Episode 12 Real Rescues

'Today, on Real Rescues, a lifeboat tackles two-metre waves,

'to rescue five people cut off by the tide.'

'It's up to Air-Sea Rescue to save the last person.

'A 999 call from a terrified wife.'

'She's watching her husband fight for life for a second time.

'And the search for the horse rider somewhere in the New Forest.'

That orange thing down there. Is that waving at us?

Hello and welcome to Real Rescues,

where we see first-hand the work of the emergency services.

These people are sending medical teams to sick and injured people.

Today, we're starting with an emergency sea rescue by helicopter.

They're operated by a mixture of the coastguard, the RAF

and, in the most southwesterly point of England, the Royal Navy.

'Culdrose in Cornwall, the Royal Navy Air-Sea Rescue crew is preparing for take-off.

'They are needed at an emergency north of Newquay.

'A group of people has been cut off by the sea at a notorious beach.'

No, they're still on the beach.

Can you see them down there? I can see the boat, yeah.

Come hard right and come in over the cliffs...

'Below, five people and a dog are stranded at Bedruthan Steps.

'Newquay RNLI is already at the scene.

'The tide is coming in fast. The conditions are tough.

'The coastguard has sent Air-Sea Rescue as back-up.

'The lifeboat may not be able to get all five people out in time.'

ON RADIO: Are they right below you? Over.

Affirmative. Over. They're immediately below us. Over.

'Away from the cliffs, there's a second RNLI lifeboat.

'The group will have to be rescued in relay.

'The smaller RIB is on the beach.

'The sea's so rough, it's only safe to take two people at a time.'

They're having a go with two through the swell. It's quite a big swell.

It's going to be quite hairy and they've got children down there.

'Now the lifeboat has two on board, it's heading back through the surf.

'The waves are reaching two metres.

'As the RIB tackles each break, it's swamped by water.'

If you require from us any more kit, this is the closest we can get.

MAN CHORTLING: Jesus!

They just got proper swamped!

I bet they're thinking, "Look at the helicopter!" That's massive, look.

'The RIB makes it through the swell with the two youngest in the group.

'The helicopter's hovering above the cliff top.

'The crew is poised to send down the winch the moment it's needed.'

What are your intentions? Over.

Yeah, Padstow 193. We're awaiting to see if the lifeboat needs our help.

There's four on the beach. If they require us to winch them, we will.

'The RIB powers back to the shrinking beach

'to rescue two of the three people left stranded.'

This is Padstow 01. That's all received.

We'll leave it for you and Newquay lifeboat to decide.

We're setting up our equipment.

'The lifeboat crew get another two on board,

'leaving the fifth person and the dog on the beach for a final pickup.

'As the tide starts devouring the beach, they are running out of time.

'A decision is taken.

'The lifeboat will not make it back to rescue the fifth person

'before the water reaches the cliffs.

'It's going to be up to Air-Sea Rescue to winch the final member of the party to safety.

'They'll have to take the dog at the same time.

'It's going to be a challenging operation.'

We were right next to the cliff

having to think not only about the length of the wire,

but also how close we were getting to the cliffs.

'It's best practice for a helicopter to hover into the wind

'to reduce the power needed.

'The pilot needs to keep the aircraft

'directly above the casualty.

'The shrinking beach is pushing the operation closer to the cliffs.'

I'm not sure we've got that much space, to be quite honest.

So we were right at the edge of what was safe for us to operate with.

'The aircraft's maximum winch height is 200 feet.

'The cliffs here are higher.

'It means the pilot is forced to hover alongside the cliff face.

'At this height, every movement on the wire is amplified.'

If you're not careful, you'll swing the winchman around like a conker underneath the aircraft.

'Winchman Alan Speed will be lowered down, guided by the winch operator,

'who's in constant communication with the pilot.'

OK. We are committed throughout.

Happy there? We're committed, we're committed, so...

'Winchman Alan will put the dog in a yellow bag

'normally used for rescuing very young children.'

And lowering away.

Lowering the winch.

If you've got any room forward, go forward only 20 yards.

Little bit drier. Easy. Easy.

And steady. Good position.

They're on the left. They've just got shorts and T-shirts on.

'It's a wet landing.'

You happy with the bag rather than the harness?

Yeah. He's not that big, that dog.

He ain't going to want to go in a yellow bag.

It's a springer spaniel. CHUCKLES

I'd been winched into the sea, so I had to wade up the beach.

I saw the owner and the dog, cowering in the corner.

I had to use the owner to help me to get him into the bag.

Dog's in the bag.

Guy's got his strop on.

Watch the wave coming in, Speedy.

'They've had to wade into the sea to get directly below the aircraft.'

Dog's on the Grabbit.

First strop going on. This will be a double lift.

Raising the winch. All three coming clear.

The bag's falling the right way, so the dog shouldn't fall out.

We will be taking good charge of it.

'They're operating at the end of 200 feet of winch,

'but they're managing to limit the swing.'

Happy to move slowly away from the cliff, if you want, five yards.

Tail's clear. Just got the island at 2 o'clock.

I'll let you know as soon as they're in the door.

'Minutes later, the final person and the dog are inside the helicopter.

'And after the shortest of flights, they're back on dry land.

'The lifeboat's taken the rest of the group to nearby Newquay,

'where they will all soon be reunited.

'It's not the first rescue from this beach.

'Locals are all too aware how quickly the tide can cut it off.'

Tourists like to visit Cornwall in the summer.

They don't really know the local area and the tide

as well as the locals.

They might find a nice cove that looks nice when the tide's out.

Little do they know that the water will soon come in

and they'll end up being stuck.

'The South Western Ambulance Service control room in Exeter.

'It's 5am, almost the end of a night shift for call handler Julie Ings,

'when she takes a desperate 999 call.'

PHONE RINGING

'It's immediately clear this is one of the highest level emergencies.'

'The emergency call is coming from a house in Christchurch.

'It's not the first time the woman has woken to find her husband

'lying next to her, looking so desperately ill.'

'In the bedroom, the emergency is playing out exactly as it did three years earlier.'

So I turned over, banged my light on to full blast,

and Mario was mauve and blue.

And I knew it was happening again.

'It's all too much for Gill.

'In her panic, she leaves the bedroom. She's still on the phone.'

The lady got very panicked.

I remember having to try and calm her down.

We had to go with what she was able to do in the stress situation,

try to keep her focused and as calm as possible while the crew were on their way,

which can seem like a lifetime while they're waiting,

but in fact it wasn't that long at all before the crew were with her.

'It becomes clear to Julie that the caller is no longer in the same room as her husband.

'She has to get Gill back to his side to start CPR.'

'Gill's worrying about how the ambulance crew will get in.

'She's putting the dogs away and opening the front door.

'It's vital she starts the chest compressions straight away,

'if husband Mario is to have any chance of recovery.'

I knew that I was becoming hysterical

and...slightly out of control.

Because, as I say, the emotion just takes over.

'But every minute that Mario's heart is stopped

'reduces his chance of survival.

'Later, Gill overcomes her emotions

'and fights hard to keep Mario alive till the ambulance crew arrives.'

VOICE BREAKING: You want to be brave and you want to do the right thing.

And inside, your heart is being torn apart.

I'm going to have a chat with Phil.

Are you free to chat to us? Yeah, absolutely.

It's interesting because Phil is a clinician here.

A paramedic... Yes. ..who has worked as a paramedic in the community.

You have an advisory role to all of the call-takers, is that right?

That's correct, yeah. I've been out on the road for 23 years.

I decided there was a change needed and this is an ideal opportunity

to relay all my clinical skills to help with the triage on this system.

You can take over on a call where extra knowledge is needed to help? Yes, most definitely.

I was interested in something you were telling me earlier.

I'm a motorcyclist, and the one thing that we all know

is that when you come to an accident you should never take a crash helmet off a motorcyclist,

cos you could damage the neck in the process.

You say, because of an accident you attended, you shouldn't take the leathers off either. That's right.

When you get to a scene, normally,

a clinical person - paramedics, doctors -

would cut all the leathers off to get down to the skin to see injuries et cetera.

On this one occasion, due to the extensive injuries this motorcyclist had,

we decided to leave the leathers on because they act as a compress.

So by doing that, you're stopping the blood vessels from dilating and all the blood running out -

i.e. getting him to hospital in one piece.

On this occasion, it did work.

Did that leaving his leathers on actually save his life?

It probably contributed to it, yes. That's extraordinary.

So for a member of the general public, we know not to take people's crash helmets off,

leave the leathers on until somebody who knows what they're doing turns up? Any motorcyle accident, yes.

Just leave the leathers alone. And get them to stay still? Yeah.

Smashing. Thank you very much.

'The New Forest in Hampshire.

'The Air Ambulance has been scrambled to find an injured woman.'

'On board, paramedic Pat Andrews, Dr Liz Shury

'and Private Alan Scott.'

Just to repeat - 835 6502. Over.

'They're working off map grid references,

'but there are no landmarks to guide them.

'All the crew are keeping a keen lookout for any clues down below

'that will lead them to the injured woman.

'Suddenly, they see something.'

'Two men from the Forestry Commission

'are using a fluorescent jacket to attract their attention.'

They are.

'The men have found a clearing for the helicopter to touch down.'

'Waiting to guide them to the casualty is David Morris.'

That was a good signal. Good! I was trying to...

'David brings the medics up to date.'

Where's the horse?

Was she on her own?

'The injured woman was only found after a couple walking their dog

'spotted a riderless horse.'

She was completely dazed.

The immediate thing was that her shoulder hurt.

'The woman is where she landed, thrown by her horse onto a branch,

'breaking it as she fell.'

Do you remember hitting the tree? I remember coming towards it, thinking, "This is going to hurt."

'Paramedic Pat is supporting her neck,

'as Dr Liz quickly gets her some oxygen,

'in case she's suffering serious injury.'

We're holding on to your head, in case you've damaged your neck.

It stinks, my hat! That's OK!

I'm going to pop a bit of oxygen on you. That's standard again.

Pop that there so you won't have to hold it.

What's your name? Hannah. Hello, Hannah. I'm Liz. This is Pat.

Do you know where you are? Yeah. In the woods.

It's starting to come back to me.

'Hannah was riding alone. There is no sign of her horse.

'It bolted after being spooked by New Forest ponies.'

Were you knocked off or you leapt off? Knocked off.

Maybe a bit of both. I was just, "Here comes a tree." OK.

'Hannah can remember everything, but she suffered an impact to her shoulder, arm and head.

'The medics can't take any chances.'

OK. And how's your breathing? OK.

No pain in your chest or anything?

A little bit, where I've hit the ground.

Do you know what day it is? Yeah. I had to think about that before!

Wednesday morning. And no bruises on your head. My head hurts a bit.

What about your leg? Does that hurt? Everything feels a bit tight. OK.

'It was thanks to dog walkers Marcus and Maria that Hannah was discovered so quickly.'

We saw a herd of horses that were clearly spooked,

so we put the dogs on the lead.

Then I noticed one of the horses had a saddle on it, so we then backtracked up the paths.

We didn't know who we were looking for or where we were going, but we knew we had to find her.

'When they found her she was slumped on the ground.'

She was conscious, but very confused and sorry for herself.

'It's an hour since the accident.

'Dr Shury's preparing some strong pain relief,

'which will help Hannah cope with the air-lift to hospital.

'By now, her friend Anna has arrived

'and takes over immobilising Hannah's neck.'

How old are you, love? I'm...31. 31! I had to think about that.

'The drugs are easing Hannah's pain, but it won't be easy for her,

'being moved onto the stretcher.'

That's better.

That will warm you up a little bit while we get you out of here.

I'll give you some of this then we'll lie you down.

That'll make you feel a bit better, I expect.

'The only way to get Hannah to the helicopter

'is to load her onto the pickup.

'Anna and the Forestry Commission workers will stay to look for the missing horse

'that's still running with the New Forest ponies.

'It could take some time.'

There we are. That's that anti-sickness drug in.

It'll work in a few minutes. Yeah. It's pretty quick. OK?

'Hannah's starting to drift into unconsciousness.

'Her friend is determined to keep her awake.'

It's going to be fine, all right? They just want to make you better.

'Liz will stay by Hannah's side for the journey.'

Well done. You all right there?

'It's a short flight to Southampton General.

'The emergency department is on standby.

'More on Hannah's injuries later.'

Coming up on Real Rescues...

'..a collision takes the shine off one driver's brand new vehicle,

'but the police do their best to pick up all the pieces.'

You might not afford the whole thing, but you could have that!

This is the closest I'll get to one!

'And Mum refuses to take the blame

'after son Jayden dislocates his knee helping clear up.'

"It's all Mum's fault for making me tidy the lounge!" Yeah, Mum's fault!

'Earlier, we were following a dramatic 999 call

'to South Western Ambulance control room.

'A 53-year-old man is in cardiac arrest.

'It's his second heart attack in three years.

'His wife, Gill, has made the call,

'but she's been too hysterical to begin chest compressions.'

'Mario's too heavy for Gill to get him off the bed and onto the floor.'

We needed to get some effective CPR going as quickly as possible.

She stated that she wasn't able to get him to the floor, so we did the next best thing that we could.

We got him in bed, where he already was, on his back where he was

and got some good hard CPR happening.

'Julie's talking her through, insisting that she keeps going.'

Because I was so emotional, I don't think I'd have been able to.

It was HER actually counting "one and two and three and four",

that literal "one and two and three and four"

that kept me going.

I think if she'd have stopped, I'd have stopped.

The last thing we want to do is cause another heart attack

for someone who's performing CPR.

We have to be aware of that as well.

She sounded like she was coping physically OK.

'Just six minutes since she made the call,

'Gill hears the ambulance arrive outside.'

'Finally, Gill can hand over to the ambulance crew.

'She's kept Mario going, but now he'll be wired up to a defibrillator

'and they'll try to shock his heart back to a normal rhythm.

'The paramedics talk about the battle to save Mario.'

We gave him three or four shocks before we got him back.

The first time, we had him back for two or three minutes.

We were getting ready to move him at that point. He arrested again.

Hoping to have a word with Danni, if she's not on a call.

All right? Yeah. Jolly good.

Would it be fair to say that, as a call taker,

you're quite pleased when you get a call that really tests your skills?

Yeah? Yeah. So give us an example of one that you've dealt with

where you felt that your skills have come to the fore.

I had a gentleman who was working in a food factory.

The call came in and a gentleman that I was speaking with

said that one of his colleagues had his hand stuck in machinery.

Like damaged-trapped? Trapped. It was trapped in the machinery.

He'd used his other hand to try to pull that hand out,

and he'd injured that hand as well. Wow! Yeah.

For me - this is probably why I do what I do, rather than doing what you do -

I would be thinking "mangled" and the blood.

You've got to kick into professional mode, find out as much as you can.

Was the person that was talking to you next to the person? No.

He was upstairs, in the office.

All the information was being passed by three people to me.

There's a three-person relay going backwards and forwards? Yeah.

What are you looking to find out? What's the most important thing?

Blood loss. If they're still trapped in the machinery.

Then we need to think about getting other people involved to help release the hand.

Yeah... So you can push that out to Fire Rescue?

Yeah. Anybody that could help if he was still trapped.

With that kind of injury, where someone's caught a limb in a piece of machinery,

isn't it quite dangerous to release it because that can then start the blood flow?

There's not that much advice we can give. If he's still trapped, he's still trapped.

By the time we'd got the information, he had managed to release his arm.

Then it was trying to find out how much blood he was losing,

how damaged his hand was, getting enough information for the crews.

That's like Chinese whispers if you go via three people.

The information coming back isn't always... No.

It's very hard to get the right information relayed back to them to help with the bleeding.

What was the result of this, with the chap and his hand?

Well, I managed to assess it - very basically.

Gave him as much information as I can to help stem the bleeding

and then the crew arrived on the scene, luckily.

Was the damage bad to the guy's hand?

From what I understood, he had quite bad damage to his left hand

and then his right hand was quite...mangled.

But as a rule - obviously you deal with everything that comes in -

it's good to be tested? Yeah.

Not that you'd ever wish anybody any injury. Absolutely.

But if you know that you're the first person to offer them help, then that's a good thing.

A great sense of pride, I imagine, once you get off the phone, that you've been of some help? Yeah.

We can offer as much information as we can to get that help on the way

and help treat them whilst they're on the way to them.

It's a cool job. Yeah. I'll let you get back to it. Thank you.

'Early morning rush hour in Milton Keynes.

'Traffic cops Dave Morgan and Gary Fortnum are making their way through traffic

'to a crash on the other side of town.'

I would have thought it would be on these bends up here.

There's a farm. I don't know what farm it is.

It's slippery. Yeah, it is. But then it hasn't rained for a while.

The roads are going to be slippery.

'Sure enough, two cars have collided on a left-hand bend,

'almost head-on.'

Show us on scene. The road's only partially blocked.

'First thing the police need to do is check that no-one is hurt.'

Me. You and you, yeah? We'll sort it out. Don't worry.

'The next job is clearing the road.'

Does the BMW not drive?

When I tried to move it, it came up with, like, "disabled"...

'Driver Jay is being comforted by Charlotte, her dog walker.

'They were taking Jay's puppy Megan to the vet when the crash happened.'

I suppose it's got loads of buttons to drive it? Yeah.

Well, I'll have a go, see if I can get it.

'They're going to get the dog out before Dave has a go at moving this brand new 4x4,

'with its key-less technology.'

You'll have to show me how to start this.

'Dave might be a traffic cop, but he's never driven one of these.'

They've got so many buttons, I've got no idea how to drive one. I'm not used to this technology.

Go! Have you driven one of these before?

I'll do some traffic control!

Want to go forward first.

'Eventually, Dave masters the controls and gets the 4x4 moving.

'The blue car's offside front wing is completely smashed in.

'It was heading down the hill, skidding on the wet surface at the tight left-hand bend.'

They'll tell me as soon as it's on its way.

'This collision is going to be sorted out between the drivers' insurance companies.

'Dave gets on clearing the road when something catches his eye.'

You won't afford the whole thing but maybe you could have that.

'It's a pricey car, so even the badge is worth holding on to.'

This is the closest I'll get to one!

'They've missed the appointment at the vet,

'so they're keen to head home, if they can.'

The wheel arch is a bit loose, it's flapping about,

so we'll pull it off...

'The police are going to try some roadside maintenance - if Jay can bear it.'

Shall we see if it will pop off?

I'll go the other side and put my fingers in my ears.

Yeah, you might want to.

See if I can wedge it back in as opposed to pulling it out.

BANGING

'All it needs now is a bit of police tape,

'then maybe this brand new 4x4 will be good to go.'

Going to tie it back to the car, that's the plan. Whether it will work is another matter.

What was a minor repair has just gone up a few thousand quid!

Police barrier tape at its best! Check it out!

'Now, the moment of truth for Jay back in the driving seat.'

SQUEAKING AND RUBBING No, still don't like that.

'There's an ominous noise.' Stop! Look at the wheel.

'Something more substantial is wrong.

'The bottom of the wheel is pointing outwards.'

That's definitely not right.

The wheel. You might have bent the axle. It'll have to be recovered.

'It'll mean an expensive repair to Jay's brand new pride and joy.

'All she can do now is call recovery and she's covered for that.

'Meanwhile, a breakdown truck arrives for the blue car.

'Now Jay's worrying if her vehicle

'will make it onto the breakdown truck with its broken axle.'

They roll, but not in the direction they're meant to go, I think.

Do you want me to speak to him? Yes, please. Could you speak to the police officer, please?

Hello?

They roll to get on a recovery truck but I think it's done something to one of the axles on the rear.

One of the wheels is out of line, but it drives.

You'll be able to drive it on the truck, no problem.

'The other car's already loading.

'It's time for Dave and Gary to move on.'

We're going to depart, anyway. OK. I hope you have a nice day.

I hope YOUR day's going to get better.

Never mind. Lovely little space on my driveway.

A big space, I would have thought! LAUGHTER

See you later. Take care. Bye bye.

SIREN BLARES

'It's the last week of the school holidays.

'An ambulance is heading to a housing estate north of Portsmouth.

'On board, paramedic Jade Foley

'and emergency care assistant Danny Collins.

'They've been told a schoolboy is in pain after an accident at home.

'They arrive to find Jayden in pain, holding his knee in the front room.'

Hello. What's happening?

He's gone to move and... You explain it, Jayden.

I just moved and something went in my leg, like that.

You felt something go? Yeah. I dunno, but...

This is the only way I can get it.

When I go like that, it hurts.

'Jayden's right knee is very swollen.'

I had to roll that leg sideways.

'Jayden will need an X-ray,

'but they can't move him until they get on top of the pain.'

Does it hurt when you poke it? UNCLEAR RESPONSE

If you scored that pain out of ten,

ten being having your leg ripped off? Eight.

So it's quite bad? Has it been worse than this?

Is this a bit better than before? Yeah. Right.

Are you not able to move your knee?

I can, when it was, like, up here,

I could wiggle my toes a tiny bit.

'Jayden's day has gone from bad to worse.

'He was told off for being untidy and asked to clear up the lounge.

'As he sat on the floor sorting through things, his knee went.

'Paramedic Jade explains what might be going on,

'as he loads up with the pain-killing gas nitrous oxide.'

Dislocating means that...

Your knee's like this. It's a ball in a socket, like your shoulder.

Sometimes, if you put pressure on it in the wrong place, it pops out.

When I had my hand there, I felt like this thing was moving.

It might have been your kneecap swivelled round. This thin bit.

Yeah. Everyone's got a cap on the front of their knee.

Sometimes, that...moves. It's not supposed to, but it does.

That might be what's happening. That's why it's so painful now.

You've bruised everything inside.

'The kneecap seems to be in the right place now,

'although there is a lot of swelling as well as pain.'

I can't walk on it. No, we can shift you onto...

We'll have to fly you. Have you got a magic carpet?

Because if you don't, we are in trouble.

'There's no avoiding moving the leg to get it into the splint.

'Every move hurts, even with the gas.'

We're going to do the most painful bit. Every single breath, take it through the gas.

We have to take that cushion out from underneath your leg.

We'll do it all in one go, OK?

I think the gas and air's making him feel a bit giddy now!

You want me to grab the beanbag? I'll grab the beanbag.

You support him under there. Argh!

Keep taking that every single breath.

Well done.

Don't worry about that. Don't worry. You're fine.

'Jayden's coping well, and now the vacuum splint's in place,

'the worst is over.

'They need to slide Jayden onto the scoop stretcher

'to get him into the ambulance.'

This is just to be able to get you out again.

Shuffle down a little bit.

Put your head down.

How old are you, Jayden? 12.

You normally run around, play football and all the rest? Normally, I sit down inside.

'The gas and air is doing its job.

'Jayden's feeling well enough to tease Mum about what's happened.'

I was tidying up the lounge and I tried to move

and my knee went like that.

Badly.

Mum was hoovering, so I kept moaning and moaning then she came.

LAUGHING

I was waiting for "It's Mum's fault for making me tidy the lounge!"

Yeah, it's Mum's fault for making me tidy up the lounge.

He's definitely going to milk this one.

I'm sure. For a long time.

'Once inside A, the crew can hand Jayden over

'to the safe hands of Sister Kerry Gilbert and her team.'

He was still in pain when we got there.

He's had Entonox as well. He's now pain scoring at two.

INAUDIBLE

'The knee will be X-rayed to make sure it's back in the right place

'and there are no other injuries.'

'Doctors confirmed that Jayden's knee had been dislocated,

'but it had popped back into place.

'The pain was caused by his muscles going into spasm.

'He's made a full recovery and he has no excuse not to help his mum

'next time she needs the front room tidying.

'Hannah was thrown by her horse onto a branch in the New Forest.

'X-rays revealed that Hannah didn't suffer any broken bones.

'However, a few days after the accident, she returned to hospital

'with breathing problems caused by serious bruising.

'It took her friend two hours to find her horse, which had bolted

'after being spooked by New Forest ponies.'

'Ten weeks after suffering a second heart attack in three years,

'Mario is well enough to go and thank the paramedics who helped save his life.'

Hello. Angels without wings!

'Rapid responder Matthew Smith was the first paramedic to arrive

'and took over chest compressions from Mario's wife, Gill.

'It's an emotional reunion.

'Matthew worked on Mario alone until the ambulance crew arrived with advanced life support.

'None of the crew expected to see Mario looking so well so quickly.'

How are you doing? I'm all right. How are YOU doing?

I'm...as good as can be. You look a lot better than you did in hospital!

I think I was a better shade of blue. How are you doing? Very well.

Yourself? I'm OK now.

'Paramedic Kelvin Crocker remembers the lengthy battle to restart Mario's heart.'

We gave him three or four shocks

before we got him back the first time.

We had him back for two or three minutes.

We were getting ready to move him at that point. He arrested again.

Another shock and another cycle of CPR

meant that we got him back again

and this time, he stayed - he stayed with us.

'Mario was taken to the cardiac unit at Bournemouth Hospital,

'where he had two new stents fitted

'to restore the blood flow to his arteries.

'Mario's heart arrested twice that night,

'making his recovery all the more remarkable.'

By the time I arrived on scene, Mario had been in cardiac arrest

for about 11 minutes.

Normally, the statistics turn round and say

it's about eight minutes in cardiac arrest when people do not come back.

Considering the amount of time he was down, his recovery was amazing.

'Marion knows Gill played a vital role in his survival.'

I was so grateful to my wife, looking back,

the work that she's done

and the immediate response that she took at the time

which, no doubt, saved...saved my life, there's no question of that.

'Gill never thought she could do it.'

If that had been a stranger there,

I probably could have coped far, far better.

But because it was my world laying there,

I um... I went totally to pieces.

'The call handler's calm instructions were crucial.'

The lady on the end of the phone saved Mario's life.

And the paramedics saved Mario's life. It wasn't me.

I love my job. I do it because I feel it's a worthwhile job to do.

It's nice to know that it's appreciated because...

the serious calls are ones that we really need to take control of.

There's so much happening.

It's nice to know that they're worthwhile calls,

that it's got a good outcome.

'Mario suffered some short-term memory loss,

'but after a couple of months convalescing, he's back at work.'

We're trying, as much as we can, to get back doing what we used to do.

I haven't done any of my astronomy, which I loved.

I want to get back into that.

Everything now happens to be more sedentary than it was before.

We'll be down the quay, parked up, watching the ships go by.

Sounds like pensioner's heaven with seagulls, but there we are.

That's what we're doing, just taking life easy.

What have you got to say to these guys? I want to say a big thanks to Gill and all you guys.

And Dr Tower and his team at Royal Bournemouth, really for...

I don't know. I went in Thursday and they threw me out on Sunday!

It was pretty good going. They had enough of me.

Thanks very, very much.

I could say, "Thanks, from the bottom of my heart," but I won't say that.

LAUGHTER

The response of the emergency services to Gill when Mario was having his heart attack

leaves us in no doubt the call handlers aren't only taking calls.

They're a key part of the emergency response

and are instrumental in saving lives every day - quite a job!

That's it for today on Real Rescues. See you next time.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]