Episode 3 Real Rescues

Today, teenage girls are stranded on freezing marshland and call 999

as hypothermia sets in.

GIRL SPEAKS FRANTICALLY

OPERATOR RESPONDS

Drive-by danger - a burger van is reduced to ash

and the gas cylinders it's carrying could now explode straight into speeding traffic.

Hello and welcome to Real Rescues. Already this morning,

16,000 emergency 999 calls have come into control rooms like this up and down the country.

In Southampton, two million people rely on the men and women in this police control room alone.

The controllers speak directly to officers to coordinate

and get the right unit to the right place as fast as possible.

-Let's see an example of that. Andrea, are you OK to talk?

-Yes.

Something happened yesterday, didn't it? A gas leak.

We've got a supermarket that's under renovation at the moment,

and they had a gas leak, so police attended to assist with coordination.

We had to close off some roads and assist people back to their cars.

-Potentially a dangerous situation.

-Yes.

-How did everybody get home?

Most people were OK, but the ones with vehicles parked close to the gas leak,

we had to assist with some taxis to get them home.

-And it was all wrapped up in about four hours?

-And the store re-opened.

Here's an embarrassing thing. The garage engineer is delivering

a customer's car after it's been fixed. Then this happens.

SIREN WAILS

Alex Dale is quickly making his way north on the busy A3.

It's been reported that a car has lost control at speed

and rolled several times.

Slight confusion as to whether the vehicle is still on the road

or whether it's gone into the bush. We'll be the first one there,

so we'll see what we've got.

It's a drizzly afternoon and visibility is low.

Alex spots a parked Highways Agency truck.

It must be the site of the accident.

Mike Echo three zero, stay six. It's on the near-side verge.

He's gone into the bushes there. There's Highways in attendance.

The road's not blocked. It's all over on the hard shoulder.

I'll update you shortly.

-Injured in any way? Need us to get help?

-No, I'm fine.

There to meet Alex on the roadside is Alan.

Behind him is the car he was driving.

It looks like it's just been thrown into the bushes.

I was doing 60 mile an hour and suddenly the back end overtook me.

-Right.

-Something went. I don't know what.

It rolled the first time. I let go, held myself

and waited for it to stop. That was it.

The violent spin sent the car hurtling into thick undergrowth

where it came to rest. Alex is amazed

that Alan is both unhurt and unfazed by what's happened.

-I think...

-ALEX LAUGHS

I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh. It's a bizarre place to park, isn't it?

It turns out this is not Alan's car. He's chief engineer

at a firm that reconditions gearboxes.

He was taking the car back to its owner after having work done.

This could take some explaining.

The accident was called in as serious,

so Control has sent a paramedic to check Alan for hidden injuries.

Gentleman says he's not hurt. If you want to have a look at him...

Yeah, yeah. Of course, yeah.

He said to me, he said, "They call me Lucky Al."

HE LAUGHS

He's rolled the car at least twice, and he's stepped out

without a scratch on him. A very fortunate man.

I was minding my own business at 60 mile an hour,

and all of a sudden there was a bang, and the back end came round.

I thought, "This is going to hurt." It was an instant.

There wasn't any indication or build-up to it.

It was just instant. My survival instincts kicked in

and I knew to hold myself rather than the steering wheel

-because the wheel wasn't going to be doing anything.

-Being in the trade,

Alan has already organised the recovery of the vehicle.

-Will your company break the news?

-They've already done that.

-OK.

-That's what you pay your insurance for.

-OK.

He's also been in touch with his partner, Jan, who's just arrived.

Hello! He's OK. He's just been checked over, yeah.

He's had a bit of a turn, because the car has had a turn itself.

He's gone over, but he's not hurt.

He's just having a check as a precaution. Hey, you're in trouble.

Recovery's at the scene, and Alan's free to go.

But he needs to satisfy his professional curiosity

and find out what caused his dramatic exit from the road.

I've had closer near-death experiences than this one,

but something like this wakens you up and says,

"Life can get pretty tough at times."

But to walk away without a scratch... Nothing.

It's amazing. Truly amazing.

Now the car's up the right way, they can investigate what might have happened.

It could be a blow-out, or one of those unexplainable things.

That's it as far as I'm concerned. No other reason to investigate. OK?

That's what we'll record on our system.

-No blood or broken bones. Thanks for your help.

-All right.

After a quick repair to the only casualty, both Alex and Alan can head off.

The sun is setting on a freezing January day.

A call comes through to the Norfolk police control room. Two teenage girls have been stranded

for three hours on the remote marshes that line the cold North Sea coast.

It soon becomes clear the girls' lives are in danger.

This is their actual 999 call.

GIRL SPEAKS FRANTICALLY

Controller Ruth Walters notifies police air-support to start searching the marshes.

Now she needs to get back in contact with the girls.

RUTH SPEAKS

GIRL REPLIES

It's now dusk. Police helicopter Oscar India 99

has been scrambled from its Norwich base.

This featureless marshland is a difficult area to search.

Call-taker Ruth needs the girls to help themselves.

The police observer uses the camera's infrared to scour the landscape,

looking for any sign of a bright heat source.

Finally they spot some movement on the horizon.

Waving a scarf, her brightest piece of clothing, has left Rose exhausted.

Ill with hypothermia, her friend Jessie lies on the floor,

tearful and without the energy to stand.

JESSIE SOBS ROSE SHOUTS IN PANIC

Well, thanks to you and your amazing work, they were all right.

-Yeah, thankfully.

-Well done. I know, watching it,

it's very emotional for you now. When you put down the phone, what was it like?

I've got all my colleagues around me who can hear this going on,

who were behind the scenes, helping get other emergency services out

as well, but it was quite an adrenaline rush.

It's not often we rescue people in the police.

-And that took you back, didn't it?

-Yes, and I felt a bit tearful,

as I have just now, and just, you know, relieved

that we did in fact find them, because it is such an enormous area of marshland.

It really makes it clear, when you see those pictures,

-how large that area...

-Yes.

-How was it that you found them?

Initially I know, from listening to the call,

Jessie had said that she was on Morston Marsh.

I've lived in Norfolk most of my life, but I didn't know exactly where that was.

I also, when I spoke to Rose, asked for an address,

looked it up on a map, worked it out from there where they would be.

There's so many things in that, but the key thing was that pink scarf.

You told her to wave it. That kind of saved her life.

Yeah. Because I didn't realise outside how dark it was getting,

I asked for a description of their clothing,

also to make sure they were wearing enough to keep as warm as possible.

We know as well that they were walking their dogs,

and one of the helicopter crewmen stayed with those dogs.

-They're tiny things, but they could have been useful as well.

-Yes,

and my brain is trained to retain information it needs.

Initially I didn't think walking the dogs was important,

but if I'd realised, I'd have told them to lift the dogs up out of the snow!

-Fantastic work. Thank you for coming to talk to us about it.

-Thank you.

You really helped them. Thank you.

How do you like your burgers? Very well done?

That's the only option when Halil's roadside caff catches fire,

but this is no laughing matter. His fast-food van is alight,

and a set of gas canisters could soon explode

right in the path of speeding traffic.

SIREN WAILS

Traffic cop Steve Wootton has been called to a dramatic incident

on the side of the A3. A burger van's on fire in the lay-by.

There's talk of a gas cylinder next to it,

so we've obviously got the risk of a fire with a gas cylinder,

which isn't very good, so we'll check it out.

It could have implications for everyone travelling on this stretch of road.

Depending on how bad the fire is, we may have to close off the southbound

at the Ham Barn roundabout, cos it could cause major problems on the A3

and if it's very serious, we might consider the northbound as well.

In fact I can see the smoke from here.

Two fire tenders are already in action.

The Highways Agency has coned off the inside lane

to protect the fire-fighters as they work.

There's very little left of the blazing burger van.

Owner Halil was changing his cylinders

when the gas ignited all around him. He managed to escape,

and is now being looked after by the fire-fighters

as they wait for an ambulance to arrive.

Lorry driver Ludovico had a lucky escape.

He was at the burger van after stopping in the lay-by for a break.

He saw it all happen.

He was checking to see why his cooker wasn't working,

and he was checking to see if there was gas there, and gas started spraying out.

He went to turn it off, and it just... This big fireball came,

and I just moved back, started running backwards.

But that thing just went up so quick, you know?

It was shocking, basically, you know?

I reversed back in case it set that on fire. It's got a full tank

of diesel, so I had to make sure I moved it back.

The watch manager from Petersfield station, Ian Burrows,

is directing his crews alongside group manager Ian Gray, who's just arrived.

They've serious concerns about the gas cylinders.

If they get hot enough, they could explode.

We've got two - one there, and it's confirmed one inside.

So I'm just going to get a monitor put on that, because I'm not going anywhere near that.

When LPG heats up, there are no signs or symptoms

of when it's going to become a projectile hazard.

It will just all of a sudden explode.

There's no direct path of flight that it will take, so it could come back towards you, maim people,

and the velocity and speed of the actual fragmentations

can pierce the skin and cause major damage.

Steve needs to know how close the passing traffic can safely go.

I'm quite happy that you keep one lane there.

Get some cones on this section here, and cones right down the side.

-It's not acetylene, so...

-No.

There's no mains water in the lay-by, so Ian's team have to use their own supply sparingly

until their large water carrier arrives.

'The plan of attack was to cool the cylinders using copious amounts of water.'

If you imagine that we have a thermos flask full of tea or coffee,

and it's hot inside, if you wanted to cool that down,

you'd have to immerse that flask in cold water to eventually cool down the inner parts.

They keep a constant check on the temperatures of the cylinders.

We've got a thermal imager. They're checking the heat coming off there.

We've put one lane in initially. If there's too much heat,

we'll have to close the road off, but they're just checking, and we'll go from there.

The water carrier has now arrived.

Steve has gone to close down the southbound side

of this busy A road altogether, so that the fire-fighters

can really blast the flames with water from all angles.

'After we'd cooled the red cylinder, I then asked the fire-fighters

'to make inroads into the internal LPGs, which wasn't easy to get at.'

Once they were safe, I was happy for the fire-fighters to continue work

turning over the fibreglass burger van.

The ambulance has turned up to treat Halil's injuries.

His reddened face shows what a narrow escape he's had.

He's got burns to his face where the canister exploded,

so he's being treated by ambulance now.

We've got the remains of the burger van there. We're sorting out the recovery of it,

removing it and getting it recovered, and the A3's open again.

They've managed to cool the cylinders right down, so they're no longer a danger.

There's virtually nothing left of the van,

but they've got to clear it away from the middle of the lay-by.

Steve thinks it might still be towable.

They take a shovel to the rest of the mess, including some rather overdone burgers.

We saw fire-fighters using thermal-imaging cameras there,

or TICs, they're known as, to check the heat of the gas cylinders.

They are an essential part of the fire engine's kit.

Earlier, St Mary's station manager Dave Graham showed me exactly why.

Here we are at Number 1, the Car Park, with Dave Graham.

We'll pretend you've had a call about a fire in this building.

It looks fine to me, but you've got equipment which shows it's not.

Traditionally we would have felt the door with the back of a hand,

a rough indication before we entered.

But now we can use this. As you can see, the top of the door,

ambient temperature is 21 degrees, and the door is 20 degrees.

-So that's fine.

-That's safe. Now you move down,

and you can see the red, which indicates higher temperature.

-Yeah.

-You get to there and you're now talking around...

It goes up to 50 degrees. So on the left is 21 degrees,

and on the right, that's telling you what's behind that door.

-So what would you guess, then?

-I would say there,

with the difference in temperature, you've got quite a serious fire,

or something very hot very close to the door, at a low level.

And we can measure how close that fire is. We set this up for you

so you can demonstrate, and if you come round here...

It's quite a different temperature, isn't it?

-We're talking nearly 500 degrees.

-So that's really helpful.

It can effectively see through doors. What else do you use it for?

Primarily it was designed to locate casualties

in smoke-filled buildings. We go in, our vision's obscured.

This can cut through the smoke and see the temperature given off by the casualty.

You get a great picture of where they are and find them very easily.

We use them to make sure cylinders are cool before we move them,

and after we put a fire out, it's important to check for hot spots

to ensure that there's no burning embers, so we don't get recalled.

So does this piece of equipment save lives?

Yes, it does, especially in large open spaces or in houses.

You can find casualties a lot quicker than you would through traditional methods

so you can get the casualty fresh air and first aid quicker.

And you know before you go in what it's like. I'll let you do what you do best, which is put it out.

-I'll hold this very expensive piece of equipment. Good luck!

-Thank you.

I'm going to stand well back. SHE LAUGHS

Thank you!

Still to come on Real Rescues - kid gloves are needed

for this little boy. Not only could he have a damaged spine

from somersaulting down a staircase, but Daniel suffers from fits,

and they come without warning.

21st-century police cars carry a lot of kit -

computers, video cameras, black-box recorders,

automatic number-plate recognition and GPS satellite tracking.

But it was all left behind recently when police turned back time

to arrest two burglars in this vehicle, the old SDI.

You might recognise this from a few years back.

We'll have a chat about the car and what went on. Come and join us.

This is Dave Butler and crew. Would you introduce your colleagues?

That's Sergeant Neil Roberts, PC Ian Scott, and I'm PC Dave Butler

from Ruislip safe-neighbourhood teams.

But you're in an old uniform as well. They've changed a bit!

They have. It's a period uniform, but we still get issued these tunics

-and wear them for court.

-Oh, do you? They're like a formal dress for -

-For a formal occasion.

-Tell us how it came about

that this lovely old police car, that went out of service...

-How many years ago?

-1987.

How come you ended up making an arrest in this?

We were taking it to a charity event, one of many classic police cars

that I own, and we received a call on our personal radios,

from a colleague asking for assistance,

who had three burglars who made off from him

up some local roads, so Sergeant Roberts, who's an advanced driver

with the Metropolitan Police, decided to take this old girl,

as it was the only police vehicle we had available at the time,

-to the assistance call.

-Right.

-So we made haste,

ended up detaining one,

and then eventually detaining the other two in someone's front garden.

Were they surprised to be arrested by this? It's like going back in time.

Yeah. They did think we were filming, but they thought we were serious

-when we put their hands behind their backs.

-I imagine they did!

What's it like to drive? They were a bit loose in the rear end.

-I think they were a nice car.

-Really?

-Yeah.

You've got to drive them with respect, like any motor car,

but especially an old one. This car hasn't got powered steering.

-Yeah, it was a joy to drive.

-Scotty, do you like these?

-They had a bit more character.

-You felt you were in a real car.

When I was operating these in the late '80s, early '90s,

and I was involved in a vehicle pursuit in one of these -

-fantastic cars.

-I made a mistake that a lot of people did.

I called it the SDI. In fact it was the SD1.

-It is, yeah. The SD1. Common mistake.

-Big 3.5 engine.

Three-and-a-half litre engine, top speed of about 132.

Beautiful old thing, isn't it? If you're hankering for the days

of old police cars, later we'll be talking you through these -

yes, even this one was a police car - and taking you through some of their stories.

Let's find out about one of the recent calls that came in here.

-Sarah, are you busy at the moment?

-No, I'm not.

Somebody thought they'd seen somebody go over the edge of a cliff.

That's right. When I was on the New Forest desk one evening,

part of it covers an area called Milford on Sea.

Very nice for walks, lots of dog-walkers there,

but with quite a sheer drop, er, some cliffs.

And a member of the public thought he saw a chap -

he didn't see him jump off but he saw him go down a dip

-and not come out the other side.

-Which you took very seriously,

-but he was OK, wasn't he?

-He was fine.

It took us quite a while to figure out what had happened,

and we re-enacted it with one of the officers going down the path

that the dog-walker had taken, and the member of the public could see,

-"That's where he was and now he's gone out of view."

-Down in the dip.

The officer had come back up, and the witness hadn't see that.

-Phew!

-We had to get all the services out, and the coastguard,

-to make sure he hadn't fallen down.

-Thank goodness! Thank you.

Thank you.

When a cat gets stuck up a tree or on a rooftop,

rescue specialists may be called out, but they know only too well

that a frightened animal can behave unexpectedly, as we've seen before on Real Rescues.

You may remember seeing this happen when rescue specialist Anton Philips

went to the aid of a cat trapped in a tree for three days.

Don't stand under it. It will urinate, more than likely. As it is.

Anton's colleague Buster Brown was drenched in cat pee.

And when Jim Green tried to reach Bobby the cat, he had other ideas.

-There he goes. He's off now, the...

-He's gone!

They never understand you just want to help, do they?

So when emergency services are called out to rescue the Black Shadow,

it was not without some trepidation.

One-year-old Shadow is perched on the gable of the neighbour's house.

It's the highest point of the roof, and he's been there all night.

He may have found a way up, but now it's looking like a very long way down.

Yes, please. Non-emergency response, obviously.

OK. Thanks very much for that.

Hampshire fire-and-rescue specialist Colin Horwood has called in a little help.

We've got a water-tender ladder coming out.

Put that up, bring him down, give him some water, and hopefully all will be well.

He's not happy, or he'd be making efforts to come down.

His ears have dropped down a bit. He's not as happy as he should be.

Um, if he's been up there 25 hours, he's certainly thirsty,

so the sooner we get him down, the better.

To the untrained eye, this young cat may look relaxed,

-but if he could move, he would.

-He obviously wants to come down.

He's just not brave enough to do it.

As they await the fire crew, Colin discusses ladder tactics

with RSPCA officer Darren Woodruff and Shadow's owners.

If they can pop one up here and get him, that'd be great.

Um, it's not the easiest of pitches.

Shadow now appears to be clinging on to the roof.

But it should all be over soon. His rescuers have arrived.

Hello, there.

No, he's been up there over a day.

The fire crew want to double-check there's no other access

before they clamber onto the roof.

I'll show you how he got... Round the back here...

No, nothing like that. He's hopped on the garage and off up the roof,

and there he is.

The fire crew opt for a roof ladder to get Shadow.

The plan from the crew is to pitch a short ladder

just under the gutter here, and put a roof ladder up behind Shadow,

and we'll try and catch him that way. If he wanders off down the back, he won't hurt himself,

because there's a reasonable pitch on the roof,

and the garage goes along behind, so we'll see what happens.

The rescue gets underway, and Shadow starts taking notice.

The task of getting the cat has fallen to fire-fighter Nick Brickett.

With both ladders in place, he just needs something familiar

to help bring Shadow back down to earth.

-Do you want his basket or anything?

-I probably will do, then, yeah.

With everything in place, Shadow seems to be paying attention,

but, as Nick approaches Shadow, he looks like he's suddenly found some courage.

Is he coming round to say hello?

Nick is in position, but Shadow doesn't know which way to turn.

This cat senses danger, not a rescuer.

The cat couldn't get further from Nick if he tried.

Coaxing isn't doing much good. Colin has some advice.

That's it. Scruff of the neck if you can get it, mate.

Just grab him by the scruff of the neck.

That's it. Pick him up.

Shadow has decided to dig his claws in so much

that he might bring the roof down - well, a part of it.

But Nick gets the better of him, and as his owners watch on,

Shadow is put back in his basket.

-Have you got him?

-Yeah.

OK.

All right. Well done, gents. Thank you. And ladies. There you go.

Darren is not taking any chances. Shadow will be freed

inside the safety of his own home.

Back in his familiar environment, Shadow appears none the worse

for his night on the neighbours' tiles.

We've all done it - your mind wanders for a moment and before you know it,

you've walked into something, slipped or tripped over. Not good news,

particularly if you fall face-first.

Paramedic John Ayling and his colleague Tom Davies

are heading out to an emergency at the funfair on Hayling Island.

All they know is, a woman has fallen and suffered facial injuries.

People that fall, if they don't get their hands out,

will generally damage their nose, sometimes their forehead

or their jaw, so it could be anything from a small laceration

or incision to a broken nose, potentially broken jaw or teeth.

The injured woman is already being treated by a rapid-response driver.

Because the island is a tricky place to get to,

he's bringing her to a rendezvous with the ambulance.

They arrive to find a battered, bruised and bloodstained Delia

in the back of the car.

Hello, Delia. My name's John.

Her injuries are very noticeable, but she's determined not to behave like an invalid.

-I'm OK.

-Yeah? You happy if we take a walk to the ambulance?

-I'll come the other side.

-Were you knocked out at all, my love?

No, I wasn't.

It's as important to find out why a patient fell as it is to treat the injuries.

OK. Nice and easy, Delia. There we go.

You take that young man's hand.

John runs through all the questions to make sure

there was no other reason for her fall.

-So you remember everything that happened to you?

-Yes.

And it was just a trip on the pavement? You didn't feel unwell?

-No, I didn't feel unwell.

-I'll just pop that on your finger.

Just relax. Are you normally fit and well?

-Yeah, except for two bionic knees.

-OK. No worries.

John is checking her blood pressure as he takes a closer look at the injury.

-Is it all right if I have a look at this wound on your head?

-Yeah.

-OK.

-It's just a headache.

-Oh, right. Yeah, I see it. OK.

-No worries.

-OK?

-Yeah, just so we know what we're dealing with.

You've got a nice cut half an inch long across the top of your nose,

-and a very large bump here.

-I've got a headache from that.

-Absolutely. That's quite big.

-I can feel that,

-because I went crack down on it.

-OK. No worries.

-Your hands feel all right?

-Fine.

-You didn't get them out?

-Your face broke your fall?

-I didn't have time to get my hands down.

Is it all right if I touch the front of your face, Delia?

Anyone who's had a blow like that to the face and nose,

we need to check the cheekbone's all right as well, if that's OK.

John is concerned that she may have fractured other bones in her face.

-Does that all feel all right?

-Yeah.

-How does your jaw feel?

-Fine.

OK. Can you just open it for me? And close.

Marvellous. That's great. Lovely.

As they head for the hospital,

John doesn't think Delia's broken anything,

but the swelling is really beginning to develop.

-Your forehead's hit the ground first.

-I heard that go.

-It's a big lump.

-I heard that crack. I thought, "Oh, God!"

Fortunately it's one of the hardest parts of the body. It's designed to protect you.

She's reassured, but nevertheless remains a reticent patient.

-Blue lights!

-I know! How embarrassing!

Well, no. That's why they're called accidents.

-It happens to people.

-I worry about my husband,

-and it's me that goes over.

-Yeah, I know.

But there's moral support for Delia at the hospital.

Your daughter's here, Delia.

Word's got out that you've been creating a fuss.

You all right there? You sure?

-Yeah.

-OK. There's a yellow bar on your right.

-If you're going to fall, head for the young lad.

-Will he catch me?

He'll have a go.

At A&E, X-rays reveal she hadn't broken anything,

but she needed eight stitches and developed two very impressive black eyes.

-Oh, Delia, you really hurt yourself!

-I did.

-You didn't want to go out with those black eyes. How long did you stay at home for?

-A fortnight.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-And how are you feeling now?

-Fine.

-It was about three months ago, wasn't it?

-Yes.

You weren't worried about yourself. You were worried about your husband.

-Yeah.

-Why is that?

-He's got Parkinson's,

-and he couldn't come into the paramedic's car.

-Right.

-I didn't know what to do with him!

-But somebody helped you out.

-Yes.

A young lady called Mary. She took him off.

She said, "Don't worry about him. I'll get him a cup of tea."

-Yes, she was very, very kind.

-And she looked after him?

-Yes.

-Have you been able to thank her?

-I took flowers and chocolates to her

but I couldn't trace her. She wasn't in, so we left it with a neighbour.

Let's hope she's watching, and you can say thank you to her here.

-Thank you, Mary, very much.

-And you were going out walking

-because you've got these bionic knees. And they're all right?

-Yes.

Good. I'm glad you're safe and well. Take care when you leave here.

I will, thank you.

Now, kids can run rings around their parents,

but when this little boy performs a somersault down his staircase,

it inevitably ends in tears. But there is an added problem.

Daniel has fits when he's upset.

Ross Smith is heading out to the home of a young boy

who's tumbled down the stairs. The six year old may have fallen

from quite a height, as he's reported to be in a lot of pain.

Anything above a metre, or five steps,

will indicate that we need to consider neck problems,

or C-spine problems, as we call it, or back problems.

It's likely that this lad is going to have to go into hospital for further assessment.

-Hello!

-Hello.

-Hi. It's the ambulance service.

Daniel is still lying where he landed.

His worried mum, Helen, saw him hurtle through the air.

We was just sat in the kitchen. We see him somersault in the air...

-Oh, dear!

-..hit the floor, hit the radiator,

and he's complaining of back pain.

Righty-oh. Hello, mate! My name's Ross. I'm an ambulance man.

How you feeling, mate? Are you a bit upset?

Oh, don't worry. It's going to be OK. I'll look after you.

-HE WAILS INCOHERENTLY

-I don't want to be on my own!

No, no, no. Mummy's going to be with you, mate.

Calm down, otherwise you're going to have a fit. Calm down.

-It'll be fine. Mummy will be with you.

-Yeah.

See? No-one's going to leave you alone.

Daniel suffers from seizures, and his GP has given the family oxygen

to help prevent them. Stress can bring on an attack,

so Ross has to take extra care in getting any details.

What I need you to do is really be brave for me, OK?

-Can you tell me what happened?

-I was on the middle of the stairs,

but I didn't... I didn't do something.

Don't worry. You're not in trouble. I just want to help you.

OK? So you was on the middle of the stairs, and then you fell down?

Did you bang your head when you came down?

Did you? Ahh! What did you bang it on? This?

You didn't damage it, did you? I'll just check to make sure.

No, that's all right. Did you damage your head, then, anywhere?

Whereabouts? Can you point to it for me?

Oh, let me have a little look.

Have you got any pain in your little neck? Down here?

Or in your back? Does that hurt as well? What we're going to do,

we're going to take you to see a doctor,

to make sure your head and neck is OK, and Mummy will come with you.

You're going to have a trip in the ambulance. What do you reckon?

You'll like that, won't you? You're smiling now.

Can I have a look at your side to see where it hurts? Is that OK?

Ross's kid-glove approach appears to be working,

and Daniel lets him examine him.

Wriggle your little toes for me. Can you do that?

They're not cheesy feet, are they? Eh? Eh? Cheesy feet?

Can you feel my hand here? You can feel that?

OK. Everything's going to be OK, Daniel. All right? I promise you.

The ambulance crew have arrived.

Daniel may seem more relaxed, but he could still have a spinal injury.

Ross needs to get him out of the cramped hallway, yet keep him as straight as possible.

We've got a piece of equipment we use if people are sitting

in the driving seat, that's been involved in a traffic collision.

That would be perfect for Daniel here.

They use a device called a KED. It's normally strapped to an injured adult's back to stabilise it,

but because Daniel is so small, it can be wrapped around his entire body.

-Stand to attention like a soldier.

-A very brave soldier.

He is. He's excellent. He's being a good boy, aren't you?

-How old are you?

-Six.

Six! Wow.

Daniel seems to be quite enjoying the experience of looking a bit like some kind of superhero.

-Ready? On your lifts.

-One, two, three.

That's it. Perfect.

Helen will stay by Daniel's side in the ambulance.

-I'm here, little man.

-He's doing really well, Helen.

-You must be proud of him.

-Mum's got you some socks.

Daniel seems to be perking up. The team have taken great care with him,

and Ross is confident that his visit to hospital will be a short one.

We can't take any chances with these sort of injuries at all.

I'm sure he'll be at home later, with pain-relief advice and rest.

I think he's going to be fine, but we're taking the right precautions

to make sure he's going to be.

And after a couple of checks, Daniel was absolutely fine.

Nick, the car you're with used to be called a jam sandwich!

It did, actually. The SD1 was called a jam sandwich,

for obvious reasons. Jam down the middle, white on top and bottom.

But look at these chaps here, stood by the cars,

the old uniforms. They're all available for pantomime.

-HE LAUGHS

-They could do weddings,

with some of these. Come and have a look,

because I want to compare the older with the new.

Look at that. The uniform's changed as well. Isn't that incredible?

This is a much older one. Steve's going to talk us through here,

-Steve Woodward. How old is this one?

-1965.

And it's a workhorse, pretty much like this car now?

This is the forerunner to the BMW you see in the background.

And this caused a bit of a furore when it first came in?

Yes. It was the first foreign vehicle to be used

-by the British police force.

-And did it work?

-It did.

It laid the foundation to the relationship we've had for 40 years.

With all kinds of different manufacturers.

Can we have a buzz on the bell? The bell was completely different

-in the old days.

-ALARM-STYLE BELL RINGS

Isn't that incredible? Isn't that extraordinary?

We'll move on to the old Austin...1100? 1300.

-1300.

-There was a sport version with a bigger engine,

-for extra power.

-STEVE LAUGHS

-And these were the ones that they'd call panda cars?

-Yes.

It was a concept devised by Lancashire Constabulary,

in 1965 again.

Why panda car?

Well, the colour scheme was imported from Chicago,

and when the press got hold of it, all the photographs in the paper

-were in black and white.

-So although it's blue and white,

in the papers they were black and white. Did they make some like that?

A few years later, the Home Office experimented with black and white

-for a while, but it didn't catch on.

-I remember these when I was young,

-so these had a fair old run.

-Yeah, from '65 right through to 1980.

By 1980, if you were sent out in one of these,

-you weren't top of the list of car allocations.

-Er, no.

-That's where you started.

-Did you drive one?

-Not these. The Mini 850s I did.

-Did you?

-Mm-hm.

Lovely. Thank you. And now we move on to this.

This is extraordinary. There's a special story about why they brought in this sports car.

-It was to do with motorbikes.

-It was, yeah.

The Met Police, in 1959, '60, had a real problem with the ton-up boys,

caff racers. It was a new craze then,

where they'd get on their Triumphs and Nortons and BSAs

and race from the local cafe, round a few roundabouts

and back to the cafe before the record stopped on the jukebox.

And nothing fast enough to keep up, so they introduced the Daimler Dart.

-Top speed was...

-123 miles an hour.

-That's unbelievable, isn't it?

And it's just such a beauty! This must be the ultimate

for any policeman, to be given this as your police car...

I would have driven it with an extremely large grin on my face.

Do you want to hear it? It's also got a bell. What marks it out

-is the bell on the front. Pan down.

-ALARM-STYLE BELL RINGS

That's beautiful. How would you know, if you were on a bike,

that this was a police car chasing you? Apart from the bell...

The officers had to drive with their hats on at all times.

They'd need an elastic band, otherwise it wouldn't keep on!

-And the hood down, even in the rain.

-Even in the rain?

Fantastic. Louise, which one would you like to take a whizz in

-after the show?

-It's obvious. The Daimler.

You would go with the Daimler Dart? A lot of the girls in the crew

-quite like the old Panda, the Austin.

-No.

-I want speed.

-OK. We'll set it up for you.

I've just been speaking to Pete over there. It's his birthday,

and he remembers those Panda cars. That's all we have time for.

See you next time. Goodbye for now.

ALARM-STYLE BELL RINGS

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