Episode 15 Real Rescues

Today on Real Rescues, a car fire with a difference.

This one never left the garage.

It's too dangerous for the firefighters to go in.

METALLIC BANGING

No. If they're going to commit, they're going to let us know first.

And we meet the women who refused to let her husband die.

She had his life in her hands.

Hello, and welcome to Real Rescues

at the control room of South Western Ambulance.

We've got plenty of stories to share with you,

but not nearly as many as the call takers here.

They have to deal with life or death situations on a daily basis.

We're going to be chatting to some of them later,

if we can catch them between the hundreds of calls they'll take during a normal shift.

On Real Rescues, we celebrate all of the emergency services,

and it was call to the Fire Service which got Southampton's Green Watch

racing to an industrial estate just down the road from here.

SIREN

The firefighters of Green Watch are heading out

from their city centre base to an industrial unit on the outskirts.

Just heard on the radio that the first crew have said

there's smoke issuing, so we should have a working job.

They arrived to see a column of smoke pouring out of the roof of a garage,

and great clouds are escaping from a door at the back of the unit.

It's clear there's a fierce fire inside.

There's a car on fire. Looking at it, it's well alight.

Thick black smoke issuing.

We've got one jet in already, and two breathing apparatus.

The entrance is round the back. A firefighter is sent in with a jet.

Inside the garage are gas cylinders.

Mickey Smithers is in charge of the scene.

He needs to find out what is kept and where.

I don't have any plans.

I know it inside out, I've owned it for 15 years.

I can draw you a basic plan of the building.

I'll be there in five minutes.

Information about the layout is vital for the crew's safety.

The fire has already spread to the two garages on either side

and it's threatening to move along the whole building.

The fire commanders have to plan their tactics around

where the potential explosive cylinders are kept.

Already, there are ominous sounds coming from inside.

METALLIC BANGING

There's another one.

The entire building has been evacuated.

The crew managers are now limiting how many firefighters

they're allowing inside.

But you're not going in.

Open that up for external fire fighting.

Try and use as much cover as you can in the building.

Obviously, you can't be too careful.

No, they are fighting it from the other side.

No, if they're going to commit, they're going to let us know first.

There's so much toxic smoke coming out of the garage,

Adam Bundle and Ben Sheppard need to be fully kitted out in the breathing apparatus

before they can even tackle the flames from outside.

Adam and Ben now target the back window, which is at roof height of the garage.

The flames keep leaping up.

There are five fire pumps here and over 20 firefighters.

They're pouring water on to the fire from the front and back, and from different levels.

At the moment, it's a bit of a mystery how the fire started.

As far as we can determine,

the incident was started by a vehicle parked in one of these garages.

The fire that came from that has penetrated into the building

and worked its way up through undetected to a point where

it's caught the major part of the...

It's gone all the way up to the roof area internally.

We've got teams in there at the moment

going in and removing cylinders

that are close to but not affected by the fire.

We're making sure that we reduce the risk

to our firefighters as much as possible.

Now the cylinders are out,

the breathing apparatus crews can be sent in in relays.

Each crew will stay in for no more than 15 minutes.

The smoke is becoming much lighter in colour,

turning from black to a paler grey,

which suggests that the firefighters are getting on top of it.

But, despite all the water they've thrown at it, it's not out yet.

Where?

Is it?

Whilst one crew attacks the flames from the front,

Adrian Cobb and Rob Martin hack their way

into a fourth adjoining garage

to see if the fire has spread there, as well.

And more firefighters are going on to the first floor

to check for any hotspots up there.

Richie Green has just come out.

He was one of the first firefighters to go inside.

There's about three or four seats of fire.

And we had to retreat and go back in, retreat and go back in,

because there was, I think, propane cylinders

or butane cylinders.

Everything was on fire, basically.

I think it did start out as a car fire,

but that progressed through to the whole of the workshop.

We heard tyres popping, other things popping whilst we were in there.

There was fire above us, so we were in gas cooling as we went along,

then beat back the fires to make our progression through into the unit.

It was a good fire, as they call it.

Even when all the flames are out, the firefighters will remain

at the units to make sure nothing starts up again.

And a fire investigator will also be around for some time,

gathering evidence to determine how the fire started.

Everything's pointing towards an accidental fire.

It looks like a couple of the workmen were working on a Volvo,

something to do with the fuel tank.

We believe the petrol vapours were ignited from an electric drill

and then the occupier's obviously attempted to put the fire out themselves.

I said earlier that the call takers here have endless stories to tell,

but the next story is extraordinary - this is Jenny.

Six weeks ago she took a call which was, for her, all in a day's work.

But for Pat at the other end of the phone

it was the most important and terrifying call of her life.

So, Jenny, at that stage, you're on the phone to Pat, she's clearly doing CPR.

Doing exactly pretty much as you say, is she?

Exactly, as I'm saying, spot-on perfect.

And you needed her to speed up, did you? Why was that?

Purely for the fact that you need to be doing it

at as fast a rate as needs be.

It needs to be as the same sort of rate as your heart would beat,

to efficiently push the blood around to oxygenate all your organs in the body.

-So, a very worrying situation, and then the phone went dead.

-Yes.

All I had to do was just ring back and ring back,

-and obviously there'd been some hiccup in the line...

-Yes.

..so the operator had cleared the line

and it went straight back through for me on the second attempt.

But obviously it's minutes, we've got a button on the system

you just press and it redials straightaway.

OK, so you got back to her pretty quickly,

and the good thing was, she was still... What was she doing?

She was still doing exactly as I was telling her before.

And counting out loud - why does that help?

If they count out loud, it's giving something to concentrate on,

and it means we can monitor exactly what they're doing.

If they're doing everything in silence,

sometimes people don't actually do what you're telling them,

and it's not being as effective as it needs to be.

That's why, as I say, you need to be doing it a bit faster,

because we could see how fast she was doing it.

Shall we have a listen?

Pat was extremely determined.

After what must have seemed an eternity to her,

the paramedics arrived, but the drama continued.

They had to shock him.

Goodness me. Here is David and here is the amazing Pat.

You are one determined person, aren't you?

Oh, yes, without a doubt.

Just extraordinary, the way you were counting.

Was the counting helping you, as well?

Oh, yes, kept me focused. That's part and parcel of it, isn't it?

The CPR, you do the one, two, three, and that keeps you focused.

You've been married some years - you know she's very determined.

Oh, yes. Very determined lady.

When you heard that tape, what were you thinking?

Well, because I don't remember anything at all,

so the first time I heard it I was a little a bit emotional.

Of course.

But she's determined to keep me going!

-She was having none of it.

-No, she wasn't.

And what had happened?

You'd been watching TV together earlier in the evening?

Yes, it was a typical Saturday night, really.

We watched Casualty and watched the news,

then I was going to leave him to watch the football...

As many people do.

I was going off to bed and he just turned round and collapsed. on the floor.

So, saying nothing?

There was absolutely no warning at all.

He just sort of turned round and slid down on the floor.

-So, from watching Casualty we had a real live...

-Absolutely.

And, luckily, you'd had some training previously, had you?

Yeah, about 15 years ago I did a first aid course

when I was at work, so I had learnt how to do CPR,

-so I was really fortunate.

-But you had help, didn't you?

From someone who I know you'd really like to meet.

If I can call her over, Jenny, who I was speaking to earlier, she's on a break now.

Come in, Jenny.

I can't wait to meet her.

-This is Pat.

-Hello, nice to meet you.

-I am so pleased to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Oh, gosh, I couldn't have done it without you.

You did brilliantly, absolutely brilliantly.

-I've never ever heard anyone do CPR the way you did it.

-Really?

You did it, textbook case, it was absolutely brilliant.

Well, I'd had had practice on... Who's the one?

Resusci Anne.

David, I know you particularly wanted to meet Jenny

and say thank you to everyone involved that day, as well.

I certainly do, I'm going to start with Jenny,

and then the response people that came so quickly,

so quickly they arrived, apparently, they're so professional people.

They managed to get me stabilised to go into the hospital,

and while I'm here I've really got to thank Royal Bournemouth Hospital,

because the Accident Unit Department I went to, was it?

Yeah, the CC unit.

And now you have been treated you got a defibrillator.

-Are you going to show us that?

-I...

-Come on!

-If it's a sight you'd like to see!

-It's under your skin, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Let's have a look, show the people at home.

-All right, then, let's have a look.

-And this is only weeks ago, isn't it?

That's where it is, just there.

That was put in about four weeks ago now,

and that's just under the skin there, so we know it's there,

and I go back on Friday to get my first results on it.

Well, lots of luck, and, Pat, you know,

if we could all have your determination, that'd be fantastic.

Well, if there's one important thing anybody should learn

in their life, if you just learn CPR.

And call 999, cos you get someone like this on the end of the phone.

Thank you.

-Absolutely.

-999 was very good.

Thank you very much.

Well, we've all seen David's chest and that defibrillator.

It is only about the size of a mobile phone,

-but it does a lot of good, doesn't it, Lee?

-Certainly does.

What does it do?

Basically, it's designed to monitor the cardiac rhythm

and, if the rhythm becomes disturbed

or is a shockable rhythm, it will deliver a small electric shock.

-You'd feel it?

-Oh, without question, it'd give you a bit of whack.

A bit of whack and the heart goes.

Now, we've heard about pacemakers -

what does a pacemaker do that's different?

A pacemaker is designed to monitor the rhythm of the heart,

and if it goes below a certain level or becomes irregular

it's designed to give a small impulse

to try and get the heart to beat normally at a normal rhythm.

-So it's not quite as much of a...

-No, not at all.

And I suppose if you went to the airport with a pacemaker

or defibrillator, it'll send the alarm off?

Yeah, from the information I've received, that's correct.

I believe you've got to have a certificate to go through the airport.

Probably not a great idea to go through an X-ray

with a defibrillator, but thanks very much.

It's always a nightmare when you're caught in the rain wearing the wrong clothes or shoes,

however you don't expect it to be dangerous.

Who would have thought that a pleasant stroll around a beauty spot

could be ruined by the wrong shoes?

SIRENS

Volunteers of Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team are heading out to an emergency

by the side of Crymych Lake.

The nearest parking spot is over a mile away from the water's edge.

A mile that has to be covered on foot,

carrying emergency equipment and at a run.

Mike Park is team leader.

The footage is being recorded on his helmet camera.

Make sure that they're aware that the helimed was needed

on another job, and that we will require, will require,

that land ambulance.

Yeah, that will be belt and braces for me, John, over.

Somewhere on the four miles of the lake's shoreline a young woman

has fallen and is suffering from a serious leg injury,

but the air ambulance has failed to spot her,

and now it's down to the local knowledge of the mountain rescuers.

'You try to pace yourself'

when you don't know where they are, but once you know where they are,

it's everybody rushing in as fast as they can.

The first thing that obviously goes through your mind,

"This is only a mile so we can run all the way."

Although they don't have any steep climbs,

on this rescue it's rough and muddy terrain.

And what started off as a bright Autumn day

is rapidly turning into a cold and stormy one.

The first rescuers to find the woman have erected the yellow tent,

but it's not just a good landmark.

In these conditions, there's a real danger of hypothermia

setting in to the casualty.

Local girl Emma Range was on a lakeside walk with her friend

when she slipped on the waterlogged ground

and actually heard her ankle crack.

Instead of her usual walking boots, Emma was wearing soft,

fashion boots with no ankle support.

She told us that she'd actually just bought a new pair of walking

boots a couple of days earlier, but she didn't want to get them dirty.

Emma was with her friend, Sophia,

who's been helping to keep her spirits up.

Her rescuers have already given her gas and air to ease her pain,

and they've splinted her ankle.

Now that the pain relief is taking effect,

Emma's coping well with the injury.

The pathway down is very slippery even with the right footwear.

For the first part of the journey the ground is too rough to

put their single wheel under the stretcher.

But as the path levels out, it's able to take some of the strain.

Emma will be taken the rest of the way to A&E by land ambulance.

Once there, her ankle will be X-rayed to thoroughly assess

the damage those fashion boots have caused.

I'm not sure if it really was the shoes that she tripped over,

maybe it happened because she was laughing at that panda hat.

However, Emma hasn't been put off the lakes. We caught up with her a few days ago.

The ground was very waterlogged, it was sort of like marsh land,

and we were walking along, slipping quite a lot.

All of a sudden I slipped and just heard this pop,

and I thought, that doesn't sound good.

Emma did turn out to have a broken ankle, but her fall might

never have happened if she'd only been wearing more appropriate shoes.

I always think if I'd just put my walking boots on,

although they don't look as nice, I would have just saved myself

so much trouble, I wouldn't have gone through all the pain

and wouldn't have caused the trouble for mountain rescue.

Without them, she would have been lying cold and injured by the lakeside a lot longer.

They were absolutely amazing, and I just want to say a massive thank you,

cos they're all volunteers as well, no-one gets paid for it.

And the sort of things that I do in my spare time are nothing

to what they do, and I just want to say a massive thank you.

Now, you probably saw members of the Cockermouth mountain rescue

team yomping all of that kit up the hill, it looked really hard work.

But it would have been a lot easier if they had one of these.

Just take a look at that.

Looks pretty impressive, I have no idea what it is, but Rob is just about to tell me.

It says here, "from the heart team", what's the heart team first of all?

We're from the Hazard Air Response Team

from South Central Ambulance Service,

so we go into places where paramedics couldn't have gone before.

Oh, I love that, where men couldn't go before.

What's so special about this piece of kit here then?

This is a Polaris six by six, all terrain vehicle, so it gives us the capability

of getting to people we couldn't have got to, and being able

to move them safely from where they are to where we want them to be.

Which is probably a really useful bit of kit in this particular area, right?

Yeah, it's definitely come into its own within our area,

we've got a lot of woodland and farmers fields on our patch,

got quite long distances, we would have had to carry people over.

Whereas now we can put them on this and move them.

You've got horse-riders, mountain-bikers, has this been in action recently?

Yeah, definitely, we've got a bit of woodland just by where we're stationed,

and we do a seven week rota where I'm on duty on days on the weekend, and we're always in that forest.

Getting people out, horse-riders, scramblers,

and people on mountain cycles.

Um, last time we were on duty there,

a mountain biker came off and punctured his lung,

we managed to get him out and safe and doing very well out of it.

Fantastic, this car's got everything, look at that,

even a coffee holder, no coffee in there cos you're on duty.

I'm just looking in the back here,

poor, old Elaine looks as if she's in prison.

But this is a very important part of it.

Now, I'm taking it, when you get to a patient you don't treat him,

or her, in here, you treat them on the ground, right?

No, we get into the back of here,

we travel to wherever the patient may be, and we treat them on scene.

Make them as comfortable as we can,

then we lift them into the stretcher and make them secure in here,

and once they're in here, they're not going to go anywhere.

We will look after them, and we can continue with pain relief

if we need to, and the purpose of this vehicle is extraction back to the main roadside,

where we can deliver them.

You're liaising with the main ambulance to get them back to hospital?

Absolutely, we're in radio contact all the time.

Because HART tends to work in either four- or six-man teams,

so, um, there's only two of us that would go down to the patient

unless it's multiple casualties.

But with one casualty, we would bring one back with two teams,

and then we would meet them at the roadside and deliver them to the main ambulance.

Is Rob a good driver?

Um, can't say that on camera, can I?

Yeah, let's leave it there, thank you very much.

There's a bit of a walking accident theme today.

This time, it's a stroll down the High Street.

Madeleine and her dog, Woody, were minding their own business,

then Madeleine suddenly had a convulsion.

Paramedic, Danny Millen,

and emergency care assistant, Stephen Tucker,

arrive at the parade of shops where Madeleine has collapsed.

I spoke to her daughter, she's not epileptic

-but she's got a history of blacking out recently.

-OK.

-That's the medication she's on.

-Excellent.

She was literally walking past with her dog.

-Right, daughter's on her way from Ferndown.

-Right.

Police and passers by are all trying to help her out.

Hello, Madeleine, hi, Madeleine, it's the paramedics now, OK?

-She hasn't spoken.

-OK.

When she fell to the floor, Madeleine grazed the back of her head.

How's that?

-There's a little bit.

-OK.

Madeleine, can you open your eyes for me?

Madeleine is unresponsive.

Can you squeeze my hands for me?

-Can you move your legs?

-She hasn't spoken since the fall.

When a district nurse found Madeleine, she was fitting.

She was having a tonic episode.

OK, how long do you think that lasted for?

-Um, about 15 or 20 seconds, I would say.

-Right.

Madeleine was walking her dog, Woody, at the time.

We're going to get you up off the floor now, all right?

Danny needs to get her in to the ambulance to carry out more

tests and get Madeleine warm.

OK, everyone ready?

One, two, three.

Up we get.

Go on her side, that's excellent.

Brilliant.

If we can get that on cos I think she's quite cold.

Woody is being cared for by the police.

If we, um...

If I straighten her, that'll be handy.

Madeleine, do you know where you are?

In the ambulance, Madeleine is starting to become more aware,

but she's confused.

Who do you think I am? Do you know what's happened?

No.

It sounds like you might have had a bit of a fit.

You're in Cunningham Crescent.

Danny takes her blood pressure

but Madeleine tries to pull the arm pad off.

Just relax your arms, just, you're a bit confused.

What's your date of birth?

Eight of the ninth, '38.

Sorry?

Eight of the ninth, '38.

-And how old does that make you, Madeleine?

-Um.

The fit has left Madeleine unable to answer even the most basic questions.

93.

Oh, I don't think you're going to be 93.

Her daughter, Suzanne, arrives,

she's able to give a bit more detail about what may have happened.

She's a bit confused at the moment.

Two or three weeks ago she went through a similar thing, um,

went all faint, she was sick down herself and passed out,

-she was with her sisters at home at that time.

-OK.

And paramedics came out and she had low blood pressure.

Right. Well, it sounds a little bit more serious than that,

it sounds like she's had a convulsion.

Like a fit, and then gone down to the floor.

There was a district nurse who saw it all happen.

Madeleine lives with her daughter so it's vital that they get to the bottom of what has happened.

She has banged the back of her head on the way down.

So, she needs to be checked out.

But everything else seems to be OK at the moment,

she's got the oxygen on, her oxygen saturation is a little bit low.

But that could be because her hands are cold, it could be because she's

moving her fingers, so we're just giving her a little bit of oxygen.

We're going to take you down to hospital.

I'm fine, I'm fine.

Suzanne has one outstanding question.

Can I ask a daft question, what's happened to the dog?

Ah, the police are taking the dog home.

And they're going to give the dog some food and leave it at home.

All right? You have banged the back of your head,

so, that's probably quite sore.

Any kind of fit is exhausting for the body and the brain,

Madeleine will need lots of rest.

On the way to hospital she's still confused.

No, your daughter, do you remember seeing your daughter

-while we were there?

-No.

Your daughter's following down in the car. All right?

As she starts to recover, Madeleine's got one thing on her mind.

Woody's welfare.

He was very protective of you, but he's safe and sound now.

He's been arrested by the police, dragged off in handcuffs.

I bet he was, yeah.

We've spoken to Madeleine and she is feeling fine,

although what caused her convulsion is still a mystery.

Strange call came in that Natalie knows about.

-Hello, there, you OK to talk?

-Hello, yes.

-You got a call from a mum?

-I did.

And she was having an allergic reaction, but why?

Basically, her daughter had just given her a kiss,

and she's just been eating peanuts, um, and so that caused mum to have

an allergic reaction, because she was allergic to peanuts.

-And that is how severe allergies can be?

-It was, yeah.

And she didn't have an epipen available,

because normally you have epipens which administer adrenaline.

-Yes.

-Didn't have one of those, so we just kept her calm.

Was that the first time she'd had that kind of reaction?

I believe so. Yeah.

It was? Gosh, that sounds extremely unusual.

But if that does happen, we call you, do we?

Yeah, call us, and some people who have known allergies,

they have epipens, that can be administered, but on this occasion she didn't have one.

-Just from a little kiss?

-Yeah, just from a kiss from her daughter.

-Aww.

-Which is a bit unfortunate.

-Thanks, Natalie.

-That's all right.

Still to come on Real Rescues,

he's used to saving lives as a firefighter, but we're talking

to him today about one rescue which was beyond the call of duty.

James wasn't having a good day,

a trip to the hospital was followed by this.

-You've just has dialysis, have you?

-Yeah.

OK, is that a weekly thing for you?

-Three times a week.

-Three times a week, OK.

We all know that taking part in sport can be dangerous.

Football, rugby, rock climbing, but table tennis?

An emergency call has come in from a church hall in Poole,

the nearest ambulance is just around the corner.

On board are Steve Massy and Rob Millen, it's a quiet,

residential area, there's not a vehicle on the road.

They arrive at the church hall in moments.

Hello? Nice and quick, how are you doing?

Where were you, just round the corner?

Just round the corner, yeah.

Their patient is lying where he fell, the crew have been

told that the man has hurt his head and may have concussion.

-What's your name?

-Michael Beazley.

Hello, Michael, so, what happened to you today?

I came off the table, my feet didn't grip the floor

and I went straight in to this.

Michael's chosen his team mates well, his friend, Eddie,

is a retired doctor.

He didn't lose consciousness at all.

Good, other than being a bit dazed, he was fully with it?

-Yes, he's got a nasty cut.

-Any other pain anywhere?

-In your neck, or in your back?

-Just in the knee.

Michael's knee has taken a bit of a bashing as well.

-No pain in your neck at all?

-No.

-No pain down the middle of your back?

Try not to move around too much.

Before he can move Michael, paramedic, Steve,

needs to check his neck, back and spine.

Can I just have a little press, just tell me

-if you feel pain where I'm touching.

-No.

Before we get you up and move you around

I just want to get your blood pressure, cos you are a bit clammy.

Michael is a fit, 76-year-old, but any patient who suffered

a head injury is at risk of concussion, or even more serious internal injuries.

Paramedic, Steve, wants to check his blood pressure.

So, were you winning?

No, I don't know, it's not an excuse if we weren't.

Ah, yeah.

That's going to go tighter on your arm.

Michael's well enough to walk to the ambulance.

But they have to take things very slowly.

OK, that seems fine.

What we'll do then, Michael, very gently,

we'll just help you sit forwards.

-Yeah.

-See how you are sat up.

So, how's that feeling?

Oh, all right.

When you feel ready, my colleague and I will help you to your feet.

Michael's feeling better.

Now he can be patched up in the ambulance.

Inside, Steve's getting a closer look at the cut,

the only other visible injury is on his knee.

-You're quite lucky, really, that's quite a sturdy stage set to fall against.

-Yeah.

Very superficial, the only reason it's sort of split a bit

-is where the swelling's come up a bit.

-Yeah.

So, we'll hold that together with a few paper stitches and then everything should be fine.

I'll just pull it across. Like so.

With his wound stuck together and cleaned up,

Michael's personal medical team check up on him.

I'll give you a ring later, all right?

Thank you, Eddie, yes, thank you very much.

All right, see you, bye bye.

But suddenly, Michael feels unwell.

I felt a bit, uh, sick again just now, but I feel all right now.

Your blood pressure's a little bit low.

It's certainly lower than what it was inside.

I'm starting to sweat again now as well.

That would be because your blood pressure's taken a little tumble.

The crew can't risk Michael driving himself

until they're convinced nothing more serious is going on.

They're going to give him a full MOT just to make sure the fall wasn't caused by anything else.

The risk is you having another collapse,

and if you do that at the wheel of your car then someone will be

certainly after my guts for garters.

They check his heart, then take his blood pressure in different

positions, lying, sitting and finally.

-It's like waiting for your lottery numbers to come in.

-Yeah.

Standing.

-You're quite a fit chap, you're obviously quite healthy.

-Yeah.

Far healthier than I probably am.

Michael has the all-clear to get behind the wheel, it shouldn't be

long before he's well enough to get back to that table tennis table.

-Thanks very much.

-All the best then, Michael, take care.

Bye-bye, then.

We're always telling you about the hundreds of calls that centres like this take every day.

What we don't tell you is that they're not always grown ups.

-I'm going to see if I can chat to Natalie. Natalie, is it all right to talk?

-Yes, fine, thank you.

You received a phone call from a young child, what had happened?

Mum had had a gardening accident and lost some fingers.

My goodness, so this young child phoned you up.

And said, "Mummy's in real trouble."

"Mummy's in really bad trouble, she's lost some fingers and I don't know what to do."

-So, what did you tell her?

-Mum was feeling quite faint,

so I got her to lie Mum on the floor,

and I got her mum to hold her arm up and wrap her hand up in a tea towel.

-To stop the bleeding?

-To stop the bleeding, yeah.

-What next?

-The child decided that she wanted to go into the garden,

which was the best thing to do, and look for the fingers.

So, if they could possibly sew them back on?

Then the best thing is to have the fingers.

-What a remarkable thing to do.

-She was amazing, she stayed really calm

and patient and did everything I asked her to do.

Then the ambulance turned up and took her away?

Took her to hospital, yeah.

Do you get lots of calls from young children when Mum and Dad are in trouble?

That's my first one that I've had.

Did you worry, does it panic you?

Not really, because she was so calm, it's unusual for such a young child,

she was really, really calm.

I was going to say, the young child was calmer than you.

Yeah, yeah, and she just did everything I asked her to do.

-She did a brilliant job, well, thank You. I'll let you get back to work.

-Thank you.

Now, most people plan to have their babies in hospitals,

but it doesn't always happen that way,

and a lot of the calls come in to here.

If it's not going to happen that way.

Sharon, you can tell me about one mother-to-be, on her way in a car.

Yes, absolutely, we took a phone call from a couple who were

making their way to hospital as the lady had gone in to labour.

They were trying desperately to make it there,

but the labour was progressing really swiftly.

They made it as far as the driveway of the hospital.

OK.

And the baby was then delivered with the help of the call taker

and the advice that was given in the front seat of the car.

And the irony is, the gentleman had only just picked up a brand-new sports car that morning.

-No.

-So, the baby was delivered in the brand-new sports car.

That's terrible, I mean, it's lovely for them and everything.

Was he upset on the phone, or was he delighted to see his new baby?

He was pleased that his baby had been delivered safely.

-Yeah.

-It just would be that day, wouldn't it?

Did they go to hospital in the end?

Yeah, they then made their way along the driveway into the hospital.

Where the baby was checked over.

And straight from there to the garage after that to get it cleaned.

-Absolutely, a nice, deep clean.

-Sharon, thanks.

Now, traffic cops are constantly on the alert for speeding

motorists, but on a busy road in Sussex there are four cars

that aren't going anywhere.

The traffic police are needed on a busy A road in Sussex.

PC Richard Hobbs is the nearest.

It happened near Eastbourne on the south coast.

SIRENS WAIL

Richard arrives to see a line of vehicles have been caught up

in the accident.

Checking injuries is the priority.

-Is anyone hurt?

-This chap here, James.

Do you need an ambulance at all, James?

PC Hobbs has to work his way up the line of cars.

You didn't hit your head or anything?

Hang on in there for me, and I'll come see you in a tick, all right?

The injuries suffered will determine the police response.

-Just you in this one, is it?

-There are four vehicles involved,

the driver at the front has escaped with the least damage.

-Hello, girls, you all right?

-It's a classic shunt,

one of the most common accidents the road cops get called to.

Luckily, this time no-one is seriously hurt,

James is the most shaken and his car the most badly damaged.

He suffers from serious kidney problems and was on his way

back from a treatment session when the accident happened.

-You've just had dialysis, have you?

-Yeah.

-OK, is that a weekly thing for you?

-Three times a week.

-Three times a week? OK.

Blow hard. Keep going, keep going, keep going.

It's routine to give every driver caught up in an accident a breathalyser.

James passes.

I just came round on to this road

and suddenly everyone's braked really heavy,

and I tried breaking and I just went in to the back of this vehicle.

The Highways Agency are now at the scene.

The priority for the police now is to clear the road

and get the traffic flowing freely again.

The delivery van is going nowhere.

As for James' car, PC Hobbs is going to see if he can shift it.

I'm just going to see if I can reverse it back,

I don't know whether it's going to go. OK, if you hang on there.

It doesn't sound very healthy but backs out easily.

James has arranged for recovery to come and collect it.

Once all the radiator fluid is cleared off the road,

few signs will remain of the accident.

Richard has collected statements from everyone,

but now it's a job for the insurance companies.

Recovery arrives for the delivery van, and an hour after the

accident happened the road is clear, and the traffic is flowing freely.

People get cocooned within their car

and forget about what's happening ahead of them,

and it's very easy to start narrowing the gap with the vehicle

ahead, and you don't give yourself the chance to react to anything.

People have been travelling too close together,

someone's had to break, and one vehicle's shunted in to another,

and we've ended up with four vehicles being involved.

Well, as we heard there, James was on his way to dialysis

when he had that unfortunate shunt.

He is just one of the 26,000 people a week in the UK on dialysis

because his kidneys don't work.

Michael was also a kidney patient until a year ago

but thanks to an extraordinarily generous family friend, Stuart,

Michael's life has been transformed.

And you're both here to explain.

So, Michael, you were on dialysis until about a year ago.

What was wrong with you?

Um, basically, I contracted a virus when I was five years old, um,

and it just attacked the kidneys, basically.

I had steroid treatments that worked, but continuously,

over a period of ten years it just kept coming back, and every time

it came back it just damaged the kidneys a little bit more.

And that meant that you were on dialysis, what, three times a week?

Three times a week for roughly four hours at a time.

-So, really effecting your life and everything?

-Yeah.

You were trying to get somebody else's kidney,

you were on the register, and then, family friend.

That's right.

You put yourself on the register, Stuart, why was that?

My wife's best friend passed away waiting for a heart

and lung transplant.

So, my sisters came down one day saying they'd exhausted

all their avenues.

Cos they'd been looking for a donor?

-She said, OK, go ahead, put my name down.

-Your wife?

-Yeah, my wife.

And I was there as well, and I said, yeah, go on, then,

put my name down as well.

And lo and behold, I was a match.

You were a match? How unusual is that, that he should be a match?

-I think it's like 33,000 to one, or something like that.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

Not only a match, but willing to give up your kidney as well.

Yeah, it was a bit of a no-brainer, really,

we just, sort of, popped in and had it done, really.

I love the way you say that, brilliant.

You popped in to have a major operation and give away a kidney.

So, how much difference has it made to your life?

Um, completely different.

I mean, before I had to spend so much time at the hospital,

that was pretty much my life.

And now, I barely go back, maybe once a month for check ups,

and I can do whatever I want, you know.

And I hear you can eat different food as well?

That's right, well, you have quite a strict dietary regime, really,

-because you're not allowed salt or potassium.

-So, no crisps.

That's right, no chocolate.

-So, you can eat crisps and chocolate? You can now?

-Yeah. It's completely changed my life for the better.

What about you, you've got one kidney now,

has it affected your health?

Not at all, no, no, feel exactly the same, really.

Thought I'd feel a lot different, but, no, feel exactly the same.

You're organising a run to encourage people to be on the donor register.

Currently, there's only 29% of people in the UK carry donor cards,

so the idea is we put together a team of people and we're doing a run

from the Queen Alexandra hospital in Portsmouth, which is where we had the operation done,

down to Lands End in Cornwall, and then we're going to row back to Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth.

-You're going all of this?

-Myself and a colleague from my station.

-I mean, you have done, he's done an amazing thing, hasn't he?

-He has.

And I love the way you just laugh it off and make light of it, but

-absolutely admirable and brilliant to do as well, isn't it, Michael?

-Yeah, it is.

-I'm glad it's made a big difference. Thanks for coming to tell us.

-No problem.

-Thank you.

-What a great story, what a good man.

-Oh.

-Just popped in, just popped in, had an operation.

-Yeah, yeah.

I bet you're happy, chocolate and crisps, eh?

-Yeah, it's a miracle.

-I wouldn't survive without that.

-That's it for Real Rescues, we'll see you next time.

-Bye bye.

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