Episode 13 Real Rescues

Today on Real Rescues, double trouble for a traffic cop.

He's dealing with one crash when a second happens before his very eyes.

Just to give you an update. It's minor injuries...

SKIDDING

Stand by. We've got a motorcycle RTC on the other side.

And cut off by a raging torrent,

five schoolgirls freezing, frightened and trapped on the wrong side of a swollen mountain stream.

Welcome to Real Rescues at the Thames Valley police control room near Oxford.

They're moving their units around like chess pieces,

from bobbies on the beat responding to 999 calls to specialist units like the Armed Response patrols

and, of course, traffic police.

First today, we see how difficult that job can be.

On a busy main road, PC Scott Davison has his hands full

at the site of an accident when a second one happens.

The whole thing is caught on camera.

It's one of the busiest times of the day, the early morning rush hour.

It's been raining and Scott's not surprised he's been called to a crash

on a packed dual carriageway.

It's a bit wet, so they probably slid a little bit.

It's quite a cold place at the moment. Let's see what we've got.

SIREN BLARES

The traffic's already ground to a halt.

There's a driver on the hard shoulder by one of the two damaged cars.

He's gone into the back of the blue car.

He's now suffering from whiplash and has asked for an ambulance.

If I can ask you to stay with the vehicle, OK?

Just so I know where you are. I'll get an ambulance.

With nobody too badly injured, it looks like this is a simple shunt.

However, 20 years in the service

has taught Scott that you must always expect the unexpected.

Just to give you an update. It's minor injuries...

SKIDDING

Stand by. We've got a motorcycle RTC on the other side now.

Can we have more units, please?

In a split second, this has turned into a far more serious incident.

The motorcyclist has been thrown from his bike,

sliding over ten metres in the outside lane

and is now writhing on the ground in the path of speeding traffic.

Stay down there, fella.

-You all right?

-Yes...

-Stay where you are. Stay calm, OK?

-You OK?

-Yeah.

-Keep talking to me.

The biker is conscious and talking.

However, he could still have suffered serious injuries.

Just relax.

-What's your first name?

-Danny.

-OK, Danny.

Scott knows the most important thing is to keep the motorcyclist still

to prevent him exacerbating any injuries he may have suffered.

You're best staying there for a bit.

A Good Samaritan is on the scene in minutes.

Jo was driving in front of the biker and saw it happen in her rear-view mirror.

Luckily, she's also a trained first aider and didn't hesitate in stopping.

The bike had obviously gone straight from underneath him

and he did hit the road quite hard.

He then slid for a long way.

I was expecting to have maybe badly broken legs, arms,

and he could have had internal injuries

that you might not have been able to see.

Can you get here as quick as you can? We have a motorcycle on the ground.

Echo three zero.

Scott has now single-handedly got to deal with two accidents on either side of the central reservation.

Fortunately, the drivers behind the biker have managed to stop.

And there's more help on hand.

Sam has also stopped. He's a Royal Navy first aider.

This extra pair of hands gives Scott the chance to concentrate on the increasing backlog of traffic.

Just one second, OK? One second and I'll get you through.

There's a huge tailback and an injured man is still lying on the road.

If we get you over here...

Scott needs to get the traffic moving,

but without endangering the lives of the motorcyclist and the people treating him.

At one point we were all sat still with Danny

and there was a slip road, so the rest of the traffic was using that.

It was quite noisy and there was a lot going on.

So it was quite daunting, really.

But at the time you don't really notice it

because you're focused on making sure the casualty, Danny, was OK.

An ambulance has been called, but Danny's in luck. A third motorist has come to help.

This time, it's a Royal Navy medic, Dr Richard Kershaw.

It's just as well, because Danny, the injured biker, is now getting very distressed.

He's lucky to be in such good hands.

But Dr Kershaw has no medicines or equipment with him

and Daniel clearly needs to be got off the road and taken to hospital as soon as possible.

Daniel is clearly not out of danger

and Scott is the only policeman on the road to control four lanes of traffic.

Scott has his work cut out managing the crashes.

Later, he discovers exactly what caused Danny's bike to suddenly slide from underneath him.

All the call handlers here have key information on their computers

to help them deal with all kinds of emergencies.

Richard has a good example of that. A lady phoned who was having a problem with a snake.

During the initial call, which my colleague took,

she reported she'd found a snake that had crawled into her house.

-Alarming!

-Reasonably! She had no idea of who to call or how to deal with it.

She called the police to ask for help.

Originally, the job was sent across to the radios for an officer to attend to help her.

-But they wanted more information.

-So you were handed the call because your colleague was snake phobic.

She wasn't a huge fan of snakes so asked if I could assist.

I called the lady back and she gave me a description. Using the pictures on the reference database,

we were able to determine that from what she was describing,

it sounded like a grass snake.

During that call there was a lot of banging and crashing in the background.

So I asked her what all the noise was.

She replied that her boyfriend was in the kitchen trying to grab it with barbecue tongs!

Which turned out to be the right thing to do?

In the end, he did manage to get it and took it out the door. So the police weren't required.

That's good. Also lots of other key information.

For example, if there was an accident involving a lorry,

they have information on the sides that you have here.

If a lorry is carrying a hazardous chemical, it has one of these plates on the side of it.

So if there's an accident on the motorway,

the caller, or the first officer on the scene

can describe the picture on the side.

So any eye-witness could say it's a toxic substance or radioactive substance

which is key for everybody to know.

Yes, then we can pass that on to any officers attending

and also the fire service so that they can assist us

-in dealing with the substance.

-Excellent. Thank you.

You might need a computer to help identify a snake,

but if you were shown two faces, for example, this one...

and this one...

could you tell the difference?

There hangs a tale that Graham Tabersham can tell us about.

I'll just check he's not on a call.

-Graham? All right?

-Yes, fine, yes.

I'll interrupt you for a second.

Talking about ID cards and people being good at recognising faces.

Right, yes. A long time ago, when I was a probationer,

I was dispatched with a detective constable

to go into some woods in Bracknell.

There'd been a robbery the night before

and we were asking members of the public if they'd seen anything the night before.

My colleague... What we used to do is approach people, show them our ID,

this is my current ID, it's not a warrant card, just a police identification card.

But basically, we show them the ID, tell them who we were

and proceed to ask them questions.

-Like, "Have you seen anyone dodgy near here?"

-Yes.

"Were you here last night? Did you see anything?"

So my colleague, the detective constable approached this man with a dog.

A man with a little dog. And as he approached him, he said, "Hello, sir. I'm DC so-and-so."

Whereupon the man took the warrant card from him, looked at it,

looked back at the DC, looked back at the card and said,

"No, mate. Haven't seen him."

Hadn't seen him. He thinks you're looking for this man!

-Looking face-to-face.

-That's right.

-You can't rely on eye witnesses, can you?

-Some!

That's fantastic. Lovely. Thank you very much.

Now, the brains of children under six years old aren't fully developed,

particularly in one important area called the hypothalamus.

One of its jobs is to control temperature.

So when a child has a fever, occasionally it can go so high it causes a fit.

It normally happens just once, but for little Harry, it's been happening for years.

Mum Zoe is distraught.

The ambulance is on blue lights. Niki is quickly but carefully negotiating the traffic.

They're on an emergency call to a five-year-old who's having convulsions.

Hello. Who's this little one?

The crew can see Harry is still having convulsions.

He has a history of suffering fits every time he has a fever.

He's been prescribed a drug, but it's the first time his parents have had to give it to him.

Mum Zoe is finding it very upsetting.

They gave it to him a year ago.

He's never had this one before.

I just gave him one millimetre about five minutes ago.

-I spread it between his teeth.

-That's fine.

Has he calmed down a bit since then? He's looking at us.

Yes, but he's been sick and it's just not right.

ZOE'S SOBBING MAKES WORDS UNCLEAR

Sarah tries to reassure her.

You've done everything right. Don't worry.

It's so horrible.

Febrile fits can happen in young children

when they get a high temperature and overheat.

Hello, Harry. Hello.

The fit seems to be wearing off, but Mum's worried he looks a bit floppy.

-Is that the medicine?

-It's doing its job.

-It's fine.

-Why's he gone to sleep like that?

-He's fine.

He's stopped fitting. It's just a residual twitch.

Could you guys grab a cold flannel? We'll pop him in the ambulance.

Harry's trying to get comfortable on the sofa. He wants to sleep.

But Sarah needs to get him in the ambulance.

She's very good at persuading youngsters into her arms.

Can I have a cuddle, darling? Oh, you can't be that heavy, can you?

Mum's going to come in the ambulance.

Harry's still shaking. It's important they keep him as cool as possible.

Do you want to sit there?

So you can keep stroking him with the flannel on.

Sarah and Niki can now start their tests.

-We're deliberately keeping him cool, guys.

-No history of a sore throat or cough or cold?

No. He had chicken pox a couple of weeks ago. He had a massive temperature.

-We were so pleased that he didn't have a fit.

-Exactly.

He's been free since not last September but the one before.

Zoe and Andrew are all the more worried because they thought Harry had grown out of these fits.

They hardly recognise the little lad shaking on the stretcher.

You'd love it in here if you weren't poorly. You'd be saying, "What does that do?"

Dad Andrew is going to meet them at A&E. Hopefully, it won't be too long a stay this time.

-You'll see your dad at the other end, Harry.

-I'll see you later.

Harry just wants to sleep.

Sarah phones over the details to the hospital as Niki sets off.

We've got a five-year-old boy. He's had a febrile convulsion

Probably lasted about 15 minutes, I'd say.

He's still shaking. There's no cause for this one. No current infections.

It started out of the blue.

In the past, these fits have always happened when Harry is ill or has an infection.

But this time, it seems to have happened out of the blue

although he did have an unsettled night.

He hasn't got a rash or anything, Zoe?

No. He did wake up last night, which I thought was unusual.

But I did his temperature this morning and it was 36.8.

It's not normally that high, to be honest, but I thought as it wasn't over 37...

-That's normal.

-I thought he was all right.

Poor Zoe is beside herself with worry.

Stop scaring Mummy like this. I don't like it!

In ten minutes, they're at the hospital.

-Zoe, when we get out, do you want to get out first?

-OK.

We'll pull you out on the bed.

These fits are not unusual in young children if there is a physiological reason.

But in Harry's case, Niki and Sarah don't know if that explains everything.

In children under six, their internal thermometer,

the hypothalamus, isn't developed properly.

So they overheat,

and then start convulsing.

They haven't come up with a formal diagnosis whether it's a long-term problem.

Harry's now in the hands of the doctors. Sarah has an encouraging update on his condition.

He's gone to the resus department, but he looks a lot better than the boy we brought in.

So fingers crossed for a good recovery.

Harry didn't like being kept in overnight in hospital

because his class was doing assembly the following day and he didn't want to miss it! Bless him!

-You were the paramedic looking after him.

-Yes.

I thought it was babies that couldn't control their temperature. But it's children up to six?

Yes. The hypothalamus in the brain has many jobs. One of them is acting as a thermostat for the body.

That doesn't get fully developed until the age of six.

That can play a part in kiddies having more problems than adults in controlling their temperature.

-And having the problem he was having.

-Febrile convulsions happen very commonly.

They look very frightening, but they're not that serious, luckily.

They happen when there's a sudden temperature rise in the child,

usually due to infection - chest infection, urine infection.

You get a temperature spike and the child then has a fit.

If you're a parent and see this, what should you do?

If they've never had a fit before, ring 999.

Time the fit. They can last five minutes or up to 15 minutes.

-A long time if you're watching it.

-A very long time. Very frightening, the first time.

Get them in the recovery position.

They shouldn't stop breathing during the fit, but make sure their airway is open.

Time the fit. Keep them cool. Move any unnecessary clothing

even if they feel cool to touch, it's a good idea to do that.

-Then just call us.

-Why do you time it? Why is it important to know?

We like to know how long the fit has been going on.

If it's likely to be coming to an end.

If it's a particularly long fit, there's more cause for concern.

You say keep them cold, but I might think the child starts to shiver.

Obviously not too cold if it's the middle of winter,

but there's nothing wrong in removing their clothing, leave them in their nappies.

Just down to underwear. And tepid bathing with a cool flannel on the head or neck.

-And keep nice and calm.

-Exactly. Main thing.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Still to come on Real Rescues. A sudden downpour and gentle streams have become white water rapids.

Mountain rescue must find a way to bring back five teenagers.

And a girl has broken her leg in a stable yard.

Dr Paul Rees needs to put the bones back in place there and then

or she could lose her foot.

I've had a look at the injury and it's quite displaced.

We'll need to realign the fracture.

We're returning to the A27 crash site.

PC Scott Davison is handling four lanes of rush-hour traffic and two separate crashes.

Members of the public with first-aid experience have stopped to help.

One of these Good Samaritans has a very personal reason for helping.

After sliding over ten metres along a busy dual carriageway,

a biker has been left lying in the middle of the A27.

To everyone's relief, the first ambulance has now arrived.

But it's on the opposite side of the road where the original two-car crash happened.

This one is a minor whiplash.

Rear-end shunts.

This one happened in front of us.

Doc's with him now. Probably best to go to this one first.

'Romeo Charlie Yankee.'

The ambulance crew get straight down to checking Danny out.

Another police unit has now arrived to help Scott.

You deal with that one while I sort this out.

Scott has discovered what he thinks may have caused the accident.

Where the bike's gone down, there's loads of oil in lane two.

He seemed to slip before he came off.

I'm not sure there was any contact with the vehicle.

There's oil on the road, so be careful.

They can divert much of the traffic along a slip road whilst the diesel is cleared.

But those cars already close to the slippery patch will have to be moved on cautiously.

You can go.

The fellow motorcyclists take particular care.

The second ambulance crew has arrived

and is checking the drivers who were involved in the original shunt.

Thankfully, they've both come away relatively unscathed.

However, Danny, the motorcyclist, has been immobilised on a board

as they can't be sure of the severity of his injuries.

He's going into the ambulance across the road so it's a team effort

to get him lifted over the central reservation barrier and onto the stretcher trolley.

He'll be taken to A&E to check for head and spinal injuries.

The crashed cars can now be removed by breakdown services.

The Highways Agency has been called out to clear the diesel on the opposite carriageway

before it's fully open to traffic.

This accident shows how vulnerable motorcyclists are.

It's also resonated strongly with Jo,

the first member of the public to stop and help.

Daniel's crash has brought back some painful memories.

My dad, my brother, my brother-in-law

a lot of our friends have bikes.

My eldest son's father was killed in a motorbike accident a couple of years ago.

So I know how easy it is to happen

and I know how easy it is for motorcyclists to get hurt.

I just wanted to make sure he was OK. I couldn't just drive off and not check.

Danny, who was in the accident there joins us. You were listening to what Jo was saying.

You can understand why she stopped to help and why it upset her so much at the same time.

Very definitely. My dad used to ride bikes and he's had several spills from bikes as well.

So I'm aware, unfortunately, how easy it is to come off the bike

and you're so vulnerable anyway

how much you're placing yourself at risk, unfortunately.

It's interesting. I'm a biker, and I've lost people that are close to me,

and there isn't a biker that hasn't. So a lot of people ask

why would you want to keep doing it if you know it's more dangerous and you're more vulnerable?

I just enjoy being on the bike.

It's also easier through the local traffic

but I just like being on the bike.

What's it like seeing yourself there? You were watching closely

those pictures of you laying on the ground.

I can't remember much of the accident, but I remember lying there thinking,

"This is not good. I shouldn't be here. It was the first thing I tried to do,

to stand up. Through previous experience I know you shouldn't,

-but it's what happens.

-I know. I've done that myself.

Let's talk through the accident. It said there was oil on the road.

Any accidents like that, I don't remember anything. One minute I'm driving, next I'm flat on my back.

Do you remember the point where you lost it? Was it because of the diesel?

That stretch of road is dual carriageway. There was an accident opposite and I was aware of that.

The cars ahead of me started slowing down to look at that

so I checked my mirror to make sure it was all clear, went into lane two,

to avoid the traffic ahead of me and just touched my front brake

and that was it. Next thing I remember I was rolling down the road.

That's the front brake. Lose traction and you're over the handlebars.

I'll tell you why it's important to wear safety equipment.

You've got good gear on at the moment.

-You sometimes ride in jeans?

-Unfortunately, yes.

Not a good idea. You should wear the equipment. This sits on the side of the engine.

Right.

This is normally a full piece of metal. The reason this has a hole in it is because?

That side hit the deck and it slid along for some distance

and the road acts like sandpaper.

That hole has been worn away as it slid down the road.

If you're not wearing protective kit,

that'll wear away your jeans, your skin and your bone.

They're called strip injuries. It's really nasty

-and you wouldn't be here now if you'd be in that situation.

-Definitely not.

-You'd only just changed?

-Yes.

A lesson there. The other thing I want to bring to your attention

was something I've not seen before on the side of a crash helmet. This is a new helmet.

The little green dot. What's that about?

That's for any first responder who attends.

If they see that, they know that inside the helmet is a card with details of the rider

including contact details and any known medical problems.

-So any particulars like rare blood group.

-Or allergies to any of the medicines.

You know, you ought to give up motorbiking cos it's dangerous and have a go on a scooter!

Unfortunately not. My track record on two wheels isn't exactly perfect.

-You've had an accident on a scooter?

-I've had several accidents.

That's the way it's going to be. Thanks for coming in, and carry on wearing protective clothing.

Will do.

Danny was lucky to avoid any serious injuries there.

But for this next young horse rider, the problems have only just started.

She's lying in a stable yard with a badly broken leg.

Critical care Doctor Paul Rees has to act fast

or the girl may lose her foot.

I've been called to an emergency close to Portsmouth

where an 11-year-old has been thrown from a horse at an equestrian centre.

Reports from the scene say she's broken her leg and has an open fracture.

The bone ends are protruding through the skin. It's a serious injury that will cause pain.

A fast-response paramedic and ambulance crew are already at the stables.

The girl had been riding her horse in the yard when it reared up

and fell over backwards, taking her with it.

The horse's weight landed fully on her ankle.

I've come to say hello. Any other injuries at all?

There's someone important, sweetheart. You've got a doctor here.

Hello, Lucinda. Very sore, is it?

We're going to give you some powerful painkillers.

It'll make it much better for you. We'll put a tiny needle in your hand, nothing to the pain you're in.

It's a very nasty break.

Lucinda has what's known as a compound open-wound fracture.

Lying in a stable doorway is not the best place to have one.

Of all the environments to have an injury like that, with dust and animal muck lying around,

the risk is that matter can get into the wound and cause an infection that could make her very sick.

With such a high risk of germs infecting the wound,

the team want to get it properly dressed as soon as possible.

Big breath in, hold it for a few seconds, then breathe out.

At her tender age, Lucinda is having to deal with pain that would be excruciating even for an adult.

She's having gas and air, but there's only a limited effect that will have.

If it were me, I'd rather have some decent intravenous painkillers as I'll do shortly.

Lucinda's parents are both at hand to offer as much comfort as they can.

-MUM:

-You are so brave, Lulu.

You really are.

-PARAMEDIC:

-Now, this is going to be a bit sharp, but stay as still as you can.

-Little scratch.

-You are doing so well. Little scratch coming now.

Nice and still for me. Nice and still. That's it, Lucinda. It's done.

With the morphine taking hold and Lucinda calmer,

Paul takes a closer look at her leg and realises he's going to have to resort to even stronger treatment.

I've had a look round the back and there's bone end exposure.

It's quite displaced so I'll need to realign the fracture.

I'm going to give her a bit of Ketamine,

a very powerful pain killer.

Without the use of a strong, fast-acting tranquilliser,

the pain of trying to reposition Lucinda's ankle

would be far too great for her to bear.

It'll feel cold in the back of your hand, darling.

It won't be an easy watch for Mum and Dad.

We need to gently realign it and make it more anatomical.

We'll give her some powerful medication to make her very sleepy indeed.

Don't worry. It's what we're doing.

Failing to correct her ankle here and now

would increase the chances of Lucinda sustaining permanent damage.

The reason for realigning the bone ends is to avoid damage to other tissues,

to preserve the blood supply to the foot and the skin and other tissues.

They've given her as much sedation as they can

to protect her from the pain. But even so,

the next moments will not be pleasant for her.

How are you doing there?

If you're squeamish, you might want to glance away.

LUCINDA SCREAMS

The ordeal is quickly over, and Lucinda's leg is in a straighter position.

-Well done, my darling.

-Well done, darling.

It doesn't look pretty, but one person holds the limb

upstream of the injury and the other person, me, downstream,

gently manipulating it into a normal alignment.

Without a general anaesthetic, it's always going to cause pain and distress.

But we're careful to put on board a load of medication before you do the procedure

that means that memory of the event is reduced.

Well done.

Sorry about that. Well done.

It's very sore while we're fiddling with it.

It's a bit sore?

-My leg really hurts!

-What does?

-My leg.

I know, sweetheart. That's what we're trying to sort, darling. You'll soon feel a lot better.

That's fine.

Now it's properly bandaged, they put Lucinda's leg into a vacuum splint.

CALLS OUT IN PAIN

Mould that round.

It's going to feel a bit tight on your leg now.

It both cushions and tightly holds the broken ankle in place

so the team can move her.

There may be no prizes for bravery here,

but Lucinda has stayed remarkably calm throughout the whole thing.

Lucinda coped very well with her injury. It was very painful, very distressing.

Thankfully we were able to give her some very powerful intravenous drugs to control her pain.

We're getting her on a scoop stretcher to get her off the floor

and then in the back of the ambulance and away to get this fixed.

It definitely needs an operation. It's quite serious.

It's been an upsetting experience for Martin and Tracey.

Their daughter is safe, yet they know there could be a long road to recovery ahead.

It appears that that's all that's wrong.

-We'll just check her blood pressure again.

-She's finding it hard to breathe.

She wants to take a breath in.

She's fantastic, isn't she?

Lucinda will now go to the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth

where she'll receive a full set of x-rays before undergoing an emergency operation

to fix her ankle.

How are you doing? All right?

Lucinda's now in plaster with pins and plates in her leg

but she might need a bone graft. If she does, very good luck to her.

The operators in this control room can view the officers on the ground using mapping systems

on their computers. They can see their movements in real time

and using colour tags, they know what their current situation is.

Alastair Cramp is going to take us through this.

If we settle in here. Important for you to know where everybody is

so you can allocate them, or if you have an incident, send the right people.

-That's right. This is Reading, for example.

-Right.

All these tags denote officers we've got in the area.

So this is their call sign. They'll be in a van.

-Other patrol units here as well.

-So the red one,

if we go up to status, is immediate.

So that denotes the status of an incident running at the moment as immediate,

which is the most serious type of incident we could have.

Up top we've got a blue.

Blue is urgent. So they'll either be on their way to or at that incident.

-The green ones?

-The green will mean they're not attached to any incident at the moment.

So if you zoom out, I can't see any armed response on there.

-Why is that?

-We've only got a number of armed response units booked on at any one time.

This is just Thames Valley police area. There's one there to the north-west,

north-east, south-west and south-east as well.

This unit is the firearms commander as well.

There's a red there, which means it's something they're going to investigate. Thank you, Alastair.

The armed response officers at Thames Valley are ready for anything,

but recently they were sent to something unexpected.

Let's chat to Paul Thornton.

I'll squeeze in beside you.

-A chainsaw attack on a post box?

-Yes.

-That seems fairly lunatic!

Quite strange, yes. We had a report of a male attacking a post box

with a chainsaw.

We've possibly got a dangerous man at large with a chainsaw.

So the inspector had to assess it and put a level to it. He despatched an armed response vehicle

with authority to use Tasers if necessary.

-What was it, then?

-The armed response officers turned up

and there was a bee keeper there, trying to fume the bees out of the post box!

-I see! So the fumigator thing they thought was a chainsaw!

-Yeah.

Mistaken identity. Not a chainsaw at all!

So those are the calls you hope that the way they turn out, you can get on with a normal day's work!

-Very much so, yes!

-Lovely.

-It's a first-class job!

Absolutely! First-class job! See? All the jokes are here, too! Thanks very much!

Five teenagers had embarked on a three-day trip

but things go terribly wrong when the weather turns.

The mountain rescue team are called out after one small slip

lands the girls in big trouble.

It's a wet and windy summer's day in the Lake District.

In the remote valley of Ennerdale, five teenage girls are in difficulty.

The Cockermouth Mountain Rescue are answering the emergency call.

All this footage is recorded on the leader Mike Park's helmet camera.

The team load up with their specialist equipment.

They know the girls are trapped by a swollen and raging river.

Underfoot, the ground is sodden and slippery.

Streams that can usually be crossed with a couple of steps

are now almost impassable.

The girls, experienced walkers, got into trouble as they made their way across this raging beck.

One of them lost her footing in the water, spraining her ankle.

She was saved by her friends, but now they're all trapped on the far side.

Mike is secured by a line as he makes his way across the water to them.

Life jackets and helmets are passed across for the girls.

It would be far too dangerous to attempt a rescue without them.

Guided by the mountain rescue team,

the girls now have to make their way over the treacherous boulders

through the roaring water to safety.

Thanks to their own cool heads and the experience of the rescue team,

it all goes well.

Mike and Martin are here watching it. Pretty dramatic!

They were experienced, these walkers.

Yes, they set off for a three-day hike in the Lakes.

They had all the gear with them.

It was just that the weather changed so dramatically.

It put them in a very difficult situation, the weather.

Yes, they were due to cross a river

that normally is literally a step.

Due to a sudden downpour it had become a raging torrent.

They were trapped. They couldn't have crossed it unaided.

-So fantastic you were called out.

-It was like all call-outs.

We were called by the police and told the details.

Because of what we were told, we just went accordingly.

-They managed to drive themselves out and carry on?

-We got the girls down to a youth hostel

and gave them 20 minutes to sort themselves out

and after a little chat, they decided to go on.

It turns out that one had saved the other by pulling her out of the...

They'd attempted to cross the river and one had been washed off her feet.

Another girl pulled her out and rescued her.

So she was wet and cold, as were they all.

-So, yeah.

-They didn't have this crucial bit of kit you have here.

-This rope.

-No, we wouldn't expect anybody to have this.

-Show us.

So if you were crossing a river, this is how you would do it?

-It's a line we put over the river to ensure our safety.

-Go on, then.

In the middle of the control room.

That's incredibly effective, isn't it?

That helped you get across. You wouldn't expect them to have that,

but what key things do you expect people to take on the mountain?

The girls were very well prepared.

But anybody going out into the fells should have a minimum of a map and compass and know how to use it.

A torch, a whistle, and enough spare waterproof clothing to deal with any eventuality.

-If the weather deteriorates, to be prepared for it.

-A whistle?

-If you need to attract attention,

you can blow a whistle much longer than you can shout for

-and it can be heard over a greater distance.

-OK, I want to ask,

a mobile phone. We always think, "I'll call on my mobile" but that's not quite right.

-Mobile phones save more lives than is causing us problems.

-Good.

But you've got to remember they do run out of charge

and they don't have a signal at times.

But when they do work, yes, it can make our lives a bit easier.

The lovely thing is you're volunteers. You're a maths teacher!

-Yeah.

-What happens when you get a call? Do you leave the kids?

I do, yeah. It doesn't happen very often, fortunately.

The school is local, it's Cockermouth School,

and they're very supportive of what I do.

-As long as I nip over the corridor and let the office know!

-You don't leave them alone!

The senior team come and help out, so it's great.

-They're very supportive.

-Great to meet you. Thank you.

-Thanks.

Moving on, it's an instinct that never goes away -

a mum's need to protect her children.

Even at 85 years old, Joan loves to help her daughter.

But this time it hasn't quite worked out as she planned.

Paramedic Andy Ashford is heading out to an 85-year-old woman

who's got herself into trouble trying to be a good mother.

Joan's laid up in the conservatory with a nasty wound on her leg.

-I'm so, so sorry.

-What have you caught it on?

A Lloyd Loom chair.

Everything was hunky-dory until she wanted a piece of cake!

"Madam" is, in fact, Joan's daughter, Christine.

The reason Joan is waiting on her

is because Christine has just had an operation. Guess what - it was on her leg!

Ironic, isn't it,

that this has happened!

Christine's surgery on her leg was just last week.

Joan's popped round to help her out for the day.

She just went to make a cup of tea

and the next thing I knew she was laughing

and said, "You won't believe what's happened."

I looked everywhere for the cake tin.

And Alan, for some reason, put it on top of the cupboard.

Can I have your finger?

She's caught her leg on the chair trying to get a piece of cake!

So poor old mother has now got a worse gash than I've got!

The wound on Joan's let needs immediate attention.

The loose flap of skin will have to be held back in place with Steri-Strips

and then a specialist dressing applied.

I'm going to need back-up and she'll have to go into Bournemouth. Over.

So it's a trip to hospital for Joan. But she's more worried about Christine than herself.

I've arranged for an ambulance to come and collect her.

Your daughter can sit down, put her feet up and watch telly!

Oh, I can't leave her.

You're not going to be that long. They won't keep you that long down there.

They'll get this dressed correctly and you'll be on your way home.

No problem there.

I'm just literally going to put this over there.

Andy needs to put a temporary dressing on Joan's leg

to protect it while she travels.

Right. If we can just bring your leg up. That's it.

-Let me know if it's pressing down.

-No, that's lovely.

I don't want to do it too tight and give you pain.

-Is it stinging?

-Yes.

This will help once the air gets... It covers the air up.

That'll stop it stinging.

They have a lot of problems with legs in this family.

It's only two weeks since Joan injured her other leg

on the open door of her dishwasher.

My husband says I should wear shin guards!

Actually, that's not a bad idea! Go and buy a pair of shin guards.

"You should have shin guards on your leg."

-What's your first name?

-Joan.

Next of kin. Husband, was it?

-He's gone.

-Has he?

-Gone ten years.

The way you were talking, he told you to put shin guards on yesterday!

Thankfully, Joan hasn't hurt herself anywhere else and this leg should heal nicely.

Luckily, she hasn't ripped all the skin apart, which is good.

Sometimes you can tear skin off, then it makes it harder.

But it's all intact.

-So she'll have a pair?

-She'll have a matching pair!

So when she goes to the doctor's...

Let's leave that one for tomorrow!

She'll be able to do two in one go, then!

Chris is under instruction to take it easy. Joan can't stop being mum despite her own injury!

Is there anything you want before I go?

-No, Mum.

-Would you like an apple, or...

-I don't want anything.

A bit of cake?

-No, I don't want anything, thanks.

-Are you sure?

You just go and get on.

But Joan insists on fetching her a glass of water.

Cheers!

Only then is she happy to leave Chris and head off with Andy to hospital.

She was still thinking about her daughter. And she was not wasting anybody's time.

Sometimes that happens here, Dave?

-Yes.

-A woman had been thrown out of her car by her husband during the night.

She called you. You took it very seriously.

She was in the woods, it was a domestic.

We spent many hours searching for this female.

Then we did a subscriber's check, traced her to her home address

only to find she was tucked up in bed.

-And she hadn't called you?

-No.

-How much money had that cost?

We estimated about £250,000 for hours and resources employed.

-The helicopter was up and all that.

-Yes.

£250,000! She could have called. Did she say sorry?

Eventually!

£250,000! That's terrifying. Here's another sad fact for you.

I'm afraid the mountain rescue team don't have a calendar! The girls in the office were asking.

-They don't have one?

-I'm encouraging them to do one!

-Maybe next Christmas!

-Join us next time for more Real Rescues.

-Bye!

-Bye!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd