Episode 11 Real Rescues


Episode 11

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Today, a woman falls head-first onto concrete and literally takes leave of her senses.

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-Can you?

-Say again?

-Can you go back easy, please, darling, please?

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Her injury is so severe, the only way to move her is to put her into a coma there and then.

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And the motorcyclist who caught his own crash on camera.

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He was playing daredevil when he smashed into a car at 60mph

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and remarkably survived.

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Hello and welcome to Real Rescues, the programme with special access to the emergency services.

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We're at Thames Valley Police control centre near Oxford.

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The staff here deal with people going through life-changing and life-threatening emergencies.

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Later on, Matt here will tell us how one not-so-bright thief left a trail

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-that led police right to his front door.

-First, a real insight into just how much damage

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a bang to the head can do. Critical care doctor Paul Rees is here to talk about a recent call out.

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-It was really serious, wasn't it?

-Yes, a very serious head injury.

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A woman had fallen from a ladder, banging her head on a concrete floor and this is what happened

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when Paul got to her house.

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Hello there.

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Hiya. Who's this, then?

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Just outside here? Were you knocked out?

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Can you go back easy, please, darling? Can you?

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-Say again.

-Can you go easy, darling, please? Can you go right, please?

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-Please, can you get out of the way, please?

-And she fell out here?

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About how long ago?

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-What was she like straight away?

-Will you go right away, please?

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-A bit dazed.

-Yeah. She wasn't knocked out?

-No.

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-And since then she's become a bit more agitated?

-Keeps wanting to get up.

-OK.

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How are you feeling there? Can I have a look at your head?

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Oh, steady. Could you get out of the way, please, darling? Please, please, please. Out the way.

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-I need to get her to hospital for a little scan.

-Please.

-Is that very sore?

-Please, please.

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-Can we just take your jacket off?

-Please, please.

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And then... Brian? We need to get some IV access

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-and give her something to feel relaxed.

-Please go somewhere else.

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Please! Please, leave us alone! Please, leave us alone!

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All just caused by a bang on the head. Don't be too distressed. We'll make her feel less agitated.

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-Please, can you leave it?!

-This is not uncommon. We'll sort it.

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Please, leave it, please. Please!

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-Well done.

-Please, can you do it?

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I think what we're planning to do... The lounge is quite warm, isn't it? We'll take her in there, I think.

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Please, leave it, please. Please!

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It's actually quite distressing watching that. I don't know Kim, but she's clearly distressed.

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When did you realise this was serious?

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The job is to work out if it's important when you walk in the door.

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-Why would she be talking like that?

-Her brain's starting to malfunction.

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Some swelling or bleeding is causing pressure and making her behave abnormally.

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-And you realised you would have to act soon?

-Yes, it was very clear

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we needed to give an anaesthetic and to take her off for a CT scan

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-and possibly an operation.

-OK, so Nigel, her husband, hi.

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You were very calm when that was going on. How were you managing to stay so calm?

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Automatic pilot, I think. You switch off and do what you have to do.

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And it's just...

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-I don't know, really.

-I know you're on automatic pilot then,

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-but now is it quite shocking to see the way she was talking and acting?

-Yes, totally out of character.

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She's normally confident, bubbly. This wasn't Kim.

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-She'd been on a ladder, hadn't she?

-Putting glass in the conservatory roof. The ladders collapsed

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-and she fell back on the back of her head.

-How soon did you realise that something had gone wrong?

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-Was she talking normally?

-She was when we got her up to start with.

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Then after probably five minutes she started talking gobbledygook.

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-And you realised then.

-Something was wrong.

-We know you then had to give her a general anaesthetic.

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Why would you do that? How would it help?

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Various reasons. It was very difficult to manage her as she was, even to get her into the ambulance.

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Also we want to take control of her brain's circulation, the oxygen and carbon dioxide,

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to try to reduce the swelling.

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And the fact that she doesn't want to do what you're doing, that's making things worse?

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It's very hard to do the treatments we want to do to get her safe and to the hospital.

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I know you set up a general anaesthetic in the front room.

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The reason we're doing all this here is to protect her brain for the transport. It's a long journey.

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That's fine. You're doing very well.

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We'll give her some drugs, drift her off to sleep and then ventilate her

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-and take it from there, all right?

-Good girl.

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Let's get all the monitoring attached.

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Brian, if you're happy, let's give her all of one of those.

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-That should be fine.

-Here we go.

-Good. And all of that.

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Just waiting for her to stop breathing. Little bits of muscle movement there.

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Brian, I'm going to need you with a tube.

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-Everybody stay in position. You got that?

-Got that.

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Everybody stay put. 22, 24. That's fine. Out, please.

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Everybody stay put. Just take the mask off, please.

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That's lovely. Sorry - haven't got enough string here.

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OK, just hold that for me.

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Chest going up and down, tubes fogging nicely, stats are stable.

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Put a collar on her and get her head immobilised. Let's plan to be out in two minutes.

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It's the safest way of doing this, rather than struggling and fighting.

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If there is an injury to the head or to the brain, that makes it worse.

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-This is so much easier for her.

-Southampton General?

-Yeah.

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She'll be all right.

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-Well, Paul said she'd be all right. She IS all right!

-Thank goodness.

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Lovely to see you, Kim. How are you doing now, first of all?

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-Not bad. Feeling much better.

-This was nine weeks ago.

-Yes.

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Looking through that tape, you were talking in an extraordinary way. Do you remember it at all?

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No, I remember being up the ladder and holding the glass window

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-but after that I don't remember the accident at all.

-When do you remember?

-Waking in hospital.

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-And I didn't know why I was there.

-It all became clear a little bit later?

-Yes.

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-How is it affecting you now?

-Um, I do find that I get a little tired in the day.

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And a little bit light-headed at times.

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My walking is much better because to start with it was very difficult to walk.

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-Did you have to learn to walk again?

-Yes, somehow the injury affects muscle memory

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-and so you just have to build your confidence to walk again.

-OK.

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-And you'd obviously injured your head. What had you done?

-Em, I believe I had...

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-a subdural haemorrhage.

-Right.

-And contusions.

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Those are the technical terms!

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-And an open head wound.

-Gosh.

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-That's all serious stuff, isn't it?

-It is potentially serious.

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Some bleeding in the brain and some bruising. It could have needed an operation. Hence the hospital,

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-where they have the facility to do that.

-Tell us about that general anaesthetic. You put her in a coma?

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We're switching off the brain's demand for oxygen. It's struggling, so we turn that off.

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We control her blood pressure and oxygen level.

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-Normally this would be done in a hospital. You had not so many people, so Nigel helped out.

-Yes!

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-What were you doing?

-Holding the drip, as far as I can remember.

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-And that is helping him at the time?

-He was very helpful,

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very calm and helped us by acting as a drip stand.

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-Pretty useful on the day.

-Is he a bit of a hero for you?

-Yes!

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More so now. Tell us, you're also having problems with your sense of smell and taste.

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-How is that affecting you?

-Well, it's something that initially I wasn't aware of

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because of the injury, and when I came home from hospital I realised.

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And it's...it's something I'm getting used to.

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I guess you take it for granted being able to smell. What sort of things are you missing?

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Em...just smelling clean laundry, my girls, my husband!

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It's just...just a bizarre sense not to have.

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We were talking a little bit earlier and you said you knew it wasn't normal because you weren't swearing!

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-And I'm glad I wasn't!

-Fair enough. Thank you very much. I'm so glad you're better.

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Now a story that goes some way to prove that common sense may be the vital missing ingredient

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for some elements of the criminal fraternity. Detectives are very good at what they do.

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Sometimes they're tested to the limit. We can talk to Matt here about this subject.

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-You had a call that really tested your detectives.

-Yeah.

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We had a call from a member of the public saying they were being burgled.

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We sent officers out to the scene,

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and they found his house had been broken into and a pushbike stolen.

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So it's now down to your detectives to detect where that bike had gone.

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It was quite easy for officers. It had been snowing outside.

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So they walked out the back door, followed the footprints and tyre prints down an alleyway

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into somebody's back garden. They knocked on the door and found the criminal with his shiny bike!

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Haven't you got to love that? That's my favourite story so far.

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The idea that people could be daft enough to not notice they're leaving tracks in the snow!

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Thank you very much, Matt. Nice to know the police are always one step ahead of the criminals.

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Thank you.

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Now forced off a roundabout by a road hog, a stunned driver is wrapped around a lamppost,

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but the lamppost could be the real problem. It's leaning at a dangerous angle over a busy road.

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It's the evening rush hour and traffic cop John Davies is heading out to a car crash.

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We're going to a report of a vehicle that's collided with a lamppost.

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We don't know what the extent of the injuries are, but it's been reported as an injury crash.

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There's no problem finding this accident.

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Only one car's involved and the driver's out.

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-Hello.

-This is Adam. It's Adam's vehicle.

-Hello, sir.

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Can I just get you all on the grass verge? Yeah?

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The driver is OK, the car is seriously damaged

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and the lamppost is critical. It's leaning at an alarming angle

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directly over the busy road.

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The lamppost is numbered 67 on the roundabout.

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It appears to be critically unsafe. Can you get someone out to come and have a look at it for us?

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The ambulance crew check Adam out for injuries while John tries to piece together what happened.

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I was sat at the junction and there was a van on the inside lane.

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Adam was on the outside, coming into two lanes here.

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When we got to just before the junction, the van's moved across, coming into the second lane here.

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It forced Adam round this way.

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So it sounds like Adam was pushed off the road and onto the grass verge. The lamppost stood no chance.

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The van is long gone and no one took its number.

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-So we've got no idea of the driver?

-The annoying thing was, I was looking at the van before,

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thinking I could pitch them for my job, but I can't remember the name.

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-The main thing is... Is that your private car?

-It is.

-The main thing is you're OK.

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-Exactly, yeah.

-I'm still... These things are made strongly, but I'm worried.

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Nobody stay on that side. Let me get some details from you gents.

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John has already called out a breakdown service, but Adam's car can't be moved until they're sure

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that the lamppost won't fall over. And while he's clearing up this...

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Which roundabout?

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Thank you. The next roundabout east of me.

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A member of the public says there's a kiddie off his bike. Can a unit go and have a look?

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Since Adam has escaped without any serious injuries, the ambulance can go to the new accident.

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Hello. We don't actually need an ambulance,

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but there's a nipper off his moped at the next roundabout.

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That done, John can concentrate on the lamppost.

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It's not looking too healthy.

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They are made to withstand these sort of collisions, despite the nasty looking angle.

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-We'll get someone to assess that before we move it.

-Southern Electric have arrived to make it safe.

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They disconnect it from the main power supply. Hidden beneath the ground are two metres of post.

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There's very little possibility of it falling over, but they don't want to take any chances.

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The idea will be... If I can get you to do a temporary closure just there,

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just to enable that to be shifted back. Then I'll be doing a closure on the A27.

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So if it does go over, no one is hurt. That's basically the plan.

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John is happy the lamppost is safe and going to stay put, so the traffic can get going again.

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When the cutter arrives, the post will be cut off at ground level and eventually replaced.

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Still to come, the speed of a sneeze. Over 100mph of uncontrollable power.

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-Enough to dislocate this man's shoulder.

-Aaah!

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A simple sneeze has done the job.

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Nnngh!

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And foxed: a cub lost in a storm drain for three days is flushed into the open.

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Fabulous. Well done, guys.

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Now just below the ops room is a working police station.

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I thought we'd take a look round. We'll check with the Duty Sergeant.

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-Busy, Gavin?

-Yes, indeed we are.

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We've got a VIP visit today so we've got a lot of resources.

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-All right to have a look round?

-Feel free.

-Smashing. Thank you.

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So we'll go to the parade room. There's not much parading.

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In the old uniforms, they'd line up and have their uniforms checked.

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These days, they're so perfectly turned out, they don't need to.

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Tony, you've got the full kit on. Do you have to wear this all day?

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That's right. I'm available to respond to any emergencies.

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Who's working on the computers today? A cross-section of people?

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Yeah, from different departments. Two neighbourhood policing officers, two response officers

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-and a special constable.

-Brilliant. They also get a cup of tea while they're working on the computers.

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I'm going to go up this way. Up here is community policing, just round the corner here.

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There's a few people in. Jolly good. Hi!

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So what happens in this room?

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Can you give us a quick description of what goes on?

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This is the Community Safety department - anti-social behaviour, crime reduction, neighbourhood watch

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and our schools officers. We communicate with communities, let them know what's going on

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with crime in their area and how to get hold of us.

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-We send messages by email or phone.

-That's modern policing right here, the interface with the public.

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Thank you very much. I'm not sure how many people are in the traffic base.

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-There's a big operation for VIPs. Morning.

-Morning.

-We won't disturb them. They're very busy.

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That's the traffic base.

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Hope you enjoyed having a look round. These people make sure you're safe.

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Now when things go wrong, we see how people are pushed to the extremes of human emotion.

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The police are trained to deal with these situations, but what about those involved?

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Here Maria and Angela support each other in a unique way that only good friends really can.

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There's been an accident on the main road to Oxford.

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It's this side of the toll bridge.

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Traffic cops Andy Wickins and Matthew Clark are heading out there.

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I'll update you shortly.

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-Hello. What's happened?

-I was an observer.

-Right...

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A woman in her 70s was knocked over by a car as she stepped out into the road.

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The driver took her to a nearby bungalow where she's being treated by an ambulance crew.

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As Andy and Matthew talk to witnesses, a worried friend arrives to greet the injured woman.

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Maria was clipped by a wing mirror and hit the ground hard.

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She's able to walk, but has pains in her stomach and face.

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Angela rushed over when she heard her best friend was in trouble.

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We were coming to meet her anyway.

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And she phoned to say she'd been run over. I don't know what's happened. She was going to take the bus.

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She was going to see her husband. He is in the nursing home.

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While the police continue to gather information, Angela goes to comfort her friend in the ambulance.

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The two originally come from Spain and have known each other for over 50 years. Maria knows she was lucky.

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Her husband suffers from Parkinson's disease and she's upset he'll miss her visit.

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Angela will call into the home to let them know.

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Outside, Andy's continuing to gather his evidence together.

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We've got some quite nice marks.

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Should anything go wrong further down the line, should the injured party take a turn for the worse,

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we can come back using the photos so we have a record for any investigation.

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Maria and Angela came to work in England as nurses when in their late teens.

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-Long time.

-Were you single ladies?

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The two best friends have helped each other through thick and thin.

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Angela will stay at Maria's side while she gets treated at hospital.

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Hopefully, by tomorrow Maria will be back in the routine of visiting her husband.

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Aww. Poor Maria. She actually broke three ribs, but is recovering very well now.

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Here's something a little different. Take a look at this.

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I'm looking towards that junction. It's concealed, there on the offside.

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It's an app for mobile phones used by bikers. It gives advice on dangerous roads in the UK,

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previewing the route with tips from a police motorcyclist. It was created to save bikers' lives.

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Statistically, the most vulnerable drivers on the road. Like Mark here.

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He learnt his motorcycle safety lesson the hard way.

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-You enjoyed your bikes.

-I did.

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-Still enjoy them.

-Oh, yes.

-It's a bit of a miracle you can ride.

-Yeah.

-You liked a burn up.

-Definitely.

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That didn't make you unusual. But unusually, you filmed it.

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I wasn't speed testing. I was seeing how far I was leaning into corners like on the screen there.

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-You weren't speed testing?

-No.

-You really weren't?

-I know my bike does 140mph.

-OK.

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Let's see what happened the day Mark strapped his camera to his bike and, not speed testing,

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went on an illegal burn up.

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Mark is about to suffer an horrific crash.

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His intention is to have some fun by filming himself taking corners at a low angle,

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but he's about to capture a lot more than he bargained for.

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He starts as he means to go on, racing to nearly 60 miles an hour in a 30 mile an hour zone.

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Temporarily held up by traffic, Mark rocks from side to side in frustration.

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But now he's back on the move. Speed limit still 30, Mark's speed 70 miles an hour.

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When he passes a national speed limit sign, he really opens up,

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accelerating to 110mph.

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But Mark is about to come unstuck.

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Just ahead lies a blind bend and he's approaching it at a ridiculous speed.

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It's all happened so fast, but in slow motion the full terror of the crash can be seen.

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Mark flashes past a Danger warning sign, but at 85mph, he doesn't see it.

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The word Slow is written on the road, but he ignores it.

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Too late, he spots the 4x4 pulling out of a driveway and slams on the brakes.

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But a fraction before impact, he's still going 60.

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The shocked driver of the car is just realising what's about to happen.

0:25:000:25:07

It starts with smiles, yet barely six minutes later, Mark's life has changed forever.

0:25:080:25:14

That's the most extraordinary thing. I'm not quite sure how you're still here.

0:25:190:25:24

-60mph at impact?

-Yeah.

-That's ridiculous.

-I know.

0:25:240:25:29

OK, so... We cut at the point where the camera and you hit the car.

0:25:290:25:35

-It was pretty much square-on.

-Yeah.

0:25:350:25:38

-So what happens to you then?

-I just remember I hit the mat. I'm not even far from the car.

0:25:380:25:44

I didn't fall far. I came to a straight stop.

0:25:440:25:48

-I just lay on the bike on the kerb.

-And what are you thinking?

0:25:480:25:53

I'd come around to a woman's face and I'm just asking about my bike. They said don't worry.

0:25:530:25:59

I was asking about my arm, which was over here, snapped at the humerus.

0:25:590:26:04

-I kept slipping in and out of consciousness and...

-Most of the damage across the front?

0:26:040:26:10

All down my right-hand side. I've had most of my large bowel removed from the top edge.

0:26:100:26:16

And the small bowel, and a hole in my liver. Another 5mph on impact would have turned me to mush.

0:26:160:26:24

-Spinal injury?

-I've got... I had a cracked vertebrae, which wasn't found in the x-ray.

0:26:240:26:30

It's now causing problems in my back and it gives me dead legs. I've got to sleep curled up in a ball

0:26:300:26:37

to give my spine pressure so it releases.

0:26:370:26:41

-You have suffered as a result, but looking back on it now, not the brightest thing you did.

-No.

0:26:410:26:47

What about the bloke in the car? You see his terrified face.

0:26:470:26:52

For that person, on a normal day, what a horrific thing to happen?

0:26:520:26:57

What goes through my head is... We were talking this morning...

0:26:570:27:02

Gary Chance and John Siddle will talk about the crash and about safety.

0:27:020:27:08

-Go on.

-If I had another six inches that way, I'd have hit him and then what would it have been?

0:27:080:27:14

Both of us dead or just him dying. That's the worst-case scenario.

0:27:140:27:19

I suppose the trouble is, guys, that most bikers want to go out and enjoy their bikes.

0:27:190:27:24

I'm a biker. Most of us have had a bit of a tear-up to see what a bike can do.

0:27:240:27:30

-While it's going in a straight line, it's fine, but when you turned up at the accident...

-Yeah.

0:27:300:27:36

-How come he's not dead?

-Well, this was I was called out.

0:27:360:27:41

They thought he was going to die, so I was called to the scene

0:27:410:27:45

to reconstruct what had happened. Then we got the video evidence. I did a plan drawing,

0:27:450:27:51

measurements, then I go back to the office and wait for the outcome.

0:27:510:27:56

-People go out and take statements, interviewed Mark.

-Give us an idea.

0:27:560:28:01

This is one of the fastest impact accidents. If he'd been travelling across a football pitch,

0:28:010:28:07

-how long would it have taken?

-At 100mph, you'd cover a football pitch in just over two seconds.

0:28:070:28:13

The length of a football pitch.

0:28:130:28:15

So at 60mph, there's no time, you can see from the video, to react or change direction.

0:28:150:28:21

-And he's on the kerb.

-That's right.

-So you expected this to be a death.

0:28:210:28:26

We did. That's why I was called out. It was miraculous that Mark survived.

0:28:260:28:31

How will you change people and stop this going on?

0:28:310:28:35

To be honest, riding bikes is about having fun and people will do this.

0:28:350:28:40

These are 150mph rocket machines.

0:28:400:28:42

Yes, absolutely. The idea that we think is best is to engage with the bikers

0:28:420:28:48

and see what they want and help them, educate them in training with how to improve their skills.

0:28:480:28:55

We can never get away from somebody like Mark

0:28:550:28:59

doing what he did. There always will be one individual who does that.

0:28:590:29:04

But for those bikers who want to test their skills, we'll take them to a safe environment,

0:29:040:29:10

with proper training, and not let the bike outstrip their ability. That's what's basically happening.

0:29:100:29:16

The bikes outstrip the ability. And at a blind corner you can't stop.

0:29:160:29:21

I want to talk about safety. Equipment is key.

0:29:210:29:25

Wearing the right kit can make a massive difference,

0:29:250:29:29

but I still can't understand how you hit like that and you're not dead.

0:29:290:29:34

-Let's talk about boots. Are these the ones you were wearing?

-Yes.

0:29:340:29:38

-Solid, they've got ankle braces...

-You can see the scuffs. It saved me.

0:29:380:29:43

-Simple as that.

-So you were lucky to get away with that with those. And we talk about leathers.

0:29:430:29:49

People think they're a bit flash and about what you look like.

0:29:490:29:53

In fact, this will stop you stripping all your skin off your body.

0:29:530:29:59

They've worked for him, 100%. They've done their job.

0:29:590:30:03

Whatever the extreme cost of leathers is, they've done the job.

0:30:030:30:08

Mark's testament to that.

0:30:080:30:10

-Interestingly, I was told that you had an inch-deep gouge...

-Yeah.

-..on your knee slide.

0:30:100:30:17

In case you don't know, when you go round a corner, you put your knee on the floor.

0:30:170:30:23

-There was an inch-deep gouge.

-That's the edge. It went along there.

0:30:230:30:28

It was that deep into the nee slide.

0:30:280:30:30

-Are you a better rider now?

-I genuinely believe, hand on heart, that I've learned a lot.

0:30:300:30:36

I've studied videotapes and all that before I started riding.

0:30:360:30:40

This is one of the things we teach at the riding school - how to use your brakes properly.

0:30:400:30:46

If you use your brakes properly, a bike's tyres are better than car tyres.

0:30:460:30:52

If they've got adhesion, but you hit diesel, gravel...

0:30:520:30:56

All we're saying is we'll never change people's views completely,

0:30:560:31:00

but think about it, be sensible. You could have killed somebody and yourself. Thanks for coming in.

0:31:000:31:07

-But amazing that you're here to talk to us.

-Thank you.

0:31:070:31:11

Now there is no stopping a sneeze.

0:31:110:31:13

Its power is so strong, in some cases it can match the speed of a tornado at over 100mph.

0:31:130:31:20

In this next film, a sneeze is all it takes to put Andrew out of action for a whole week.

0:31:200:31:26

Ambulance crew Sarah McDonald and Niki Robins are on a blue light call to the bookies.

0:31:270:31:34

One of the punters is in serious pain, but this time it's nothing to do with what happened at the races.

0:31:340:31:41

They find Andrew in agony. He's dislocated his shoulder

0:31:410:31:46

and not for the first time.

0:31:460:31:49

-It's been out six or seven times.

-OK, when was it last out?

0:31:490:31:54

A year ago, a year and a half maybe.

0:31:540:31:56

They can't do anything here to put the shoulder back in place, but they can ease the pain.

0:31:560:32:02

As Niki prepares the pain-relieving gas, Sarah supports his arm.

0:32:020:32:07

-Aah!

-Sorry.

0:32:070:32:09

-That's fine. How many times?

-Eight.

0:32:110:32:16

Eight?!

0:32:160:32:17

OK, mouth closed. That's the one. Well done.

0:32:170:32:23

Right, slowly stand up.

0:32:230:32:25

Don't step back.

0:32:300:32:32

It may have happened to him many times before, but it doesn't make the pain easier to deal with.

0:32:330:32:40

Andrew needs every gasp he can get of the Entonox.

0:32:400:32:44

Don't take a quick few puffs. Take five good puffs.

0:32:440:32:49

OK?

0:32:530:32:54

Lovely. Up you come.

0:32:550:32:57

-That's it. Keep going.

-Well done.

0:33:000:33:02

Right, hold that in your teeth.

0:33:030:33:06

Once inside, they put on a sling. This will take the weight of the arm off the shoulder socket.

0:33:060:33:13

OK, calm down.

0:33:140:33:17

I can see how painful it is, but just try to relax.

0:33:170:33:21

Try not to think about it. Think about what you were doing.

0:33:210:33:26

Nice and relaxed, nice and calm.

0:33:260:33:29

Well done.

0:33:300:33:32

OK?

0:33:330:33:34

Andrew had just popped into the bookies to have a flutter.

0:33:340:33:39

-I'm a big fan of Tony McCoy and he's got a few rides.

-Put any on?

-No.

0:33:390:33:44

You didn't get to? Oh! That would be rubbish.

0:33:440:33:48

All perfectly normal until something tickled his nose and he sneezed, popping his shoulder out.

0:33:480:33:55

Andrew's suffering a reoccurring injury. He's done it eight times.

0:33:550:34:00

The more often he does it, the weaker it becomes.

0:34:000:34:04

-I've been in the gym all morning.

-Been in the gym.

0:34:040:34:08

-So your muscles are floppier than normal.

-And... a simple sneeze has done the job.

0:34:080:34:14

Andrew thought he could cope without taking morphine, but the pain is unbearable.

0:34:160:34:22

Aaah!

0:34:220:34:23

Sarah prepares to give him an injection.

0:34:240:34:28

This is anti-sickness stuff, OK? It goes in a little slowly.

0:34:280:34:33

- Aaaah! - Keep taking big, long sips.

0:34:360:34:40

Then I'll give you the good stuff, but you've already had the codeine.

0:34:420:34:47

Once the morphine has taken effect, Sarah gets into the driver's seat while Niki keeps Andrew comfortable.

0:34:500:34:56

A bit better?

0:34:560:34:58

Aah!

0:35:000:35:01

Did we...did we speak too soon?

0:35:020:35:06

All that's left to do is let Andrew's partner Rebecca know that he's off to hospital.

0:35:060:35:13

Don't worry. Andrew is fine. He's dislocated his shoulder again.

0:35:130:35:17

Unfortunately, he sneezed and it popped out.

0:35:190:35:24

So, bless him, yeah. He's on his way to Basingstoke Hospital, known as North Hampshire.

0:35:240:35:30

Lovely. All right. Thank you, bye.

0:35:300:35:33

By the time they get to hospital, Andrew feels much more comfortable.

0:35:360:35:41

Now you support your arm in the best way you can. Watch that chair.

0:35:410:35:46

Just like the eight previous occasions, Andrew's shoulder will be manoeuvred back into place

0:35:480:35:53

and almost all the pain will be gone until it happens again.

0:35:530:35:58

Paul is still with us. I want to talk about sneezes. It sounds ridiculous to do that.

0:36:000:36:08

You use a lot of energy when you sneeze. It's the body's way of expelling irritating particles.

0:36:080:36:15

-You use a lot of energy.

-Nice(!) There's nothing we can do?

0:36:150:36:19

It's very hard to suppress it. It's pretty much going to happen.

0:36:190:36:23

Is there anything else we can do? I'm a terrible sneezer.

0:36:230:36:28

When you drive, it can be dangerous.

0:36:280:36:31

And it causes a lot of distraction. If you're on a motorway at speed,

0:36:310:36:36

it's not uncommon to have accidents caused by the distraction.

0:36:360:36:40

You can't help close your eyes.

0:36:400:36:43

It's very hard to, certainly. And the distraction of having your eyes shut could easily lead you

0:36:430:36:50

-to a little bump.

-What sort of things can cause it?

0:36:500:36:53

Anything irritant. Perfumes, pollen, they're the most common things.

0:36:530:36:58

-They get into your nose, irritate it, then you sneeze to eject it.

-OK.

0:36:580:37:02

If you're driving and feel a sneeze coming on, there's nothing to do?

0:37:020:37:07

-Nothing.

-Can you try to suppress it?

-Some people can a little bit, think about something else...

0:37:070:37:13

-Think about something else?

-But if it's going to happen, it'll happen, sadly.

0:37:130:37:19

Best not of it happens on the road. Heard of a dislocated shoulder?

0:37:190:37:24

-Not really. The muscles had been weakened...

-He'd had injuries.

-..so any minor force

0:37:240:37:30

-could have caused that to pop out. That happened here.

-Thanks very much.

0:37:300:37:35

The team here support police in many ways. They can run number plate checks, find addresses,

0:37:350:37:41

and give officers the information they need, but for Sarah here

0:37:410:37:45

it was map-reading skills that helped some women stuck in the mud.

0:37:450:37:50

-So you got a call, presumably?

-Yes.

-From the woman stuck in the mud?

0:37:500:37:55

No, the woman's grandmother.

0:37:550:37:58

She was phoning. She'd called them directly, as opposed to the police.

0:37:580:38:03

-Right.

-So I called them back.

-The woman stuck in the mud rang their grandmother?

-Yeah.

0:38:030:38:10

-And the grandmother rang? OK.

-Yeah.

0:38:100:38:13

-Do you know where they are?

-Not a clue. In Reading somewhere, in a field, but that's all we knew.

0:38:130:38:20

-Sinking in mud?

-Sinking in mud.

-So time was of the essence.

-Yes.

0:38:200:38:24

-How did you go about finding them?

-A lot of questions. Where they were travelling from, travelling to.

0:38:240:38:30

What road was the last road they saw,

0:38:300:38:33

any hedge lines, pylons? Anything to pin down their location.

0:38:330:38:37

-You called in a helicopter.

-We did.

-And they managed to spot them.

-Yes.

0:38:370:38:42

-You shouted out instructions?

-Yeah, we still had no idea exactly where she was.

0:38:420:38:48

So the caller could see the helicopter and she managed to give me directions

0:38:480:38:53

-to pass on to the helicopter.

-How did they get out?

-Once they saw them, we knew they'd be OK.

0:38:530:38:59

-The helicopter directed ground units in to pull them out.

-Lovely. Thank you very much.

0:38:590:39:06

Now the case of a fox cub that mistook a drain for his den.

0:39:060:39:10

Animal rescue specialist Buster Brown can tell us all about it.

0:39:100:39:15

The residents thought it was a young dog or a puppy in the drain system.

0:39:150:39:19

-Which makes sense. It was a suburban area.

-Yeah, a new housing estate.

0:39:190:39:24

An extension of the estate was being built, hence how the animal could get into the system.

0:39:240:39:30

It's in the drainage system. What did you do first?

0:39:300:39:34

I located it in a drain using a mirror and tried some chimney rods.

0:39:340:39:39

Unfortunately, I needed 24

0:39:390:39:41

-to reach the fox.

-Gosh.

-But that failed. I couldn't reach him.

0:39:410:39:46

-Chimney rods out. What next?

-I called for a local appliance.

-The fire fighters turn up.

-Yeah.

0:39:460:39:53

With the hose. I said what the idea was we would flood the drain and I would go into a manhole cover

0:39:530:39:59

and catch it in the net. Hopefully, it would run away from the water.

0:39:590:40:04

-It wouldn't get swept up. Did that work?

-No.

0:40:040:40:08

It was more elusive than we thought and went along a different system.

0:40:080:40:13

-Right. So you were just going to leave it to its fate.

-Well, my theory was that if we'd scared it

0:40:130:40:19

we'd encourage it to go back from whence it had come.

0:40:190:40:22

-Mm-hm.

-And we'd just made up all the equipment

0:40:220:40:26

-and somebody said they thought they heard it.

-And did they find it?

-Further up the road!

0:40:260:40:32

-Oh, no!

-It was working away all the time. At that stage, we managed to locate it and trap it.

0:40:320:40:38

-And the fire fighters got it out?

-They put the hose into the drain,

0:40:380:40:43

flooded the drain and, using the branch,

0:40:430:40:47

once they'd flooded the drain and it didn't come out, I said stop.

0:40:470:40:51

And the foreman withdrew his branch from the drain and the fox came out following it.

0:40:510:40:58

It didn't look very happy.

0:40:580:41:00

No, it was wet, bedraggled and hungry and it tried to give me a nip as well.

0:41:000:41:06

Let's see what it thought of you.

0:41:060:41:09

Well, that's a result.

0:41:110:41:13

It was...

0:41:140:41:16

His fur is incredibly dry.

0:41:170:41:19

Right, brilliant. Happy about that.

0:41:220:41:25

He's just not best pleased. All that time and effort.

0:41:250:41:29

He probably didn't understand we were trying to rescue it. It was frightened, very hungry.

0:41:290:41:35

We handed it back to the RSPCA and they were able to give it a good bill of health

0:41:350:41:41

-and it was released in the wild.

-Was it wet at the time?

0:41:410:41:45

Its fur on the outside was very wet, but the lower levels were dry,

0:41:450:41:49

so it hadn't got too wet or cold.

0:41:490:41:52

-Thanks very much.

-You're welcome.

0:41:520:41:55

Ahh. I wanted to introduce you. Remember I said about police uniforms? We had a quick look.

0:41:550:42:01

We saw the guys all kitted out. We've got Dan and and Aaron here to talk about what they wear.

0:42:010:42:08

-What kit have you got on?

-We've got our baton there, spray and handcuffs there.

0:42:080:42:15

And the whole vest-y thing?

0:42:150:42:18

This is our stab vest or body armour.

0:42:180:42:21

It's knife-resistant and shotgun blast-resistant.

0:42:210:42:25

-The spray, what does that do?

-That's incapacitant spray.

-How long does it take to work?

-It's instant.

0:42:250:42:32

-It's good, innit?

-Yes.

-It's a lot more butch.

0:42:320:42:36

-We've run out of time. Join us again next time for more Real Rescues.

-Bye-bye!

0:42:360:42:42

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd - 2011

0:43:000:43:04

Email [email protected]

0:43:050:43:07

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