Episode 3 Real Rescues

On Real Rescues today... 'The coastguard are scrambled

'after a woman reports her husband suffered a freak accident on a speedboat.'

'He's losing a lot of blood.'

'An unusual case for Animal Rescue.

'A bullock is on the loose in leafy suburbia.'

Coming through, coming through. No.

'And an emergency at the home of a young pregnant woman.'

'She's losing consciousness and her heartbeat is low.'

Just going to need to get the stretcher in ASAP. Just relax, Amy.

Hello and welcome to Real Rescues.

Any emergency 999 call made in the UK

will come into a control room like this one,

whether it's police, fire and rescue or ambulance.

But if anyone is in danger in any of the 1.25 million nautical square miles which surround the UK,

that alert is called a mayday or pan-pan

and that emergency is a matter for our fourth blue-light service, the coastguard.

The call we're about to hear reports an injury

that even the rescue services had never seen the like of.

Thanks to Pete and his family, here is the story of his rescue.

Gentlemen, you might want to cross your legs.

'It's 2pm on a Saturday in mid-summer at the coastguard control room.'

'An emergency call comes in from a woman who's sailing with her family in their boat off the south coast.'

'The woman, Lorna, goes on to describe her husband Pete's horrifying injuries.

'The volunteer Hamble Lifeboat team are the first to be scrambled.

'But these injuries are so severe, the coastguard rescue helicopter

'is called in, as well.'

All I heard was Alex shouting, "Dad! Dad!"

And I thought... And stood up.

And I heard this splash and I knew something was wrong.

'The owner of the boat, Pete, has fallen from the back diving area

'but caught himself on a piece of metal called a snap davit,

'tearing open his groin.'

So I jumped up and ran to the back of the boat

to try and see what was going on.

And at that point, I think Pete was trying to get to the bathing ladder

to get back out of the water.

So I knew it was fairly serious because of the way Alex had shouted.

I said to Pete, "What's wrong?" and he said, "It's bad."

I think he got out, managed to sit on the back

and straight away he was into instruction mode.

"You need to use the radio and you need to call the coastguard now."

'Within minutes, the volunteer Hamble Lifeboat team are on the scene.

'Lifeboat medic Liam Dobbin is the first to see the injury and give emergency treatment.'

As I've come on board as a first-aider,

I'm the person that's going to reassure them.

I'm trying to then compose myself and give an honest face

that it's not too bad. It was quite a shock for me.

This was the worst I've seen. I've seen a number of people damage their fingers,

bash their head, head bleeds a lot, but this one was a personal injury to a personal area.

There was a lot of blood through his hands, all around his wetsuit.

There was an open tear wound in his groin.

So I looked up at the casualty and said, "It's all still there."

But then that mental picture of what I saw first of all has stayed with me for a little while.

Once I'd had a look at what we'd got,

it was deemed as a major injury, that's when I reported back to our boat

that we're going to need a medical evacuation as soon as possible.

'The coastguard helicopter is en route.

'On board, winchman and trained paramedic Alf Kitwood.'

We got a call from the coastguard for a chap who'd fallen from a boat and was missing various body parts.

So we didn't really quite know what to expect with a call like that.

'The pressure of the dressing is stemming the blood loss,

'but Pete needs emergency surgery and fast.

'Alf is winched down onto the lifeboat

'before transferring to attend the injured man.

'Pete's ability to remain calm is impressing everyone.'

When Alf joined us on the boat, he says to me,

"Hello, I'm Alf," and I says, "Hello, I'm Pete. I won't shake your hand

"because I need them to hold myself together," and he had a giggle.

So then he crouched down on the rear of the platform,

had a good look, as well, and he looked up at me and said,

"Ooh, that looks a bit painful."

His exact words were, "I don't even know how I'm going to dress this."

During the process of looking at the injury,

I noticed that it wasn't bleeding, identified what was wrong,

invited him to replace the pad and then I put another one top

and bandaged sufficiently to offer him enough support

ready for a transfer.

'It's a relief to find there are no missing body parts.

'The bleeding is under control at the moment, but Pete has to airlifted.

'Winchman Alf has to improvise a bandage to maintain the pressure on the wound.'

Eventually we figured out one way of making the world's biggest nappy

and they dressed, basically, a nappy round me on top of my wetsuit.

'The coastguard helicopter is skilfully manoeuvred over the lifeboat.

'So Alf and Pete can be winched on board.

'They head straight to Southampton General Hospital.

'It's just a few minutes' flight away.

'Two specialist surgeons have been paged and are waiting to operate.

'In the meantime, one of the lifeboat crew stays on board the Tanzanite,

'taking it back to shore so Lorna and their son Alex can join Pete at hospital.

'Incredibly, just a few weeks after the accident,

'Pete is back out on his boat with his wife.

'Thanks to the rescue and the surgery, his recovery is in every way complete.

'He remembers everything about how it happened.'

What I actually did, because I couldn't get down there, there was a jet ski,

I sat here and my idea was to push myself off with my arms over the davit,

which I actually made, I made the manoeuvre,

I jumped over the davit with my arms,

but my wetsuit got caught on the davit as I started to jump,

it pulled me back in, my legs went under and I went straight down,

so I was pivoting being held up by my genitalia until it all gave in.

When I went into the water, it was instantly cold between my legs

so I put my hand between my legs and where there was a wetsuit, there wasn't a wetsuit,

there was a great big tear in the wetsuit, and I put my hand where my genitalia should be

and there was not a lot there, either.

So I sort of gathered everything up and came back onto the rear of the boat.

I think I had a very, very lucky escape, considering how bad it was

and the amount of stitches I've had down there. It looks bad, anyway.

I was actually told that the lifeboat wouldn't have got there in time to save me

if it'd gone down the inside of my leg, because I would've bled to death, anyway.

So I have had the luckiest escape.

I don't think how serious it was struck me

until I got back to the boat later in the evening

and I was left on my own on the boat that evening.

And that's when I think I really lost it.

It was just almost a bit like it was happening to somebody else.

You just read about these things happening but you never really think it's going to happen to you,

and I'm just really lucky that it worked like clockwork that day

and everything fell into place,

otherwise, yeah, I could... You know, Alex could not have a dad,

I could not have a husband

and the whole thing could've been totally different

without everybody working together as a team and getting it right.

'It's just before rush hour.

'A call's just come in for paramedic team Charlie Balham and Jason Fullerton.

'A young woman has lost consciousness at her mum's house

'and she's 32 weeks pregnant.

'They're met by the young woman's anxious father and brother.'

Hello there. What's your name?

Hi, Amy. My name's Charlie, I'm a paramedic.

We've managed to get in here. OK. What's been happening, Amy?

I don't know. I just came from the doctor's. She's just been to see the midwife.

And I came here and felt really dizzy. Okey-dokes.

How are you feeling at the moment?

A bit better? Yeah, a little bit. OK.

How's your pregnancy been in general at the moment? Fine.

Sorry, it feels like I've dipped it in ice. That's all right.

There we go. Super.

OK. And is this your first? Yeah. Yeah? OK.

Talk me back through the events in your words.

I walked up to the doctor's,

come back, and I just felt really funny.

Mm. Just didn't feel right. And she did go out, she did faint, pass out.

Completely out cold? Yeah, completely out.

No response. Yeah, OK.

What we'll do first of all is just put these sticky things on your wrists and ankles.

Sometimes when your heart's in distress, it'll send off a unique pattern of electricity

and this machine's just going to be measuring that electrical activity.

Do you mind just uncrossing your legs? Thanks.

'As paramedic Charlie starts to pick up Amy's heartbeat, he becomes more concerned.'

Do you know if you've normally got quite a slow heart rate? Have you been told that? No?

OK.

It's not majorly slow at the moment. It's certainly not life-threateningly slow.

'Suddenly, Amy starts to feel faint again.'

Do you get told that by the doctors? Yeah? All right.

Well, just relax, just breathe nice and deep, all right?

Don't panic. Your blood pressure's quite nice and stable, all right?

So just take nice, regular deep breaths.

Just try and think about something more peaceful. Just along there, yeah? Yeah. OK.

Can you feel any movement around there?

Yeah? Just take nice, deep breaths, in and out.

Jason! Yeah? Can you come and give us a hand? Yeah.

That's all right, don't worry.

We're just going to get the stretcher in ASAP.

Yeah, OK. Just going to get her onto the bed, as well.

If you just assist her...

'The paramedics need to put her in a different position, making it easier for her heart.'

OK. Just relax, Amy. I'm going to move these pillows so you can get your head back a little bit more.

Just nice, deep breaths. All right?

Don't worry about anything. All right? Keep calm. You're all right.

'In the ambulance, paramedic Charlie wants to check if low blood pressure is the cause of her dizziness.'

Lots of different beeping and stuff like that going on. Don't worry about that.

'But her levels are normal. It's not the reason.'

As soon as I get worried, that's when you need to start worrying.

But I'm not worried, all right? OK. So no dramas.

'With such a low heartbeat, it's vital that Charlie keeps monitoring it.'

It dropped down to 40 when we had that syncope attack episode. OK.

'Syncope is the medical term for a fainting attack.'

Let's see. Ah, it's all good. Not too many dramas there.

All I was looking for mainly was just anything like a heart hiccup type thing,

anything which was going to be interrupting your normal heart rate and stuff like that,

but that's all quite groovy. Not too worried about that.

And your heart rate's back up to normal speed now.

So, like I say, probably just another cheeky little faint or something like that. All right?

You all right, babe? 'Amy's mum is going to accompany her to hospital.

'Charlie phones ahead with information about his patient.'

I've got a lady here, a 24-year-old lady, who's 32 weeks pregnant

and she's had a couple of what seem to be syncope-type events.

She hasn't fully lost consciousness,

but she's gone bradycardic and her blood pressure dumped on each occasion.

'Charlie's concerned because Amy's heart has become bradycardic.

'That means it's dropped below a normal resting rate of 60 beats per minute.

'The ambulance crew want to know whether they can avoid the emergency department

'and take her straight to the maternity unit.'

All right. Thanks. Maternity.

Yeah, maternity. Cheers.

'By now, Charlie has more details about Amy

'and it seems her resting heart rate is always a bit on the low side.'

Looking at your notes, your blood pressures have been more or less around the same level they are now.

So it's not, like, drastically low.

So I don't think that's too much of an issue.

'It's a positive sign, but this patient still needs a thorough check-up.

'As they arrive, they're met by Amy's boyfriend, Rob.'

Hiya.

'Amy will be moved to a more comfortable bed where tests will begin.

'After a couple of hours, Amy was allowed home.

'A week later, she was called back

'for another ECG check on her heart and she was given the all clear.

'Her mother believes she was reacting to a vaccination.

'And news of the baby later.'

Coming up on Real Rescues...

'The firefighters of Green Watch rush to an allotment.'

'It's a race to stop the flames spreading to nearby houses.'

'Police deal with an accident that almost topples a lamp post.'

Sir, mind yourself, just in case the lamp post comes down.

'The driver is refusing to go to hospital.'

You've had an accident. The chances are you'll do it again.

You need to go to hospital and that's what's going to happen.

What's interesting is how operators here in the control room

can help people who are lost

or trying to help people find people who are lost.

We can talk to Millie about this.

You had a call here from a couple of children. Yep.

Two ten-year-old girls had been out playing in the woods.

They didn't know which woods they were in,

they didn't know whereabouts in the woods they were...

So they got themselves lost. Yeah, they got themselves lost.

They were completely stuck and didn't know what else to do other than phone 999, which they did.

They were quite scared, so initially, the most important thing to do was build a rapport with them,

make sure they felt safe on the phone to me

and just assuring them that we would get them out and they'd be safe.

They were quite concerned about where their parents would think they were

and what their parents would say. Whether the parents would be angry for coming home late. Yeah.

So you've got the two girls in the woods and they don't even know which woods they're in.

But you've got them on the mobile phone, so how do you find them?

We can look at the eastings and northings, which populate on the screen.

Sometimes they populate on the screen...

You mean when a caller comes up, sometimes on that screen, you get east and north,

which is a triangulation between the various aerials that pick up mobile phone calls.

That comes in. What if it doesn't come up on there? Can you ask for that information?

If they don't populate, we can request to speak with the operator again

and the operator will then pass them on, providing they have them, they'll pass them on.

Then we can put them onto the mapping system

and it will show us the radius of exactly where they are.

And how accurate is that? It's within a two-mile radius.

OK, so you now know which wood they're in.

So when it comes up on the screen, the likelihood is there'd be probably one wood in that area,

so we'd be able to find out exactly which wood they're in, but not exactly where they are.

Right. So presumably, at that stage, you've got police officers going to help.

Yeah, we've got police officers on the way to find them.

Meanwhile, I said to them, "Is there anyone you can see around you,

anyone that might be able to help you, tell you where you are?"

And they'd seen a jogger come past. So I just said,

"Stop the jogger, explain to him you're on the phone to the police, you need to know where you are."

And I then spoke to the jogger and just said,

"Would you be able to just show them a way out of the wood to a point

"where the police can then come and meet them, to a landmark?"

But I kept them on the phone, cos I still don't know who the jogger is

and I've got to ensure their safety. Of course.

So I kept them on the phone and then they met the police.

So you managed to get them out and all's well that ends well. Yeah.

Brilliant. So there you go. They can use a combination of technology

and a helpful passer-by to rescue the girls,

which is handy to know, isn't it?

'Fire Service Animal Rescue specialist Anton Phillips

'is facing one of the most demanding and unusual cases.

'A powerful bullock is on the loose in a residential area

'and Anton's arrived to help police trap it.' Right, OK.

The police were at a road traffic collision and whilst they were there,

a young steer trotted straight through the incident.

It was nothing to do with the incident.

They were quite astounded as to where it came from.

The police have followed it out of a large garden,

I've tried to capture it in a large garden, which was almost impossible.

'But this Dexter breed bullock keeps giving them the slip.'

The cattle... Ah, here it is.

'The black bullock is on the road just ahead of the police car.'

Right, there's our little steer, who's going to get more and more tired.

'Somehow Anton has to get a noose around its neck.'

Well, I've got a rope and I've put an emergency rope on,

cos he's not very big, he won't pull me around too much.

There's not a lot I can do until he decides that he's going to go and walk into somewhere.

But he's been on the move for some time now. He's obviously very stressed out.

Let's see what we can do.

'With the help of the police car, Anton is attempting to corner the animal.'

If you could let him go into a garden, it'd be good.

Don't get too tight. Let the fella do it.

'With the road blocked at each end, the bullock heads for a garden.

'But they can't get hold of the animal.

'It makes another bid for freedom, but Anton's ready for it.'

Here we go. Right. That side.

'Success! All they need to do now is keep it contained within the garden.'

Coming through, coming through. 'But no luck. This steer has got other ideas.'

The steer was on its own and they are a herd animal.

This one was also quite young. Obviously very upset,

wanted to be back with the rest of its herd mates

and was desperately trying to find them.

'The chase is on again.

'The plan is for the police to get ahead and cut it off.

'And so far, so good, as PC Chris Clayton approaches the animal.'

Some poor person's going to end up with this in his garden.

'But suddenly, it makes off.'

Where is it? Can you see it? 'It's given them the slip again.

'So it's back in the cars.' Little calves are a pain in the backside.

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.

They get old and wise, but saying that,

young calves, some of them are really, really great escapologists, and this is one of them. There he is.

'Anton's spotted him again. The police car needs to get ahead of it to attempt another corral.'

The other thing is, he's extremely fit.

Cos he's now been running for probably about three miles.

What we don't want to happen, of course, is a collision with anybody.

'But... as soon as Anton gets out, the calf is off once again.'

Same tactic again. Great. Oh, he's in, is he?

'But not for long.

'They aim for another garden but it's no good.'

No. 'Anton has to contain the animal in these streets,

'but all the time, it's heading towards danger.'

'The animal was moving through a large housing estate

'and gradually it was gravitating towards the M3 motorway.'

I need to get round him if I can.

Now, it actually moved probably the best part of two miles

of the three miles towards the motorway, so sooner or later, it would've got to the motorway.

And all the time, it was getting more and more wound up.

'The rescue attempt has now been going on for 50 minutes.'

Where'd he go, where'd he go?

'More expert help has arrived on board an off-road vehicle.'

That might be a farmer, as well.

So that would be extremely helpful.

'It's a farmer, although not the owner.

'However, Andrew Graddage does know how to corral animals.'

That's it. 'And the extra manpower is doing the trick.

'This time, the bullock is headed into another garden.'

Yep, that'll do. Lovely.

'And it's got a gate. At last, the rescuers can cut off any escape route.

'Anton follows closely behind.

'He's not letting it get away this time.

'But it's taking the combined efforts of four men to get a lasso on it.'

BULLOCK MOOS Yeah, I know.

Let's get his head.

That young steer was extremely powerful

and the only way to control them properly is to control their head.

'Finally, they can get a look at the ear tag, which will identify the animal and its owner.

'A job for PC Lindsay Meal.'

Thank you, I've got 282115.

Trading Standards Animal Welfare will read that off the list.

You can get up now if you like. Let him get up. He's all right.

Get up, then. Steady now, steady now.

BULLOCK MOOS

How far's your cattle box, mate? Ten minutes. Oh, right, OK.

'But Anton's work is far from over.

'The animal is struggling for its survival and will not give up the fight.'

Because this can lash out and kick you from every angle.

He can kick me from here with his hind leg, smack me in the face.

It's only cos it hasn't quite worked it out yet.

Saying that, it will do.

'Farmer Andrew has another idea.'

ANTON LAUGHS

'But before they can carry out their threats, transport arrives.

'To save the bullock churning up this garden any more,

'they herd it into the cattle trailer.

'At last, the animal is safely contained.

'It will now be returned to its herd,

'a huge relief to the rescuers.

'But one problem still remains.'

'Now the bullock is safely installed, the police can catch up with the owners,

'warning them it could all have ended differently.'

We came very close to having to call somebody out to shoot it because of the risk to the public.

I would've done that if it was causing a danger to the public.

'The owner suspects the steer was chased by a dog on its nearby grazing ground,

'escaping by going through or over the fence.'

SIRENS WAIL

'It's midweek and it's a damp and dingy evening.

'Traffic cops Matt Waters and Sam Forsyth

'have been called to an unusual incident in a car park.'

We've had a report of a two-vehicle traffic collision

on Watling Street, just up the road here,

where one person's complaining of chest injuries.

It's quite possible he's had a heart attack.

'They're heading for Milton Keynes Irish Centre.'

Oh, I see.

'And arrive to find an ambulance and a fast responder already on the scene.'

That lamp post doesn't look too clever, does it?

'A lamp post is at a precarious angle.'

'Matt is briefed by technician Tom Timmins.'

So he's had a seizure, not a heart attack?

Not a heart attack, no. Believed to be a seizure. Right. OK.

'Matt goes to see the ill driver.

'A friend is also in the ambulance.

'He came over after hearing about the accident.'

'People have gathered at the centre for a weekly auction.

'The man has decided to leave early.'

As he's leaving the car park, he's had this seizure,

which has resulted in him having a collision with this vehicle here and it's collided with a lamp post.

I'm a bit concerned about the lamp post because, as you can see, it's at an angle

and I feel it may fall at any moment.

Sir, do you want to mind yourself, just in case the lamp post comes down?

'Matt starts his routine investigations, but the driver is still confused.'

Because you've been involved in a traffic collision, I require you to provide me with...

'The driver can't remember having the accident.'

You've hit a Freelander.

'He gets out to have a look. He's very apologetic.'

Do you want to pop yourself back in the ambulance, keep yourself dry?

Pop yourself back in the ambulance, cos you're obviously confused.

'Matt gets the man to do a breathalyser test.'

Deep breath and blow.

Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Stop. That's perfect. Thank you.

'The test is clear.' I'm going to contact the driving licence agency

and let them know that you've had this sort of seizure, or whatever it is you've had.

Because if I don't inform them and you go down the road and have another one

and end up killing somebody or yourself, I haven't done my job properly.

'Matt and Sam turn their attention to sorting out the vehicles.

'But their job is complicated by the dodgy-looking lamp post.'

Hm.

My fear is if we move the vehicle away,

the lamp post is then going to give way because it's obviously at this angle. All right, excellent...

'The man's friend has got the keys to move the van.'

Yeah, it was in gear.

'Luckily the van still runs OK.

'Next they've got to work out if it's safe to move the other car or not.'

What do you think?

Do you think? It's not like it's leaning on the car, and if you move it, it'll go boom.

If I do it whilst you make sure nothing goes past me,

if it goes down then it goes down, doesn't it? It's done then.

'The keys have arrived and they're going to go for it.'

Sam is going to close the road for us.

I'm going to reverse the vehicle back. If the lamp post goes, it won't injure anybody.

So, here goes. 'It's the moment of truth.'

I can't have any doubt.

Ah, it's going to go nowhere. That's fine. Excellent.

We bravely reversed the vehicle away from the lamp post.

The lamp post has held its ground. So we're going to resume.

'Matt thinks it's job done, but later...'

What's happening? '..police help is needed inside the ambulance.

'The driver doesn't think he needs to go to hospital.'

You need to go to hospital. That's the option, you go to hospital.

Right, if you suddenly came downstairs and found a man in your kitchen

that you didn't know who wasn't saying anything, how would you feel?

Well, let's find out how somebody else felt in that exact situation.

Millie, tells about this call that you got.

OK, so, a lady phoned in

and she said, "There's a man in my kitchen."

So I automatically thought immediate response.

So got officers coming on blue lights. Then started asking her some more questions.

Did she sounded terrified? No, actually, she sounded very calm, which I was surprised about,

just having said, "There is a man in my kitchen" at 1:30 in the morning.

Who she didn't know. She didn't know his name, she tried to speak to him

and he had made no response to her at all. So she asked him what he was doing there.

Which is even weirder. He's standing there not saying anything.

She said, "He's standing by my washing machine."

So she said her son was upstairs, so her son came down to question him

and he'd made no response to her son, either.

So I took a description of him, just in case he had left before the police came

because, obviously, I didn't know what he was doing there. All right. How was he dressed?

I asked her, I said, "Start from the bottom, can you tell me what he's wearing on his feet?"

She said, "Beige boots." I said, "OK, beige boots."

She said, "Camouflage trousers, and a camouflage top,"

which I thought sounded like army gear to me.

Even more worrying. Well, yeah.

And then the police arrived,

spoke to the male, and it turns out that he was on leave

and he had had a few too many drinks and walked into the wrong back door.

Oh, so he did live in the street? He lived in the street, yeah,

and he thought it was his back door

and just was too drunk to answer any of her questions, so had no idea she was talking to him.

How fantastic that she stayed so calm through it, though.

I know. Would you have been that calm? I don't think so.

Especially if I'd been on my own. Cos her son was there, it made her a little bit calmer.

I still definitely wouldn't have been as calm as she was.

How extraordinary. Poor bloke. Poor her. Poor everybody, really, under the circumstances.

Thank you very much, Millie. No problem.

'It's a sunny bank holiday afternoon

'and the Green Watch fire crew from Southampton is heading to a 999 call.'

'There's a fire at an allotment and it's spreading.

'Flames have engulfed a shed

'and now they're racing up a tree.'

'The fire is already being tackled by firefighters working from a smaller vehicle.

'But they can't get on top of it. They need more water.'

'This is all that remains of what was a large shed.

'And next to it, a charred fir tree.

'They need to use the jet hose to get to the flames at the top of the tree.

'It can project the water higher.'

It looks like they've got compost heaps and a shed,

a few bits of garden machinery, or garden bits and pieces,

and a conifer tree. It's gone up through the centre of the conifer where all the dry, dead stuff is.

'The back-up crew from Green Watch arrived in the nick of time.

'The flames were about to move along the line of trees,

'putting nearby properties in danger.'

We tried to make a start with the high pressure lance and knocked back a lot of it,

but obviously it needed the extra water capability of the main pumps and the jets.

'They don't know yet how the fire started.

'There's no-one working at the allotment and the occupants of the nearby gardens are out.'

As of yet, not a clue as to what started it.

I mean, I don't even know whether the person whose shed it is, he's not here at the moment,

whether he was here earlier on and has dumped something or left something. I don't know.

'Firefighter Alex Spreadbury takes the water lance over the fence to dampen down any hotspots.

'Sheds are well-known storage places for items that become hazardous when hot.

'The first crew to arrive had to make the area safe before getting too close.'

So that's the sort of dangers you find in sheds.

As soon as you cool it, it's not particularly dangerous.

But, erm, it's got compressed gas in it, even if it's empty,

so it goes with a bang.

Luckily, that one, we caught it just in time.

Otherwise it would've taken the tree.

'With the flames now extinguished, it's time to thoroughly damp down the smoking debris.'

The trouble is with timber, where it's a really good insulator,

it does tend to have what we call bullseyes and things like that,

little hotspots that penetrate deep into it.

So you sort of need to cut them out and really get in.

And they can steam off and do that for hours, unfortunately.

'Suddenly, just when they thought the job was done,

'flames are spotted on the other side of the allotment.

'A hot ember must have floated along the fence line

'and set alight to the dry undergrowth.'

'Firefighter Adam Bundle gives it a good drenching.

'After a thorough check of the area, they empty the rest of their water onto the charred remains.

'The unfortunate owner of the shed will have to rebuild from scratch.

'But all is not lost. Wood ash is a good source of potassium.

'There might be a bumper crop this season.

'At the Irish Centre in Milton Keynes,

'traffic cops Matt Waters and Sam Forsyth are needed by paramedics.

'A driver has somehow blacked out at the wheel of his van

'and ended up pushing a parked car into a lamp post.

'But now there's a problem in the ambulance.' Right, what's happening?

OK. Why's that? 'The driver says he wants to go straight home.'

Yeah, but what happens if you go home and you're poorly and you collapse and something else happens?

Yeah, I totally agree. 'Because the driver is still showing signs of confusion and illness,

'it's possible he could have another bad episode.

'For his own safety, the emergency crews need him to be given

'a proper check-up at the hospital.'

Quite possibly, yeah.

They're going to force him to go to hospital, which we have the powers to do.

So my colleague is going to sit in the ambulance to make sure there's no issues and we'll follow him down.

'Matt tells it to him straight.'

You've had an accident and the chances are you're going to do it again.

And you need to go to hospital and that's what's going to happen.

OK? That is the option, you're going to hospital.

The reason I'm leaving here, the option is you're going to hospital

because I'm concerned for you

and these chaps are concerned for you. Yeah?

'The driver finally agrees and they set off.'

It's been ages since I've been in an ambulance.

'On the journey, he complains of being in a lot of pain.'

Is that how you feel now? That's why these guys have wired you up now, to see...

What's the monitors?

Yeah, and what's...

Is it?

And have you complained of heart problems before? Right.

'It's proved to be the right decision.'

A police escort into there.

'Doctors will be able to monitor his heart and hopefully find out what caused the seizure.'

The journey, uneventful.

He was asking us, or he was repeating questions over and over again about what's happened.

But he wasn't anti towards us,

so he's been brought here and placed under observations.

'It turned out the driver's chest pains

'were caused by bruising from the seatbelt.

'The cause of his seizure is still being investigated.

'Southampton's Green Watch are on their way to a fire in an unlikely location.'

'In a shower.'

J-H-5-4-papa-4 in attendance. 5-4-papa-4. Over.

'The first hurdle is getting past their colleagues.'

Nearly had him. Watch his mirrors, though.

'Crew manager Steve Evans goes to investigate. There's a problem isolating the electrics.'

Are you all right, Darryl? Is there a bit of an issue?

There's a fire in the bathroom. We think it's been started in the electrical shower unit.

So we're in the process of trying to isolate...

That's firing off again in there.

'Suddenly, the fire escalates.'

That's getting worse in there, we're in position now.

This smoke's getting a lot worse. You want to start to get in there.

Can we have the two BA men to start up?

And make sure the water's on. Have you checked the water on the branch? Cos it's starting to go in there.

'With breathing apparatus,

'the firefighters can go inside the bathroom and start to tackle the fire.'

Pump operator, can you make sure you've got adequate pressure on the branch?

The two BA are going to be committed... It seems to be going a bit better now.

'Then, just as suddenly, the smoke seems to be reducing.'

It's calmed down again. It's calmed down because the shower's come on.

It sounds like the shower's on now. You can hear the water running.

It's probably melted the plastic pipe work inside,

so the water that's in there has come through.

Is there an isolator? Is there a stopcock?

Have you got a stopcock for the shower? I have no idea.

What about for the water into the building?

'The tenant living in the house is Martha.'

What exactly happened? My husband was just putting his phone on charger, and it wasn't charging.

So we noticed that something was wrong.

'Faulty electrics may have been the cause,

'but the priority now is extinguishing the fire.'

When you open that door, it's going to be thick in there.

We've got the fan, Kev, so when you're ready, if you want it,

we've got a fan here to blow it through.

'As the door opens, a cloud of potentially toxic smoke emerges.'

Is there any way you can isolate the water in there?

I can hear it all running. Is it going into the bath or anything? No. Is it all over the show?

Blow everything out then we'll be able to see what's going on. OK.

'Until the fan is in operation, the smoke is too thick to see anything.'

Take this round the front, yeah?

'They need to choose the position of the pump carefully.'

You go to the front, open the front up, we'll blow it through from the...

Take this round to the front and we'll blow from the front.

We'll blow from the front out through the back

then we won't disturb so much of the building.

Yeah, if we blow it from here, we blow it through the kitchen.

Did you manage to isolate the water? Brilliant. Well done.

'It seems the shower has finally shown some self protection.'

It's burnt itself out, has it? OK.

Told you! All right.

'Now it's safe to re-enter, Steve gets the thermal imaging camera to look for hotspots.'

Everyone's all right, I take it? Yeah, yeah.

No-one's got any smoke inhalation or anything? No, they're fine.

'Incident commander Howard Watts needs to inform the fire investigation team

'about the faulty shower.' Leave it where it is till I've spoken to FI.

If they don't want to take photos, I suggest we tear it off the wall, put it in the garden.

If for nothing else, just to stop the acrid sort of smell coming off.

'Although it's now safe, the fire has caused a lot of damage.

'It's been a traumatic morning for Martha.'

We just heard an explosion in the bathroom.

I went to check and the shower was actually melting.

And that's when we phoned the fire brigade to see what happens.

Not a great start to the day. No. Not the best.

'It may have been one simple act that saved them from a lot worse - shutting the bathroom door.'

The door is there to be a block in a hole.

So it does vastly reduce the amount of smoke that travels through a flat,

which is why whenever we go out and do our visits, we advise people

before they go to bed at night to close all doors,

cos it does give you a lot longer time

to escape from a situation which may occur in your home.

Before we go, we have some happy news for you.

Remember pregnant Amy, who was taken to hospital after feeling faint?

Well, we're glad to tell you, she made a quick recovery,

and gave birth to a baby boy called Joshua.

Once again, we've seen today that the emergency services

are there ready and waiting in our moments of greatest need.

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

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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