Episode 13 Real Rescues


Episode 13

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Today, on Real Rescues... a fishing boat is sinking.

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A lifeboat man leaps to the rescue,

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but the skipper is missing.

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A 999 plea for help after a young man falls,

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cracking his head on rocks.

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And gridlock on the roads, but it's non-stop for traffic cops.

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Wet roads are causing accident...

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..after accident.

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I have an accident. Oh. Oh.

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..after accident.

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This is only the fourth one we've been on this stretch of road today.

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Hello and welcome to Real Rescues, where we

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see the men and women of the emergency services

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responding to 999 calls from people facing

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every sort of crisis you can imagine.

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We're about to see one of the closest calls.

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The emergency is at sea off the coast of Berwickshire in Scotland.

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It's a fisherman in trouble and there's very little time to react.

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Radio check. Channel 16, over.

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The Dunbar lifeboat is heading out into the Firth of Forth.

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The RNLI station has picked up a faint

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but desperate mayday on the shipping emergency channel.

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The fisherman has reported his boat's taking on water.

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He's given his coordinates but, when the coastguard calls him back,

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there's no response.

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The current is strong. The rescuers are just over two miles away.

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Everyone is on deck on lookout.

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As they near the site, a shout goes out.

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The boat's been spotted.

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Only the bow of the 25-foot boat is visible

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and there's no sign of the fisherman.

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The lifeboat volunteers fear the man is still inside his boat,

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but the water's too shallow to get in any closer.

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They'll have to put a man in the water.

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Are you going in? Aye.

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Volunteer Alistair Punton is going to swim across on a safety line.

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All Alistair can do is try and make contact with the trapped man.

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It's too dangerous to get in the boat.

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Battered by the waves,

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Alistair looks in the cabin window for any signs of life.

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He bangs on the hull and listens for any response.

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I was trying to ascertain if he was actually inside the boat,

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if he was still conscious.

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There was a lot of things going through my mind at that time.

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It seemed like an eternity,

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but it was only a matter of seconds no doubt.

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It's a situation where you think, "If he is in there, what do we do?

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"Can we get him out?"

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Very unlikely.

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If the skipper is trapped inside that air pocket

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and if we breach that air pocket to try and get the skipper out, there's

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a good possibility that the vessel would sink underneath his feet,

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taking the skipper down with him.

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Suddenly, the focus of the rescue changes.

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Another RNLI volunteer has spotted what looks like a figure

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clinging to some wreckage.

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Whereabouts? Straight ahead. Right at 12 o'clock.

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In the water.

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Alistair is hastily pulled back aboard.

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But moments later, he's back in the cold, choppy sea.

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By now, the fisherman has been in the water for 40 minutes

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and the offshore wind and current are sweeping him further out to sea.

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When I arrived at the casualty, he was extremely cold.

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His hands were pure white with holding on.

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Very little blood. His face looked really...white.

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He was a little bit concerned for his own safety, I would say,

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and he really needed to get back to the lifeboat

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and safety as soon as possible.

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This is a two-man job. Another RNLI crewman is put in the water.

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They have to haul him on board using a strop.

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The signs are he's suffering from sever hypothermia.

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Once the crew started pulling him in,

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you could see that the skipper was cold and grey.

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He looked really clammy.

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Once we got him out the water, he was checked for cold

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and he'd suffered hypothermia.

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The lifeboat heads back to shore at Torness.

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The Air Sea Rescue have landed a paramedic on the quay,

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ready to treat the fisherman.

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Meanwhile, below deck the skipper's wet clothing is removed

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and he's warmed gradually with blankets.

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Once at the quayside, the paramedic goes aboard.

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Pass that down.

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More blankets are brought down.

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The skipper decides not to go to hospital.

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It takes an hour for his temperature to return to normal.

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Is he all right? Yeah.

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Oh, really?

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Later that day, the RNLI head back out to recover the boat.

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They use airbags to float the ship.

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Then it's a slow tow back to shore.

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It's the evening rush hour in Milton Keynes.

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After weeks of dry weather, it's raining.

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It's making the roads very greasy.

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It could be a busy shift for the traffic cops.

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PCs Russ Irwin and Steve Leathersitch are on the evening shift.

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Before they even get out of the station gates,

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the first job comes in.

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We've had a report from Ambulance of a two-vehicle collision.

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They've also had a call from Fire Brigade as well,

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because it's apparently an entrapment.

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They're not sure what the level of injury is at this time.

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The accident's happened east of Milton Keynes,

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on the edge of the Thames Valley Police boundaries.

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But there must be another accident as the traffic's already backing up.

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It doesn't normally queue back this far, does it?

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It is confirmed that somebody's trapped.

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No-one's arrived on scene as yet.

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Right, Bedfordshire border.

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They spot a break down is causing these problems,

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but Russ and Steve can't stop to help.

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The heavy traffic is delaying Bedfordshire Police,

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so it's up to the Thames Valley team to get there.

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I can see lights up there.

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92, we are 06. It's on the 421 just before 13.

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We've got Fire and Ambulance on scene, over.

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Eventually, they make it through the miles of queueing cars.

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They're the first to reach the scene.

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A woman is trapped.

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Her car has gone into the one in front.

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Hello.

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OK, what level of injury have we got?

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While fire crews and paramedics plan how to free her,

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Russ and Steve need to make the scene safe for them to work in.

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Just bear with us.

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Fire wants us to put more cones out to push them over.

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This A-road is a key arterial route.

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Pushing the passing cars further out should also slow them down,

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but the fire incident commander wants the traffic stopped altogether.

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While I'm cutting at the moment, I do, yeah.

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They're really flying down there.

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Yeah, but if we narrow them down... Yeah, can you do that?

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Yeah, we'll narrow it down.

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But I think if we close it we're going to cause more hassle.

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If you can narrow it down and slow them down, that would be great.

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Paramedics treat the young woman driver as the fire crews

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prepare to cut open the car.

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We've narrowed it down to force everyone to slow down enough

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so they've got a safe environment to work in, to get the roof off

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and get this lady out of the car as soon as possible.

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The driver's in a lot of pain.

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The sooner they can cut off the roof

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and get her on a spinal board, the better.

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Bedfordshire Police have finally made it through the traffic.

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Russ takes witness statements until he can hand over to them.

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Yeah, OK. Right-oh. That makes sense.

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Basically, traffic lights are red. She's stationary, he's stationary.

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She's gone to move forward and in the rear-view mirror

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she's seen the little red car come up the back end.

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Once the car's roof is off, a spinal board is put in position.

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The red car's hit the green car. Yeah.

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Up the back, yeah. But the red car seems to have fallen apart.

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The driver is safely out of the car on a stretcher.

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Despite the damage, the impact is not as great as first feared.

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Yeah, that's why think it's probably not as quick as the damage shows, as it were.

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Russ and Steve can now leave the scene,

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but they haven't finished helping their Bedfordshire colleagues yet.

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OK, there's a BDV back there that's slowing everyone up,

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so we'll clear that out of the way as well. All right.

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That BDV, or broken down vehicle,

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they spotted on outbound journey is still holding up traffic.

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All because of a flat tyre.

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As they arrive, they are passed by the ambulance carrying

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the injured woman from the accident they've just left.

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Rather than wait any longer for recovery,

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Russ is going to drive the car to the nearest lay-by.

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We're going to drive a bit further along the road to a safer area.

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It just makes it a bit safer.

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It would cause more chaos if we left it here.

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We'll take it out of the road,

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hopefully it will clear it up for everyone else behind us.

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But they are going to have to wait a little longer.

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Russ is taking it very slowly.

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Moving the car to a safer place will have helped the recovery service,

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but it was a challenging drive for all the wrong reasons.

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That did feel like the longest drive ever.

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I don't now how far we went but it seemed like it went on for eternity!

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More traffic gridlock,

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but Anglo-German relations are in good shape,

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after the friendliest of collisions.

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A wasp or bee sting is an uncomfortable thing

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but there are worse places to be stung than others.

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We might as well find out. Dani, are you all right to talk? Yeah.

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You had a call from somebody who was next to somebody who had been stung.

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Yeah, it came from the daughter of the patient.

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She'd been out in the garden doing her gardening, it was a nice day.

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Then all of a sudden they said,

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"We think she's been stung by a bee or wasp."

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They thought she was having an allergic reaction.

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Where had she been stung? In the mouth, on the tongue.

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And that is particularly dangerous, isn't it?

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Yeah, because the tongue can swell,

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and it can tend to swell quite quickly.

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And that would make it difficult to breathe. Absolutely.

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I suppose the other thing is knowing whether someone is allergic to them.

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A lot of people are allergic to stings, aren't they? Yeah.

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How do you find out something like that?

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Generally rapid swelling, difficulty breathing, a rash,

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things like that are all signs of a possible allergic reaction.

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So, after you'd asked all the questions,

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did you get the impression that this lady was allergic?

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Yeah, she was swelling, having difficulty breathing

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and was generally becoming quite poorly very quickly.

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From being absolutely fine in the garden to being very poorly.

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You'd think she'd know whether she was allergic or not.

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Yeah, apparently she'd never been stung ever. Wow.

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To wait that long and then get stung on the tongue is pretty unlucky.

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So how do you deal with it, what can you do?

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We advised to give some antihistamines,

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just to help whilst we're on the way.

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Did the daughter have any? Yeah, luckily.

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They were asking if they could give that to her straight away,

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right at the beginning of the call. So they gave her that

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and then she just continued to carry on being very, very poorly indeed.

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We've mentioned the fact that stings on the tongue are particularly

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dangerous, because obviously thee potential swelling

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and cutting off airwaves, but it's a very rare thing, isn't it?

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Yeah, that was the first call I've had about a bee sting or wasp sting

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on the tongue, and I've been here five years.

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Is it that rare or have you had others since?

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We had a couple that week. It was the start of bees and wasp stings.

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In the mouth? Yeah.

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So how are they happening? I don't know.

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People riding on bikes, drinks, if the bee or wasp is in the can

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or glass and they're talking and don't realise, things like that.

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Yeah, cans, that's really interesting.

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I know someone who's done that.

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With a can, if the wasp goes in you don't see it,

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you go to drink from the can,

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you're going to end up with a nasty sting that way.

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It's worth pouring it out into a glass where you can see

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whether a wasp has got in it or not. Absolutely.

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Certainly something I'd want to try out, for sure. Thanks very much.

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You're welcome.

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Early afternoon at the South Western ambulance control room in Exeter.

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Emergency medical adviser Doris Perrin has just taken

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a 999 call from a young woman on a beach in Cornwall.

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The call came in

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and obviously the lady on the telephone was very distressed.

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so you get an impression already then that it's quite a serious call.

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The emergency is happening on these rocks

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at Swanpool Beach near Falmouth.

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The two young graduates had headed out crabbing.

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George was just behind his girlfriend, Gwenno,

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and his sister, Emily.

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Obviously with the rocks, you had to jump over one to get to the other.

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I think he must have tried to jump over

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and then felt a bit faint at that time, or he just fainted.

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We don't know what happened exactly,

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we just turned around and he was in between the rocks.

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There was quite a loud, hollow bang.

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I don't know, that must've been the echo in between the rocks,

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but I don't know if it was his head or something.

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It was a horrible noise.

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You can't put it into words really, never experienced

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anything like that before and I've no idea what was going on.

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I climbed down and there was blood everywhere, because he landed

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in some water, so the blood looked a lot more than it was.

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The priority is to keep George breathing and stem the bleeding.

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I was worried about the head injury

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because obviously that can have serious repercussions.

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If there is any kind of fracture or disturbance to the skull,

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it's best not to press on that area.

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On the beach, a passer-by has come over to help Gwenno,

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as she tries to calm George.

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The struggling and confusion

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could be signs he's suffered a brain injury.

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The gentleman jumped down to help me.

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I've no idea who he was, but I'm very grateful.

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I don't know if he gave his T-shirt or another person

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gave his T-shirt, but we all worked together to keep George safe.

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I tried to put him in the recovery position but was a bit impossible

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because he was in between the rocks at the bottom.

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I physically could not put him on his side then.

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He was very agitated and so I had to hold his hands down.

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By now an ambulance is very close.

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The paramedics are on-site.

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Only now does Gwenno realise the extent of George's injury.

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They put a collar around his neck.

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While doing that they noticed he had pretty big gashes

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in the back of his head.

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So they thought that was quite a large swelling on his head,

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on his brain or something. So then they were more worried about that.

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Once Air Sea Rescue from RNAS Culdrose are on-site,

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it's going to be up to them to airlift George out of the crevice.

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Gwenno can only look on.

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One of the worst bits was walking back onto the beach.

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I was covered in blood everywhere.

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People must have been looking at me like, "What has she done?"

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Safely on board the helicopter, George is on his way to hospital.

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We'll discover the extent of his injuries later.

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Coming up on Real Rescues...

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a man is showing all the signs of a heart attack.

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Can you point one finger to where the pain is? OK.

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These symptoms can't be ignored, he needs treatment quickly.

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This is getting ridiculous!

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Steve and Russ assist a broken down vehicle

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and yet another accident happens in front of them.

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Just behind us, this lorry has gone into the back of that Jaguar.

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Wet weather is causing chaos in Milton Keynes.

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Traffic cops PC Russ Irwin and Steve Leathersitch

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are needed at an accident,

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their third of the evening and all on the same A-road.

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It looks like there's a lorry at the side there that may well have

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been involved in a collision.

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But I'm also looking at the bus that's just across that roundabout,

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that has forced his way across and then come to a stop

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and prevented everybody else going round.

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They are going nowhere fast.

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The accident is just on the other side of the roundabout

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but they can't get to it, not even with lights and sirens.

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There's nowhere that cars can go.

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When you put lights and sirens on,

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people tend to drive differently from what they would normally.

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Everyone's out of the vehicle that we've seen

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as we've driven past, it looks to be minor.

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Shall I just walk down and deal with it and come back,

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then we can go?

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But Steve wants to try a detour.

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He's going to head up to another roundabout

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then double back on the other carriageway.

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On this side of the carriageway they can weave their way through.

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The detour has worked.

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We've shown him, but you know.

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Oh, well there's a thing, isn't it?

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Oh, good. Hurdy-gurdy birdie.

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The pressure is on to clear this up quickly.

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The problem is we had an accident and both stop and go.

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This man comes on the right side and I stopped, then... For go in.

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And then with the last centimetre of this truck

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he goes a little hard on the left side.

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Then he has broke my...

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Does your vehicle move? Yes.

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Will it drive? Yes, no problem.

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I make it open and I fixed it.

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Have you exchanged details with the other driver? No.

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Not yet, no.

0:21:460:21:48

It's my first accident in England.

0:21:480:21:51

My security in Germany says when we are not in Germany

0:21:510:21:54

and accident, please call the police.

0:21:540:21:56

Thankfully, the drivers are being very cooperative.

0:21:560:21:59

There's just a bit of maintenance to do and some more paperwork.

0:21:590:22:03

We'll complete what's called a TA6,

0:22:030:22:05

which is basically exchanging the details between the two drivers.

0:22:050:22:08

Then we'll get the road open and everything moving again.

0:22:080:22:11

Slightly quicker than it is now.

0:22:110:22:13

He hopes!

0:22:130:22:15

What is the name for this? Security... Insurance.

0:22:150:22:19

Insurance.

0:22:190:22:20

No problem, we'll get everything exchanged for you

0:22:200:22:23

so that you'll have all you need to pass to your insurance company.

0:22:230:22:26

OK, super.

0:22:260:22:27

Can I... Yeah, if you want to carry on and make that roadworthy.

0:22:270:22:31

The German driver needs to secure the broken headlight panel.

0:22:340:22:38

Understandably, the chap from Germany was a bit concerned,

0:22:440:22:47

he's in a foreign country.

0:22:470:22:49

He'll want to make sure he gets the correct details of the other driver,

0:22:490:22:52

and that's all we are doing.

0:22:520:22:53

So it's just helping out to make sure it's all done.

0:22:530:22:56

It's just the paperwork.

0:22:560:22:57

Problem solved. They find some cable ties.

0:23:040:23:07

Michael should soon be on his way.

0:23:070:23:09

The paperwork, however, isn't quite so straightforward for PC Irwin.

0:23:100:23:14

I'm just trying to decipher the German insurance certificate.

0:23:140:23:19

With my best English because I don't speak a bean of German.

0:23:190:23:23

So we're just trying to get all the other information that

0:23:230:23:26

the other driver is going to need so that they can progress the claim.

0:23:260:23:30

Fortunately, German driver Michael isn't afraid to tackle English.

0:23:300:23:33

When I go to England I must speak English. I agree with you.

0:23:330:23:39

It is better for two and a half years before I have an accident, oh!

0:23:390:23:43

I thought you were going to tell me

0:23:430:23:45

you were always having accidents, that's why your English is so good! Yes.

0:23:450:23:48

Paperwork complete, and the drivers can get on their way.

0:23:480:23:52

OK, ready?

0:23:520:23:54

Sorry we have to meet like this.

0:23:540:23:56

The other vehicle is undamaged so the offside carriageway will soon be clear.

0:23:560:24:00

OK.

0:24:020:24:04

Thanks then, Michael. Take care.

0:24:060:24:08

I just wish I could speak German how he can speak English.

0:24:110:24:15

Ten out of the because when you first started speaking to him,

0:24:150:24:18

I noticed the accent come out so he could understand your English.

0:24:180:24:21

GERMAN ACCENT: I don't know what you're talking about.

0:24:210:24:23

Half six already. But the traffic is taking a while to get going.

0:24:290:24:33

Where are we going to sit now?

0:24:330:24:35

Are we just going to sit here for another hour?

0:24:350:24:37

The night shift is far from over for these two police officers.

0:24:370:24:40

Later... Another international incident on the roads

0:24:420:24:46

and a second language lesson for the police.

0:24:460:24:49

Trying to translate Polish into a manner that the driver of the Jaguar

0:24:500:24:55

is going to be able to take away to advise an insurance company.

0:24:550:24:58

So a multilingual day.

0:24:580:25:00

Now, one of the regular calls that comes in

0:25:040:25:06

to a call centre like this is about children having fits.

0:25:060:25:09

Babies in particular.

0:25:090:25:11

And it's obviously a very worrying thing for a parent to deal with.

0:25:110:25:15

But we can talk to Phil about that kind of call now.

0:25:150:25:18

So give us an example of a call

0:25:180:25:19

and how you might become involved even if you're not the call-taker.

0:25:190:25:22

We get mothers, well,

0:25:220:25:25

parents ringing in if their children are fitting.

0:25:250:25:28

Basically because they've got too hot.

0:25:280:25:30

And that can be down to a number of reasons.

0:25:300:25:32

They got too many clothes on,

0:25:320:25:34

they've got illnesses or they've got congenital problems.

0:25:340:25:38

The call-taker will run through a series of questions

0:25:380:25:40

which are clinically based.

0:25:400:25:42

And if I happen to be listening into the call that's absolutely fantastic

0:25:420:25:45

because I can make sure the call is going down the right pathway.

0:25:450:25:49

If not, I can take over the call and it's just to reaffirm that they've

0:25:490:25:53

given them Calpol, things to actually bring the temperature down.

0:25:530:25:57

And they've taken layers of clothing off

0:25:570:25:59

because we do get a lot of young mothers who put three, four, five

0:25:590:26:03

layers of clothing on, fashionable and because it looks nice.

0:26:030:26:07

Whereas, in fact, in the home

0:26:070:26:08

you only need to have the temperature of about 16-18 degrees.

0:26:080:26:12

Now that's surprisingly low

0:26:120:26:14

because I'd say that most people's houses are around 22-25 degrees.

0:26:140:26:18

So 16-18 is the optimum temperature for a child's room

0:26:180:26:22

if they're wearing a blanket in bed.

0:26:220:26:24

That's absolutely right.

0:26:240:26:26

And bearing in mind that children can start sweating and they can't control

0:26:260:26:30

their own temperature, so that's when you just adjust the layers.

0:26:300:26:33

So the advice is if you can get a proper little temperature gauge,

0:26:330:26:36

never mind what it says on your central heating gauge.

0:26:360:26:38

But if you've got a temperature gauge in the room,

0:26:380:26:41

and you can keep baby's room at about 16-18 degrees, that's optimum?

0:26:410:26:46

Yeah. All right, smashing. Thanks very much, Phil.

0:26:460:26:49

Mid-morning and an ambulance crew

0:26:540:26:56

are on their way to a caravan park near Southampton.

0:26:560:26:58

A 55-year-old gentleman has got chest pain.

0:27:000:27:02

They have tried the 111 route first.

0:27:020:27:04

And 111 have deemed it necessary to send a 999 ambulance out

0:27:040:27:09

as it is chest pain.

0:27:090:27:11

The first thought is this patient

0:27:110:27:13

is having or is about to have a heart attack.

0:27:130:27:16

The man was just stopping at the caravan park to pick up a work colleague.

0:27:160:27:20

As soon as he saw him, his colleague immediately dialled 999.

0:27:200:27:24

Technician Steve Gooch

0:27:250:27:27

and paramedic Tom Davies are directed to the sick man.

0:27:270:27:31

Where are we going to, in here? Yes, please. OK. This is Fred.

0:27:310:27:35

Hello, Fred. How are you? My name is Steve. This is Tom.

0:27:350:27:39

Can you put your one finger to where the pain is?

0:27:390:27:41

It's all across there. Thank you very much.

0:27:430:27:45

Are you normally this sweaty,

0:27:450:27:46

because you've gone quite hot and sweaty, haven't you? Yeah.

0:27:460:27:49

What we're going to have to do is get you out of here and do an ECG

0:27:490:27:52

and I think we're going to take a little trip up the hospital as well.

0:27:520:27:55

OK? Fred's condition appears to have improved,

0:27:550:27:58

but the crew are not taking any chances. How bad is the pain?

0:27:580:28:01

It's not so bad at this present moment in time.

0:28:010:28:04

I just feel it when I breathe.

0:28:040:28:06

OK. It gets worse when you take a deep breath in?

0:28:060:28:09

Um, it's nowhere near as bad as what it was like five minutes ago. Right.

0:28:090:28:14

I seemed to have like a headache.

0:28:140:28:16

What were you doing when the pain came on? Driving.

0:28:160:28:20

And does the pain go anywhere else?

0:28:200:28:22

It doesn't go into your shoulders, down your arm,

0:28:220:28:24

up into your neck or into your jaw at all?

0:28:240:28:26

No, just there. Just in the chest area.

0:28:260:28:28

OK. We'll go out to the ambulance and do a ECG if that's all right.

0:28:280:28:32

I think we'll pop you up to the hospital as well. Nice and slowly.

0:28:320:28:35

No rush, please. OK.

0:28:350:28:37

Once in the back of the ambulance, they run some tests

0:28:370:28:39

and get some more information.

0:28:390:28:41

Do you have any medical conditions that we need to know about? No.

0:28:410:28:44

No, you don't take any tablets on a regular basis for anything?

0:28:440:28:47

I take Co-codamol. What do you take those for? A bad back.

0:28:470:28:50

Steve needs to know if Fred is on any medication

0:28:500:28:53

that might have side effects or be affecting his condition.

0:28:530:28:56

Fred, I'm going to do your temperature. Stick this in your ear.

0:28:580:29:01

And...

0:29:010:29:02

..just remind me what you were doing when the pain came on? Just driving.

0:29:050:29:08

Just driving, OK.

0:29:080:29:10

Had you been doing anything strenuous or exerting yourself prior to that?

0:29:100:29:13

Nothing. I'm going to grab some paper from above your head.

0:29:130:29:16

Nothing at all?

0:29:160:29:17

Fred, to do the ECG we need to get the left side of your chest.

0:29:170:29:20

Can you uncross your legs for me, please?

0:29:200:29:22

They want to use an electrocardiogram, or ECG,

0:29:220:29:24

to measure the electrical activity of Fred's heart.

0:29:240:29:27

And see if there are any problems with the rhythm. It's gone.

0:29:270:29:32

It's gone at this present moment in time. It's completely gone?

0:29:320:29:36

Um, yeah. Completely gone.

0:29:360:29:39

Sharp scratch, one, two, three.

0:29:390:29:42

Fred may no longer be in pain,

0:29:420:29:44

but his earlier symptoms were very worrying.

0:29:440:29:47

Squeeze on there with your thumb.

0:29:470:29:49

When the pain was at its worst, how bad was it out of ten? I'd say nine.

0:29:490:29:54

So quite bad. Was it constant pain? Yep.

0:29:540:29:56

Can you describe how the pain was? It was... Uh...

0:29:560:30:01

It just took my breath away.

0:30:010:30:03

I found it hard even to drive.

0:30:030:30:06

Absolutely no pain at all now?

0:30:060:30:09

Nothing.

0:30:090:30:10

You've never had anything like this before at all?

0:30:100:30:12

Never? No. OK, fine.

0:30:120:30:15

A number of self-adhesive electrodes

0:30:150:30:17

are attached to Fred's arms, legs and chest.

0:30:170:30:20

Once all the electrodes are in place,

0:30:240:30:26

they wait for the results.

0:30:260:30:28

From the first lines we see,

0:30:280:30:29

there's nothing actually jumping out and concerning us.

0:30:290:30:32

We just need to get a clearer reading on it if that's OK.

0:30:320:30:36

The ECG is not showing anything serious

0:30:360:30:39

at the moment.

0:30:390:30:41

There's nothing that jumps out on your ECG, OK?

0:30:410:30:43

That's good, then.

0:30:430:30:46

It is, but the only way to rule anything out cardiac-related

0:30:460:30:49

is to take you over to the hospital, let them do some further checks for you, OK?

0:30:490:30:53

We recommend quite strongly

0:30:530:30:55

that we take you over and check it out a bit further.

0:30:550:30:58

Your blood pressure's good.

0:30:580:30:59

The oxygen level you're taking in is good

0:30:590:31:01

and your heart rate is quite steady.

0:31:010:31:04

The initial results all look positive,

0:31:040:31:05

but they're taking him to Queen Alexandria Hospital

0:31:050:31:08

in Portsmouth for further tests.

0:31:080:31:10

They'll keep an eye on the ECG as they make their way.

0:31:100:31:13

The ECG still looks OK. No changes there.

0:31:130:31:16

And Steve had one final message for Fred.

0:31:160:31:19

Chest pain really is very important.

0:31:190:31:21

Especially the kind of chest pain

0:31:210:31:23

you're describing in the area you're describing it,

0:31:230:31:26

it really is important you get it checked.

0:31:260:31:28

And please be assured that, if ever this happens again,

0:31:280:31:31

don't think, "Oh, it's nothing, I'll leave it."

0:31:310:31:33

If it happens again, you dial 999 again, OK?

0:31:330:31:35

SIREN WAILS

0:31:350:31:37

It's really important that you do, OK? Yeah. Thank you.

0:31:370:31:40

That's all right, no problem at all.

0:31:400:31:43

..as we take you off the vehicle, OK?

0:31:430:31:46

At hospital, Fred will undergo further investigations.

0:31:460:31:50

In Milton Keynes, two police officers are on a mission

0:31:590:32:02

to keep traffic moving on one of the town's main arterial roads,

0:32:020:32:06

but every time they clear one, another one happens.

0:32:060:32:08

This time it's a breakdown.

0:32:110:32:13

I'm just trying to get through to the recovery now. OK.

0:32:130:32:17

Have you got an towing eye at the front?

0:32:170:32:20

Ah, look, on the left-hand side.

0:32:200:32:23

We'll tow you down out the way.

0:32:230:32:25

Is that all right? Yeah.

0:32:250:32:26

Steve, the radiator's blown.

0:32:260:32:29

We'll tow him.

0:32:290:32:30

I just bought this, as well.

0:32:310:32:34

Absolutely gutted. I love it, and it's done this.

0:32:340:32:37

The breakdown is the fourth incident on the same road

0:32:370:32:40

and it seems it's not the last.

0:32:400:32:42

This is getting ridiculous.

0:32:420:32:44

Rear-ender.

0:32:440:32:46

Just behind us here,

0:32:460:32:47

this lorry has gone into the back of that Jaguar.

0:32:470:32:50

At least it's in walking distance.

0:32:500:32:52

The police are going to split up.

0:32:520:32:54

Steve will deal with the latest incident

0:32:540:32:56

as Russ stays to help the camper van driver.

0:32:560:33:00

What's the plan, Stan?

0:33:000:33:01

What we'll try and do is tow this one out the way

0:33:010:33:05

to clear the road

0:33:050:33:06

while Steve's dealing with the other one.

0:33:060:33:08

However it looks like the AA have just possibly arrived.

0:33:080:33:12

Did you call the AA? They're going to help us now.

0:33:120:33:15

Fortunately, an AA truck was passing and stops to help.

0:33:150:33:18

Good timing.

0:33:180:33:20

I was going to say, yeah.

0:33:200:33:21

We'll see what he says before I hook you up.

0:33:210:33:23

Yeah. I've just bought this as well. Really? A grand-and-a-half.

0:33:230:33:28

Hopefully it's just the radiator, then. Yeah.

0:33:280:33:31

This chap is a member of the AA through Barclay's.

0:33:310:33:35

Through Barclay's. Do you have a membership card with you?

0:33:350:33:37

No, it's through Barclay's.

0:33:370:33:39

I was just trying to get through to get you.

0:33:390:33:41

Right, for the sake of the roads, I'll get you off and put you in a service station.

0:33:410:33:45

Leaving the van driver with the recovery service, Russ heads off

0:33:450:33:48

to help his colleague sort out the collision which has happened

0:33:480:33:51

just behind them.

0:33:510:33:52

Just in the queue coming into Milton Keynes,

0:33:520:33:55

probably for about half an hour

0:33:550:33:57

and a Continental driver from Poland's

0:33:570:34:00

just turned straight into the side door.

0:34:000:34:02

It's only the fourth one we've been on this stretch of road today(!)

0:34:020:34:05

There was a broken-down vehicle with a flat tyre,

0:34:100:34:12

then a lorry reversed into a car on the other side,

0:34:120:34:14

then that one, then this one.

0:34:140:34:16

Inside the Jaguar,

0:34:160:34:17

the front-seat passenger is unimpressed, but unhurt.

0:34:170:34:21

She's fine. She was asleep,

0:34:210:34:23

didn't even feel it. It's only a nudge, it's not major.

0:34:230:34:27

Nothing major, but it all has to be recorded by the police.

0:34:270:34:30

That means another language lesson for Steve.

0:34:300:34:33

I clearly said "tea and medals" too soon today.

0:34:460:34:49

Keep my mouth shut now.

0:34:500:34:52

How's he getting on down there?

0:34:520:34:54

I'm conscious of them getting rid of that car and my car being down there on its own.

0:34:540:34:57

While Steve grapples with the paperwork,

0:34:570:35:00

Russ retrieves the squad car.

0:35:000:35:02

This section here is the location of where it's occurred.

0:35:020:35:06

No collision report because it's damage only.

0:35:060:35:08

Some frequently-asked questions in there.

0:35:080:35:11

Are we happy for him to go now?

0:35:110:35:13

I'm quite tight behind.

0:35:130:35:15

I'll wave you out, I'll slow them down

0:35:150:35:17

so you can pull out. Oh, OK.

0:35:170:35:19

And it's another amiable parting of the drivers.

0:35:190:35:24

OK. All right, then.

0:35:270:35:30

And the quest for a cup of tea continues.

0:35:310:35:34

Shall we try again?

0:35:340:35:35

You need to put the seat back or it'll take your head off.

0:35:390:35:42

What was that - take five?

0:35:420:35:43

Tea withdrawal.

0:35:430:35:45

But in this weather there's no end to it.

0:35:450:35:48

Another call has come in.

0:35:480:35:50

The police can't risk the roads getting snarled-up again.

0:35:500:35:54

All copied.

0:35:540:35:55

It's a broken-down vehicle but will only add to the traffic misery,

0:35:550:35:58

so it's sirens on and tea break abandoned.

0:35:580:36:02

I didn't want a cup of tea anyway(!)

0:36:020:36:05

Negotiating the roads in built-up areas

0:36:090:36:11

is the usual headache.

0:36:110:36:13

See if one of our friendly buses has seen you.

0:36:130:36:17

That would be absolutely perfect.

0:36:210:36:24

I refer to my earlier comment.

0:36:240:36:26

You're just a rebel.

0:36:260:36:27

They can only speculate

0:36:270:36:28

what nationalities will be involved this time.

0:36:280:36:31

What have we had? German, Polish...

0:36:310:36:33

South African?

0:36:330:36:35

Maybe Hungarian, I reckon.

0:36:350:36:38

No, I'll stick with the home team.

0:36:380:36:41

I reckon it's UK.

0:36:410:36:43

As they approach the scene,

0:36:430:36:45

the road is surprisingly clear.

0:36:450:36:47

It seems PC Irwin's instincts were right -

0:36:530:36:56

it's a British-registration car

0:36:560:36:58

that's broken down at the roundabout.

0:36:580:37:00

Clutch gone, has it?

0:37:000:37:02

Is it stuck in gear...?

0:37:020:37:03

The driver has called the recovery service but they're stuck in miles of traffic.

0:37:030:37:07

Luckily the a car is out of gear so they can move it off the road.

0:37:070:37:11

HE SIGHS

0:37:110:37:13

The kerb is sloped so it's not too strenuous pushing it onto the verge.

0:37:130:37:17

All right, is that enough?

0:37:190:37:21

There you go. You should be OK there.

0:37:210:37:24

If you want to go and grab a coffee...

0:37:240:37:26

Make sure you lock it up.

0:37:260:37:29

Lock it up, I haven't locked it. OK.

0:37:290:37:31

All right, then.

0:37:310:37:33

Job done and finally it's back to base

0:37:330:37:35

for that elusive cup of tea.

0:37:350:37:37

Your turn for the brews, then.

0:37:390:37:40

Kettle-on time.

0:37:400:37:42

We were chatting earlier about febrile convulsions with Phil

0:37:480:37:52

who has surprised me with some of the information,

0:37:520:37:54

that's having had three children.

0:37:540:37:56

There's more information which might help you

0:37:560:37:58

if you're a young parent with a baby,

0:37:580:38:01

you might want to hear more about how you spot it and deal with it.

0:38:010:38:04

Febrile convulsions, temperature-related fits

0:38:040:38:07

in babies who can't control their own temperature,

0:38:070:38:10

so how do you recognise that your child is having a fit?

0:38:100:38:13

The first to look out for leading up to the fit

0:38:130:38:16

is if they're unwell -

0:38:160:38:19

they're not feeding, very upset all the time,

0:38:190:38:22

or not as responsive as they normally would be.

0:38:220:38:25

To actually see a seizure

0:38:250:38:28

doesn't always look or appear to be the shaking of the body.

0:38:280:38:31

You can see the eyes jerking up and down into the head.

0:38:310:38:34

So twitching eyelids and eyes can be...

0:38:340:38:37

Exactly, that's an early sign.

0:38:370:38:39

That's not to be taken lightly.

0:38:390:38:42

With an adult you get throwing about of the limbs.

0:38:420:38:45

babies don't do that because they're really small.

0:38:450:38:47

They can just have little jerky movements as well,

0:38:470:38:50

but that's normally the kind of thing to look for.

0:38:500:38:54

Also they can go very floppy, almost lifeless.

0:38:540:38:57

It's quite terrifying, isn't it?

0:38:570:38:58

Yeah, they can do that

0:38:580:39:01

and they won't respond to you.

0:39:010:39:03

They have this blank stare, so they're looking through you

0:39:030:39:06

or don't even recognise who you are

0:39:060:39:08

and are not responding whatsoever.

0:39:080:39:09

Let's deal with the information we can give.

0:39:090:39:11

If you see that in your child and you're talking to emergency services,

0:39:110:39:15

they will try to get the baby's temperature down.

0:39:150:39:17

People talk about taking the baby outside into the cold or putting a fan on.

0:39:170:39:21

Are they good ideas? No.

0:39:210:39:22

That's what they used to do in days gone by,

0:39:220:39:24

but these days we realise by doing that

0:39:240:39:27

we can make them really cold very quickly

0:39:270:39:30

which is the same as if you put a fan on them or open a window.

0:39:300:39:33

The cold air hits the body, makes them shiver,

0:39:330:39:37

which in turn raises the temperature even more.

0:39:370:39:40

Of course, the shivering mechanism is to heat up the body

0:39:400:39:43

which is counter-intuitive.

0:39:430:39:45

It's a very frightening experience. One of the things that worries people...

0:39:450:39:48

You have to calm them down cos they're saying,

0:39:480:39:51

"Get an ambulance to me, don't ask me questions,"

0:39:510:39:54

but people forget you've already sent an ambulance, right?

0:39:540:39:57

Of course, yeah. From the time the call begins,

0:39:570:40:00

an ambulance is sent.

0:40:000:40:02

Especially with children, regardless.

0:40:020:40:05

Even though they may be able to calm that parent down

0:40:050:40:09

and start to cool the baby down

0:40:090:40:12

by taking layers of clothing off,

0:40:120:40:14

they'll still need to do checks on that child,

0:40:140:40:16

because we don't know what their temperature is,

0:40:160:40:19

what medical history there is of that child, et cetera.

0:40:190:40:22

I hope that helps. As a young parent, if you see this, get on the phone straightaway

0:40:220:40:26

If they ask you questions, don't worry, they've already sent the ambulance,

0:40:260:40:30

it's not taking up any extra time

0:40:300:40:31

dealing with the person on the other end.

0:40:310:40:33

Despite initial fears that Fred

0:40:370:40:40

was suffering from angina,

0:40:400:40:41

doctors concluded his pain was a reaction to a new prescription drug.

0:40:410:40:45

He has made a full recovery and has not suffered any more chest pains.

0:40:450:40:51

The graduate who suffered head injuries after falling

0:40:510:40:54

on a beach into rocks is making a good recovery.

0:40:540:40:58

George Harris is back at home with girlfriend Gwenno

0:40:580:41:01

after the accident near Falmouth.

0:41:010:41:04

Gwenno dialled 999

0:41:040:41:05

after George was showing all the signs of serious head injury.

0:41:050:41:09

He had to be airlifted from the beach

0:41:210:41:24

and remembers very little of the day it happened.

0:41:240:41:26

I do remember climbing onto rocks and feeling everything was a little

0:41:260:41:31

wavy, I felt dizzy and light-headed.

0:41:310:41:33

It's something that's never happened to me before - I've never fainted

0:41:330:41:37

ever in my life before so I didn't think that was on the cards.

0:41:370:41:40

I don't remember the fall at all.

0:41:400:41:44

I don't remember slipping, tripping, anything like that.

0:41:440:41:46

George was drifting in and out of consciousness

0:41:460:41:49

throughout the rescue.

0:41:490:41:51

I remember asking if I was going to die

0:41:510:41:54

because I didn't have a clue. I could feel my head was just pounding.

0:41:540:41:57

My hip was absolutely in agony.

0:41:570:42:01

The Royal Navy Air Sea Rescue flew George to the

0:42:010:42:03

Royal Cornwall Hospital at Truro.

0:42:030:42:05

He spent ten hours there undergoing X-rays and brain scans.

0:42:050:42:10

Luckily, apart from bruising,

0:42:100:42:12

his worst injury was two large gashes on the back of his head.

0:42:120:42:16

I had seven staples in the back of my head,

0:42:160:42:19

which was actually the most painful part of the whole thing.

0:42:190:42:22

I had various bruises down my body.

0:42:220:42:26

I remember my hip, I was struggling to walk

0:42:260:42:29

for the week or so afterwards, properly.

0:42:290:42:32

I had concussion, so I had some migraines after.

0:42:320:42:37

George still has the odd dizzy spell

0:42:370:42:39

and is undergoing further investigation.

0:42:390:42:41

And with the blank spots of his memory now filled in,

0:42:410:42:44

he has a message for girlfriend Gwenno.

0:42:440:42:48

It was our first holiday together

0:42:480:42:49

so I just want to apologise to her for that, really.

0:42:490:42:52

I just want to say a massive thank you to her.

0:42:520:42:55

She was the one who held my head at the time,

0:42:550:42:57

called the ambulance and coastguard

0:42:570:42:59

and got it all together, really,

0:42:590:43:01

so she was the main one I owe it all to, really.

0:43:010:43:04

Make no mistake, the call handlers you see around me

0:43:070:43:09

aren't only taking calls,

0:43:090:43:11

they're a key part of the emergency response

0:43:110:43:13

and are instrumental in saving lives every day.

0:43:130:43:17

Quite a job, don't you think? That's it for today on Real Rescues.

0:43:170:43:19

See you next time.

0:43:190:43:21

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