent.

I don't know, like, what it is, if it's a white powder.

Well, you tell me what was it.

That one's got three bits of tobacco in it

and the other two have got white powder in them.

Is there tobacco? I don't smoke.

For a non-smoker, he's well-equipped to start the habit.

Who carries an ashtray with them with cigarette butts in it?

OK, mate, do you want me to pack that up or do you want to pack it?

Yeah, if you want to pack it.

You'll probably do a better job than I will.

-So where you from, mate?

-Here.

-From Australia?

-Yeah.

You were born here?

The police are puzzled by the teenager's accent.

It sounds more transatlantic than British or Australian.

Rob subjects him to a cultural quiz.

Do you know what Fosters is?

Er, 481.

-Sorry?

-481.

Which he fails spectacularly.

481?

481, yeah.

OK. OK.

The search for illegal drugs has drawn a blank.

Whatever their suspicions, it's clear the teenager

is not about to commit the crime of the century.

Their suspect is free to go.

-You want to get that packed up in case your bus comes.

-Oh, yeah.

Don't want to miss it, do you?

But Rob is concerned he may become a victim of crime later on tonight.

Just watch yourself walking about with all that gear.

Don't want someone take it off you,

-especially as your laptop and that's poking out the top.

-Yeah, yeah.

And just, if you're going to carry your pills and that round with you,

Calypso bags isn't the way.

-If you get stopped by the police, they'll turn you over.

-Yeah, cool.

-All right, buddy?

-Yeah.

-Here's your bus, mate.

Exit one relieved teenager.

Leaving behind two bemused British police officers.

I don't think he's very streetwise.

You asked what Fosters is.

4187 or something.

-It's not even worth...

-But he's got three empty deal bags on him

with powder in it.

-And he's two doors away from a drug dealer.

-I know.

-Yet, he walked down the street and then...

-Did he turn around?

Yeah, he was walking down here and then I stopped and looked at you

and then, when I looked back, he was back up here again walking this way.

Yeah. I never seen him turn around.