Episode 12 Real Rescues

Today on Real Rescues, why a fire in someone else's house could burn your own house down.

Crews from five fire stations fight desperately to save a row of terraced houses.

Shep! Jet run out round the back, ASAP.

No ropes, no safety harness. The only thing to break free-climber Ryan's fall is solid rock.

Ryan's been quite lucky. He's fallen the best part of 20 to 30 foot,

and he's broken his wrist and his ankle.

Hello. Here on Real Rescues

we see how the emergency services respond to 999 calls.

We're out on the road,

and in here with the people who actually answer the calls.

And today it's Charlie 1.

That's what Hampshire Police call this high-tech control room.

-Let's speak to Phil Jones, who's in charge.

-Hi.

I want to talk to you about a rescue - a glider caught in electric cables.

That's right, yeah.

He came down and crashed into electric cables and a tree,

was left suspended and trapped, hanging upside-down from both.

Our job is to coordinate that response, so the fire service,

ambulance, electricity people came out as well...

-Was he fine?

-He was fine in the end.

No injuries at all - cuts and bruises.

-Got away with it - very lucky.

-Thank you.

The modern fire and rescue service can deal with all sorts of emergencies -

from road accidents to terrorist incidents.

But they're still called fire fighters for a very good reason, as we'll see.

Yes, a fire has broken out in one room of a terraced house, and it threatens to engulf an entire row.

Toxic smoke is billowing out and residents are fleeing their homes.

The fire crew face a battle that they'll be fighting for many hours to come.

Early evening on a hot summer's day and two engines from St Mary's station are on an emergency call.

A house is on fire and it's spreading fast.

We're going to a roof fire. A property with a roof fire.

-Have you got the tick, John?

-I've got the tick.

We're going along with another appliance from Eastleigh fire station and one from St Mary's.

It's going well, I can see smoke.

Not this one, next left is better.

This one right here, mate.

This looks serious. As they arrive, they're greeted by distressed residents.

The air is thick with smoke.

In attendance. Roof well alight, over.

-Anyone in the house?

-Everybody's out, had it confirmed.

After checking that no-one is missing, watch manager Sean Foster

needs to quickly find out as much information as possible,

so he can come up with a plan of action.

Right, it's your house. Everyone's out?

Right, where are your electrics, where are your gas?

-Gas under the stairs, electric's under the stairs - the electric's off.

-Right, OK.

Right, AJ. Get ready to start, get the jets out.

Eastleigh guys, get a covering jet out.

Three lengths covering jet and then another fire-fighting jet.

Sean goes up ahead to see exactly what he and his men are facing.

And it's a worrying sight - huge clouds of smoke and gases

are billowing out from the roofs of three terraced houses.

All the signs suggest that inside, an angry fire is escalating.

These jets have got to be two or three lengths long.

Dave, we may need to inform Network Rail - smoke's drifting over those railway lines.

The noise of something exploding in the roof sounds like rifle shots ringing in the air.

SERIES OF LOUD CRACKS RINGS OUT

Formative message to follow shortly.

Sean calls for more fire engines.

As the last of the residents are led away from the toxic gases,

he gets an update from crew manager Steve Evans who is round the back of the houses.

Affirmative. We'll need to check roof spaces of both properties. We may try venting. Over.

Wearing breathing apparatus,

fire fighters John Chugg and Adrian Johnson

enter the middle house to tackle the flames head on.

But the situation has just got worse.

All received. Shep! Jet run out round the back, ASAP.

The force of the fire has punched through the roof at the rear of the house.

Fed by the outside air, it soon becomes an inferno.

Crew manager Evans receiving. Over.

Steve, in your opinion, do we need more resources? Over.

Received. Dave's here. I'm going to recommend making it seven or eight.

We've got crews committed inside, and we're now

just setting up some external jets to try and contain it within the centre of this terrace

so it doesn't break through into the roof spaces of the adjoining properties.

Steve! Can you increase the pressure at all, mate?

As Rich Green starts to battle the fire,

Nichola - who lives in the house - can only stand by helplessly.

It was awful, because you can see all this chaos,

and all you can do is stand back and wait.

When the flames started, the tiles were coming down and everything,

then you knew that it was going to be quite devastating.

I thought the whole house would be gone in a flash.

But it's not just Nichola's home that's at stake.

The fire looks like it's spreading to the houses on either side.

Sean and the crews will have a real battle on their hands to save the entire row.

There are now six engines at the scene and more are on the way.

Later, fire fighters find hot spots -

which could suddenly burst into flames -

in the neighbouring houses.

What about that sound that we heard coming out of the roof?

SERIES OF LOUD CRACKS RINGS OUT

I have to tell you, even the experienced fire fighters

are surprised at what that turns out to be.

Louise.

Yes, and we'll find out later. Now, a climber who fell 30 foot -

that's the height of an average house -

and the only thing that broke his fall was solid rock.

It's a hot summer's day, and the volunteer Edale Mountain Rescue unit have been called into action.

We're responding to Stanage Edge.

We've got a fallen climber

who's believed to have an ankle injury and a wrist injury.

We're responding at the moment with three Land Rover vehicles.

The rest of the team have been paged.

They're heading to one of the most popular and challenging sites for climbers in the UK.

We're just coming up the track now.

These jobs, for us, with the degree of fall that the climber's had,

obviously need to be treated quite urgently.

There's potential for some life or limb-threatening injuries.

One Mountain Rescue team is already on site. The volunteers include paramedics and doctors.

The injured man has fallen at High Neb on Stanage Edge in the Peak District.

Rock climbers of all abilities train here. Mountain Rescue are called here at least a dozen times a year.

They have the expertise to cope with the injuries and the terrain.

I'm slightly out of breath, but we're nearly at the top.

They find Ryan lying in agony at the base of the cliff.

He's an experienced climber and was practising soloing -

a technique which doesn't include ropes.

But he lost his grip, ending up in a terrifying freefall.

His friends watched on, horrified.

He fell from that ledge, halfway up there.

He fell, probably about 15 or 20 foot and landed on that boulder.

He sort of bounced.

It was a considerable drop with the hardest landing. Ryan is in a lot of pain.

To help ease it, volunteer doctor Steve Rowe has given him gas and air.

Ryan has been quite lucky.

He's fallen the best part of 20 or 30 foot, not hit his head -

he hasn't got any head injury at all.

He's broken his wrist and his ankle. I'll give him morphine

so we can splint his ankle and evacuate him off.

I think we're trying to find out the best method of evacuation.

A fellow climber has put a makeshift splint on Ryan's arm to hold the break steady,

but it's the break inside his ankle that's giving him the most problems.

So, what we're going to do then, Ryan, is pull your leg straight,

put it a splint, and strap it up. We'll try and do it smoothly,

but I am going to have to touch your leg and ankle to do that.

-Yeah.

-OK. I'll not lie to you - it's going to sting a bit.

HE SUCKS DEEPLY

Before Steve tries to move it, he wants Ryan to try some stronger pain relief.

-OK?

-Yeah.

-Here's the good stuff.

-Cheers.

This climb was well within Ryan's capabilities.

The sport runs in his family and he's not the first to get injured.

Last year, his brother suffered a similar fall

and had to be airlifted out.

Despite the pain, Ryan's doing his best to see this as a competition.

Tell him I'm gutted - my brother got a chopper!

- There's none available. - It's a bit selfish, that, Ryan.

Your brother could have walked as well!

Exactly, he only had an elbow - I've got a foot injury.

There's no justice!

But the pain is getting more intense.

Ryan has to get back to the gas and air.

I'm going to just lift your leg up, pull it straight,

you keep going with that.

Well done.

And lower it down there.

Good.

Dr Steve is now so concerned about Ryan's foot

that he's called in the air ambulance.

The vacuum splint will immobilise the damaged ankle,

but an ambulance journey over bumpy terrain would be too much for Ryan to endure.

'Had contact with Helimed 5-4, their ETA is now about 10 minutes.'

The effects of his injuries are taking their toll.

Any excitement about a trip in a helicopter has long gone.

Are you all right for pain relief at the moment?

The uneven terrain and thick vegetation mean the air ambulance

will have to land on the track at the bottom of the slope.

It's a long way back down.

Ready, brace, roll.

This is where the special equipment the Mountain Rescue team possesses comes into its own.

To be on the safe side,

they put Ryan onto a board to keep his back still

and fit him with a neck collar.

He's then trussed up carefully.

The only limb he can move is his right arm.

It means he can continue to take the gas and air as he needs it.

The stretcher is put on a trolley specially adapted to cope with this rugged and rocky ground.

As they take him down to the track, they do all they can to keep his spirits up.

Easiest walk-off you've ever had, Ryan.

Yeah! I can tell you what you're doing next weekend. Feet up in front of the telly!

Yeah.

They can now hand him over into the care of the air ambulance crew.

-How are you feeling?

-Not too bad.

Have you been in an aircraft before?

-Er, no.

-You've not?

-Only on a plane or something, yeah.

-You've not been in a helicopter?

-No.

Everybody ready? Yep.

And lift.

Last winter, his brother fell 80 foot and got helicoptered out,

so he was quite anxious not to be out-done by his brother.

He was quite pleased when we got the helicopter.

Ryan may have got his scenic trip to the hospital in Chesterfield,

but he's had to pay a very painful price.

He'll undergo a full set of X-rays

to establish exactly how bad his breaks are.

In the meantime, the Mountain Rescue team

can set out on the bouncy ride back to base after another job well done.

Ryan has been watching that with me.

It has only been four weeks and it looks like you were quite badly injured.

Tell me what exactly happened.

On hitting the floor on impact,

I managed to fracture the heel bone in my foot

into quite a few different pieces.

Nine or something, is it?

Nine different fractures going through it, which has been plated and screwed back into place.

-And this?

-This is a broken radius -

quite a clean break and they managed to put it back into place pretty quickly.

I didn't need an operation on it, so I was quite fortunate.

This was quite an easy climb for you, so what happened?

Erm, I think I was just a bit blase, and just lost concentration.

I just didn't really think I was in that serious a situation.

I lost concentration, slipped, and fell.

And halfway through your fall, you managed to turn yourself, didn't you?

Yeah, I suppose when I felt myself go,

I had the presence of mind to make sure I landed on my feet

rather than fall on my head or damage my back.

-And lucky that people were climbing around you - they called the emergency services.

-Yeah.

And there were a couple of doctors on the climb next to us who had some good painkillers!

Now I know that you were planning a big trip with your girlfriend.

-Where were you planning to go?

-South America for six weeks.

Is she really annoyed with you still?

She's all right now. She's gone on a different trip to Thailand,

so she's just left me, but she was a bit gutted at the time.

-I bet she was! Do you think you'll be able to climb like that again. What's the prognosis?

-I hope so.

Erm, I've just got to see how the physio goes.

I've got to have this boot on for a while - probably another month or so.

Slowly getting some weight bearing through it. Then hopefully I'll be able to climb again.

-Do you think it will change the way you climb?

-Yeah.

Yeah. I think I'll be more cautious, give it a bit more consideration,

but I'll definitely be back out climbing.

-Excellent. Thanks very much for coming to see us.

-Cheers.

Still to come - how do you find out what's wrong when a four-year-old's too shocked to speak?

Do you think you can turn your head and look that way for me?

Good girl.

And she finds it impossible to watch -

the dog-walker who blames herself for a three-vehicle pile-up.

It frightened me to death, actually. I'm still shaken so it was really scary, yeah.

Earlier on, we saw fire fighters battling to save a row of houses when there was a strange noise...

SERIES OF LOUD CRACKS RINGS OUT

Dave Graham was the incident commander at the scene.

He's an experienced fire fighter, but he was surprised by that.

Before we speak to him, let's see what's happened with the main fire.

Ten fire engines from five fire stations have been called in and they're going to need them.

The house is sandwiched between two others,

and a fire is raging in its roof.

Fire fighters wearing breathing apparatus are inside the house and attacking the flames from below,

while outside, others are aiming their jets from front and back.

At the foot of their garden, Joe and Val - who live next door -

watch anxiously as ominous smoke rises from the roof of THEIR house.

When I looked through the back garden,

next door - number 5, that is - was well alight.

I knew from that moment that we hadn't a chance in hell of surviving this.

We crossed our fingers and hoped for the best, but it wasn't to be.

Steve Evans updates watch manager Sean Foster,

who is in charge of operations at the front of the houses

We're going to get someone in number 4, received. Over.

They've beaten down the flames that they can see,

but now there's a real worry about the ones that they can't.

My main concern

was that the fire would spread along the terrace, along the roof ridge.

Fires involving roofs are very difficult to fight.

We need to remove the tiles to fight the fire.

Normally, with an aerial ladder platform, but in this instance, access was too restricted,

so we knew straight away that the only way to tackle the fire would be to fight the fire internally.

It wasn't safe to put fire fighters on the roof until the fire had been knocked down.

Sean's called for more backup to go into the other properties.

Just check both roof spaces.

-We think it's spread both ways.

-OK.

-You probably want a short axe, too.

I'll get one dropped to the front.

They're now battling on several fronts. It's hard work in the intense heat.

John Chugg and Adrian Johnson, who were the first in,

have come out to replenish their oxygen.

We went into the middle property, but we couldn't get into the loft to make an effective attack on the fire,

although we held it back, so we've gone in either side to try and pin it back to the original property.

Some will spread to those properties,

but it's very hot in there and obviously there's a hazard of things falling down on you all the time.

You've got to be careful in there.

The priority now is to stop the fire from really taking hold in the neighbouring houses.

If they can get a ladder up there and start stripping that roof,

and then we also need to get a ladder and start stripping that -

get the tiles off and see what's going on.

Once we know we've got it, concentrate our efforts on getting the fire out in this one.

Several fire fighters, including Adrian Cobb,

now have the unenviable task of perching on special roof ladders

so that they can remove the tiles to expose the burning timbers.

Stan!

Be careful of the other side!

Removing tiles is a very arduous process,

but we remove them to establish fire spread,

to assist ventilation - to assist some of the hot products of the fire through the roof.

If there are any hot spots, it also enables us to establish where they are.

They work meticulously across the roof - tile-by-tile, timber-by-timber -

damping down any hot spots they see

until finally, they're sure they've stopped this fire from spreading.

The fire fighters are also salvaging residents' possessions to protect them from heat and water damage.

Joe and Val want to retrieve some documents

and have very precise instructions for Rich Green

as to where to find them.

On the left-hand side, on the bed side,

over the bed, there's some cabinets.

-OK.

-Erm, in the...

-Left-hand side, isn't it?

-..left-hand side...

Top, or second shelf, there are some papers in a brownish, yellowish envelope.

-I wish I'd written all this down.

-Quite!

THEY LAUGH

Considering what's happened, the couple are taking it all in remarkably good spirits.

Twilight beckons, and the crews have been toiling in the heat for four hours.

The fire is now out, but there is still some work to be done.

We have to, what we term "dig out" -

remove the bits of timber and plasterboard that have come down -

to make sure there are no concealed pockets of fire.

They'll work into the night to weatherproof the properties before leaving.

The house where the fire started has been badly damaged,

but thankfully, nobody has been hurt

and the swift actions of the fire fighters

have saved the other houses in the row.

-Dave, that was some fire, wasn't it?

-It was.

It looked like it was going to be not particularly big, and then it just got bigger and bigger!

-It was surprising.

-Tough.

I want to deal with that noise first of all, because we've been teasing you with it.

Let's hear it one more time. Here it comes.

SERIES OF LOUD CRACKS RINGS OUT

Now, what did that noise turn out to be?

It actually turned out to be live ammunition

exploding in the fire.

At the time, we thought it was lights.

We found some magazines afterwards

and it wasn't until we saw your footage, taken by the cameraman,

that we realised it was ammunition going off.

So, what was ammunition doing in the roof?

No-one knows - a collector? The house occupier didn't know that it was in there.

It wasn't until there was a fire, and we were turfing everything out to make sure it was out,

that we found these magazines and bayonets.

And at a later stage after those noises were happening,

-you actually had firemen go into the roof space.

-Yes.

If the fire had caught that area while they were in there, potentially...

Potentially fatal consequences.

-You don't expect that, presumably?

-There's some really odd things that people keep in their roof spaces.

I've come across many, many odd things,

but you just do not think about ammunition in a terraced house in the middle of Southampton.

No. And bigger dangers are gas canisters and aerosols.

Yes. People go camping in the summer,

they put their little gas stove and cylinder in the roof space to store it, because that's what you do,

and of course, the roof space catches fire, and even a small cylinder

can go off with explosive effect and maim and injure fire fighters.

Didn't you once find rabbits in a roof?

Yes, we once went into a chimney fire and there was cages with rabbits inside.

Isn't it extraordinary what people keep up there really! Bats in my attic, mostly.

Erm, fire fighting, watching how you attacked that, you ended up with ten tenders on the scene.

Why don't you just order ten to start with and just throw a whole load of water at the fire?

What you do is you look at the incident

and if it's a small incident and you can get in and tackle it quickly,

you knock it down, but with the construction in this building

and the way that it was going right and left, it started to spread...

-We could see you were treating it as three different fires.

-Yes.

The main building that was on fire, I then treated the house to the right as another property,

and the house to the left as another property.

-I resourced the incident to deal with effectively three different fires.

-I see.

But fascinating that it was a roof fire.

I say that because of the other programmes I do with the building trade.

The thing about a roof is, you build it to keep water out.

-Indeed.

-Not very helpful to a fireman.

No, it's not. And that's one of the problems with a roof fire -

you've got to get inside and tackle it through a loft hatch.

A lot of premises don't have very big loft hatches.

-Yeah.

-Or you've got to get up on the roof and strip the tiles away

and get the water in that way.

But physically you've got to do something. You can't just stand back and pour water on.

I don't know if you've ever thought about that before.

A roof is built to keep water out, so they have to hack their way in first.

Spare a thought for your fire fighter next time you think of something like that.

Thank you - fascinating stuff.

Now recently, Hampshire traffic police were called to a place

they know really well - just outside one of their favourite cafes.

Owner Margaret was taking her dog for a walk when a lorry driver behaved like a true gentleman.

However, his good turn soon turned into a bit of a disaster.

PC Jim Chapman has been called to a report of a road accident involving several vehicles.

Fire engines and an ambulance are already at the scene.

A recovery lorry and two cars are in various states of disrepair

after running into each other.

And at the centre of it all is a very upset Margaret.

She was taking her dog Reggie for a walk when an act of kindness sparked a chain of destruction.

The van - lorry - stopped to let me cross the road and that's when it all happened.

-Oh, right. OK.

-WOMAN: She feels like she's caused it. She's a bit upset.

-OK.

Margaret feels it's all her fault. The lorry driver was just doing her a good turn.

I was walking the dog and I came to the crossing there.

The traffic was sort of a bit built up.

The lorry slowed right down and then stopped and waved me on.

And as I've gone to cross the road,

the other cars went straight into the back of him.

I didn't see it, but I heard the impact.

It frightened me to death, actually. I'm still shaken, so it was really scary, yeah.

One of the drivers, Ben, is complaining of some pain in his neck.

The paramedics have decided to take no risks.

They've fitted him with a protective helmet and asked the fire crews to remove the roof.

This has made Margaret feel even worse.

Jim tries to reassure her.

-Is the person all right over there?

-I think it's just whiplash - neck injuries - at the moment.

They were all going slow. He just gently pulled up and waved me across the road.

-And then...

-And then the cars went smack, smack, smack. I don't know.

In that case, there's nothing for you to worry about.

I didn't see them smash into him - it was the noise.

I wouldn't worry about it.

It's not your fault here.

The fire crew shield Ben with a blanket as they start to cut out the windscreen.

Margaret is worried about Ben and seeing him being cut out of his car is very distressing for her.

Margaret! >

Jim doesn't want to let her leave without checking she's all right.

-Are you OK?

-I'm just really shaken. It's just seeing it, you know?

While Jim calms Margaret,

the fire fighters have made quick progress cutting through the door pillars,

allowing them to remove the roof.

The medical team now have access

to start the careful process of easing Ben out.

Using many hands, they slide him onto a spinal board to keep his back straight

before gently placing him on a stretcher.

Basically, he was complaining of C-spine and upper back tenderness

so therefore because of the mechanism of injury, we have to play safe

and immobilise until the doctor's seen him to rule out any form of spinal injury.

They remain hopeful Ben hasn't hurt himself too badly

and that precautionary X-rays at hospital

will clear him of any serious injury.

As the fire service start to clear away the wreckage, Margaret can get back to walking her dog, Reggie.

He's fine! He wasn't fazed by it at all. He just carried on as though, yeah...

Yeah, he kept me calm, I think.

Margaret has to cross the road once more, except this time, just to be on the safe side,

she's got a police escort.

Ben, the driver who was taken to hospital, suffered bruised vertebrae.

Thankfully nothing too serious.

The real pain was the injury to the car - he'd only had it four days.

Cheryl Silverlock is here to talk about police, cars, traffic and how to drive properly.

You must come across a lot of people who are devastated

by losing their car and wanting mementoes out and things.

Yes, cars are precious to people. They want belongings out of them

and obviously it's quite an expensive thing to do - dent your car.

-And it's all very emotional at the scene of accidents.

-It is.

It's shock, mainly, for the drivers and anyone that's involved.

But we wanted to have a chat with you about how you should drive.

The whole business of when you can stop -

if you see an old lady who wants to cross the road, but you're in traffic.

Whether you should stop and let her across,

or whether you should keep going.

It's always nice to be polite and courteous. If it's safe to do so, then feel free to give way.

Just make sure that you're fully aware of all your surroundings

by checking behind you, that there's nothing that's likely to overtake -

motorcyclists, cyclists, and even pedestrians

that might see you giving way and suddenly dash out when you're not prepared.

Good point. If you do stop, even in traffic and you let someone walk across,

-then you've got to keep an eye on your mirrors for motorcycles coming up the outside.

-Yes.

If they're not fully aware of what you're doing, then they could overtake and cause problems.

Quickly, on people getting out of the way of blue lights -

you find often that people sat at a red light not wanting to get out of the way

and an ambulance or something desperately trying to get past.

Are you allowed to cross a red light line to get out of the way?

Don't go straight through the red light.

Erm, if there's enough room to move forward and to the side...

-Without crossing the line of traffic.

-Yeah.

Just make sure that it's safe to do so, and don't go straight through the light.

Pull up so you're out of the way of the emergency vehicle.

-Do people panic when you come up behind them with the blue lights?

-All the time.

Just try not to panic.

Be decisive, make sure that you make it clear to everybody else -

other road users as well as the emergency service - what you are intending to do.

-Lovely. Thanks, Cheryl.

-Thank you.

I just want to talk to Jackie about some of today's calls.

One lady has been getting hassle over the internet.

What's been going on?

Yeah, she's been receiving threats,

which we're treating as threats to kill, from an ex-partner

who's put some rather unpleasant things

on one of the well-known social networking sites.

Generally, we are seeing quite an increase

in the type of incidents reported to us related to social networking sites.

So things that are up on the internet. You take that seriously, do you?

Very seriously. Some of the things that people are writing on there can result in prosecution.

So yeah, we do take them very seriously.

And given that it's on the internet, everybody can read it, actually.

-The evidence is there.

-Social networking sites are great for people keeping in touch,

but people need to be conscious that the information that they're typing on there is for public consumption.

A lot of people can read that information, and if you've got one of those pages or sites,

you need to be careful about the information you're putting on there

and make sure that the friends that you've got are still friends. Check them.

You say you take it seriously.

If someone has put threats up on the internet,

you will go and visit them, will you?

Yeah, we'll risk-assess each individual job on an individual basis

and we'll do some research, fully investigate the incident,

and go and speak to the - in this case - lady that's complaining.

And then the officers dealing with that will decide what action is appropriate.

And that may involve some form of prosecution

or harassment warning or something along those lines.

It's malicious communications,

but this particular one is not just that,

this one's also threats to kill.

Mmm. And you're finding an increase, are you? I assume amongst young people.

All those social networking sites are becoming more popular,

so we are seeing a daily increase, really -

I probably deal with half a dozen incidents a day at the moment.

Sometimes it's internet dating sites, social networking sites, particularly with young children as well.

I think sometimes parents forget

that they need to supervise their children's access on there,

because you should be 13 to have one of these pages or sites.

-Yeah.

-Often children are younger and are parents really monitoring who they're talking to?

Also on their mobile phones, because a lot of kids can access it

via their phones as well as their computer in their bedroom.

-A good point. Good to know you take it seriously.

-Yes, we do.

Fascinating. You need to know what their children are doing on their computers.

Now, a little girl is in a lot of pain and too distressed to speak.

The first doctor to arrive has to find a clever way of working out what's wrong.

Critical care doctor, Nick Maskery, has been called to a young child

who's had a nasty accident in her own garden.

Paramedic Karen Skillicorn-Aston is with him.

We're going to a four-year-old who's had a fall

and has a head and neck injury.

That's all we know so far.

Nick arrives at the house to find young Josie in the kitchen,

flat on her back and too terrified to move.

She's gone head-first. off the top of the bars.

-JOSIE GROANS OK.

-She cried immediately,

but now she won't move her neck at all.

Josie's looking very scared. Gently, Nick tries to tease some answers out of her.

Where does it hurt, sweet?

There? Is it just there it hurts?

Where is it, Josie? Point where you're hurting.

SHE CRIES Just there?

But Josie's so shaken up, she can't speak.

Luckily, her sister Evie was with her and saw her fall.

-Was she knocked out at all?

-Evie was out there with her. Did she cry straight away?

-Er, yes.

-She did, OK.

-And how long ago did this happen?

-20 minutes, something like that.

-All right, sweet.

-Very softly, Nick tries again to coax Josie to tell him if her back hurts.

All right, sweetie, can I have a feel of your neck?

OK, you keep your head nice and still.

Tell me if I press anywhere that hurts.

That's all OK? Is that OK?

Is that all right?

Doesn't hurt? No? Doesn't hurt? Sore there, isn't it?

If I press there, does that hurt at all? No?

OK. Can you feel me tickle that finger?

Can you wiggle your fingers?

Fantastic. OK.

Can you do me a favour?

Do you think you can turn your head and look that way for me? Good girl.

And do you think you can now turn your head and look at me?

I know. Look at my big nose.

Nick has managed to win the little girl's confidence.

By getting her to move her head from side to side,

he can rule out any serious head or neck injury,

but she has suffered a break.

She's moving her head pretty well.

She's not obviously in pain when she moves her neck

and I can't see any big bumps on her head

so I think she's got a broken collar bone. Everything else seems to be fine.

I'll have a chat with the paramedics.

We got as far as the car then she screamed and held her neck.

We need to get her to hospital and have it X-rayed and go from there.

The ambulance has arrived to take her to hospital,

and Nick brings the crew up-to-date about her broken collar bone.

She needs an X-ray, but I'm not going to immobilise her, I think she's fine.

The next step is getting her on her feet.

Josie's still frightened to move, but Nick is winning her trust.

Have you got a smile for me?

No? I wouldn't either!

Do you want to sit up? No?

How about we sit you up? It'll make it easier to put your arm in a sling. Is that all right? Yeah?

OK, shall we help you?

That's it. You sit up, there you go.

-Ooh! There we go! Put your arm in. PARAMEDIC:

-Done!

But being in pain and surrounded by strangers suddenly proves too much for the little girl.

-Josie? Oh!

-She's sad now.

-You were having a right laugh when you were lying down!

We'll look after the poorly arm.

Oh, I know - it's ever so sore, isn't it?

That's it.

It's quite painful, but it's not a nasty, nasty injury.

With a little more persuasion, Josie is helped onto her feet.

Shall we get you up off the floor?

-No?

-You can't stay there forever, though, can you?

-MUM:

-Come on, Jo-Jo, stand up.

Come on, darling.

Here we go, up we come.

After a cuddle from Mum and a protective arm from big sister, Evie,

Josie clambers on board the ambulance.

They'll both travel with her to hospital.

Ah! Bless her! And Doctor Nick was spot on, by the way -

Josie had broken her collar bone.

But that didn't stop her trying to join her brother and sister back on the climbing frame.

Louise.

Often here on Real Rescues, we've seen that what a motorcyclist wears

can make the difference between life and death.

Dave Gibson's accident shows us exactly why.

Ambulance doctor Brando Tamayo and paramedic Richard Privett

have been called to a biker who's hit a deer and been thrown from his motorbike.

Clearly, if you've come off a motorcycle when you've hit a deer,

there's great potential for serious injury.

It's not just hitting the deer that medics are worried about,

it's what he may have hit afterwards.

You don't die coming off a motorcycle. You die when you hit something.

Even with the best helmet and the best leathers,

it's that impact on something.

You notice on motor-racing, they come off and they hit the sand trap

and they all walk away because they don't come to a sudden halt against a tree.

As soon as they arrive, the first thing to do

is move the injured biker away from the edge of the road.

Can you shuffle back a bit more, just so we can get behind the protection of the vehicle.

-What hurts right now?

-My shoulder.

-OK. What about your head?

-My head's all right.

Knocked out at all?

-No.

-Not at all?

Thankfully, Dave has suffered no head injuries. It's his shoulder that's giving him most grief.

His face gives away how much pain he's in.

There we go.

-It's more of a really big ache?

-Yeah.

-But no pain at all down here?

-No.

-That all feels all right, does it?

It feels all right, it's just when I try and move it.

-Yeah, but it's your shoulder rather than your neck or your back?

-Yeah, that's right.

< OK, where's the pain?

Um, it's just here. That's the only place that's hurting, isn't it?

Are you able to lift your arm up?

-< Can you do it by yourself?

-No.

- That'll need an X-ray. - Absolutely.

Dave managed to pick himself up and walk away from the bike after he crashed.

-You definitely weren't knocked out?

-No, no.

It's done its job, hasn't it? You've got a big old dent there.

You'll need a new helmet, but it's done its job, that's the main thing.

So Dave's had a lucky escape because he was wearing the right gear.

He slid down the road. He's lived because he's got reasonable leathers on

he's got a helmet on, and he's not hit anything.

You slide down the road and hit a fence-post

or a vehicle or a road sign, you die, or you potentially die.

He's been very lucky - he's only hit the road surface and bounced down.

What saved him? Helmet, leathers. The guys you see riding a motorcycle at the weekend wearing a T-shirt,

it's fine as long as they never come off.

When they come off without leathers on, they skip down the road and take chunks of flesh off.

Even if they don't die, their injury levels are higher.

So Dave's had a lucky escape,

but he does need to get that shoulder X-rayed.

Richard hands over to the ambulance crew who will take him to hospital.

The only thing he's complaining of is some pain in his right shoulder,

a bit of an abrasion on the right elbow,

and his knee's a bit uncomfortable.

Dave's not feeling very agile. With a little help, the paramedics get him back on his feet.

We can't really grab onto your shoulder!

Let me grab hold of your trousers, all right?

Up you come. Good job you've got a good belt on there.

Get your bearings, cos you'll be a bit wobbly. We'll grab all your bits, don't worry about that.

-There you go, darling.

-We'll tell you all about it.

Marvellous.

Once on board the ambulance, they can give Dave a thorough check-over.

Do you want to swing your legs up onto the bed there?

Get comfy.

He's doing his best not to complain,

but the pain in his shoulder is starting to get the better of him.

-You said it was just initially uncomfortable. Is it hurting more now?

-A bit more, yeah.

What we'll do is try a bit of gas and air for you.

Have you tried that before, have you?

It's a gas that you breathe in and out.

What it does is it helps take your pain away.

It might make you feel a bit spinny and a bit woozy

like you've had a few beers. It's good stuff.

No hangover - everyone's a winner!

Dave doesn't need any more convincing.

Put it in your mouth, and just nice, deep breaths.

The sling will also support the arm and ease the discomfort.

They're just making sure he doesn't have any more serious injuries,

providing him with some pain relief by way of Entonox,

which is a gas combined with oxygen - nitrous oxide.

It's laughing gas - it's a gas used in labour -

to provide some pain relief so we can get his leather trousers off

and have a look at the injuries more so. Right now, nothing too serious.

The next stop is A&E for an X-ray on his shoulder.

So, it's a salutary lesson. If you're going to ride a motorbike, then wear the right kit.

Just quickly... Earlier, we were talking about the worst things you can find in the loft.

-What's the smelliest?

-Cat litter.

We went to a fire and the couple hoarded everything.

They had 26 cats which were rescued, and they had the cat litter in bin bags in the roof.

-Used cat litter?

-Used cat litter.

And as I was putting water on it, it was coming down on top of me.

I didn't realise what it was in the smoke,

and it wasn't until we stepped outside that people were taking big steps away from us.

-I bet your mates were happy to help you out of the gear that time!

-No!

-Couldn't they just hose you down, Dave?

-It would have knocked me over!

They're very strong! We've run out of time.

-See you again for more Real Rescues soon. See you.

-Bye-bye.

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