Episode 7 Junior Paramedics

'Ambulance service, tell me what happened.

'It's me husband. I can't wake him up.'

'Just confirm for me. Is he awake?

-'He's comatose. I'm trying to feel a pulse, but I can't.

-Right...'

'He's on the floor. He's unresponsive.'

LOUD BEEPING

TANNOY: 'Cardiac arrest. 38-year-old male...'

A call to a cardiac arrest.

The paramedics have just eight minutes to get to the scene.

SIREN WAILS

And just 12 minutes to save the patient's life.

-Can we do another pulse check, just before we move him?

-Yeah.

It's a scenario that can test the most experienced paramedic.

But what if you're a first-year student and you're new on the job?

Six weeks ago, nine junior paramedics

took on the biggest challenge of their lives,

with their first placement with the East Midlands Ambulance Service.

It is a shock the first time you actually go out

and see the first patient.

It's a job where no day is the same.

I don't think Lucy wants you to stroke her.

The experience has been an eye-opener.

We're with you. We're with you.

It's been a crazy rollercoaster

and my emotions have been everywhere.

These young and untested students

have dealt with real people in real pain.

'I want to help more people and do everything that I can'

for anybody that I can.

I felt really privileged caring for people in the community

and just helping people out.

They've coped with carnage and chaos.

There are some jobs that you go into and every pair of hands counts.

I don't think anybody knows themselves well enough

to know how they'll deal with that.

And they've even confronted death.

No-one taught me at uni how to not be frightened in a situation.

They've had six weeks to prove

they've got what it takes to be a paramedic...

I don't get emotional very often.

Things will hit you and they'll hit you hard.

What I want to do, I want to kill myself.

..and deal with life on the emergency front line.

But they've all come through it and made the grade.

I can't wait to get back on my next placement and do it all again.

This is their story.

Three months ago, our nine new recruits

arrived at the University of Northampton.

Obviously, university is a big challenge

and training to be a paramedic is a big step.

Many were coping with being away from home for the first time.

I don't know what to do!

Whenever anyone cooks, like, a proper meal, there's about 20 pans

that you have to wash up and nobody washes them up.

I'm too much of a mummy's girl!

But these were no ordinary students.

Oh, God, it's tight!

Yeah, mine is as well.

After just six weeks in the classroom,

they were suited and booted,

ready for gruelling 12-hour shifts on ambulances...

I've never been on an ambulance personally.

You really, really don't know where you're going,

what you're going to see or how you're going to cope.

SIREN WAILS

..aided and abetted by their mentors,

who would be constantly assessing them.

My advice is never run.

It's better to get there than not to get there at all or

fall over and make a complete arse of yourself when you do get there.

And as D-Day dawned, first-day nerves were hitting home.

The thought of, like, the control saying, "It's a cardiac arrest,"

I'm instantly going to be like, "Oh, my God, here we go, this is me!"

So it's going to be quite scary.

I'm absolutely terrified.

It's quite a scary thought

that someone's life could be, like, in my hands today

This is absolutely huge on me.

It's actually, actually happening.

As the first to go out, 18-year-old Steph was a bag of nerves

when she got the call every junior paramedic dreads.

-MAN ON RADIO:

-'38-year-old male, cardiac arrest, over.'

VOICES ON RADIO, SIREN WAILS

My heart is absolutely racing!

When we go in, we'll confirm it is a cardiac arrest,

-cos it might not be.

-Yeah.

-So A, B, Cs, yeah?

-Yeah.

If it is, we'll get the pads on straight away.

-I don't know how to do that.

-I'll do that.

-Yeah.

-You start chest compressions, OK?

-And we'll just have you doing chest compressions just to start with.

-OK.

-Take a deep breath.

-Yeah.

-You'll be fine.

-I'm scared.

'I was absolutely terrified. It came through as a cardiac arrest.

'I was in this ambulance for about 30 seconds going over in my head,

'trying to remember how to do compressions.'

It's simple, I knew how to do it,

but you forget, because you're so frightened.

Lots of drug problems round here, so it could be an opiate overdose,

-so check the pupils quite quickly.

-What? You want me to do that?

-Erm, whoever the gets chance first.

-Well, OK, cos I'm scared.

The call turned out to be a false alarm.

But Steph's next case - a major road traffic accident -

had very real casualties.

And this time, she needed to keep her composure.

With other emergency services having already arrived,

the scene was carnage.

Right, it looks quite nasty, so grab a couple of collars.

Mentor Sam needed to quickly work out how many casualties there were.

How many persons are there?

-We've got three casualties for you, all with serious head injuries.

-OK.

One down the ditch. We can lift her out no problem.

-Was she thrown from the car to this position?

-Yes.

In the collision, the woman in the ditch

was thrown a staggering 10 metres from the vehicle.

MEN SHOUT

Rachel, please can you go see to that one?

Steph, stay with me. So this one...

The priority was the woman in the ditch.

-Steph, can you go grab the monitor and the obs bag, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Where am I taking the monitor? To you?

-Bring the monitor here.

-Yeah.

Although it was chaos all around her, Steph kept her head.

WOMAN PANTS Get a 100% oxygen mask.

Steph, try and get down here if you can. Bring the oxygen with you.

'When you go to, like, these big jobs, like really awful things,

'you sort of realise that you have to have quite

'a solid shell on your outside, like you need to'

be able to walk in there and not cry and not be shocked

and expect the worst.

HELICOPTER FLIES OVERHEAD MAN: Can you hear me?

The sheer scale of the incident

meant the air ambulance was called in.

She's been thrown from car into this position.

We haven't moved her at all since we got on scene.

WOMAN GROANS Haven't got any obs yet...

The woman in the ditch needed to get to hospital as soon as possible.

With a risk of spinal injuries, she was moved using a rigid stretcher.

Right, down.

You're OK.

-Oxygen on?

-Yeah.

-WOMAN MUTTERS Pardon?

-What's happened?

-You've had a car accident.

-Aw...

-But you're all right.

The paramedic who holds the head of a patient

is in charge in incidents attended by the emergency services.

In this case, that was Steph.

Ready, brace, lower.

As the air paramedics took over,

Steph and Sam turn their attention to moving a male casualty.

Once again, Steph found herself in control of his neck.

-Just relax.

-MAN: No, just relax.

We'll take the weight.

-It's so we can pick you up.

-OK.

-Just relax, that's it.

-Well done.

I can't lift my head up?

You can't lift your head up, I've got it for you.

-Got it controlled?

-Yeah.

Ready, brace, turn.

Once secure, the man was taken to hospital for vital treatment.

And Steph could reflect on her first big incident.

I was really glad we were the first ones there,

cos sometimes the learning isn't about what you do,

but you get to see Sam go in and decide

who's their first priority patient, who's going to deal with what.

You can see that the paramedic is the number one person,

because they're in charge of the lives here.

She did really well. I'm really, really pleased with her.

She got involved from the very first job.

While Steph was proving she could cope under pressure,

19-year-old Amy's biggest fear

was keeping her feelings in check in front of patients.

'Those emotions inside. I'm quite an emotional person.

'I do cry at everything.' VOICES ON RADIO

That was quickly put to the test when she and mentor Shay

went to help a man who thought he'd been bitten by a spider.

-Hello?

-Hello there.

-Hello, is it yourself?

-Are you coming in?

-'He was probably my favourite patient.'

The lovely person that he was and how lovely he was,

he just was probably one of the nicest people I've ever met.

It really did stick in my mind that job.

-So, Ron, what's actually happened today?

-What happened was...

Oops!

-I tell you what, shall we just sit there for a second?

-Yeah, yeah.

Let's just sit there for a second. Just tell us what happened.

I went into... I'm sorry, I'm a bit emotional.

-Don't worry. Ron, don't worry.

-I got the oranges...

Ron revealed that, since returning from the shops,

he'd also had a blackout and fall,

meaning that this callout had taken a more serious turn.

Acting fast to changing circumstances,

Amy needed to do an ECG to monitor Ron's heart rate.

-I'm just going to pop these on your chest.

-Right.

But there was a sticking point.

His chest hair was getting in the way of the monitor's pads,

so Amy needed to do some gardening.

I really apologise, but we have to shave your chest a little bit...

-Yes, yes.

-..just so these can stick on, cos they're not going to stick

and they're not going to read correctly.

-I haven't done this before.

-No.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Um...

-Do it in that motion.

-On this?

-Yeah.

-OK.

-It's just to get the sticky dots on.

-OK.

'Probably one of the things on the job that you think'

you never sort of sign up... is shave somebody's hairy chest.

-Where am I going, like? Can you do it?

-Just...

Sorry, I don't want to hurt you, cos I haven't done this.

-Very good. Very wise.

-SHE LAUGHS

I got Shay to do it. I was nervous in case I was going to cut him.

But, um, that was an interesting experience

and at least I know how to deal with it next time that comes along.

With the test out of the way,

Ron started to open up about his late wife.

..the ambulance would be there. But it was about 11 o'clock

we came back from the hospital and she died at half past ten at night.

-Yeah, half past ten.

-Mmm.

-She died.

It's something I'll never, never, never get over, never get over.

I'll never get over losing her.

-It's...it's hard.

-Yeah.

It's hard, very, very hard.

I find it very hard, yeah, without her.

Cos we were...we were like one.

God, we were. It was incredible.

-I talked...

-'I feel really stupid for like getting teary about it,

'but it's just... it's just a sad story.'

I think... I don't know the man from Adam,

but I think I can totally relate, like my nana's got dementia

and my grandad, he's now living by himself,

he gets lonely and it just... it sort of brings it home like that.

As they found their feet, all the juniors quickly learned

that there was more to being a paramedic than saving lives.

-Are you all right for a minute while I just nip out?

-Yeah.

Using the gift of the gab to put patients at ease

is a key skill for any junior paramedic.

-Awkward silence?

-Some struggled initially.

-Some tried but failed.

-Look, who's that?

CHILD CRIES

BABY WAILING

And others were naturals.

How many chickens you got?

-About 50.

-50?!

LAUGHTER No, OK, just try to breathe normally.

-I got whacked!

-Right!

-LAUGHTER

-I didn't mean it!

-LAUGHTER CONTINUES

Confidence is key

and cocksure junior Max had bucket loads of the stuff.

Max's easy manner made him a big hit with his older patients.

-Can Max just do your blood pressure, is that OK?

-Yeah.

-You've got a nice fat lip there, haven't you, Doreen?

-I have.

-So have you just been doing a bit of shopping, then?

-Yeah.

You can tell everyone the other person came off worse, can't you?

Shall we get Max to escort you to the toilet?

-Can I have a feel of your hips, Doreen? Just tell me...

-That's nice!

So Max cracked it with the older generation,

but his next call was just five months old.

He's been vomiting since last Friday

and then, last night, it was proper projectile.

Everything just came out, he won't feed at all.

When he coughs as well, like it chokes him.

-BABY GURGLES

-Has he been treated for...?

The baby had suspected bronchiolitis.

He was seven weeks premature, so that's why I was a bit worried

-with his lungs and that.

-OK.

Max's mentor Chris was keen

to get his new starter involved in the tiny patient's tests.

Max is going to take some blood out of your little heel, mate,

and it might make you all upset.

-You got little ticklish feet?

-Is he tickling your feet?

-BABY FUSSES

-It's all right, mate.

Good boy.

-Job done.

-Right, if you can dressed, then, Mum, we'll pop him into A&E.

And with the tricky procedures out of the way, Max could make sure

this young patient and his mum got a comfortable trip to hospital.

You're in an ambulance, mate.

I know for a fact that, if I had a child that was unwell,

I'd be quite worried and a bit unhappy,

so you have to take into consideration that the parents...

You got to calm them down, reassure them,

but look after the baby in the meantime and I really enjoy that.

You're moving your hat all round.

It's going over your eyes. Where have you gone?

-Eh? Your mum will remind you of this when you're older.

-I will do.

Unlike Max, Lucy Wright's bedside manner

initially left a lot to be desired.

Here we go.

'The only thing I struggle with being a student paramedic

'is the interaction with people.

'If it's an elderly person, I'm really, like, withdrawn,

'cos I don't want to offend this person'

and then, if it's the same age as me, you can't always assume

that they're going to relate in the way you want them to.

On shift in Leicester,

mentor Natalie thought the time had come to push her student harder.

I'm going to let you lead this one, see how you go.

Remember your questioning. A, B, Cs.

Natalie wanted Lucy to deal with the patient directly

to assess her condition.

Hello. Hello, I'm Lucy, a student paramedic. How are we feeling today?

-Have you got asthma?

-COPD.

-COPD, right, OK.

But with the patient distressed and gasping for air,

Natalie had no choice but to step in and take control.

Have you ever had a nebulizer before? Yeah?

Oh, I feel sick!

Whilst Natalie went off to chat with the patient's husband...

-Are these all the ones she takes?

-The ones she started today, yeah.

..Lucy began to carry out a series of tests.

Try not to move too much, you don't need to move too much.

It was also Lucy's job to keep the patient calm

and reassured at all times.

But shyness had gotten the better of her.

Back in the fast response vehicle,

Lucy's mentor gave her some feedback.

You need a lot of pushing to approach the patient.

You said at the very start of this placement

that you do struggle with speaking to people or some people.

That is evident, because, obviously,

um...one of the biggest things about this job is communication...

-Yeah.

-..and it doesn't have to be on a clinical basis.

-Um...

-I'm just scared of like offending people, mainly.

Because I'm so young, especially like elderly,

I don't want to say anything wrong

and I just don't know how to chat as such,

but I'll have to get used to it.

It is only small talk, it is something

that you need to master when you become a paramedic.

So when a diabetic lady needed to go to hospital,

it was the perfect opportunity for Lucy to practise her small talk.

-Right, I'm going to do another BM on you.

-Do you have to?

-Was it on this finger originally?

-Yes.

-I'll do it on another one.

-Aw!

Sharp scratch.

-15.9.

-Ooh! Down!

-It's down.

-It's coming down.

-Yeah, man.

-Ah! Ah!

-Keep it nice and relaxed, Sadie.

Because otherwise, it will go tighter. Yeah.

They ought to invent a new thing for this.

Whoever invented this blood pressure thing was a nutter!

Weren't normal at the time!

-Oh, it's vile!

-It's done it.

-Thank God for that!

-That's fine.

With the checks complete, there was time for some chitchat.

-So what did you do before?

-A bit of everything, really.

-I used to work at Halfords.

-So what made you want to be a paramedic?

-I don't know. A bit of madness.

-It's not madness.

-No, it's lovely.

Um, well, I met someone who was a paramedic

and I used to really like writing and I started getting into medicine

and I liked the fast pace of being a paramedic.

-So there we go. We're here.

-Wow.

-Is it rewarding?

-It is, yeah.

-And challenging?

-I love doing it.

Having Sadie on the ambulance was a big boost to Lucy's confidence.

When you've done your two years, you want to be like Natalie, obviously.

-Yeah, I will be. I'll be qualified.

-Will you?

-Yeah, at the end of it.

Aw, bless you. You're such... And you're good with words.

-Very encouraging a young girl of her age is doing it, isn't it?

-Yeah.

'I'm not afraid to talk to patients any more.

'I'm still afraid of offending older people, but then again,

'it's just having the life experience and I'm only young,'

so I'm not going to have, you know, loads of it.

But I try and do what I can to, like, build my confidence.

As the juniors' placements reached the halfway mark,

the long hours and erratic shift patterns

were starting to take their toll.

I'm absolutely shattered to the point

where I'm just dragging my feet along now. I'm that tired.

Last Saturday, and I was, like, I'm too tired to talk.

I feel shattered.

It gets to you halfway through. About 3am, you feel it then.

For those living in university halls,

the novelty was beginning to wear off.

Sometimes, you just get to the point where you could punch someone,

because you're that tired and that hungry

and you just want to go to bed and they've got music on

-Turn your

-BLEEP

-music off!

I had to buy myself some earplugs. I've never used ear plugs before!

ALARM CLOCK BLARES

For usually pretty boy Max, getting out of bed in the morning

was proving to be the most difficult task of the day.

I'm not really a morning person. I hate mornings.

I really do. I despise mornings.

I just want to stay in bed. I like my bed too much.

So it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened.

It's nearly 6 o'clock, um, we're on a 5.30 shift. Max is running late.

I'm just ringing him to see where Max is.

PHONE RINGS

'I'm sorry, but the person you've called is not available.'

Hi, Max. It's Chris. Um, obviously, you're late in.

Can you, er, ring us if you get the chance?

If junior paramedics miss jobs, there's a lot at stake.

They're constantly being assessed towards their final degree mark.

Being late is not tolerated and could lead to a fail.

If we get a really decent job, it's going to be a shame, really,

because, once we're out, it is really difficult to come back.

As the screen bleeps and we've got a job, so...we're going to have to go.

SIREN WAILS

Could have done with Max, really. The more hands, the better.

When Max finally arrived for work, he was stranded at the station

until mentor Chris could find a window to meet him.

I just...fell back to sleep when my alarm went off.

-I'm just

-BLEEP

-off that I'm late.

When he finally tracked his ambulance down at Leicester Royal,

it had a not-too-happy Chris on board.

-Morning.

-Afternoon, Max!

-You all right?

-Yeah.

So what time do you call this, then? What's happened, then, this morning?

-Just didn't get out of bed.

-You just didn't get out of bed?

-No.

People can say, "Oh, he's lazy," but it does take it out of you

doing two day shifts and two night shifts of 12 hours

and you're just absolutely shattered.

So, as a forfeit, then, for being late,

-cos you've now missed some hours cos you're 2½ hours late...

-Yeah.

..you're going to have to come in Sunday. You're going to have to work

from half past five till half past one to make your hours up.

-You're actually going to make me do that?

-Yeah.

Totally.

We need to push on with your, um, actual, um, assessment.

So not good work. We've missed a bit this morning.

So we need to catch up.

For the rest of his shift, Max worked extra hard

to make up for being late and show his mentor how serious he was.

Come on, bud. Do you want to come in our ambulance, eh?

Come to me. Hello.

-Cheers, mate.

-See you later.

Someone who'd never have been late for either uni or placement

was super-studious Vick.

She's desperate to become a paramedic,

but failed to get on the course four times

before finally being accepted this year.

It's massively important to me.

I've never stopped trying to develop myself for it and be ready for it

and finally, this year, I managed to get my place at Northampton.

On placement, Vick piled the pressure on herself

to make the grade.

What seems to be...what happened? Why have you rang?

I ache everywhere, all across the shoulders, in the chest.

But she didn't always get it right.

-Is it painful all across your chest?

-Yes.

If you've got an infection, it will...it will hurt.

And when she misdiagnosed a patient's pain

as coming from his chest, her mentor had to step in.

-This is where it's hurting? Just here?

-Oh, yeah!

-Yeah, right there.

-OK.

Chest pain. I think it's more shoulder pain.

What do you think?

I don't know.

I have learned from it.

You just feel a bit of a tool at the time.

But when the pressure was on, no-one coped better than Vick.

She and mentor George were called to help a man who seemed to have

fallen in his flat.

But when they arrived, getting the front door opened

proved to be a frustrating task.

Have you got a key to his house? Has anybody?

Having no idea what condition the patient was in,

time was of the essence. But Vick had an idea.

Have you got your key in there? Can you pass it to me?

-He's here on the floor.

-Behind the door?

Yeah, well, he's making his way to pass me the key.

Got it, thank you.

Hello.

Since Vick had already spoken to the patient,

she continued to take the lead.

-Are you hurt anywhere?

-Hurt?

-Hurt. Are you sore, aching?

-Yeah.

-Grab my elbow.

-That's OK.

-Are you up?

-OK. There you go.

But just when everything seemed to be under control,

the situation took a sudden turn for the worse.

What happened then?

We're with you.

The patient was having a seizure, and although drugs can be

administered to ease the severity, it's often best to make

sufferers comfortable and reassure then until it's over.

We're with you. Ambulance is here with you.

Crew required, please.

You come round here. I'll go round there.

He's stopped fitting now, but he's not come round yet.

It's a little bit surreal, cos he literally was talking to us,

and then he just went, and I just talked to him because I know they

can panic when they come out of it and stuff like that and be confused,

so I just thought talking to him might give him a bit of reassurance.

Relax, it's OK. We're the ambulance.

Although he was mid- seizure, Vick and George still needed

to follow procedure and take all the patient's observations

before the ambulance arrives.

-It's OK, it's OK.

-Hello!

-It's OK.

All right. Ambulance.

Hello. We're here to help you.

Leave it in, leave it in.

-Take the nasal thing out?

-Yeah, probably just...

It's not fitting there so we can take it out. Take it out. That's it.

-He's coming round.

-Just relax. Just relax.

Since the patient was barely conscious, it wasn't

the easiest task, but Vick rose to the challenge.

20 minutes after collapsing,

the patient already seemed to be regaining full awareness.

How are you feeling?

-Not bad.

-Not bad?

Minute by minute, Vick's confidence was also growing.

Stay there for now. Just relax there. OK.

Once the second paramedic team arrived to transport the patient

to hospital, Vick and George could reflect on a job well done.

Vicki handled herself really well.

I did say, "Oh, he's fitting", but the dynamics changed

and she just went, "Right let's go on with it, let's deal with it."

That's what you need as a paramedic.

Things change all the time, and you need to be making

new plans, new directions, think about what you're doing.

The more you go out the more confident you get.

I defiantly feel from day one of placement that I've grown

and developed, and particularly confidence-wise I've come on,

but there's a hell of a long way to go, and particularly,

not having a backup behind you, a mentor, is a scary thought.

SIRENS

# Kids again

# Let's behave like kids again. #

After working extreme hours and dealing with shocking situations,

it was inevitable the junior paramedics would need to relax

from time to time.

I think, with doing this course, especially cos it's quite full-on,

when you get the chance, it is good to just let your hair down

and have a bit of fun, especially after you've done four shifts,

it can be quite intense.

Some of the juniors enjoyed a rare evening out to let off some

steam over a curry.

Do you think you've changed and developed during placement?

I think I've learned a lot.

More confident, definitely.

I think it's going to be strange when we're qualified

and you haven't got that person to kind of turn round to,

because ECGs, you just hand them straight to your mentors.

I look at them and just think,

"What the BLEEP am I looking at here?

"There's some things there, there's a QPRS."

They'll say, What do you think?" I'm like, "Yeah, I don't know."

THEY LAUGH

I feel like a superhero, because...

you've got a uniform during the day, you're putting on your outfit,

you go out and save the day, save lives and all that,

and then you come back and you're just normal, no-one knows you're...

-I totally know what you mean there.

-Yeah. You do, don't you?

I never thought of it like that.

People might think I'm a knob and that, but in a serious situation,

I can actually be serious.

-Turn off the knobbiness.

-It's amazing.

You would not believe it!

We didn't think you were a massive knob!

WOMEN LAUGH

Shut up.

They may not have been superheroes,

but after a few weeks on the job, the Junior Paramedics weren't

the new kids on the block any more either.

You're learning, girl, you're learning.

And were fast becoming part of the team.

High-five, Bryn!

They were still the butt of jokes.

They were also learning that being a paramedic on a Saturday night

can be a sobering experience.

Come on, Jonny! Waaaay!

GROANING

Did you see that top she was wearing as well?

Her boobs were, like, practically out of it.

What was she wearing? There was nothing on her, was there?

No. A really tiny skirt and I could see her knickers.

Just makes yourself look embarrassing, going out like that.

When Amy and Shay were called to a man who was found

lying in the street, it was a real eye opener for the junior paramedic.

Hello. It's the ambulance.

How are you feeling?

What's your name? Can you tell me?

MAN MUMBLES

Have you been drinking alcohol?

MAN MUMBLES

When he regained consciousness, he only had eyes for Amy.

-Amy?

-Nice to meet you.

-Amy, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Is Amy's number?

-Amy's number? No.

No number?

-No number?

-No number. No.

-Amy has a boyfriend.

-Boyfriend?

-Yes.

He took a little shine to us,

and I'm not sure if I really took a shine to him at all.

-Friend Amy.

-You want to be a good friend of Amy's?

-Strong.

-You are strong, I know that.

-Yeah? Amy.

-She's got a nice smile.

Yeah, it's good, beautiful.

-Pretty smile.

-Beautiful lady.

Yeah?

It made us feel uncomfortable.

I just wanted to run away when he started being all like that.

Take care.

Goodbye.

No.

AMY GIGGLES NERVOUSLY

No, thank you. No, thank you.

She's very shy. Very shy.

I think it is jobs like this that make us wonder whether I really want

to be on the car by myself.

I think that could've been a bit different if I was by myself.

Well, that was the bizarrest thing I've ever seen!

SHAY CHUCKLES

What was going on there?

I can't believe you didn't give him your number.

# She was beautiful, though

# I think it's time for me and you

# To take over the world. #

Flying solo was something that all the junior paramedics began

to worry about as they neared the end of their placements.

Very, very daunting that we are actually going to be

paramedics in a year and a half time now.

It's really scary just how quickly everything moves.

At this moment I'm extremely scared to be qualified, because I just

haven't got the knowledge, and I'm wondering how, in the two years,

I'm going to absorb enough to go out by myself.

You've got to make every decision on your own,

and the idea of being on the car on my own absolutely terrifies me.

You don't know where you're going to get sent.

28. Must be this one. Yeah, 28.

Looking for houses in the middle of the night is quite frightening.

Well done there on that.

So you'll be all right with that?

And no-one worried about this more acutely than 24-year-old Nick.

Nick looked up to mentor Jonny from day one.

Can you see me under the hood? The beaky cap.

I've never seen my mentor stressed or panicked.

I think he is exceptionally good at his job.

Their bromance blossomed throughout the six weeks,

with Nick playing Robin to Jonny's Batman.

I'd really love to wear my helmet, but...

If you want to wear your helmet, Nick, by all means do so.

-But can you wear yours as well?

-No.

-Awww!

The dynamic duo needed nerves of steel

when they were called to a patient who was found in a caravan park.

The police were first on the scene

and the man was lying in the back of their van.

He's vomited in the back of the van then he stopped breathing.

Two caravans down know who he is.

They've said he uses needles and takes all sort of drugs.

He actually stopped breathing for a short time.

He's in a state where he can't manage his own breathing

or his airway, so we OPA'd and MPA'd him.

Which is where you put a tube in the throat and one in the nose.

If we had not intervened he would have aspirated on his own vomit.

Once the patient's airways were clear,

Nick gave the man a saline flush.

Just 12 minutes on the scene,

and Nick and Jonny saved the man's life.

It's been a really tough experience on the road,

but also an amazing one.

Towards the end of the placement I was gaining a lot of confidence

and doing some of the things without being prompted.

It was true teamwork.

But when it came to the dirty work,

Nick was under no illusions who the junior paramedic was.

I don't think I'll be having stew for a bit.

Or chicken and mushroom pie.

Also hard at it was oldest trainee, Ashley.

She'd been having doubts about whether her future

really lay in paramedic life.

But at her next job, all her worries were about to go up in smoke.

Pretty bad fire, pretty bad fire!

The building was still alight

and firefighters were battling to control it.

You step out and it's blue lights, you know, from us, police, and fire.

You're nervous because you've got a jacket on

that doesn't indicate that you're a student,

are people are going to think I know stuff?

But in a really strange way you're really excited to be there.

Two local men had broken down the doors to check no-one was trapped.

Ashley's patient, Chris, was one of them.

He'd inhaled a serious amount of smoke and needed urgent attention.

Can you just sit forward if that's OK?

I'm just going to listen to your back. Take some deep breaths.

COUGHS AND SPLUTTERS

Ever so slight, ever so slight crackle.

Deep breath.

It was a big responsibility for rookie Ashley

but with the patient stable and the fire under control,

there was a chance to find out more about what had happened.

So you were just indoors and you heard what shouts for help or...?

We were coming out of here, just about to get in to the car

and we just see the family standing on the road.

-And the smoke...

-And the fire.

And they were standing right in front of where the window was.

I'm telling you,

it was two minutes after, BANG!

The whole window went up.

But just when Ashley thought she had it all under control...

Right. What's wrong, what's wrong, what's wrong?

-Chris, sit back for me the best you can.

-Let's sit back.

'In that moment I kind of questioned everything

'and I just thought, "Oh, my God this is horrendous."'

Are you all right, Chris? What's wrong?

Talk to us.

Talk to us. Chris, talk to us.

A sudden change in a patient is something every paramedic dreads.

-Chris?

-Chris, Chris?

Chris?

I just thought, "Oh, my God, what have I missed?"

Not just me, but what have WE missed? You know?

And you do feel a bit of responsibility.

Have I been really stupid?

Have I just completely not thought of something

that I should have been doing?

Just relax, Chris.

You're just having a bit of a faint-headed... A faint, Chris.

Lift your legs up.

Come down to the bed.

Right, what's hurting, Chris?

Oh, Jesus Christ.

It was intense, and for a trainee

with just a few weeks on the job under her belt,

this was a real test of whether Ashley had got what it takes.

Just shaving you, Chris, just to get these leads on.

You're on a ambulance.

I'm Ashley, I'm a student paramedic and you're on an ambulance.

I think you've inhaled probably more than you think

because you was in there for quite a while.

10 minutes in each place.

That's a long time and it's a lot for smoke.

Tell you what, buddy, we're going to have to pop you up to the general.

The high octane call set alight some new thoughts for Ashley

of where her future as a paramedic might lie.

I think I managed the pressure well.

That was one of the defining moments for me,

of really trying to pretend I wasn't sort of the trauma junkie.

That's when I kind of realised I might need to look at other things,

going to have a stint in air ambulance, combat medics,

because that's something that drives me really.

As Lucy Mellor and her mentor Alistair began a run of nights,

they found themselves on one of the quietest shifts they'd experienced.

MUSIC PLAYS

Look at that, the mood just picks up instantly.

MUSIC: "Blurred Lines" By Robin Thicke

MUSIC SLOWS

I managed to go the entire placement

without nodding off and being caught,

but, yeah, tonight Alistair said he noticed me falling asleep.

SIREN WAILS

But being a paramedic is an unpredictable job.

And it wasn't so quiet

when they were called to a man with severe stomach pains.

When they got there Alistair was keen for Lucy to push herself

and take the patient's medical history.

Hi there.

She found him writhing around on the floor in agony

and she quickly needed to establish what was wrong.

He's been struggling for the past three days,

he's been absolutely in pain and struggling to walk.

I've given him codeine and paracetamol.

His distressed wife was on the ball with her information.

I told him to try and sleep it off and wait till 8am in the morning

so we can call a doctor then, but he couldn't wait,

it got so severe that I had to call the ambulance out now.

I don't really know what to say.

He was like, "Are you going to take the lead?"

And I was like, "Yeah, that's fine."

Then we went in and his wife obviously gave all these details,

and I was like, "I don't really know what else to ask!"

And obviously the patient

wasn't in a state to have normal conversation about things,

so Alistair took the lead and let me... He showed me how it was done.

-When did the pain start?

-About two days ago.

And where's the pain exactly?

We'll get you some gas and air.

Alistair tried to get Lucy involved again.

-Twist it towards, across?

-Yeah.

Try and take some of this pain relief.

You need to pop this in your mouth.

It's difficult to know exactly what is causing the pain

but we'll do some, if we can, some observations.

Just pop this on to your arm so we can get blood pressure.

Just stay there, I can pop it on, you don't need to move.

Let's take the gas and air.

The man couldn't keep still enough

for her to take his observations properly.

HE GROANS

OK, take this off. Breathe the gas and air.

If he's in this much pain

then we'll probably pop him down to the hospital.

HE GROANS

Definitely still a huge amount to learn, next time, next time,

when it's a little bit less time critical, hopefully I'll have a go.

I thought it went really well.

I think it was a really brilliant effort on my behalf.

Yeah, a real structured approach there.

-I think I did it all really.

-You did!

It's because we went in and she kind of told us everything

and it threw me off a bit.

I was ready with my signs and symptoms

and then she told me them all! I didn't know what else to ask!

Bryn's placement hadn't quite had the drama

some of the other Junior Paramedics had experienced.

And he was yet to face a serious trauma case.

Is it OK if I just put this in your ear?

It will take your temperature.

-So can you say, "baby hippopotamus"?

-Baby hippopotamus.

Good, you can do it better than I can!

On the final week of his six week placement,

he was running out of time to impress mentor Charlotte,

but as he headed into his final shift

he was about to get the test he'd been waiting for.

Charlotte immediately assigned him a vital role.

Bryn, do you just want to come and sit in the back of the car

and put your helmet on?

What I want you to do is get in there

and hold the head of this gentlemen, OK?

Put your hands either side of his head

and keep his head nice and still. OK?

OK, sir, I'm going to hold your head, OK?

Hello, can I have the fire brigade and the 313s, please?

RADIO CHATTER

We're going to need a gentlemen cutting out of his car.

The man driving the car had dislocated his knee

and may have sustained a spinal or neck injury.

Is your chest all right and everything?

Bryn was given the massive responsibility

of holding the patient's head.

Make sure you don't shake your head,

you just keep your head as still as possible.

You're doing fantastic, Will.

-Bryn, are you all right there?

-Yeah, sure.

What's going to happen now

is there is going to be loads and loads of things going on.

You're going to be sat here and they're going to cover you over

with loads of stuff, and you'll be cut out the car.

Bryn needed to stay seated and hold the man's head completely still

as the emergency services cut the doors and the roof off the car

in order to get the patient out without moving his spine.

Right, Will, I know there's a lot of noise going on at the moment,

but they're just securing the car,

they're going to cut you out the car.

They're going to take the roof off.

'The atmosphere was quite tense,

'he was quite distressed by the whole situation,

'I was just trying to talk to him and just reassure him a little bit

'and just let him know what was going on.

'It must be so scary for someone especially when you're in pain.'

And you don't even really know what's gone on.

Are you all right there, Will?

Your knee, your knee still hurts, does it?

We'll have a look at your knee once we get you out.

We're gonna be making some noise now at the back, OK?

Right. You're doing great, Will.

'You could hear the metal snapping round

'and the roof getting slightly closer to you

'then they cut the rest of the car off.'

Which, when it's about here, to your head, is quite nerve-racking.

The roof was off, but it was still vital

the paramedics kept the patient's spine completely still.

So they moved him using a spinal board.

Ready? 1, 2, 3... Go.

Stop.

You just rest your arm there, Will.

First trauma job.

It's definitely different to all the medical patients that we've had.

Seeing the fire brigade

and basically all the other emergency services working together

was really, really good.

I felt quite in the action. It was pretty cool.

Bryn had proved he had what it took in a high pressured situation.

Hopefully he'll be OK now.

He was saying thanks and everything which is really nice to hear

and it's nice to be actually able to help someone out.

With their last shifts over,

it was the moment of truth for the Junior Paramedics.

We get graded today and I'm really, really dreading it.

I definitely feel over the weeks

I've been able to prove myself to Charlotte.

There's still more that I'm going to learn,

but I feel like I want to push myself further

than I already have done.

A good placement mark from their mentors would mean a good start

for their professional reputation.

I can see the progression that she's made from six weeks ago

when we first started, she's not the same person as when she came in.

She's come on so much, since the first day.

It's been really nice to see her develop,

she's really quite confident now.

And after just six weeks of intense pressure under the spotlight...

..they'd all passed.

B-. Happy with that.

I'll give you a grade of a B which is well deserved.

I'm ecstatic with that grade, I'm really happy. Thank you very much.

She's given me a B.

-We're just so proud of you.

-Aaw!

I'm just really happy that Charlotte gave me a C+ really,

I wasn't expecting it.

I'm really happy with a B for my first placement.

I think a C is really fair and actually a really good grade.

I'm really happy with the feedback she gave me,

because she did evaluate me really fairly as well.

It's helping me to build upon myself, so it's good.

# You're everyone's hero

# We all learn to fly away... #

With thousands of hours of experience between them

and stories to last a lifetime, all nine Junior Paramedics

came to the end of their first placement

of their paramedic career.

The whole placement was completely different

to what I expected it to be like.

From the first day it was hands on, instantly,

which I was really pleased about, for me that's the way I learn best.

The most rewarding thing about actually doing the job

is actually helping people, so that's awesome, that is.

What I've enjoyed the most is being a trusted member of society.

I can't wait to be a paramedic and to be out on the road.

I truly think it's the best job,

I could be offered all the money in the world

and I think I'd still I'd want to do this job.

It has been rewarding,

you're making a massive difference to somebody's life.

The ones that have really kind of been rewarding

are like the elderly person that's said thank you to you

or the character that's really accepted you as a student.

I'd quite happily not get paid for it for the rest of my life,

it's that kind of career that you just enjoy it so much

that the reward is actually doing the job itself.

I felt really privileged to do what I'm doing,

just caring for people and making sure everyone is all right,

you feel special.

It is a really rewarding thing to do,

the placement has opened my eyes to what is out there in the world.

It is a bit shocking sometimes, but then it kind of makes you reflect on

what the world is like, not as a paramedic, but as a human.

The last six weeks have taught me

that this is exactly what I want to do

and where I want to go with my life.

In 18 months I'll be able to stand there

and say I'm a registered paramedic.

That's my title, that's my career.

Even though it's quite scary,

I think it's going to be a fantastic career to say,

"I go out there, help people every day and potentially save lives."