Episode 9 Real Rescues

Today on Real Rescues,

a packed ferry runs aground on rocks off the coast of Wales.

As rescuers come to help, it starts to sink with people still on board.

The way the tide was pulling, if they had gone in the water,

they wouldn't have come back up again, it was that bad.

On the hottest day of the year,

the air ambulance is scrambled to a man in trouble on a coastal path.

Fears are he's having a heart attack.

And a 999 call from a woman in labour.

She's still 15 miles away from hospital.

Hello and welcome to the programme which features

the amazing work of Britain's emergency services, Real Rescues.

Now there's a code amongst all sailors that

if anyone is in trouble at sea,

the nearest boat will head to the rescue.

So, when a ferry carrying day-trippers off the Pembrokeshire coast

hits a rock and starts to list at 45 degrees,

a boat carrying divers rushes to help.

They're all too aware that the chance of anyone surviving

the fast-running currents and cold temperatures is very slim.

In Pembrokeshire, a ferry The Lady Helen has hit rocks -

on board, 48 passengers.

Minutes before, a day-tripper captures this footage as they travel

through Jack Sound,

a narrow channel separating mainland Wales from Skomer Island.

Weather conditions look good, but a spring tide means the channel

is unusually shallow and the rocks are emerging.

Suddenly there's an ominous jolt.

There are men, women and children on board.

We were going along and, all of a sudden,

bang, it crunched.

It turned...

and it tipped.

The boat turned more or less 360 degrees,

so we were facing back out to sea again,

as opposed to going towards the mainland.

It was all so quick.

You didn't have time to work out what had happened.

And then the boat started to list and that was the terrifying bit.

It listed quite severely.

The ferry has hit a rock just off Skomer Island.

It's been holed.

The bow is low in the water, the stern higher.

Within minutes, a dive boat

and a rib from the Skomer Marine Reserve are alongside,

but the currents here

are fast-running and notoriously dangerous.

As I was looking into the water, it wasn't too far to the island.

It wasn't far at all,

but the water was so turbulent, I thought,

"If I go in, I'm not going to reach it."

The skipper of the dive boat, The Overdale, is Brian Dilly,

a former RNLI coxswain.

It took us about five or ten minutes to get there.

The boat was listing very heavily and we thought she was sinking.

Tim Crossland is one of the divers on board Brian's boat.

We could see the boat was wedged on the top of the rock.

He's definitely spun around.

It was facing stern to the current

and was listing very badly with the passengers in the stern.

The way the tide was pulling, if they had gone in the water,

they wouldn't have come back up again, it was that bad.

And we were going to go right alongside the vessel

and take the passengers off.

But it turns out to be too dangerous for the dive boat to stay close.

The small rib has to start transferring the passengers.

On board is marine biologist Jennifer Jones.

Initially, they handed down some children and their parents.

There were a couple of moments when I was being handed down over

the railings a couple of little children and I was thinking,

"Gosh. This could be quite nasty."

That was another scary bit because, with a small rib,

they could only take off so many at a time

and we were beginning to wonder,

"How long will it be before we go off?"

We seemed to be there a long time

and the more I thought about it and looked around at the situation,

it looked really bad.

I couldn't see how we were going to get out of it without

being in the water.

By now, the Lady's sister ship, The Dale Princess, has arrived

and managed to get a rope onto the stricken boat.

Pulled it from the rock with still passengers on board

and it was quite obvious that the boat was...

in trouble and sinking.

During all this, I was shaking from head to foot.

I was really, really frightened.

It was something I never want to experience again.

As The Lady Helen is pulled away from the turbulent current,

a police rib arrives and continues to transfer passengers to the dive boat.

It is always dangerous to transfer people at sea in any conditions,

but, luckily, the sea conditions were very good.

It was a lovely day, the sea was calm,

so we managed to get people transferred here from the rib,

helped them across onto this boat,

but it isn't an easy thing to do.

The coastguard has sent two RNLI lifeboats

and their sea rescue to the scene,

but by now all the passengers are safely aboard the dive boat.

Spirits amongst the survivors are soaring.

The Lady Helen is now being towed back to shore,

but she's holed and taking on more and more water.

All the way, they're pumping it out.

And they just make it to shore, where the ferry finally sinks.

Safe on dry land, the passengers have time to reflect on their experiences.

We sat on the rocks because that's all people could do.

They were just stunned.

Totally stunned. Dazed.

We just thanked God that the people were there

at the right time.

There was enough boats in the area to come to our assistance.

And hats off to the people that came and rescued us.

A hazy morning at the air ambulance station in Somerset.

The UK is in the grip of a heat wave.

Temperatures are expected to reach 30 degrees.

At the morning briefing,

pilot John Erp is predicting good conditions for the helicopter.

Yeovil are out of fog already.

Temperature 12, due point of 12,

so everything's breaking up nicely and nice high pressure,

so we're sat in what's left of the fog.

Everyone else is clear around us.

So, essentially, it's a lovely flying day.

In high temperatures like this, calls out to the emergency services go up.

On the ground and in the air, every resource is under pressure.

I'll get some speed along the runway and then we'll do a southerly turn.

On duty with pilot John is paramedic Paul Owen

and emergency basics doctor Phil Hyde.

The first emergency is at a well-known coastal beauty spot

in Dorset, Durdle Door.

They can only speculate at this point what the problem may be.

They have to prepare for the worst.

First they need to find the walker.

They've been told to look out for an obelisk-shaped landmark.

Their patient is a long way from the road.

As soon as they're down, paramedic Paul heads off...

..closely followed by Dr Phil Hyde and pilot John.

The casualty is downhill near the edge of the cliff.

This is Glen. He's walked from Osmington Mill to see...

Seven or eight miles, did you say? Yeah.

So, he's come across that way.

Starting going that way.

He's just run out of energy, so he's turned back.

He started heading back, coming up the hill... OK.

He's not had any pain at any stage.

He's just felt weak and unable to continue.

Have you had any pain in your chest? No.

If I do get a pain in the chest, it's like a stitch.

What do you mean, if you do get a pain?

Paramedic Paul needs Glen to be explicit about any pain.

Have you had a pain in your chest today? No.

I did yesterday. Have you been in hospital for anything? No.

Never had any heart problems? No.

Glen set off at 8am, hoping to miss the extreme heat,

but the temperature defeated him.

He collapsed near a group of soldiers from the Royal Armoured Corps

training regiment. They gave him water and raised the alarm.

I'm going to stick a load of stickers on your chest.

I think it looks pretty good.

We've got to take some details,

but we haven't found anything significantly horrible.

Now, if we can... We'd rather you didn't walk back

cos you're going to end up in the same state walking back.

But if we can get you a lift, something like that,

are you happy if we can get you taken back?

Yeah. Cos I don't think there's any need to go to hospital.

All right? All you need to do is take it easy, drink plenty of fluids.

I just need to...

Paramedic Paul updates control.

He's hoping a coastguard volunteer will be able to take Glen home.

Yeah, 7250, we're on scene.

Patient doesn't need to be conveyed to hospital.

What's the situation with regards to the coastguard?

Are they turning up in a 4 x 4, over?

They're bringing up a four-wheel-drive up here. Right.

And we'll be able to stick you on the back of that

and get you back down to civilisation. Right, cheers.

So we'll keep you out of the sun at the moment while we're...

Stay sat down. Have you had some of that Lucozade?

HE LAUGHS

Yeah, I don't like cherry! You're all right!

Just get a little bit more down you.

Take the cherry on the chin, and get it down you.

Glen's still suffering, but this spot is inaccessible by Land Rover.

There's no choice - Glen has to walk back up the hill.

Are you feeling a bit better after that fluid, electrolytes? Yeah.

It's a steep climb in the searing heat.

How are you feeling?

We'll just get you through this gate and sit down.

It's too much for Glen.

Just deep breaths here, mate.

We'll get him in the shade again.

He drops to the ground again, too exhausted to continue.

Where was that fluid he was drinking?

I've got a car back here.

That's kind of you. Where's those bottles that you were drinking?

The army group kicks into action. They split into two teams.

One goes to chase up the Land Rover,

the second keeps Glen hydrated and cool.

Within minutes, the coastguard appears, complete with army escort.

Are you able to drop him back home,

or are you able to drop him with the ambulance?

Despite his second collapse, Paul is happy to discharge his patient.

We can take him back to wherever, but if it's local,

I mean, where is..? Osmington.

There's just time for Glen to thank all his rescuers

and for medic Paul to give him some advice.

Did you hear that? It looks like they're happy to drop you back.

All right? But just take it easy.

Take plenty of fluids, keep out of the sun, you know,

just enjoy yourself. Don't have too much alcohol to drink. Right.

I know you're on holiday, but you can't, all right?

It's a 35-mile flight back along the dramatic coastline.

Once they land,

all hands are needed to prepare the aircraft for its next emergency.

It's not long before the air ambulance is needed again.

They're heading back towards the South Coast.

Unconscious, dragged out of the water. Is that the story? Yeah.

RADIO: '1750, stand down, stand down, not required.

'Land crews on scene, over.'

But a few minutes later, an update comes through from control.

The air medics are no longer required.

Later, the ambulance is needed at a school.

A young girl has a high fever...

SHE WHIMPERS

..and has been fitting for seven minutes.

It's 6.30am in the South Western Ambulance control room,

and a frenetic 999 call has just come in from Cornwall.

A heavily pregnant woman is being driven by her husband

from Penzance to hospital in Truro.

They have 15 miles to go,

but Christina's contractions have started.

SHE SQUEALS

By now, they're in the small town of Camborne.

Husband Max is frantically searching for an ambulance station,

but he's running out of time.

SHE SCREAMS

SHE SCREAMS

MAX: Oh, darling, darling, darling, please.

Max decides to pull into the local police station car park,

where Christina's piercing screams can be heard from inside.

We thought it was an animal in pain.

A sound that you can only describe

as coming from somewhere

deep down inside you.

Off we went, out through the gate, to find Max and Christina there.

Max was on the phone, doing his very best to speak to ambulance control.

Christina was out of the car, doubled up.

So I went over to talk to her

and discovered, you know, she was due.

They had another 15 miles to go

when they really couldn't go on any further.

Dave's colleague, Paul Freestone,

takes over the call with ambulance control and suddenly,

the police find themselves playing the role of midwives.

SHE SCREAMS

There is no time to get Christina to hospital.

Her baby is going to be born in the car park.

An ambulance has now arrived at the police station.

The paramedics get Christina into the back seat,

and it's not long before the car has one more occupant.

This kid has got to win gold medals in 18, 19 years time

at the Olympics, because,

unlike my four children that have sort of come out sedately,

this kid came out like a rocket.

But the drama isn't over yet.

The baby has the umbilical cord wrapped around its neck.

Dave is very relieved that a paramedic is on hand.

As I caught the body, he's got the head and he's got his fingers

under the cord, which has come out over the top of the baby

and was wrapped round the neck, and he was just SO quick.

Five weeks on, Christina is home with baby Macaulay,

and can look back on her night in the strangest of delivery rooms.

I apologised to everyone as I was being wheeled to the ambulance.

And they said, "Oh, no, no, it was an amazing experience."

And I said, "Yes, but I apologise for the noise and the screaming!"

But, yeah, it was amazing.

It was just a sense of smile, you know, happiness.

When I looked around, I saw a lot of people smiling at the same time.

I was just over the moon, the fact that everything was OK, and...

..messy car, but everything was OK.

And the experience for would-be midwife Dave

is one he'll never forget.

A real way to end the career, because I retire on Sunday,

and that's it, you know.

I think of all the dark things that have happened,

this certainly comes up in the memories of the sweetest -

the sweetest of my career.

And believe it or not, the policeman who delivered the baby at work

belongs to C-section. Absolutely true!

Right, time to talk about hide and seek with the police

and CCTV with Leonie here.

Tell us about this incident.

Well, we had a call on the radio from CCTV saying that

there was a fight going on in a back alley, so they put it

through on the live feed for us, and we started to monitor it.

We'd got officers making to the area to try and break them up,

and whilst they were en route, it started to escalate.

The chap knocked another gentleman out,

and then ran off and tried to hide from us.

He took his T-shirt off and that left him topless...

He's hiding by going topless? Yes.

That's not very bright, is it? No, it's not, no.

It will attract more attention. It will.

And he actually sat at a bus stop waiting for a bus,

but as he saw us arrive, he ran off down the road.

Another officer's joined, er...following him,

and he hid behind a telephone box, which we followed on the CCTV,

and we went either side and nicked him.

NICK CHUCKLES So he thinks he's hiding?

He thinks he's hiding, and we've actually followed him on CCTV

and managed to arrest him for the assault.

So, there you go, don't try playing hide and seek with the police,

because they've got CCTV and they'll find you, wherever you are.

Still to come on Real Rescues:

the air ambulance is flying to a young schoolgirl

who has some very worrying symptoms...

..and a young man is found wandering, injured,

on a notoriously busy road, but it's not clear how it happened.

He says he's been hit by the wing mirror,

and he's been walking this way towards us, toward Bedford,

so you'd expect the injuries to be on the right-hand side of his body,

and in fact, his leg injury is on the left.

SIRENS BLARE

Emergency care practitioner Malcolm Silvester has received

what's called a crew referral.

Paramedics already at an incident have requested his help.

The crew has been out to this patient for a fall, apparently.

They've fallen in the garden, an 87-year-old chap,

and they're referring it for an eye injury, just above the eye.

Malcolm has the skills to treat such an injury in the patient's home,

saving him a trip to hospital.

We've got this young gentleman here, 87 years young, Terry Williams.

Inside, paramedic Steve Follett brings Malcolm up to speed.

He's come in, he was putting his washing out, and he's fallen,

and he's bashed his head on the concrete.

He wasn't knocked out.

Just got a little lac above the right eye there,

just needs a little bit of attention.

How do you feel now, Terry? Fine, thank you. Good.

They looking after you, then? Oh, excellent.

He's on a lot of medications, but apart from that,

he's normally fit and well. Not bad for his age, are you?

No, I'm lucky. We're going to look at your eye, yeah? Yeah.

Patch you up. And put me to bed.

I don't know about that!

Terry's sense of humour, it seems, has survived the fall.

You remember what happened, then? Yes, clearly.

And his memory is good too. Both positive signs.

We thought, "Why rush you up to the hospital?"

We don't want to do that.

Wonderful, let's just have a look at your wound. Does that hurt, Terry?

No. Good.

Can you fix it? This is the question.

Won't spoil my good looks, stitches, will it?

It could even make you better-looking,

even better-looking -

how about that? Rugged!

With Terry's home treatment under way,

paramedic Steve is free to answer another call.

Right, we're off, then, take care. Thanks very much. Thanks, Steve.

Malcolm has opted for stitches, rather than medical glue,

to close the wound.

Where the wound is, at the moment,

and the way the wound's quite jagged,

it's not going to close with a bit of glue.

I'm going to put two or three stitches in there,

just to hold it together.

The adhesive type of stitches, or steri-strips, won't be used either,

because Terry's cut is very close to an eyebrow.

This is going to sting a little bit, OK?

Before his wound is stitched, the area will be made numb with anaesthetic.

Malcolm needs to make several small injections to ensure the area

is completely numb.

Terry's son, Steve, arrives.

All right, Dad? You're Steve, are you? Hello, Steve, I'm Malcolm.

Hello, Malcolm. OK?

He's got a laceration just above the eye, where the eyebrow is.

It's quite deep, but it's too deep to glue. Right.

It's in the wrong place for steri-strips to hold it,

so I'm going to put two or three stitches in it to hold it together.

So you literally did it, Dad, just before you rung me?

I went down to wipe the line clean, you know, it gets cobwebby.

After five minutes, the delicate job of stitching Terry's cut can begin.

Do you want to come and have a look, Steve?

Quite a long one, isn't it?

Now he's got three stitches in there. He needs them taken out.

Malcolm's final job is to brief Steve on any possible after-effects of a head injury.

Excessively sleepy, severe headache, blurred vision -

any of those symptoms, anything out of the ordinary, really,

just to look out for.

You take it easy for the rest of the day, all right? Yes, yes.

I shall, for the rest of the week. Good idea.

And go careful outside, all right? I will, yes.

It may come as no surprise to you to know that people sometimes lie to the police.

Sometimes that's easier to detect than others,

as Louise will explain to us.

I took a call from a guy one day to say that he couldn't make it

for bail that evening because he was stuck in India.

He couldn't get a flight home.

I said, "Is that true? Because the landline you're calling from

"is displayed on my phone and shows a Milton Keynes dialling code."

He said, "No, you must have got it wrong. It's been rerouted."

I said, "You're clearly in Milton Keynes. You're lying to me on a recorded line.

And then I overheard his friend in the background say,

"I'm ordering a pizza from a well known UK-based takeaway company,

"what do you want on the topping?"

And he turned round and I said to him again,

"You do realise you are on a recorded line and you aren't phoning from India?"

He called me a few names I can't repeat and then hung up on me.

So presumably he got himself into enormous trouble.

Not very bright, is he? No. Not least because he's insulting you

on the phone, which is never going to endear you, is it? Not at all.

So be polite on the phone and don't be stupid, I think that's the advice here.

It's 10am on a busy weekday and Green Watch are on their way to reports of a gas leak.

But, unusually, this leak is coming from a parked campervan.

The van's been converted to run on liquid petroleum gas.

LPG vaporises faster than petrol

and even a small amount can ignite and explode.

Drag everything back, Charlie. We'll close this road off as well.

Crew manager Liam Barry

must act quickly to prevent a potential disaster.

LPG vehicles vary in the way they're fitted.

Liam has the difficult task of finding the isolation switch to stop the leak.

Luckily, the owner, Bernard, has just arrived.

Is that yours, is it? Yeah. Right, I was just going to phone you.

Although they have found the isolation switch, there's a problem.

It's completely frozen over.

The escaping gas has cooled the water in the air.

Now there's the added danger of severe cold burns

so Liam and the crew must take extra care.

Can you put a light spray on there while I'm underneath,

and just kind of keep it that way?

Just try and disperse the LPG that way

while I have a look at the valve from under there. Does that make sense?

That's all right, that's fine.

I thought that might freeze on there but it's actually melting it.

Know the ice has melted, the firefighters can finally

attempt to shut off the valve.

You can still smell it, though.

But that hasn't fixed it. Liam needs help from Bernard.

The little yellow lever, that's turned down.

Yeah.

I'm not sure which side of the leak it's isolated.

If one of those valves wasn't working, that should do it,

as I understand it. The gas is still escaping.

Liam is now considering leaving it until the tank is empty.

But there's a problem with that too.

I filled it yesterday, yeah.

So on that grounds, it would take a week, the rate that's going at.

Whilst people are working round it, there is a risk there, isn't there?

So I would be very reluctant to leave anyone with it.

Options are running out. Liam needs to get some ideas from his crew.

I was hoping that isolator would have worked.

I thought when we switched it that it'd stopped.

Switched it back on, just to make sure it was that,

and it started evaporating off, whatever the word is for it.

Um, switched it back off again and it's still going,

although I can't see any at the moment.

Whilst they've been talking, the leak appears to have stopped.

It has stopped now. Has it? Yeah.

Yeah. It's fine.

Thankfully, the leak is now under control

and Liam is happy to hand over to Bernard.

I'll fill in a handover form which hands responsibility

back to you from this point, and then we're off, if that's OK?

It's been a challenging job and not one the firefighters are used to.

Every system tends to be different.

Different switches in different places

and different switches will isolate different parts of the system.

Limited experience in these sorts of things, really,

compared to petrol and diesel.

Obviously, an LPG leak presents

a different kind of hazard to a petrol leak.

Bernard is a satisfied customer.

He can now take his van to the garage to get it fixed.

Thank you very much. Sorry you were disturbed in that way. That's fine.

It's 11pm and traffic police Gary Fortnum and Ray McNaught

have been called to a job out of their area.

We got a report from Bedfordshire colleagues

that they've come across a male pedestrian on the A421

and he's saying he's been hit by a car.

It's an odd place for a pedestrian.

It is a very dangerous section of road.

We have had some really horrendous collisions on this bit of road.

Juliet, Tango, Papa, nine, two...

PC Casey from Bedfordshire Police hands over to Gary.

He says he got knocked into the bushes.

When we managed to get to him,

he was already on the phone to the ambulance.

They were confused as to where he was. Is he English? No.

Lithuanian, isn't it? Latvian.

Latvian. Ronalds. He's got his ID in his pocket.

OK, mate, all right. Our colleagues are going to go off

and you can stay with us until the ambulance comes. OK.

Nice and steady.

Ronalds has a bad limp on his left side.

Thanks, guys.

Have a sit on there. Just lean on there for a minute.

There we go. What happened?

What did he hit you with, was it the wing mirror? Yeah?

OK, so it hit you on this side? Yeah, yeah.

And whereabouts did it hit you? On your leg or your arm?

Moments later, an ambulance arrives

and paramedics start to examine Ronalds.

They check for evidence of spinal injury.

And it turns out home is a long way from here.

The address is in Bedford.

Ronalds was attempting a 14-mile walk home

along notoriously dangerous roads.

I still can't make up my mind

whether he's been hit by a car or whether he's fallen in the ditch.

He says he's been hit by the wing mirror.

And he's been walking this way towards us, towards Bedford,

so you would expect the injuries

to be on the right-hand side of his body.

And in fact, his leg injury's on the left.

But how he got the injuries is less important than treating them.

Since he's complained of back pain, Ronalds is placed on a spinal board.

Coming back, going to lay down nice and straight. Ready?

Down we come, all the way. Neck nice and straight. Keep going.

Gary wonders if alcohol may have

played a part in Ronalds' predicament.

How much have you had to drink today?

Lambrini? A big bottle?

It's a fairly low-alcohol drink, so even a large bottle doesn't

explain tonight's events, or Ronalds' memory.

With Ronalds safely aboard the ambulance,

Gary tries again to piece together what happened.

So, this wing mirror, when it hit you, did it hit you on the arm?

And you were definitely walking on the left-hand side of the road?

So, you should have got hit on this arm.

But regardless of how it happened, Ronalds injuries are undeniable.

He's off to Milton Keynes Hospital now. So, whatever the cause,

he needs to go to hospital to have it checked out anyway.

Now, this control room, as you can see,

covers a great deal of motorway and Trefor can chat to us

about the responsibilities that come with that,

especially at the moment, because we've just recently had an incident

which is starting to clear up.

Let me draw your attention to this screen.

You can see the northbound, I suppose,

or westbound carriageway... It's the northbound. ..on the M40.

You can see, it's very, very busy here,

but it's just clearing through because there was an incident.

That's right. We had a report of a three-vehicle...

It came as injury-RTC, with all three lanes blocked. And where is that?

Can you show us where that is on the map? Yeah, yeah.

It's on the M40. And it's going northbound, between six and seven.

In fact, it was about...

by that bridge there where the incident occurred.

Now, we can see the traffic is moving again.

So, at what point, for you, do you say, "OK,

"we have an incident here, and the tailback is going back,

"we need to divert the traffic that is building up"?

Because, obviously, clogged motorways

is a problem for you as well.

Well, obviously, an important thing is to preserve the scene,

especially if it's a serious injury-RTC.

We need to look after people on the scene first. Injuries?

Yes. Possible criminal investigation, depending on the seriousness?

Yes, yes. If it's serious injury,

then we would treat it as a crime scene.

We secure the scene,

and then we would worry about people in the tailback,

after we've got the scene secured. OK.

At which point, then, is there a discussion,

or is that the officer on the ground who says,

"Right, I need to divert people around"? It would be the

officer on the scene who would decide how serious the incident is.

And then obviously, we would take it from there.

So, how difficult is it, because you have a lot of motorway here

that you look after in this control room?

We actually cover 200 miles of motorway, which is

more than any other force in the country. Is that right?

Yes. 200 miles.

And you go through practice, don't you, where if there is a major

incident, you have a system where you can throw a whole

load of people at an incident, if there is a major incident?

Yes, we would find people to cover all aspects of the incident,

including the Highways Agency as well, of course,

who help us to keep the motorways open.

Is it a big responsibility?

Do you feel the weight of responsibility to keep

our motorways open?

We do our best to obviously keep it because we know how much people

rely on using the motorways to get from A to B.

Trefor, thank you very much. Lovely. Thanks for talking us through that.

Amazing, really. 200 miles, you say? Yes. Wow.

Back in Somerset, it's one of the hottest days of the year.

The air paramedics have already treated a walker who

collapsed after suffering heat exhaustion.

Now they are heading to a school,

where a young girl is fitting uncontrollably.

Meningitis is a medical emergency.

Air paramedic Paul Owen is in contact with the ambulance

crew already at the scene.

These are all signs of meningitis,

which can be fatal in a very short space of time.

The school field makes a perfect landing site for the air ambulance.

We are downwind at the moment, so I will just set myself

up for a diagonal approach, reciprocal, heading into the field.

As soon as they land, they head inside.

The young girl is called Emily.

By her side, her mother and a teacher.

The crew are updated by paramedic Colin Sullivan.

She had a witnessed grand mal fit lasting about seven minutes.

She was about GCS-8 when we arrived, she wasn't fitting.

Query postictal.

Her BM is 8.1, her temperature is 39.4, it's not really budged much.

The concerning thing for me is I popped her flat on her back,

popped her chin on her chest, and her left leg involuntarily moves

every time I pop her chin on her chest.

Hello, Emily.

Hello, Emily, are you all right?

Emily has been given paracetamol

and an injection of antibiotics in case it is meningitis.

Can you hold your hands there? Hold both hands there.

Don't let them fall.

Paul starts some neurological tests.

So, how long ago did she come out of the fit?

She came out about 13.22.

So 40 minutes or so ago.

Mum says recovery normally is a bit quicker than this.

EMILY CRIES

Emily has a history of fits. She is looking very poorly. Mummy...

She's here. Mum?

Keep straight ahead.

It's possible the fitting has been caused by a high temperature,

which in turn is probably caused by an infection.

But the medics don't know what sort.

Paramedic Paul confers with Dr Phil Hyde

about which hospital to take her to.

How long in the aircraft? Five minutes or so.

We'll go along to Bath,

the hospital, if that sounds OK? Yeah.

And so she can be checked over

and actually then kept an eye on, as well.

Dr Hyde wants to fit a tube in Emily's arm so that he can

administer more drugs quickly if her condition deteriorates.

He's doing something to my hand!

It's all getting a bit much for Emily. All right.

Right, can I pick you up, Emily?

Paul sweeps her up and off to the helicopter.

EMILY CRIES IN DISTRESS

Has this bear got the name?

Emily. Emily Bear? That's a nice name.

My daughter is called Emily as well.

The air ambulance sets off for the hospital in Bath.

Once she's safely delivered, the crew head back to base.

But it's not the end of the day.

They're looking for an open area.

It's one of the most serious calls.

Luckily, a local sports field makes a perfect landing site.

The crew set off to join the paramedics already with the patient.

But tragically, the woman could not be saved.

It's something the team has to deal with more often than

they would like. It's a low end to the final shift of Paul's week.

Since Monday, we've had three cardiac arrests,

a couple of cardiac related collapses,

a couple of RTAs, a fall from a ladder, anaphylaxis, RTA,

a child fitting.

So, it's been a real spectrum of what we've seen.

We've got a good team up here.

We come back, we'll debrief most jobs between us, and then

the other crews that come in will

talk through the other things that have happened.

I think if you held everything, all the sad moments, in your head,

you'd be a very sad person.

The day ends with the practicalities.

Time to go home!

It's the crew's job to put the helicopter back in the hangar.

That has got to be the most hot,

intense day we've had for a long time.

Everyone's exhausted,

but at least they may have lightened the air ambulance's load.

It would be interesting if we had weighed ourselves this morning,

and see how much we have lost...

Both the air ambulance patients we've

been following throughout the programme are doing well.

After collapsing during a sweltering early-morning walk,

Glen recovered quickly with no further symptoms.

He bought the Army Corp boys a drink in the evening to say thank you.

Nothing right now. He's doing something in my hand!

Schoolgirl Emily was not suffering from meningitis,

but she did have an infection in both ears.

After some more antibiotics, she was on the mend in a few days.

Terry, who fell and bashed his head,

suffered no lasting ill-effects, not even a headache.

Have a look, Steve. Yeah...

He had the stitches out a week later.

OK, whoa. Nice and steady.

And it turned out Ronalds was walking the 15 miles to

Bedford in the middle of the night

because he had missed a coach connection at Milton Keynes.

After being knocked into a ditch by a car wing mirror,

he had injuries to his back and left knee.

With the help of physio, he's progressing well.

I was just thinking about our little baby born at the police station.

Perhaps, amongst all the other equipment

that police forces need to carry now,

they should have wicketkeeping gloves for extra-fast deliveries.

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

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