:00:00. > :00:08.Welcome to Real Rescues, going behind the scenes with all of our
:00:09. > :00:22.emergency services. The cyclist is so agitated, the
:00:23. > :00:27.medics put her in an induced coma on the roadside. A major rescue
:00:28. > :00:36.operation to save 30 people. After a tall ship hits rocks of Co Cork.
:00:37. > :00:40.We went into the rocks and there was over four metres inside of her.
:00:41. > :00:46.Firefighters battled to save a family home. Every effort is made to
:00:47. > :01:03.save Russia's hats and possessions. -- precious pets.
:01:04. > :01:09.Welcome to Real Rescues, going behind the scenes with all of our
:01:10. > :01:12.emergency services. Every day of the year, around 85,000 people in need
:01:13. > :01:15.of desperate help dial 999 in Britain. Those calls are connected
:01:16. > :01:20.to state-of-the-art centres like this. The staff in here know that
:01:21. > :01:27.when lives may be at stake, it is vital no time is lost.
:01:28. > :01:34.The Air Ambulance has been scrambled by the Emergency Desk at Control. It
:01:35. > :01:37.is heading East to a small town near Portsmouth. The cyclist is
:01:38. > :01:39.critically injured after a collision on the road. On board, paramedic Pat
:01:40. > :01:58.Andrews and Dr Liz Shewry. The medics are already planning
:01:59. > :02:08.ahead. The nearest neurological trauma unit is Southampton General.
:02:09. > :02:15.They get their first sight of the accident. It looks like the cyclist
:02:16. > :02:22.collided with a lorry. Priority now is finding a suitable place to land.
:02:23. > :02:28.The road has been blocked off to traffic. Making it safe for the
:02:29. > :02:33.emergency rescue crews. As soon as they are on scene, Pat and Liz are
:02:34. > :02:36.brought up to date by the ambulance crew. The injured woman is showing
:02:37. > :02:42.all the signs of a very serious head injury.
:02:43. > :02:50.She has wounds on the side and back of her head.
:02:51. > :02:55.The cyclist is in extreme pain, the paramedics cannot keep her still on
:02:56. > :03:05.the board, she has already tried to get up.
:03:06. > :03:14.The bike is still in one piece, it looks like the cyclist has been
:03:15. > :03:20.thrown off after the collision. There has been a collision with an
:03:21. > :03:24.articulated lorry. She has some serious head injuries and is very
:03:25. > :03:27.unaware of what has happened to her. At this stage, we do not know how
:03:28. > :03:31.serious the injuries are or where it is going to go from here. What we
:03:32. > :03:33.know is her name is Cheryl. Liz tries asking her if she
:03:34. > :03:43.remembers anything. Cheryl is now secured on a rigid
:03:44. > :04:06.long board which will prevent any further injuries.
:04:07. > :04:11.But her levels of agitation keep fluctuating. She needs to get to
:04:12. > :04:14.hospital as quickly as possible, but it could be too dangerous by air.
:04:15. > :04:18.Before they make a decision, Dr Shewry needs to examine her patient
:04:19. > :04:21.more closely to check her breathing and for any other signs. Well done,
:04:22. > :04:23.Cheryl, you are doing really well. All the time, Steve continues to
:04:24. > :04:39.reassure Cheryl. The road is still closed, they
:04:40. > :04:42.update the police. Have a look at her and make a
:04:43. > :04:48.decision. And find out what the score is, yes?
:04:49. > :04:52.Yes. OK. I have got your head, Cheryl. It is
:04:53. > :04:56.Steve again, OK? I am going to hold your head.
:04:57. > :04:57.The priority now is pain relief. Steve has noticed another injury to
:04:58. > :05:12.her head. As Liz organises the injections,
:05:13. > :05:18.Steve continues to chat to Cheryl, trying to distract her from the
:05:19. > :05:26.pain. OK, what's my name? It's Steve. Do
:05:27. > :05:31.you remember? Steve, yes. Help! It hurts!
:05:32. > :05:33.We are getting you some painkillers now.
:05:34. > :05:37.As well as reducing the pain, Dr Liz is hoping the drugs will also calm
:05:38. > :05:41.Cheryl, Making it safe to take her by air to hospital.
:05:42. > :05:43.You have had a bit of a bump on your bike, OK?
:05:44. > :05:44.Liz continues her examination, as paramedic Claire McKenna prepares
:05:45. > :06:07.the morphine. You are going to be fine. Please
:06:08. > :06:12.don't hold this. Listen, listen. She was in a lot of pain from her
:06:13. > :06:15.left arm, her left chest, so we gave her some morphine and paracetamol to
:06:16. > :06:19.see if that would help and whether she would become less agitated with
:06:20. > :06:21.that. We gave her some time for that to work, but she seemed more
:06:22. > :06:24.agitated. They need to work out if Cheryl's
:06:25. > :06:27.agitation is caused by pain or something more serious going on
:06:28. > :06:34.inside her brain. Dr Shewry has noticed a worrying symptom, Cheryl's
:06:35. > :06:37.pupils are different sizes. Did you ever have problems with your
:06:38. > :06:41.eyes before, Cheryl? No! Please, stop the pain!
:06:42. > :06:44.This can be a symptom of bleeding on the brain. This is a neurological
:06:45. > :06:46.emergency, they have to make a decision about which hospital and
:06:47. > :07:07.the quickest way to get there. The only option now is calming
:07:08. > :07:23.Cheryl by putting her into an induced coma.
:07:24. > :07:30.Cheryl's symptoms leave the air medics with no choice.
:07:31. > :07:34.When we looked at her pupils, it is one of the signs we look at. We
:07:35. > :07:38.began to be unsure whether they were the same size, and that often is a
:07:39. > :07:41.sign of a head injury, rather than the sign of someone who is just in
:07:42. > :07:45.pain. Later: the hospital comes to the
:07:46. > :08:06.roadside. Cheryl is anaesthetised. Milton Keynes, 8pm, traffic cops
:08:07. > :08:13.Russ Irwin and Steve are heading to the A5. The main North-South
:08:14. > :08:17.arterial route. We've been called to a traffic
:08:18. > :08:20.incident. We've got a report that a BMW has left the road joining the
:08:21. > :08:26.slip road of the dual carriageway and collided with a lamp post. The
:08:27. > :08:28.person that has called it in has said that three males have run from
:08:29. > :08:43.the car. They arrive to find two cars on the
:08:44. > :08:46.slip road leading to the main carriageway. One of them has
:08:47. > :08:50.nosedived into the hedge and has serious damage to the front. The
:08:51. > :08:54.driver of the other car saw it all happen and tried to record it.
:08:55. > :08:57.I had my video phone, but was on the phone to the police at the same
:08:58. > :08:59.time. There were at least three, possibly four.
:09:00. > :09:03.Paul tells police how the crashed car originally overtook him and then
:09:04. > :09:08.just slammed on its brakes in front of him. Paul avoided the car and
:09:09. > :09:12.then, in his rear-view mirrors, saw it come off the road.
:09:13. > :09:18.He put his foot down, skewed off straight over to the grass, slammed
:09:19. > :09:21.into the laphost. As it fell, the lamp post crushed the roof and
:09:22. > :09:24.dented the boot, before the car ended up in the hedge. Amazingly,
:09:25. > :09:30.the driver and passengers all walked, or rather ran, away. I went
:09:31. > :09:34.back to make sure they were all right but, by this time, they were
:09:35. > :09:37.off, up the hill. Lucky for them, modern lamposts are more forgiving
:09:38. > :09:39.than the old concrete variety, or they wouldn't have got off so
:09:40. > :09:47.lightly. Some of the crash might have been
:09:48. > :09:53.caught on the nearest CCTV camera. Hello, I'm at your roundabout, where
:09:54. > :09:59.is your camera facing today? But he is out of luck. Isn't that
:10:00. > :10:02.always the way? There is a CCTV camera covering the roundabout,
:10:03. > :10:09.which is the only one off-line at the moment, so no help there!
:10:10. > :10:15.Thankfully the lamp post ended up on the grass verge. If it had fallen
:10:16. > :10:21.across the road, this could have been a very different story. The
:10:22. > :10:24.bits are all... All live there so the council will come out and they
:10:25. > :10:30.will deactivate that post and make it safe so no-one can get caught out
:10:31. > :10:34.by it. But it is up to the traffic cops to deal with the crashed car.
:10:35. > :10:37.It is displaying a tax disc belonging to a different car
:10:38. > :10:41.altogether. And when Russ checks the chassis number it does not tally
:10:42. > :10:45.with the registration plate. We found this tax disc which is
:10:46. > :10:48.displayed in the vehicle. It comes back to a completely different
:10:49. > :10:52.registration and it is a Ford Fiesta van anyway. The registration plate
:10:53. > :10:59.of the crashed car has been copied from a similar BMW. This is a stolen
:11:00. > :11:02.motor vehicle, stolen in May of this year from Staffordshire so it has
:11:03. > :11:05.got false number plates on it and that has been confirmed through the
:11:06. > :11:08.vehicle identity number. My suspicion was raised when I saw the
:11:09. > :11:14.numberplate back up the road which was being held on by a double-sided
:11:15. > :11:18.sticky tape. The thieves are long gone by now. The police will alert
:11:19. > :11:22.local hospitals just in case they turn up for treatment. And they will
:11:23. > :11:29.check other CCTV in the area for any signs of them. The stolen BMW is
:11:30. > :11:34.beyond repair. It just needs to be cleared off the road. As night
:11:35. > :11:39.falls, Russ prepares himself for one of those shifts. Oh, it is just one
:11:40. > :11:43.of those very strange occurrences that you can guarantee on the night
:11:44. > :11:48.of a full moon. The number of jobs we get sent to increases. People act
:11:49. > :11:52.even more stupid than normal. It's just something that you could put
:11:53. > :12:02.money on, that a full moon is always going to be a busy night.
:12:03. > :12:07.Still to come on Real Rescues: A tall ship hits rocks off the coast
:12:08. > :12:14.of County Cork. On board and in danger, 30 trainees sailors and
:12:15. > :12:24.crew. And at the roadside, the air medics prepared to put injured
:12:25. > :12:27.cyclist Cheryl into an induced coma. Call takers here at the South
:12:28. > :12:31.Western Ambulance Centre are 111, 999, doesn't matter which, have to
:12:32. > :12:34.be detectives to a certain extent because things aren't always what
:12:35. > :12:40.they seem when callers come in with information. You had a call from
:12:41. > :12:45.someone who thought they had bad toothache? Yes, we get a lot of
:12:46. > :12:49.dental calls, we really do. We deal with the Dorset Dental Service. This
:12:50. > :12:53.gentleman had a toothache but when we take him through the questions we
:12:54. > :12:56.need to ask, because people over a certain age, we will check whether
:12:57. > :13:00.their dental pain is radiating to anywhere else around, you know, to
:13:01. > :13:04.their chest, to their jaw, anything else. If it comes up as a positive
:13:05. > :13:10.answer there we will look into it further. Why? He thought he had an
:13:11. > :13:13.abscess. He knew he had an abscess he was having trouble with and
:13:14. > :13:17.assumed the pain was dental because of the abscess. Yes, but the pain he
:13:18. > :13:21.had was radiating away from there which can be the early signs of
:13:22. > :13:26.heart problems, having a heart attack. We always have to
:13:27. > :13:31.investigate that further. And in that is what it turned out to be.
:13:32. > :13:36.Yes, it did. Because it is not usual we have to check. We refer it to a
:13:37. > :13:40.clinician to give further advice. They did that, felt the man needed
:13:41. > :13:44.an ambulance and when the crew got there he was having a heart attack.
:13:45. > :13:48.The other thing that is a surprise is I did not know that teeth
:13:49. > :13:52.problems or dental problems, people call in with those. We get a huge
:13:53. > :13:56.amount of calls from people with dental pain. A lot of people are not
:13:57. > :13:59.registered with dentists. We have details of the emergency dental
:14:00. > :14:02.service in Dorset, which is actually a very good service. It varies
:14:03. > :14:05.around different parts of the country but the Dorset dental
:14:06. > :14:09.service, we can get people booked into in the majority of cases if
:14:10. > :14:13.they have not got their own dentist. Having had really bad tooth pain, it
:14:14. > :14:17.drives you mad and you desperately need some relief. And we need to
:14:18. > :14:21.deal with a lot of patients who are in an awful lot of pain and not
:14:22. > :14:31.happy. All right, smashing, thank you very much. Very interesting.
:14:32. > :14:34.In a village near East Grinstead in Sussex, firefighters are battling to
:14:35. > :14:39.save a family home. The blaze has already taken hold when it was
:14:40. > :14:42.spotted. The owners have managed to escape unhurt, but within 15 minute,
:14:43. > :14:47.the flames filled the entire roof space. To make matters worse, the
:14:48. > :14:53.first-floor rooms are all built in the roof. It is making it difficult
:14:54. > :14:56.to get on top of the fire. It was a construction which involved having
:14:57. > :15:00.bedrooms and rooms in the roof space. That creates an issue for us
:15:01. > :15:06.because that creates voids around the bedrooms where the fire can
:15:07. > :15:11.travel and go undetected. And also once we had detected it, it is
:15:12. > :15:15.difficult to get access to it to put it out. It is just too dangerous to
:15:16. > :15:19.put men on the first floor inside the roof, so all their efforts are
:15:20. > :15:23.being concentrated on pouring water on to the roof. As high-powered jets
:15:24. > :15:26.are trained on the roof, firefighters going on the ground
:15:27. > :15:32.floor to check gas and electrics, as well as saving precious belongings
:15:33. > :15:36.and pets. We have been made aware by the occupier that two of her rabbits
:15:37. > :15:40.were in the area just know the fire. Crews were made aware of this at an
:15:41. > :15:46.early stage and they were removed to safety. Both pet rabbits are smudged
:15:47. > :15:50.with soot but are otherwise unharmed. Firefighters are being
:15:51. > :15:54.called in from other stations as back-up. It's a difficult job. They
:15:55. > :16:00.have to remove tiles to get water onto the fire, but that also fans
:16:01. > :16:04.the flames. It is a balance because when you remove the tiles you are
:16:05. > :16:14.opening up the area for more oxygen to go in. That could potentially
:16:15. > :16:19.feed the fire. But we need to make that access so we can put water onto
:16:20. > :16:22.the fire to extinguish it. The teams work in relays using breathing
:16:23. > :16:26.apparatus. But the fire keeps breaking out in different rooms. The
:16:27. > :16:29.firefighters are working from ladders to attack the fire from
:16:30. > :16:36.above, but the flames keep bursting through again and again. They need
:16:37. > :16:40.more water but they can't get the big aerial platform anywhere near
:16:41. > :16:44.the house. The alternative is more crews and more appliances. 16 fire
:16:45. > :16:53.engines and 50 firefighters are now at the scene. On top of that, it is
:16:54. > :16:59.starting to break through into the ground-floor as well. Threatening to
:17:00. > :17:02.engulf the entire house. They have been pouring water on to the flames
:17:03. > :17:07.for almost an hour. Firefighters are surrounding the house, working from
:17:08. > :17:13.the back and the front. They are running out of water. But they have
:17:14. > :17:17.a lucky break. The water supply we had from the hydrant was not enough
:17:18. > :17:21.to deal with the job that we needed. Luckily, the occupiers had a
:17:22. > :17:24.swimming pool at the back and so we used the water from the swimming
:17:25. > :17:30.pool to feed the hose reels so that helped us out a lot. It is 90 minute
:17:31. > :17:35.before the flames are finally put out but the firefighters' work is
:17:36. > :17:39.not over. There is still a danger the timbers could reignite at any
:17:40. > :17:44.time. Now it is safe for the fire crews to move inside the roof space.
:17:45. > :17:48.They need to open it up and cut away the burned timbers. There is a
:17:49. > :17:54.landslide of tiles as they work quickly before the fire can start up
:17:55. > :18:02.again. It is four hours before they can issue the stop message. The fire
:18:03. > :18:09.is finally out. All the burnt and smouldering wood has been cut away.
:18:10. > :18:13.The following day, the crews return. We stayed for another two to three
:18:14. > :18:16.hours, maybe more, and we did some more salvage. We took some stuff out
:18:17. > :18:20.for the occupiers, all the time monitoring the progress of the
:18:21. > :18:24.debris, to see if there are any signs of fire. Only when we are
:18:25. > :18:30.convinced it will not go any further then we close the incident. A
:18:31. > :18:34.different time of day and things could have been far worse. Had this
:18:35. > :18:37.have happened in the evening, it could have been a different story
:18:38. > :18:41.with the fire allowed to develop undetected as there was no fire
:18:42. > :18:48.detection up in the roof space as well.
:18:49. > :18:53.This is Peter who is coming up for retirement after 40 years' service
:18:54. > :18:59.with South Western Ambulance, before it was South Western Ambulance. Who
:19:00. > :19:03.did you start out with? I started with Hampshire Ambulance Service in
:19:04. > :19:07.1973. We moved into Dorset in 1974 and then South Western Ambulance
:19:08. > :19:10.service in 2006. I thought it would be a good opportunity to look back
:19:11. > :19:14.over 40 years of service at the differences and how it has changed
:19:15. > :19:19.over those 40 years. What you think the main differences are? A whole
:19:20. > :19:23.range of things. The vehicles we drive are much better equipped, more
:19:24. > :19:29.modern. My first ambulance that I drove had a bell on it. Right. And
:19:30. > :19:32.what was in it? Very basic. A stretcher and a few pieces of
:19:33. > :19:35.resuscitation equipment, blankets and that was about it. We carried
:19:36. > :19:39.chairs and stuff like that. Nowadays there is a whole range of equipment,
:19:40. > :19:43.defibrillators and stuff like that. And is that ambulance that turns up
:19:44. > :19:46.today, more well-equipped than say a hospital was when you first started
:19:47. > :19:51.out because there is so much that you carry? I would say so in some
:19:52. > :19:55.areas, certainly, yes. The equipment they carry now is far more extensive
:19:56. > :19:58.than the equipment I had when I was operational. Our paramedics are
:19:59. > :20:02.trained to a much higher level and to a much greater degree now than I
:20:03. > :20:06.was when I first started in the service. And the personnel itself.
:20:07. > :20:11.How does the training compare when you started to how they are now? We
:20:12. > :20:15.did six weeks at training college and that was it and you're
:20:16. > :20:18.operational at that point. It is a university degree to become a
:20:19. > :20:23.paramedic nowadays. It's three years at university just to become a
:20:24. > :20:26.paramedic. And we are in a communications hub here, how
:20:27. > :20:29.different is communications from when you first started? Well,
:20:30. > :20:33.hugely, when I first moved to the hub environment in 1982, we just had
:20:34. > :20:37.telephones effectively and a VHF radio. Now, we've got data,
:20:38. > :20:45.automatic vehicle location, the call advisory to give advice to the crew
:20:46. > :20:49.and ambulance. In the old days, we used to tell the caller that the
:20:50. > :20:54.ambulance was on its way and that was the end of it. So much more
:20:55. > :20:57.interactive? Very much so. We are the first point of contact with the
:20:58. > :21:02.general public and are very qualified and willing to give
:21:03. > :21:08.advice. Have you enjoyed it all? I've loved it. Really? Really. No
:21:09. > :21:12.doubts? Nothing bad over the years, no changes that have been difficult?
:21:13. > :21:15.Well, there's always change, but I have a very positive outlook on life
:21:16. > :21:20.and I've enjoyed my career. I can honestly say that there is never a
:21:21. > :21:32.day when I haven't wanted to come to work. It's an extraordinary thing to
:21:33. > :21:34.be able to say. One of the things that strikes me is that
:21:35. > :21:38.occasionally, ambulance crews come under attack. They do, occasionally,
:21:39. > :21:41.yes. Now and again. It's very occasionally and it's not every day
:21:42. > :21:45.of the week. Do you think it's more now than when you first started?
:21:46. > :21:49.Yes. Because of a change of attitude? I think so, yes, and drink
:21:50. > :21:53.and drugs have a part to play in that, I am sure. And I think society
:21:54. > :21:57.has changed as well. Do you think? Yes, the emergency services are not
:21:58. > :22:00.held in the same regard as they were 20, 30 years ago. Which is
:22:01. > :22:04.extraordinary,why would you want to attack the people that are trying to
:22:05. > :22:07.help you? And we hear this from the Fire Service as well, which is kind
:22:08. > :22:10.of weird. So looking back, you wouldn't have changed anything? No,
:22:11. > :22:13.I wouldn't. I've loved what I've done. You'll be bored, won't you,
:22:14. > :22:17.when you retire? No, certainly not! No, I have a lot of hobbies and
:22:18. > :22:21.interests. We are caravanners so we will spend time in our caravan. And
:22:22. > :22:25.my two sons have just got married and bought a home. You'll be helping
:22:26. > :22:28.them do their houses up! I am, yes! Well, a fantastic and interesting
:22:29. > :22:32.career, when you add up the number of people that you've helped in your
:22:33. > :22:35.life. I mean, massive, a fantastic achievement. And good luck with your
:22:36. > :22:38.retirement. Thanks for talking to us. Thank you.
:22:39. > :22:42.Guys, if you could come down here. A busy road is about to become a
:22:43. > :22:44.makeshift trauma unit. Back a little bit. About there. A woman cyclist
:22:45. > :22:48.has been critically injured. Cheryl has been given pain relief in an
:22:49. > :22:52.ambulance, but she is still agitated. The signs are she could
:22:53. > :23:01.have damage to the brain, as well as serious injuries to her chest and
:23:02. > :23:04.school. Air medic Dr Shewry puts her under anaestheticnow on the
:23:05. > :23:10.roadside, so she can be flown to a neurological unit at Southampton.
:23:11. > :23:15.We will give you some medicine to make you feel really relaxed in a
:23:16. > :23:17.minute. Liz works as a hospital anaesthetist, but these are very
:23:18. > :23:28.different circumstances. 15 mls of that. Right. She has had
:23:29. > :23:30.ten of morphine... OK. So when it comes to it, I think 15 is about
:23:31. > :23:34.right. Steve has been reassuring Cheryl
:23:35. > :23:39.throughout. First, Liz needs to give extra oxygen.
:23:40. > :23:44.The chest injury means she is not breathing properly.
:23:45. > :23:47.When we give someone an aesthetic, we actually stop them breathing for
:23:48. > :23:51.themselves. We need a good period of time with enough oxygen before we
:23:52. > :23:54.can breathe safely for them. The injuries are also making it
:23:55. > :23:56.difficult for Cheryl to understand what's happening.
:23:57. > :23:59.Trust us. The bright sunlight is making things
:24:00. > :24:04.difficult. I can't see the monitor at all.
:24:05. > :24:06.They are using blankets to shield them.
:24:07. > :24:15.Drop all that, that's fine. Liz and Pat work closely with
:24:16. > :24:23.ambulance paramedic Claire McKenna. Relax, relax, relax, relax.
:24:24. > :24:30.Cheryl's SATS, or oxygen saturation levels, need to be higher. They need
:24:31. > :24:31.to press on. Paramedic Claire prepares to give Cheryl the
:24:32. > :24:45.painkiller. Hold on a second. Flush it in. A big
:24:46. > :24:46.breath for me, Cheryl. Next, they give her the anaesthetic,
:24:47. > :24:58.effectively paralysing her. Liz has just a few seconds to take
:24:59. > :25:01.over Cheryl's breathing. A small hollow tube is used to insert a
:25:02. > :25:07.breathing tube into Cheryl's windpipe. It is the most critical
:25:08. > :25:21.part of the procedure. Got it? I have. The Tube is out. We
:25:22. > :25:26.will do a BP. OK, suction. SATs are 97 still. Are you happy the suction
:25:27. > :25:30.can go off? I am happy the suction can go off, thank you.
:25:31. > :25:33.Cheryl is now under anaesthetic, her oxygen levels are good, she is
:25:34. > :25:38.breathing via a ventilator. She is now asleep, like an intensive
:25:39. > :25:41.care patient would be. We are keeping her asleep, we are breathing
:25:42. > :25:45.for her, providing her with oxygen. Then we have to think about getting
:25:46. > :25:47.her to the hospital as soon as possible.
:25:48. > :25:53.Air Ambulance pilot Stuart radios ahead to the hospital helipad. At
:25:54. > :25:56.last, Cheryl's induced coma makes it safe for the airlift, and also
:25:57. > :26:02.reduces the brain's need for oxygen, stopping any increase in swelling.
:26:03. > :26:09.The teamwork has to be carefully choreographed. The ventilator has to
:26:10. > :26:19.be operating manually as they load the structure. I will do the bag.
:26:20. > :26:29.Somebody has got the tubes? Ready, steady, lift!
:26:30. > :26:33.Watch the right elbow. The ventilator is now connected up to
:26:34. > :26:40.the aircraft. As soon as she is on board, Dr Shewry contacts the
:26:41. > :26:50.clinical team at Southampton. We are coming in by air, we will be
:26:51. > :26:53.ten minutes. It is a Level One call, for more seriously injured patients,
:26:54. > :26:56.where we have the whole hospital response. So we expect an
:26:57. > :26:59.anaesthetist there to take over my role, surgeons, someone to run the
:27:00. > :27:04.trauma call and the emergency department there. Cheryl is closely
:27:05. > :27:07.monitored throughout the flight, in the second makeshift emergency
:27:08. > :27:19.department of the day. We have a ventilator which continues to
:27:20. > :27:22.breathe for Cheryl. I was giving her drugs to keep her asleep. What we
:27:23. > :27:25.would call a general anaesthetically induced coma. They touch down at
:27:26. > :27:30.Southampton, it has taken less than ten minutes. The careful monitoring
:27:31. > :27:40.has to be maintained the whole time. Thank you.
:27:41. > :27:42.Cheryl is wheeled to a trauma unit. Now Liz can hand over to the Resus
:27:43. > :27:50.team. She is a 53-year-old. Hit by a
:27:51. > :27:58.lorry. Head injuries, to the point of her head and to the back. Pain in
:27:59. > :28:03.her left shoulder. The work is now over for the Air
:28:04. > :28:05.Ambulance medics. Cheryl is in the hands of the hospital. We will be
:28:06. > :28:16.following her progress later. The people who deal with 999 calls,
:28:17. > :28:21.like the people in this control room, never know what to expect. For
:28:22. > :28:24.example, when a tall ship carrying more than 20 teenagers gets into
:28:25. > :28:29.trouble off the coast of Ireland, that is a job for the RNLI and the
:28:30. > :28:34.Irish Coast Guard. The ship's engine has failed and it has hit rocks, the
:28:35. > :28:38.lives of 30 people are at risk. A tall ship is sinking in heavy seas
:28:39. > :28:43.off the South coast of Ireland. It is the final heartbreaking scene
:28:44. > :28:51.after a dramatic rescue. The Astrid's engine failed near Kinsale.
:28:52. > :28:55.Gale-force winds and a four metre swell pushed her onto the rocks.
:28:56. > :28:58.On-board, 30 people. It was fast becoming one of the worst days of
:28:59. > :29:07.the Dutch skipper Pieter De Kam's life.
:29:08. > :29:19.We had a blackout in the engine room and a blackout means the engines and
:29:20. > :29:23.the main engine. And then force seven to the rocks, and a swell to
:29:24. > :29:25.the rocks, and you know you are in trouble.
:29:26. > :29:31.Astrid is a sail training ship, with 26 trainee sailors on board. Some as
:29:32. > :29:35.young as 15. In charge, four professional crew. The ship was en
:29:36. > :29:38.route to Kinsale Harbour in County Cork when disaster struck, leaving
:29:39. > :29:41.all 30 people on board in danger of going down with the ship. The Irish
:29:42. > :29:44.Coastguard accept the Mayday call. Within minutes, a helicopter is
:29:45. > :29:46.scrambled and four RNLI lifeboats launched.
:29:47. > :29:56.The crew are helping the trainees. With life jackets and things like
:29:57. > :29:59.that. And they put them in a safe place, and we are waiting for the
:30:00. > :30:03.lifeboats. The concerned lifeboat crew get
:30:04. > :30:11.sight of the Astrid, she is already riding the rocks, the vote could
:30:12. > :30:14.break up at any time. We rounded Hangman's Point, the headland and we
:30:15. > :30:20.saw the vessel was very close to the rocks. We train there quite
:30:21. > :30:26.regularly. We knew straightaway that we had to get them off. Helmsman
:30:27. > :30:30.Nick is put on board the stricken ship. He works with the captain
:30:31. > :30:35.moving the 26 trainees from the Astrid onto the lifeboats. All the
:30:36. > :30:43.time, waves crashing against its decks. She was touching the bottom
:30:44. > :30:46.at that stage. Beam on to the rocks. There was probably just over a four
:30:47. > :30:50.m swell inside of her. It made it more difficult for Liam and Jim in
:30:51. > :30:55.the lifeboat behind me to come alongside to take the 12 off me. The
:30:56. > :30:58.first 12 people are organised to leap into the RNLI RIB but the
:30:59. > :31:06.treacherous conditions are making it very hard. We are hitting the rocks
:31:07. > :31:11.and we are a little bit silent and he is coming up. The first six,
:31:12. > :31:16.seven people are jumping in but it was very dangerous. It takes 20
:31:17. > :31:20.attempts to get the first 12 into the lifeboat. They are transferred
:31:21. > :31:23.to the safety of the offshore lifeboat, while RNLI helmsman Nick
:31:24. > :31:31.starts organising the next group through the small doorway into the
:31:32. > :31:35.Astrid's life raft. He is down under and you do not see him and then she
:31:36. > :31:44.is coming, coming, coming and then there is a hole. They are sitting in
:31:45. > :31:49.a circle. The skipper just has time to grab a few possessions. I go one
:31:50. > :31:53.time inside and take a look through all my Navy stuff and take my
:31:54. > :32:03.backpack with all my important papers and I go into the life raft.
:32:04. > :32:06.I was filling up the life raft with the remaining 18, so when the
:32:07. > :32:13.lifeboat came back in we established a tow on the life raft. We cut the
:32:14. > :32:17.life raft loose. We towed the life raft out and passed it on to the
:32:18. > :32:21.local harbour master. RNLI volunteer Nick is the last one to leave the
:32:22. > :32:25.sinking ship. He has got all the sailors off safely. Just two minutes
:32:26. > :32:30.later, Astrid's decks are covered by the rising water. It looks like the
:32:31. > :32:35.end of Pieter's seven year love affair with the tall ship Astrid. I
:32:36. > :32:42.look to her and I see her go slowly down under. That was not nice to
:32:43. > :32:48.see, of course. On that moment, you think, OK, my trainees are safe.
:32:49. > :32:54.That is very important. They are safe in the yacht club and that was
:32:55. > :32:58.OK. The rescued sailors were transferred to the RNLI lifeboat and
:32:59. > :33:03.a local yacht and then taken to Kinsale. 16-year-old Rose Lynch was
:33:04. > :33:11.one of the trainee sailors on-board Astrid. She recalls how they
:33:12. > :33:14.practised for just such an event. We trained in case it would happen but
:33:15. > :33:21.it never crossed my mind that it would happen. There was definitely a
:33:22. > :33:26.shock. Clearly there was an element of fear in everyone but no-one was
:33:27. > :33:31.panicky or stressed out. Everyone was perfect and calm. The respect
:33:32. > :33:41.the trainees had for skipper Pieter helped save the day. He was kind of
:33:42. > :33:45.like a father to all of us, I think. We all got on really well with him.
:33:46. > :33:49.We all trusted him. The trainees are just glad to have survived their
:33:50. > :33:53.ordeal. Everyone was safe and happy. We were all lucky to have everyone.
:33:54. > :33:57.We had all left stuff there like laptops and phones but no-one really
:33:58. > :34:01.cared because everyone was OK. The rescue was a great team effort by
:34:02. > :34:05.coastguard and RNLI. Obviously, we have never been involved in a rescue
:34:06. > :34:09.with that amount of people. But we had to get them off. There was
:34:10. > :34:17.no-one injured or anything. It was a good result at the end of the day.
:34:18. > :34:20.Alan is a call taker here. We were just talking about the fact that
:34:21. > :34:24.pain can make you react abnormally and make you more aggressive. It can
:34:25. > :34:28.make you act in all kinds of strange ways, all of which you have to take
:34:29. > :34:31.into account when you deal with a caller. Yes, I have seen people
:34:32. > :34:38.shout a lot, especially with things like toothache and back pain. It
:34:39. > :34:42.makes people quite angry. To them it is quite important that they get the
:34:43. > :34:45.care because they are in pain. And the more the pain, the more
:34:46. > :34:50.aggressive they are likely to be. Yes. What are things which are
:34:51. > :34:54.particularly painful? Earache. Earache is painful and it is the
:34:55. > :34:58.kind of pain which does not go away and you cannot get to it because it
:34:59. > :35:01.is in your ear. That makes people quite angry. Certain conditions can
:35:02. > :35:05.make you act abnormally as well? Yes, things like diabetes can make
:35:06. > :35:09.you act abnormally, high and low blood sugars. Also a stroke, I
:35:10. > :35:13.presume. Yes, things like slurred speech and things like that can come
:35:14. > :35:18.across on the phone as almost being drunk but obviously, they are not.
:35:19. > :35:22.So when you take a call from some who may appear drunk, you have to
:35:23. > :35:25.assume there may be something else going on. We take everything quite
:35:26. > :35:29.seriously because it is someone's health care at the end of the day.
:35:30. > :35:33.That is not to say that occasionally you get calls from people who are
:35:34. > :35:37.drunk? We do, yes! It is trying to narrow down what kind of things they
:35:38. > :35:41.are. But what you are saying is pain will make people, for example, it
:35:42. > :35:44.has always fascinated me that in the latter stages of Labour, that women
:35:45. > :35:48.will shout, but almost involuntarily and scream and swear a lot. Yes,
:35:49. > :35:52.that is the pain, making them aggressive. I would not know because
:35:53. > :35:55.I have not been in that kind of pain! No, and luckily, neither you
:35:56. > :35:59.nor I will be in that kind of circumstances. Interesting, because
:36:00. > :36:04.you have to take into account the condition that somebody is in. Yes.
:36:05. > :36:08.I suppose you have to grow thick skins to deal with it. Yes, yes,
:36:09. > :36:13.obviously, we get a lot of people in pain, it is the nature of the job so
:36:14. > :36:16.you do get thick skinned quite quickly. And you have to work on
:36:17. > :36:20.your assertiveness as well to get information from people while they
:36:21. > :36:25.are shouting at you. Yes, you have to be assertive. You have to get
:36:26. > :36:29.people to back down a little bit so you can ask them questions that need
:36:30. > :36:32.to be asked so you can give them the care. And not everybody is a
:36:33. > :36:37.naturally assertive person. But the training helps that? Yes, we do get
:36:38. > :36:40.some training on that. You get used to it after a while. Obviously, the
:36:41. > :36:44.support from your colleagues helps as well. Fascinating. Fascinating
:36:45. > :36:48.what people have to work out. It is almost like a detective thing that
:36:49. > :36:53.they have to work out what is going on. Thank you very much.
:36:54. > :36:56.A month after the fire that came close to destroying a family home
:36:57. > :37:03.near East Grinstead, the house is still in a sorry state. The first
:37:04. > :37:10.floor was completely destroyed. Much of it collapsed and ended up
:37:11. > :37:16.downstairs. With all the water damage as well, 70% of the ground
:37:17. > :37:23.floor is in need of repair. It will be many months before the family can
:37:24. > :37:27.move back in. It was seven days before the tall
:37:28. > :37:33.ship Astrid could be salvaged. A floating crane was used to lift the
:37:34. > :37:38.submerged wreck of the 42 m rig. It is now in dry dock in Kinsale. The
:37:39. > :37:44.damage is far worse than its owner and skipper had first thought. I saw
:37:45. > :37:51.the first movies underwater. I thought it was still OK. She is not
:37:52. > :37:56.broken. The damage is not so bad that we cannot repair her or things
:37:57. > :38:01.like that. But you can see it only when she is out of the water and now
:38:02. > :38:06.I see her damage on the starboard side, it is very bad. Pieter can't
:38:07. > :38:11.give up on his beloved Astrid. He hopes to re-fit the 95-year-old
:38:12. > :38:15.boat. First, my job is now to bring her back to the Netherlands and we
:38:16. > :38:25.shall take a look with a naval architect, and see if we can repair
:38:26. > :38:30.her. It will not be the Astrid's first refit. In the 1980s, she
:38:31. > :38:35.underwent a complete overhaul. But Pieter is determined the Astrid will
:38:36. > :38:40.sail again. I will give all my good years now for her that I have. But I
:38:41. > :38:45.do not know if we can find the foundation for the Astrid for such a
:38:46. > :38:51.lot of money. Because I do not have money for that. All the money was in
:38:52. > :38:53.the ship and now she is gone. Yes, we must see now if we can arrange
:38:54. > :39:02.all the things. Earlier, we saw cyclist Cheryl had
:39:03. > :39:06.been critically injured after colliding with a lorry. Air
:39:07. > :39:09.ambulance team, Dr Liz Shewry and paramedic Pat put Cheryl into an
:39:10. > :39:12.induced coma at the roadside before flying with her to Southampton's
:39:13. > :39:22.emergency department, where she was handed over to the trauma team.
:39:23. > :39:27.There is pain but she is more agitated. I was worried that she had
:39:28. > :39:31.a chest injury, like she had some air up here. It suggested that she
:39:32. > :39:34.might have something called a pneumothorax, where air, or a rib
:39:35. > :39:37.has punctured the lung and air has escaped from that. Thankfully, when
:39:38. > :39:41.I got there, there were no other signs to suggest that she had any
:39:42. > :39:47.other obvious injuries at that point in time but I was pretty worried
:39:48. > :39:50.about her head. I hope that the fact that she was quite conscious when
:39:51. > :39:54.she was originally seen would mean that she would get over this, rather
:39:55. > :39:57.than go on to have a devastating injury. And amazingly, just eight
:39:58. > :40:01.weeks after the accident, Cheryl is getting over it, despite extensive
:40:02. > :40:05.injuries. From the top, the head got a good banging and it is all
:40:06. > :40:09.fractured. I have got fractures all across my skull. And then inside the
:40:10. > :40:12.brain, what is left of it, swelled apparently, and then I had blood
:40:13. > :40:17.hanging around on the other side. There were some fractures across my
:40:18. > :40:20.ears. They hurt quite a little bit. My collarbone was fractured. My ribs
:40:21. > :40:23.down one side were fractured. One of my backbones fractured and I
:40:24. > :40:32.punctured my long. I think that was it mostly. I think that was about
:40:33. > :40:36.all! Ironically, Cheryl had been on her
:40:37. > :40:39.way to see a friend in hospital who had fallen off her bike.
:40:40. > :40:44.Halfway there, something happened, which I have no recollection of at
:40:45. > :40:54.all. I don't remember anything until four days later. After the amazing
:40:55. > :40:58.treatment that the people in the helicopter had given me, and also in
:40:59. > :41:01.Intensive Care. I wish I could remember it. I know some of it
:41:02. > :41:05.wasn't very pleasant, but I would like to have known what went on. And
:41:06. > :41:07.I know that people worked so incredibly hard to get me back
:41:08. > :41:10.again. Put your hand down by your side. It
:41:11. > :41:15.hurts my head! One of my sons told me I was making
:41:16. > :41:18.a bit of a nuisance of myself, but I think that's what happens. You start
:41:19. > :41:21.flaying around a little bit. I think at some time, they decided I was
:41:22. > :41:26.best to be unconscious completely! So that is what they did.
:41:27. > :41:31.My family said, you're just a pest, you need to be put into a coma as
:41:32. > :41:33.soon as possible. I think they should be a bit more sympathetic,
:41:34. > :41:36.don't you?! At first, Cheryl's injuries limited
:41:37. > :41:40.her ability to move. I could lie flat, I could walk a
:41:41. > :41:43.bit, but there was nothing in between. So sitting and leading a
:41:44. > :41:51.book, working on the computer, looking at the television... Just
:41:52. > :41:55.going for an appointment. You can't sit down in the waiting room. That
:41:56. > :41:57.was awful for a few weeks. Once that started to improve, it was
:41:58. > :41:59.fantastic. And her eyesight has also been
:42:00. > :42:02.affected. My cranial nerves are damaged, so
:42:03. > :42:10.this will just happily lie like that. It was double-vision for a
:42:11. > :42:14.while and that is getting better. So I think if the nerves can heal and
:42:15. > :42:16.all the muscles can heal, all the little bits of bone, I should be
:42:17. > :42:21.fine. After such severe injuries, her
:42:22. > :42:25.recovery has impressed Dr Shewry. I saw her a couple of times
:42:26. > :42:28.afterwards and I thought she had done incredibly well for somebody
:42:29. > :42:30.who had such a serious accident, and I am sure she will continue to
:42:31. > :42:35.improve. I still can get a bit dizzy if I
:42:36. > :42:40.move too quickly. I have fallen flat on my face a couple of times, but
:42:41. > :42:44.nothing too disastrous. But every day, I can think of something that I
:42:45. > :42:47.can do that I couldn't do a couple of days ago. I've just been really
:42:48. > :42:49.lucky, I've healed very, very quickly, and so I'm just eternally
:42:50. > :42:59.grateful. Reassuring, isn't it, that in our
:43:00. > :43:05.hour of greatest need, there is an army of well-trained professionals
:43:06. > :43:08.ready to come to our aid. That's it, see you next time on Real Rescues.