Episode 13 Real Rescues

On Real Rescues, a man is buried alive after a sand dune collapses.

It's up to his brother and best friend to hold back the sand until the emergency services arrive.

He looked at us and said, "Reg, please don't leave me."

That's honestly something I will never forget

for as long as I live.

And a desperate call for help. A family of nine are trapped by a fire in an upstairs room.

The cause is something that's pretty common in most of our homes.

Hello and welcome to Real Rescues.

This is one of the South Western Ambulance control rooms.

Around the UK, an emergency call comes into a centre like this every two seconds.

Weather permitting, there's nothing like a bit of fun by the seaside,

but as this extraordinary footage shows,

things can get out of hand, really out of hand.

Druridge Bay, Northumberland, a known beauty spot, but an ugly situation has developed.

Present - the fire brigade with crews from its Special Rescue Unit,

along with the coastguard and helicopter crews from the police and Great North Air Ambulance.

For over an hour, nearly 50 emergency workers have been battling the forces of nature

to keep alive and try to free a man trapped by several tonnes of sand.

Out of sight of the camera, that man is 32-year-old Ronnie Martin.

Earlier, he had been on an outing with friends and family

when, for a laugh, he started to dig a hole near a sand dune with his brother William.

My arms were sore with digging, so my brother jumped in.

We were about to pack it in. He was getting the last bit of sand out.

The hole was by now shoulder depth.

As William walked away, his younger brother Ronnie got into it.

Watching on, the pair's friend Reg was the only one to see what happened next.

He went down, took his last scoop, and as he was coming up...

the hole,

this hole just closed.

It's the quickest thing I've ever seen happen.

I remember where his head was,

and where I was sat, I just dived straight in.

I thought, "It's just going to be a little bit of sand."

That's when I started digging. I realised I still hadn't found his head.

And I carried on digging and I couldn't find his head.

And I shouted on his brother, "I need your help!"

Instantly, I thought they were just messing around,

then I realised when I saw the expression on Reg's face.

That's when I lay down and William started digging with me.

That's when we realised we're in trouble here and we carried on digging and digging.

By the time I touched my hand on top of his head, I realised how deep he actually was.

I'd say about two and a half, three minutes to find the top of his head.

The sand just kept coming. Sand just kept coming.

I thought he was dead to be quite honest with you.

Devastated. Completely devastated.

I thought my brother was dead.

That's when I put my hand down to find his mouth and I tried to pull the sand away from his mouth.

As I was pulling it, his brother was helping me move the sand,

then I finally got to his mouth and tried to clean his mouth out and his nose, airways.

He gave this big gulp of air. He opened his eyes because he was covered in sand.

He looked at us and just said, "Reg, please don't leave me."

That's honestly something I will never forget...

for as long as I live.

It's the most horrible thing ever

to see somebody in trouble

and they are asking you for help,

but you feel helpless.

His eyes were like puppy eyes, basically wanting out of there.

He just said, "Don't let us die."

Reg tried to keep Ronnie's mouth clear by cupping his hands over it

while older brother William frantically dug away the sand that kept falling in,

but they were tiring.

Two police officers arrived on the scene first.

Initially, one of them sat on my legs while I kept digging.

They passed me an oxygen mask and I put it round my brother's head.

I was really grateful when I saw these people because I knew for a fact this was our lifeline.

Police, fire, coastguard and ambulance services have by now all arrived at the scene,

but fire station manager Andy Railton immediately realises

they have a real task on their hands to get Ronnie out safely.

The sand dune had collapsed on top of him

and forced him down into a squat position.

We placed a line under his arms and tried to pull him out initially.

However, that didn't work, so we had to look at other options.

Obviously, we were concerned with the state of the dune.

It was on an angle and it had been loose sand, so we were concerned that the sand would come down again.

To make things as safe as possible, the team improvised with equipment normally used for road accidents.

To keep the sand at bay, spinal boards are placed around the edges of the hole

and propped up by devices designed to stabilise damaged vehicles.

The priority was to make sure that the sand was away from Ronnie's chest,

as that was causing him some breathing difficulties, and create a path to his right-hand side.

It was roughly about a metre wide and about three or four metres again, so we could get in on the path.

There were a number of people working - one moving the sand from A to B,

then from B to C and away.

The sand that we moved at the incident, I would say round about two cubic metres,

which is round about two or three tonnes' worth of sand, loose sand.

Finally, after spending two hours encased in sand,

a bruised, battered and exhausted Ronnie is pulled free.

I think Ronnie was very fortunate that his friend and his brother were there so quickly

and they managed to get the sand away from his face.

Obviously, then we turned up a little while later and with the resources we had,

we could move a lot more sand than they could.

Tremendous. I take my hat off to these people because we would never have got him out there.

Not by ourselves.

I'm entirely grateful to have my brother and I've got a lot of people to thank for it.

I'm very glad to say that Ronnie, who we saw at the end of that film crawling out of the hole, is here.

Gosh, what an experience that was for you!

Reg talked very clearly about the moment the hole caved in.

You were crouched down. What was that like?

It was like pressure, but I could still hear voices, like muffled.

-It was like..."boof"!

-Really quick, was it?

-Quicker than... I didn't even see it happen.

-Right.

-My eyes were open, my mouth was open.

Everything had just come in. It was like a..."boof"!

-You heard the sand move and you heard the air...

-The air go?

-Yeah, it was two very different noises.

-And you didn't even have time to close your eyes?

-No, they were wide open. My mouth was open.

What about the pressure of the sand? How did that feel? Was it really squashing you?

Yeah, initially, it was, but then there was another collapse which crushed us even more.

It was silent after that. I couldn't hear any voices.

You couldn't hear any voices at that point. Reg described how he managed to reach down to you.

-Was that chance that he found your head?

-Yeah, it was a miracle.

But he was sitting talking to us when it happened, he said.

Then he managed very cleverly to put his hands in front of your mouth.

How long was it before you were able to take that first breath?

-I don't know.

-Too long.

-Maybe three, four minutes?

-Gosh!

Then he basically kept you alive, didn't he,

by realising that you just needed air until they could get you out?

You needed to get air and every time he moved the sand, another side of it would come in and I'd be gone again,

so he eventually kept his hand cupped in front of my mouth.

Every time the sand came in, it was up to his arms,

then he had time to get the sand away while I had a bit of air.

So you took another breath at that point?

I had that, then he cleared my face and I took another breath,

then it would just collapse on top of us again.

-Did you think you were going to get out?

-No, I thought I was dead.

I thought I was dead when it first happened.

Then when they got to you, you thought there was hope when you were able to breathe?

As soon as they touched the top of my head. Beforehand, it was nothing, it was still.

-My head didn't even scream, if you know what I mean.

-Yeah.

It wasn't until I felt something touch us. It was then I realised there was a chance.

So your brother and Reg said a big thank you to the emergency services.

-Without them, it would have been a different story.

-I'd be dead now.

Just tell me briefly, you're OK. You were coughing up sand, I understand, for a while.

Not out, but it was in my eye. It was coming through my tear ducts in my left eyeball.

And you have dreams about it?

-Dreams about other stuff, but bad ones every night.

-I really hope they go away.

-They will eventually.

-You've been back to the beach?

-Yeah, we went back on the Sunday afterwards and had a bit of a party.

-Thank you very much for coming to see us. Good luck.

-Thank you.

Later, we'll talk to a coastguard team and see their equipment which helps deal with seaside emergencies.

An incredible story. Great to see Ronnie up there looking so fit and well.

It's the early hours of the morning and a family of nine are sleeping soundly in their home.

The peace, though, is broken by the piercing screech of a smoke alarm,

then dad David makes this 999 call.

Smoke is seeping under the door.

David and his wife Samantha are in a room with their six children all under the age of seven

and Samantha's sister Kimberley.

Samantha takes the phone.

Well, here's Mum and Dad now.

-Oh, Sam, are you all right?

-Yeah, I'm fine.

David, you're holding her there for dear life, just as you were on that night.

It's just every parent's nightmare, that situation, isn't it?

It is, yeah.

Obviously, with six kids in the house.

The most frightening thing in your life,

knowing that you don't know what to do to get your children out, ain't it?

It was just pure panic, pure panic.

Yeah, I mean, is that the first time you've heard it?

The first time, yeah. I didn't think I'd react that way.

I think when I heard that, all the exact same emotions I was feeling that night all came back.

-Let's hear what you did next because you did everything right, basically.

-Yeah.

You got your babies into a little room and this is what happened next.

-Oh! It's terrible reliving that moment.

-Yeah.

So what happened next? You were told to put the blanket against the door?

Barricade ourselves in the room and block, try and get the... so the smoke couldn't come in.

We were told to all get on the floor and lie down,

because then the smoke rises, so we were under the smoke.

I had the girls in my arms and I was lying on the floor.

Kimberley had the boys, trying to get them all down, and you were sitting at the window.

-Trying to clear the...

-Waiting for the firemen.

-So we could all get out clear.

That wait must have been for ever, but finally, the fire engines turned up. What happened next?

I'm sat at the window looking out and the police have turned up before the firemen.

They asked us to start dropping the kids out the window.

You panicked more, thinking of dropping the kids. Luckily, within seconds, the firemen showed up.

My goodness! Could you imagine having to drop your babies out of there?

So then they put the ladders up against the window.

-They got Ethan out first.

-They started with the eldest child because he was really frightened.

He was crying and kept saying, "I don't want to die."

He went down first, then we just went down in age.

-They got you and Kim out.

-Me and Kim, then you were the last one out.

You're all safe and sound now. What was the cause of the fire?

-It was the tumble dryer.

-The thermostat on the tumble dryer broke,

so it just kept going round and round and eventually, it caught fire.

Instead of staying at a nice temperature, it just kept getting hotter and hotter

-until there was no moisture left in the clothes and they just burnt.

-Everything caught fire.

-It destroyed your house, I'm assuming, completely?

-Yeah, a lot of smoke damage.

-Lost everything.

-You didn't lose your little babies.

-That was all we cared about.

We did not care about possessions at all.

-Not at all.

-We were just so relieved that we were all fine and OK.

That was all we cared about, wasn't it?

I'm so pleased you're all here and it's great to see you all fit and well,

but I want to see the rest of them.

We've been talking about nine lives and trying to put in our minds what nine lives looks like.

Lou, we might need your help!

We're going to see the family together. Here they are.

You can list them off, Mum, name by name as they come up.

So we've got Ethan, Joseph, Joshua,

Tristan, Lily-May and Casey-May.

-And that's...?

-Auntie Kimberley.

-Auntie Lou, you've been adopted.

-Do you mind if I borrow her for a bit?

-She's gorgeous.

-You're more than welcome.

Well done for being so brave and so well behaved with the fire brigade and the ambulance.

-But safe journey home.

-Thank you.

Still to come on Real Rescues, a calf stranded on a cliff.

MOOING

The RNLI resort to cowboy tactics to reunite it with its mother.

And the happiest casualty in Bournemouth.

She's badly injured her arm, but 96-year-old Grace is looking on the bright side.

To get to this age and be like I am, I'm very, very fortunate.

-Good.

-Take care.

-Do you want to take my arm?

-Oh, yeah, this is nice.

A fire has broken out in woodland above the historic old town of Hastings.

Some buildings there date back to Shakespearean times.

The emergency services must stop the fire spreading now

to protect the Tudor buildings which are dangerously close.

209, have you got the incident number, please?

Early evening and there's animated chatter on the emergency airwaves.

Reports have come in of a blaze in Hastings.

Hotel Tango 209, we're at Little Common.

Is there anything that we can assist with with this fire?

On patrol nearby, traffic officers Greg Alcorn and Mark Fowler.

'Yes, the smoke is heading down towards Hastings sea front.

'It's fairly obvious for the rest of the town and it might cause some traffic congestion. Over.'

We've been assigned to reports of a large fire

that's causing quite a lot of disruption in the Hastings area.

Unsure at this minute as to what premises is alight,

but there's reports of 50-foot flames

and a large amount of smoke,

so we're making over to the Hastings area

to see how we can assist with either traffic or any uncovered incidents.

Drawing closer, the Hastings horizon is hazy with the smoke.

It looks like there's...just looking up at the cliff area, that a large amount of shrubbery is on fire.

It's probably an area of about 30 metres square of flames.

The good news is that the flames are 50 foot up a hill,

rather than being, as originally reported, 50 foot high.

But the bad news is that they're near Hastings Old Town with its many listed buildings

and are literally spreading like wildfire.

It's going to be making sure that if the fire brigade need any more units,

it's keeping the road open and making sure that they've got clear access to the scene,

and if there's any injuries, just managing the access for the ambulance up to the area.

There is a lot of traffic around.

If we have to shut any roads, it's going to cause major disruptions to the A259.

I'd imagine that the immediate area is closed off

and, of course, you've got commuters and people returning from work

that aren't allowed back into their properties at this point.

Fire crews were quick to the scene and have, thankfully, managed to bring the flames under control.

Though to stop the fire spreading over the road,

the large amount of foam they've had to use has made this warm day look like winter, rather than spring.

What we've been called out to is a gorse alight

on the East Hills.

We've made pumps four, which is four fire engines

and two Land Rovers to assist in dealing with it.

Our top priority is to protect any surrounding properties.

Some of the properties down the road from here we did evacuate

because the fire was spreading towards those.

But we've managed to push the fire back and these properties are OK.

Nobody has been hurt and the cause of the fire is unknown, but the emergency services are suspicious.

It is a problem area for us. We do get quite a few deliberate fires.

Us and the police are trying to tackle this issue.

This type of blaze uses up a lot of the fire and rescue service's time

as little pockets of fire keep reappearing and have to be doused down.

They'll stay on the scene well into the evening

until they are certain that it has been completely extinguished.

Everybody in this room is incredibly calm, but not all the people who call up are calm

and that's understandably so on lots of occasions.

Jess, who has just come off a long phone call, can talk to me

about an example of somebody who was having a problem on a Sunday.

The wife phoned up. What state was she in?

The wife was hysterical. They'd been sat down having a roast dinner

-and the husband started choking on a piece of roast beef.

-Very seriously choking.

-Yes.

-And she could hardly string a word together?

-No, she was screaming, they had children also screaming.

-They were all hysterical.

-How do you get a message through?

I managed to calm her down a bit. I asked if she'd carried out back slaps on him. She said she had,

but they'd been ineffective. So I went through the instructions again

and she went through them and on the fifth back slap she managed to get the roast beef out.

-How do you know that? Could you hear?

-I heard him go, "Oh, it's come out now."

-Could you hear the relief?

-Yes. She calmed down and was very apologetic for how she was.

She said, "I feel a bit silly now," but she did do the right thing by calling us.

So what is your advice for people in that state? You are giving life-saving information, aren't you?

-They've got to try to take it in.

-They need to try to remain calm.

Being hysterical doesn't help at all, so if they can stay calm,

I know it's difficult, especially in those kind of situations, but obviously it is best to be calm.

-Glad it all worked out in the end! Thank you, Jess.

-You're welcome.

A true example of Blitz spirit now. 96-year-old Grace has been knocked for six while on a shopping trip,

but she's keeping calm and carrying on with a little help from paramedic Simon Trenchard.

Senior Paramedic Simon Trenchard and student Lee Stratton are hurrying to the high street.

We've just taken a call to a shop. An elderly female has fallen and has some injuries.

They're unknown at this moment and we're not quite sure if she's collapsed or had a genuine fall.

There's a lady sat in a chair just there.

-Fortunately, when they arrive they find that although Grace has hurt her arm...

-What's your name?

-Grace.

-..her condition can be best described as the talking wounded.

-I am 96 years old.

-Fantastic. And you're out shopping today?

I'm doing my last-minute bits, getting some money.

-Do you remember everything that happened today?

-Yes, I jolly well do!

-What did happen?

I was very happy and I was walking along

-and this young man came along with a big box on his shoulder.

-OK.

-And he caught my shoulder and knocked me over.

-OK.

-Isn't that right?

-And you didn't bang your head at all?

-Oh, no, no.

-Just my arm.

-Yeah, I've seen that. Can I just take your pulse? You're not feeling dizzy or unwell?

Shall we go somewhere quiet? Let's go to the ambulance.

-Geoff, my bag!

-The man who bumped into Grace is apologetic.

I'm ever so sorry, all right?

It's an accident, darling. You can't help these things.

It's nice you've all shook hands and made up. Let's get you sorted.

-To get to this age and be like I am, I'm very, very fortunate.

-Good.

-Do you want to take my arm?

-Oh, yes. This is nice.

Oh, gosh!

Simon knows that before Grace can go anywhere, he needs to patch up the wound on her arm.

-What you've actually done is you've got quite frail skin.

-Oh, yes.

-Quite papery skin.

-Well, it's been around a long time.

-Yeah, I can see. You've actually torn the skin up quite a lot.

-We need to unravel all of that skin and stick it all back together.

-You do what you have to.

With the end of a needle and a steady hand, Simon delicately unravels the skin flap

that has come away from Grace's arm.

Right, now don't move. We've got a good edge there.

We've been able to close and unfold both these sides quite neatly.

-We'll close it with some steristrips.

-Steristrips, also known as butterfly stiches,

are narrow adhesive strips that help to close the edges of a small wound and encourage the skin to heal.

Where the skin had rolled back to here, we've now closed it in a fan shape and got the edges up.

Simon then applies a sterile dressing and bandages to Grace's arm.

I'll put a dressing around here to keep all that in place.

He then repeats the whole process with a smaller cut on her wrist.

Pop some gauze over that just to protect it.

Try not to move it too much. If you move, you stretch that wound again.

Grace is sent on her way with instructions to visit a nurse in a few days' time to check it.

-OK?

-Thank you.

-All the best. There's your letter.

-Thank you.

-We'll help you down the steps. They're quite steep.

-Be good boys and have fun.

-We will try, yeah.

Yeah, I know what it's all about, lads. Don't you worry.

-You've been wonderful.

-Take care.

-What would I do without you?

-Let's not get this last bit wrong.

I'd hate for you to fall out now.

That's it. Bye.

So after a brief interlude, 96-year-old Grace, probably Bournemouth's oldest shopper,

can get back to her bargain hunt.

What a lovely lady. And she didn't have to go to hospital because of you, Simon.

Tell us about that technique. What were you doing exactly?

Essentially, what we tried to do was unravel the skin where it had rolled over on itself.

It looked quite nasty, but it was just the top layer of skin.

Although it looked nasty, the plan was to cleanly unravel it,

stick it back over the red, sore area and then stick it down in a nice, neat line

for cosmetic reasons and to keep it sterile and clean as well.

-Does the skin re-attach or grow underneath?

-It doesn't re-attach,

but the healing process can happen in a natural, protected environment,

so things like infection and bugs and nasties getting in are much less likely to occur.

-But don't do it yourself! We need you.

-That's the best advice.

And if you hadn't been able to do that, she'd have had to go to hospital, a long wait, not great.

Yeah, essentially, when we first looked at the wound, on face value it looked quite nasty and wide.

And it presented quite a challenge because of the size, but when it was determined it was a clean wound,

it was a matter of time, just taking the time to stick it back in its natural alignment.

She may have sat in hospital for several hours waiting for that, depending on how busy they were.

We were able to treat her at scene and within half an hour release her

-with the same advice she'd get in hospital.

-She loved seeing you.

She was a lovely lady. She was, I think, 96 and a very fun lady.

-I was pleased to help her out that day.

-Simon, lovely to meet you.

Green Watch are called to a blazing car fire in a residential street.

The owner of the car is a taxi driver and this is the second time his vehicle has been destroyed

in a fire and emergency services suspect foul play.

3.15am.

Most of the city of Southampton is sleeping, but not the firefighters of St Mary's Green Watch.

It might be worth going up to the next junction, mate.

There are reports of a car fire in a residential area.

Scouring a street map, Adam Bundle directs the driver on the quickest way through densely-populated roads.

There we go.

Arriving, they're confronted with an angry blaze.

While the firefighters in the back put on breathing apparatus,

Adam dampens down the flames from a safe distance.

Watch Manager Sean Foster quickly checks with the owner that no one's hurt.

Adam hands over to Tim O'Donnell. Wearing the breathing apparatus, he can really attack this fire.

Tim's quickly brought the fire under control.

The vehicle turns out to be a taxi.

Guys?

Are the doors open?

Just the boot?

Sean is fairly certain the fire was started deliberately.

I think this fire is definitely suspicious. The boot's been opened.

It was open when we arrived, so someone had rummaged through it.

It's not the first time. Two nights earlier, his second car was completely burnt out.

Obviously, I've informed the police and they have arrived.

They're carrying out investigations as to how the car caught light.

It's a sinister situation.

Sean is keen to protect the scene in case the police want to gather evidence.

Liam, try not to touch... You're all right with gloves.

Whether they want to do something with that, bearing in mind it's the second vehicle.

Sean briefs the police.

When we arrived, we popped the bonnet, but the boot was open.

We'll have to get in there in case it's gone through the bulkhead. But the boot was open.

Tim and Liam have cooled the engine bay down, but the fire has made its way into the dashboard inside.

No, that's fine. I have explained to the police that we're going to have to get in.

All right, Tim. In with the hose. That's it.

The fire got so hot under the bonnet that the interior glove compartment melted away,

allowing the flames through.

The police have asked Sean to contact a specialist fire investigator

to see if the same person could be responsible for the two fires.

They want to know if both cars were set alight in the same way.

Both started in the engine compartment area.

There's not a lot to see. There's possible forced entry in the boot.

We got here and the boot compartment's open, but the fire is in the engine compartment.

I've been liaising with the police officer because we're treating this as a potential crime scene.

And the plan is to have both vehicles removed to a secure compound

and during daylight hours our specialist fire investigation team will work with the police

to try to establish how the fire started.

It's been a second shocking night for the owner.

The gentleman's fairly upset and he's helping the police,

trying to work out who would do this.

Having done what they can, Sean's team will pack up and return to base.

The rest will be now up to the investigation unit.

Investigators are convinced that the two car fires were deliberate,

but have been so far unable to find the person responsible.

Earlier we heard a terrifying 999 call. Three adults and six children all under the age of seven

were rescued after a tumble dryer caught fire in their kitchen.

We've seen how much damage household appliances can do when they go wrong.

A computer which short-circuited melted into the carpet.

When pub staff awoke to the smell of burning, they found a washing machine on fire.

It caused extensive smoke damage.

A TV which exploded, blew out the windows of a house

and destroyed the front room. The heat took the plaster off the walls, while smoke engulfed the house.

Only the sound of the smoke alarm woke the young boy sleeping upstairs.

It was just scary. I could not see a thing.

We were lucky we got out quick because of the fire alarms going.

That makes a lot of difference, otherwise we wouldn't even have known.

Scary stuff, but the most important thing to say is that these are unusual events

and there are basic precautions to keep your appliances safe.

-Mark has joined us today.

-Hello, Chris.

Is it common to have electrical appliances causing fires?

The latest figures show 50% of accidental fires in houses

-are caused by electricity.

-OK, some old wives' tales now, things my mum told me.

First, if you stack the toaster full of bread, can that cause a fire?

It can, if the toast gets stuck in the toaster and overheats,

especially if it sets fire to the plastic body or cupboards above.

-OK. Another one is empty the fluff out of the dryer. That can't cause a fire, can it?

-It can do

if it overheats the tumble dryer and it affects the cooling fans.

Anything else to bear in mind? I've heard about overloading things.

Extension leads is a good one. If you're using an appliance that takes a lot of power,

you are supposed to unreel the extension lead fully as it will create heat

-and that can cause fires.

-Wow. So what precautions can we take?

-The Fire Service can look round your house?

-Yes, they will do home safety checks for free.

And part of those checks look at how you are using electricity.

Recently, we're doing some specific checks on electrical intakes.

They can be under stairs where people store household contents.

Don't store them on top of the electrical equipment.

-And when a fire does happen, should you prepare exit routes?

-Absolutely.

Not just in an office, but your home is as important.

Have a working smoke alarm and know what to do if it goes off.

We had a fire in East Sussex recently where people were security conscious and put their keys

in a drawer in the kitchen. There was a fire there and they couldn't get out the house.

Their daughter and son-in-law turned up and couldn't get in, either.

-So plan an exit route.

-Absolutely.

-Mark, thank you.

Now the tiny Orkney island of Swona said goodbye to its last human inhabitant in 1974.

All that was left behind was a small herd of cattle.

Over six generations later, without human contact, the herd is feral.

The RNLI use the area for training. During one session they heard the anguished cries of a calf.

They rushed to help and filmed the rescue.

CALF MOOS

This tiny calf has somehow become stranded on a narrow strip of beach.

The rocks behind are too steep for it to climb up.

With the tide rapidly coming in, it has no hope of survival.

The crew of the Long Hope lifeboat spotted the calf during a training exercise.

They've launched their small inflatable dinghy and are attempting a rescue.

The calf's natural instincts to fight or flee kick in,

but the lifeboat is its only chance of escape.

With the calf on board, the lifeboat volunteers head for a small natural harbour close by.

On you go.

Up! Yep! Yep! Go on!

Go on! Go on!

It needs a bit of persuasion to head off inland, but finally...

And, with any luck, the animal will be reunited with its mother and the rest of the herd very soon.

Now all these callers around here are trained for all types of cases,

but sometimes a particular type of case keeps coming back to a particular caller.

Confused? Well, here's Gemma. I'm going to say cardiac arrest.

-How many have you had to deal with?

-I've had about 14 now in a month.

-Is that a record?!

-It must be!

So they keep coming to you for some strange reason,

but I hear you had a particular case where she didn't think she was having a cardiac arrest.

No, she didn't think she was having a heart attack. She just said she'd fainted earlier.

She had no pain whatsoever. We asked all the relevant questions.

She was adamant she had no pain. We asked about the last 24 hours and she said she'd had indigestion.

-Right.

-So we then went down chest pains to see if it was anything to do with her heart.

She said, "No pain, just indigestion." I asked if it felt like her previous heart attack.

-She'd had...?

-She'd had one in the past, but hadn't put 2 and 2 together. It was only the question

that made her realise that it did feel quite similar.

Right, OK. So there was a problem and you sent the people round.

Yeah, sent an ambulance round on lights and sirens.

So if you do feel any type of pain in your chest, what should you do?

Any chest pain whatsoever, give us a call straight away.

-Brilliant. Thanks.

-You're welcome.

Earlier we saw the remarkable rescue of Ronnie Martin. He was buried alive in the sand

after a hole he was digging collapsed in on him. His friends cleared enough sand to breathe,

but it was the skill of Fire and Coast Guard teams which got him out.

It's not the first time we've seen how the beach can be dangerous.

Fire and Coast Guard teams had to hold back the incoming tide to save a teenage boy in a hole.

The sand created a vacuum around his body and the only way to release him was pumping high pressure water.

This is the type of vehicle that is involved in those rescues and Richard can tell me about it.

This one is brand new. You're dressed for the part! Tell me about all this kit.

OK, so what we have here is the standard water rescue equipment on one of our vehicles.

The Coast Guard are responsible for rescuing people from close inshore,

where lifeboats can't reach, or marinas and docksides where you can't normally get in.

-And that's the equipment you use?

-Yeah. Water rescue life jacket.

Rescue torpedo buoy and floating lines for use in the water.

-And this is for a mud rescue, this.

-That's right. This is some of the mud rescue equipment we use.

Large areas of the coastline are open areas of mud in estuaries or large open sand areas.

-What are these?

-These are mudders. These are mud shoes.

These are specially designed to let you walk on mud.

It opens up and supports you and, as you lift your foot up, it allows you to move forward.

These have revolutionised mud rescue. We've had them for 5 years.

-They look a bit like a wading bird.

-That's right.

-They are based on a blue-green heron, I understand.

-To be precise!

Brilliant piece of kit. And this is for somebody who is down a hole?

Yeah, the equipment Tom's using is primarily for cliff rescue.

Those who are trapped - climbers, paragliders - people trapped over a cliff edge,

it's actually rigged up to be used for vertical where we might rescue somebody out of a ship's hold.

The quad pod you can see there. It gives us a much better angle over the cliff, like a crane jib,

to enable us to go over the cliff edge and rescue somebody.

-I'm sure you're much better at packing than I am. All of this fits in that car?!

-Yeah.

It takes a bit of going, but we can fit the majority of equipment in,

plus carry a crew of four to get as near to the scene as possible.

And your job is not to do first aid. You get them out of the situation.

All of our rescue teams are trained in first aid, but it's our job to get them out of a danger zone

-to hand them over to ambulance colleagues.

-If there was a fire in the vehicle, what would you save?

-The mudders!

-The mudders!

-Clever piece of kit.

I'll take them, then. Thank you.

I've always wanted a car like that. That's it. See you next time. Bye-bye.

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