Episode 5 Real Rescues

Today, a three-year-old boy calls 999 and tells them his mummy is on the floor and can't speak to him.

And a sight that brought a dual carriageway to a halt -

a racehorse stuck in the front passenger seat of a van.

If the horse had managed to get out of that cab by whatever method,

what we didn't want is a young racehorse galloping around six lanes of traffic.

Hello and welcome to Real Rescues.

We're at the heart of the emergency operation

in the South Western Ambulance control room,

one of two in the area that takes hundreds of thousands of calls a year.

Not just from people who live in Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly,

Devon, Dorset and Somerset, but people from all over Europe passing through on business or holiday.

Some make 999 calls and have no idea where they are.

We'll get more on how they find them a bit later.

The sights that greet emergency services at major road accidents are many and varied,

but occasionally, even they can't believe what they're seeing.

This unusual rescue happened after a very unsuccessful day at the races.

The 2.30 at Brighton. The horse in stall 6 is called Blue Vinney

and his race is about to be extremely short-lived.

'They're off and they're racing. Coming out of the stalls, Blue Vinney has unseated the rider...'

If the sight of Blue Vinney unseating his rider wasn't bad enough,

his team were about to get an even worse fright on the journey home.

Yes, you CAN believe what you're seeing.

Blue Vinney IS halfway in the driver's cab.

What's worse, he crashed through as the vehicle was being driven along a very busy A-road.

For the driver Pippa, her day with Blue Vinney has been fraught from the start.

He was very unsettled all the way to the races.

I made the lad who was with me stay in with him all the way there.

And um, got to the races.

I thought he'd be a bit of a naughty boy, reared up coming out of the stalls, leapt in the air.

The jockey fell off, so he ended up running loose.

As Blue Vinney was loaded up for the trip back, he became restless once more.

He started thrashing again.

All right then...

He seemed to settle down and they continued on their way,

but half an hour into the journey, Blue Vinney started kicking and thrashing about. Seconds later...

Bang, crash, wallop! Over he came.

Blue Vinney somehow leapt over this barrier, throwing his full weight against the door to the cab.

It flung open and he was next to the driving seat.

Pippa managed to remain calm enough to pull over.

As she called for help, Blue Vinney was throwing himself about in the cab.

-Hello. Police, please.

-The horse's head, shoulders and front legs were almost in the driving seat,

his back legs in the cab's sleeping area behind.

Horses just head for daylight. They get panicky.

It doesn't matter what it is or where it is.

I was just worried that he kept coming towards the windscreen.

We tried to hold his head up above on a little shelf above the windscreen to stop him actually coming through.

Blue Vinney is in an incredibly vulnerable position.

Whichever way he goes, he could fall and injure his legs. That would put an end to his racing career.

SIREN WAILS

Pippa's 999 call was passed to West Sussex Fire Service.

As soon as they arrive, they block out all daylight coming into the cab.

This simple act has averted an even bigger disaster.

He would have gone through if they hadn't turned up and put the tarpaulin over the windscreen.

If the horse had managed to get out of that cab

by whatever method, what we then didn't want is a young racehorse

galloping around six lanes of traffic.

Vet Imogen Burrows has arrived too.

By now, Blue Vinney is calm, but that could change at any moment.

With animal rescues and certainly with a young, lively racehorse, we want a calm situation.

By quietening everything down, hopefully, the animal quietens itself down.

The police have closed all six lanes of traffic,

but it's too dangerous to try and move the horse out of the driver's seat without sedation.

Imogen is controlling him by holding on to his head

while her colleague Duncan Harrison makes him safe to work around.

A horse who's full of adrenaline can be very hyper-sensitive

to touch, to light.

And when they are hyper-sensitive, any of those stimuli can result in a panic

which means that you have a horse of 350, 400 kilos

who is basically out of control in a very confined area.

That can result in injury to anybody who's in that area next to them.

The precision of the vets is vital.

The amount of sedation has to be exact. If it's too much,

he'll become unconscious and impossible to move.

Too little and the safety of the firefighters and a packed dual carriageway is at risk.

So how on earth do you get a horse out of that situation? Later, we will find out. Nick?

How extraordinary those pictures were!

Now, these people here take calls from emergencies all the time.

-I want to talk to Erika here. Are you on a call?

-No.

-Lovely. I can have a chat.

-Not everyone who calls up is polite, are they?

-No, definitely not.

-Because? Why?

One day I took a call from a gentleman who, from the minute we had his phone number,

thought it was all right to swear at me down the phone.

His wife had collapsed in his pub,

so I took his phone number and went to get his address.

Then we have to repeat it to make sure we've got the right details,

but he didn't know the ambulance was on the way from the minute we took the phone number.

-People think, "Why are you asking me stupid questions?"

-Yeah, so he was getting irate.

We have to understand they are in a panic. His wife had collapsed on the floor and he didn't know what to do.

All the time he's swearing at me, it's not giving me enough time to help him out with his wife.

-If he's busy arguing with you, you're not getting anywhere.

-You're wasting time.

Did you explain that? You strike me as someone who's not backwards in coming forwards.

-You asked him to calm down?

-Yeah, I asked him politely to calm down and he did listen.

He did as much as he could to help his wife.

At the end of the call, once the crew had arrived, he apologised to me

and invited me round for dinner at his pub if ever I was passing.

-Aw! That's nice.

-I know.

-Did it make up for the swearing?

-Yeah, it was OK.

-I understood he was in a panic.

-Have you ever taken him up on the offer?

-I didn't, no.

-Have you not? That's a free meal going there.

-Well, perhaps I'll go back now.

-Whatever pub you go in now, they'll be going, "I wonder if that was the landlord?"

-Yeah.

-Thank you.

Be nice to these people!

When we see an ambulance racing to hospital with its blue lights on,

we have no idea what's going on inside.

The crews are not just carrying patients. They often end up giving them active treatment as well.

Paramedics Sarah MacDonald and technician Nicky Robbins are heading to a lay-by just off the M4.

A driver has pulled over with a sick passenger.

A 31-year-old man was being driven back home to Wales by his dad

when he started suffering epileptic seizures.

Sarah and Nicky park up in the lay-by just in front of their patient.

Tommy, let's get you on board. You're really hot, aren't you?

Do you feel well enough to walk to the ambulance? Yeah?

-All right?

-Yeah.

-You are absolutely boiling.

-Oh, sorry.

-OK?

-He was sick at the services as well.

-All right.

He was holding himself tight, you know?

-Sorry.

-No, you're all right. Are you OK to walk?

-Yeah.

-Sure?

-Yeah.

Tommy suffers from seizures about once every 12 months.

They were triggered after he fractured his skull in an accident a few years ago.

-Is that your back?

-Yeah.

The strain on his body from this latest episode has taken its toll.

He looks worn out and has severe pain in his back.

Are you aware when your seizures are going to happen or do they come out of the blue?

Pop that on your finger for me.

Have you taken medication this morning?

-Epilim.

-And you took it this morning?

-Yeah.

-So everything's been as you would normally, but whilst travelling, you've had two seizures?

-Yeah.

Sarah and Nicky want to check Tommy's vital signs.

As well as the pain, he's also been sick when they stopped at a service station

and it's unusual for him to have seizures in such quick succession.

-Right, attacking from both angles, OK?

-Are you ready?

-Yeah.

Your arm's going to get tight.

Are you under any stress? Undo your legs for me. ..No?

-He runs a pub, so he's probably under less stress the past couple of days than normal.

-Yeah.

It's been quite a shock for Tommy's dad Chris as well.

They were on their way back to South Wales after visiting relatives.

He's never witnessed Tommy's seizures first-hand before.

When he was actually having his seizures, was it full-on or was it just shaking...?

-Slightly shaking.

-Slightly shaking.

The first one was quite violent. The last one was...

-I don't know, a third as bad.

-How long did they last for? Do you remember?

-Just roughly.

A couple of minutes. And the last one was probably a minute, if that.

-Did he go blue at all?

-He did go a bit, yeah.

-Try and slow that breathing down.

Tommy's tests are clear, apart from his oxygen level which is a bit low. However, he's feeling unwell again.

There's too many things that aren't quite right, so we need to take you into hospital, get you checked over.

From here, you go to Swindon. It's the next junction along and you'll see it from Junction 15.

Chris is going to follow in his car, but as he is about to leave,

he hears Tommy groaning in the ambulance. Things have taken a turn for the worse.

We're just keeping you on your side, Tommy, OK?

GROANING

No, let's sit him up. He's just trying to get comfortable, isn't he?

He's suffering another string of short seizures.

One after another, they take hold. There's nothing they can do, but get him safely to hospital.

Tommy, how are you feeling?

You've had another few fits. We're going to take you to hospital.

With Nicky driving, the ambulance sets off along the motorway.

Chris follows in his car.

Sarah is in the back of the ambulance, making sure Tommy stays safe on the trolley.

She's also phoning ahead to the hospital, but Tommy remains her first priority.

SHE GIVES OBSERVATIONS OVER PHONE

GCS...12.

Don't stretch it, my darling. That's it, straight down.

Sarah gives oxygen and a mild tranquilliser to help keep him calm.

OK? You've had lots of fits.

We've given you some diazepam and we're taking you to hospital.

Try and relax. We'll be there soon.

You're doing really well, Tommy.

Tommy, exhausted by the convulsions, is sleeping peacefully as they arrive at the hospital.

I was a bit frantic then. We were worried that he could have had another fit

and sure enough, he had about four or five more just now.

It was almost a condition called status epilepticus which is when you fit all the time,

but the diazepam seems to have done the job and he's stopped fitting and is sleeping quite soundly.

-Let's get him a bit more comfortable to go straight into Resus.

-OK.

Look, Tommy, what a nice day!

Can you open your eyes? Yeah, marvellous.

Tommy can be reunited with his dad

before being checked over by the doctors to see what's happening with his epilepsy.

-Sarah was one of the paramedics helping Tommy. Poor Tommy, he was having a tough time.

-Very tough.

It started off quite tranquil and calm. Were you caught off guard by his fits?

Yeah, we were. We're always prepared

for somebody who's already had an epileptic fit to have a further fit,

but we were quite occupied with the back pain that was presenting,

so as we dealt with that, the new fit caught us completely unawares.

It was quite difficult for you, cos he's about twice the size of you, to keep him under control.

A lot of effort to keep him safe.

And we can see you here. You're on the phone as well as trying to look after him.

-How important is this call?

-It was very important.

We were trying to let the hospital know that we had a continuous fitter on board.

We need the doctors ready to give him any further diazepam he might need,

so I was trying to communicate all the obs I've done and keep Tommy calm and stop him hurting himself.

-It was a bit like a wrestling match.

-Yeah.

-You called it "status epileptus"?

-Yeah, status epilepticus.

-What does that mean?

-It's a fitting disorder

when somebody has continuous fits with no longer breaks than five minutes apart.

Tommy was doing that because he had about five in the back with a minute break in between,

so he must have been exhausted.

What's striking, watching you trying to hold him down, is how physical your job is.

Yeah, it's a lot harder sometimes. Usually, it's not like that,

but when you're doing everything you can to stop somebody hurting themselves on the defibrillator

-and to keep them calm, it's very strenuous.

-And at the same time, the ambulance is going pretty fast?

Yeah. We were on the motorway, so no sharp bends and only one or two roundabouts,

-which Nicky let me know about.

-You knew those were coming up, so you could hold him down?

-Yeah.

-How's Tommy doing? He hadn't had those before.

-He'd only had one fit on one day before

and his last fit was quite a while ago, so for him to have seven or eight is very unusual.

-And worrying as well.

-Yeah.

-Thank you. Tommy was checked over and all those tests came back as normal.

He was allowed to go home that afternoon and he hasn't had multiple fits since.

His dad put the seizures down to the stress of a very long journey. Nick?

Earlier on, I was mentioning to you the number of people

who can come through the area controlled by this control room...

17 and a half million people extra come into the area controlled by these people here

in terms of allocating ambulances and so on. It's a lot. And a lot of people don't know where they are.

-We'll have a chat to Kev Leake who's a dispatcher, if he's not on a call.

-No, I'm OK at the moment.

About people who ring up, who are in difficulty, but don't know where they are.

-No, it's quite common.

-Really?

Yeah, I had a call not long after I first started.

It was a gentleman who was on the Isle of Wight.

He went for a walk in his garden, fell down a cliff,

landed on a grass ledge and managed to call from a mobile.

He's on the mobile. He knows he's fallen off a back garden somewhere,

-but as he's on holiday, he's not sure where?

-He hasn't got a clue.

-All he could tell me is he was in the Yarmouth area, there was a post office...

-Let's look at the map.

At this point, Kev goes in to do some detective work. So he says...?

OK, in the Yarmouth area, so I'm scrolling round to find the Yarmouth area.

He's telling me little scraps of information.

He tells me there's a post office, a church, police station, etcetera,

so I'm pretty confident he's talking about this area here.

Then he says, "It's up from there," so I'm looking up.

He says he can see a beach in the daytime, so I look up and all I can see...

This is the first set of cliffs you come across.

And you're looking then for houses that back on to the cliffs.

-On your other map, you can see them marked, those squares there?

-Yeah.

This is the first cliff you come across, these are the first houses what back on to the cliff,

so then I'm looking in this area.

Every time he mentions something, I'm searching the map, looking.

-And he said during the day he looked out from the back garden and could see...

-He could see across here.

-He was describing viewpoints what matched up with this place.

-So you dispatch people there and...

My colleagues contacted the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service who search the area,

listening to the call at the same time.

The RNLI were dispatched as well as Coastguard...

The other thing I wanted to ask... This is great that you do this and very exciting that you can do this.

-Can't they triangulate mobile phones so they can find them?

-They can do. It takes a long time, though.

If we get a call from a mobile, sometimes we can pinpoint it to a certain area.

-It's a wide area.

-But it's only useful if they're on a main road in the middle of fields.

Then you know they're on that road somewhere. It narrows it down to a stretch of road.

The police can do more accurate triangulation, but it's a long process.

-So these guys do their own detective work. Thank you.

-No problem.

The 999 team never know what to expect when they pick up the phone and answer an emergency call.

This rescue has it all. It starts when a young boy calls 999

to let them know that his mum has collapsed.

Oh, goodness! The call taker we heard there is Debbie.

You've got a three-year-old on the phone and you hear there's a one-year-old. How was it going?

You just worry. You've two children there that are not being supervised.

Mum's unwell, so you're thinking you need to help them straight away,

-keep him on the phone.

-One of the key things that he had managed to do

was call on a landline because that gave you a key piece of information.

Absolutely. If he comes on the landline, the address comes straight up on my screen.

-We know we can get to him quickly, hopefully.

-Did you feel the pressure

when you knew that three people's lives were resting in your hands?

Yeah, it was just keep him on the phone,

making sure that we could hear everything that's going on before we get there and help as best we can.

You've got children yourself. Did that help you with the conversation?

Yeah, I have a little boy, so keeping him entertained, chatting all the time

definitely helped me relate to him a lot more.

And as the conversation's going on, you know that Mum is unconscious.

It's vital that Debbie gets accurate information from Harvey and that he stays on the phone.

-That was a worrying moment.

-"Bye!"

-He thinks he's done his job, doesn't he, at that point?

-Yeah.

-So how did you manage to keep him on the phone?

-We talked about what he'd got for Christmas

and managed to keep him on there. And asking him about his sister and his mum and what she did before.

The sister was tiny. Where was she?

She was in the kitchen with him.

-I tried to find out what she was doing, but we were concerned about Mum.

-It's heart stopping.

Presumably your imagination is running riot or do you keep nice and calm?

You have to, for the little boy. You've got to keep reassuring him

that everything will be fine.

And tell us, he needed to open the door, didn't he, for the crew? How did you persuade him to do that?

Well, the crew had organised him from the other side to get the key.

He said to me they were going out, so the keys might have been in the handbag.

You're constantly thinking of the next step to get us in.

And it's not over yet. You managed to keep Harvey playing to his strengths.

Harvey, well done. Here he is. How amazing, listening to that call. And very emotional for you.

-Yeah.

-What was going on? You'd collapsed?

-I'd been in the kitchen,

doing my washing. Harvey asked for a drink.

I told him I didn't feel so good and then I collapsed on the floor.

-Harvey picked the house phone up and dialled 999.

-Harvey, what number did you dial?

We know you dialled 999! Do you know what he asked for?

-He asked for an ambulance.

-And how did he know how to do that?

We'd told him previously what to do.

-It happened previously and we told him what to do if my husband was at work.

-Right.

-And he'd listened.

OK, so what happened when you came round? Did you realise he'd called?

No, I didn't realise at first.

When I came around, paramedics were bringing me around.

I didn't know what was going on.

What about your little daughter? He's gone all shy!

-You're not really that shy. How loud did you shout, "Mummy!"? Can you give us a shout?

-No.

-No.

He's gone all shy, hasn't he? But potentially this was a life-threatening situation.

-And he saved you from it.

-Yeah.

If he hadn't called 999, I don't know how long I would have been lying there for. My husband was working.

And you're a mum as well. Really difficult to hear that on the phone.

-I know you guys have met before, but what's it like to see him?

-It's lovely. I've had flowers.

It's really nice to put the face behind the words you're hearing.

And obviously he's a very brave boy.

What caused the collapse? Oh, go on. What do you want to tell me?

-What caused it? Do you know?

-No, we don't know yet.

I've had tests on my brain and my heart, but I'm still waiting for further tests.

Do you realise you're a very brave boy, Harvey? You are. Well done.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Aww, Harvey going all shy there. He wasn't shy on the telephone, was he? Still to come...

How do you get a horse out of here?

Firefighters use specialist cutting equipment just inches from it.

Don't drink and drive is good advice. So is don't drink and climb trees.

Don't move, don't move.

Ask him how bad his pain is. MAN TRANSLATES

Don't move your head. Keep your head still. Don't move.

Now if you suffer epileptic fits like Tommy did in the ambulance, or if you collapse like Harvey's mum,

there's a new idea that can aid the first paramedics on the scene and potentially save lives.

Like so many great ideas, it's simple, but effective. This is the message in a bottle.

Here to chat to us about it is Andy Capes. Andy, what is the message in a bottle?

It's simply a plastic container that goes into the patient's fridge.

-And inside is all their personal details.

-Right.

What they suffer from, medication they're on, next of kin details.

-And any allergies...

-That's right. It's the best thing we can rely on.

We know it's in the fridge because they have these two green stickers.

One at the front door, one on the fridge. And we go straight there.

-So this is getting quite popular?

-Very much so.

On average, I use it 2-3 times a week and if the patient is unconscious, they can't talk,

we can look at the information and find out what's wrong. Saves time.

-Two or three times a week? Give us an example.

-Last week I had a patient on the floor.

They suffered from diabetes, was in a coma. I was quickly able to diagnose, as part of our checks,

that they suffered from diabetes and administer the right medication.

I was worried about how do you know it's the right person when you go in. What if there's somebody else

-and it's not their house...?

-It's a fair comment. Touch wood, it's never happened yet,

but there's even a simple thing there for the patient to put a photograph

-so we know the paperwork goes to the patient.

-Louise had a good idea.

She said why not do this in cars, in glove compartments of cars?

-So if you're in a car accident...

-They could do, but if someone steals the car,

-people have all their personal information in that car.

-Ah.

-Bit of a two-way thing there.

-I thought it was a good idea, but it's not.

-No.

-That's fascinating.

Thanks very much for chatting about it. Louise, it's not a good idea.

What a shame! I thought for once I'd had a good idea!

Now back to that trapped race horse stuck on the passenger seat of a horsebox. It panicked,

and has forced its way through from the back. It now takes a patient operation to release it.

A more secure horsebox has arrived on the scene. It's essential they have somewhere to put Blue Vinney

before they start work getting him out. Every part of the rescue has to be carefully thought out.

There was no option to use the driver or passenger door.

The next door possibly available was the side groom door,

but that would've meant a jump down, so that wasn't for recommendation.

So the only real option was to put the horse back where it came from.

That meant cutting away aspects of the horsebox.

The horse is now sedated, but it's still a potentially volatile situation.

The firefighters have to use their most powerful hydraulic cutters to cut away the partition wall

and, even with sedation, the noise could startle him again and make it worse.

So far, so good.

The first wall is removed, but a second has to be cut away, only inches from the horse.

Vet Imogen is holding his head, but he's agitated by the work going on around him.

Even with a sedated animal, with a highly-strung horse,

any stimulus can take that horse out of his sedated state.

So noise, even the cracking of metal as we cut it, the vibrations caused by the saw

could all stimulate the horse.

Anyone who isn't absolutely essential to the operation is moved out of the hot or danger zone

before they attempt to move Blue Vinney.

When we were just about to extract Blue Vinney, going backwards,

we had to use a lot of cutting equipment next to his hind legs.

That could have caused two things - he could have injured himself because of the equipment

and it put the fire crew in danger next to his hind legs, crouching.

So at that point I stabilised him by pushing his hind quarters against the far wall.

That moved him away a little bit and also provided some comfort in that he felt safe, not slipping.

The wall to the cab is out. They've managed to bring his head round

and Blue Vinney is now free to be walked out of the horsebox.

St John keeps him as calm as possible. He's a little unsteady,

but that's the effect of sedation rather than any other injury.

They need to get him into the second horsebox, but first he's allowed a little time outside on the grass.

The horse was very, very lucky.

He had no injuries, apart from a few very superficial scrapes.

He got away with it Scott free.

Well, I was relieved,

but I couldn't believe he only had a few marks and scratches on him.

You'd imagine he'd be mutilated or have to be put down.

To everyone's surprise, he puts up no fight about the new horsebox.

He'll be taken to local stables for some TLC until his transport home can be arranged.

Blue Vinney and Pippa have had a lucky escape, not to mention the other drivers on that busy road.

It could have been fatal to all the other people on the road.

If I hadn't been able to pull over, I could have got a knock on the head, crashed the lorry,

caused numerous other accidents.

Fantastic result. The horse came out, essentially uninjured. A couple of minor scrapes and scuffs.

If he had managed to get out on a Friday afternoon onto six lanes, it could be a different picture.

The trauma of the day has left the owners reluctant to put Blue Vinney through anything like this again.

If he'd been a bit better in his races and shown he'd be a half-decent racehorse,

maybe we would have persevered, but he was...

He wasn't in the right frame of mind to be a racehorse, I think.

The life of a racehorse with its constant travelling isn't one he'll ever be able to cope with.

He'll now be found a loving new home where he can take life at a gentler pace.

The horse escaped with minor grazes.

-The lorry didn't fare quite as well. Louise.

-I got it, I got it.

Lots of the calls that come here are women about to give birth.

-Erica's a friend of the programme. Take us back to your first call, your first 999 call.

-Yeah.

-What happened? Take us through it.

-Well, 6am, busy shift, want to go home.

A fella rings up cos his wife's in labour so we took the call and went through the motions.

His wife delivered the baby on the kitchen floor.

I went home and went to bed. When I got up, I had phone calls. It was on the front page of the Echo.

-OK.

-Which is lovely, but it's what we do for a job.

-But he'd also rung in to see if he could meet me as well, bring his wife and the baby.

-Right.

-Which is nice.

-Oh, yeah.

-Often you don't hear what happens.

-Yeah, I know.

It's lovely to meet them and the baby. So it was arranged

and they came in one day with their other little boy.

As I walked through the door, I recognised the dad. He was an old boyfriend!

So we had a cuddle with the baby.

-A semi-awkward situation, really.

-Yeah.

So how did you approach that? "Hello. Do you remember me?"

No, when he walked through the door he realised...

Oh, I'm cringing for you!

-But we just got on with it.

-OK. Did they name the baby after you?

-No, it was a boy.

-Fair enough. Could have been Eric!

What's it like? Do you often know what happens to people?

They go to hospital. It's quite a difficult thing.

We seem to deliver a lot of babies on the phone. When we know it's a baby, we all listen in

and we like to know what they've had. There's always a cheer when the baby's born and we hear it cry.

-Lovely. Erica, thanks very much.

-That's OK.

Fantastic! Erica's life is like a soap opera! Her son's involved in crashes and ringing in...

All the things going on. Ex-boyfriend, eh?

It's astonishing what people will do when they've had a drink.

All of a sudden, inhibitions are gone. They think they're Superman.

The fast response car is heading to a park in the city centre.

A man is badly hurt after falling out of a tree.

Onboard is emergency care practitioner Mark Ainsworth-Smith.

Are they waving us over there?

Hello.

The injured man is lying in the bandstand, quite a way from any trees. He may have walked there,

which could have made any serious injuries worse.

Hello, sir. Do you mind putting the cigarette away while we check him over? OK?

Which tree did you fall out of? MAN TRANSLATES

-Keep his neck still.

-There's an added complication. The injured man, Darius, is Polish.

Luckily, his friend Paul is on hand to translate.

-Do you know which tree he fell out of?

-Yeah, it was one of these.

-Over there?

-Yeah.

-OK.

It's painstaking work getting the basic details.

-Mark thinks he fell from the lowest branch of this tree - a significant fall.

-How high up was he?

- I think the second floor. - Really? A significant fall.

Darius can't bear to put his right leg on the ground. Mark sees why -

the ankle is horribly deformed and swelling very quickly.

Could you ask him how bad his pain is? PAUL TRANSLATES

-Really sore.

-If 10 out of 10 is the worst...?

-OK.

-He can't move his leg.

-He's definitely broken it. You can see how swollen it is.

Mark is very worried about more serious and hidden injuries.

We don't know what other injuries he's got. I'll put him on oxygen.

Don't move your head. Keep your head still. Don't move.

The accident has happened after an afternoon's drinking in the park.

I can smell it quite strongly. Thank you.

By now, an ambulance has arrived. Mark needs to know what and how much he's had to drink.

How much alcohol has he had?

About...

-It's difficult to tell you how much.

-Just a rough idea.

In case he goes sleepy. We don't know if it's because he banged his head or because of alcohol.

Don't move, don't move.

Don't move your neck, sir.

Just for safety, could you come and hold his head? He's moving it.

Just come to the top of him. Don't move, please. Nice and still.

But his friends can't tell him how much Darius has had to drink.

He's landed directly on his right ankle. No, just put your head down.

Put your head down, sir. Any pain in your tummy? PAUL TRANSLATES

-No...

-Just his ankle.

-In the back.

-He's got pain in his back. OK.

What we're doing is scooping him off the floor. Just relax here.

We're going to pop a little needle in his arm to give him some morphine. It's a very good painkiller.

He's clearly fractured his ankle. He's also got pain in his back.

We really need to get on top of his pain. It'll make it much easier to move him into the ambulance.

The ankle may be the most obvious injury, but might not be the worst.

Injuries to the lower spine or lumbar area are quite common after a fall from a height.

His friend describes what happened and it worries Mark more.

So if we say he's fallen about six metres, would you say?

-I'll show you.

-Don't climb it!

-This one here.

-Yeah.

-He says he'll do it.

-OK.

-He's just hanging and jumping.

-OK.

-He came down and broke his leg.

With such a serious break, the leg has to be kept perfectly still on the journey to hospital.

Very carefully, it's encased in a splint to hold the ankle rigid.

By supporting the ankle like this, it makes it a lot easier.

We'll have to roll him onto a special scoop in case of a spinal injury,

so now it's immobilised it will make a lot less discomfort.

So it's the best thing to do at the moment.

Darius is now ready for hospital. As the ambulance heads off, Mark phones in all his details.

It will all save valuable time at Accident and Emergency.

It's a 25-year-old male that's fallen from 25 feet approximately out of a tree in Palmerston Park.

He's got a fracture of his right ankle, also probably a lumbar spine fracture. He has tenderness there.

Appears to have no neurology. Good sensation in his legs and has had good range of movement.

And ETA to you is, realistically, probably about 7 minutes from here.

OK? Thanks very much, then.

Darius fractured his back and had steel pins inserted into his leg.

He's now making a good recovery. Thank goodness.

-Now the chat we were having earlier about these. What are they?

-It's a Message In A Bottle.

They can be obtained from chemists, doctors' surgeries and even some local police stations.

So if you want one in your fridge so if you collapse, paramedics can learn all about you,

or you want to stick one in your glove box, then go and get one.

Thank you very much.

-Louise is still chatting to Erica!

-She's telling us about her son.

-He's been in Afghanistan?

-Yeah.

-Hang on. What happened to him in Afghanistan?

-He was driving a Viking and hit an IED.

-And he's OK now?

-Yeah, he was injured, but not badly.

-He came back and had a crash...?

And then there's more, there's more. What was after the RTA?

He slipped on the ice and dislocated his shoulder.

-And then?

-He nearly chopped his finger off two months ago!

-Answers to the name of Lucky!

More every day! We'll have more extraordinary stories from Erica...

-if you're prepared to join us next time for more Real Rescues.

-Bye-bye.

-Take care.

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee media Ltd - 2011

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