Episode 3 Real Rescues

Today on Real Rescues, cocker spaniel Ivy is trapped deep underground.

She's been buried for four days, and time is running out for her.

Whoa, whoa! Come back, come back!

Right, stop. Stop.

It's there. We've got him. He's alive.

And when a soft landing is anything but.

The basket itself has hit the ground, having a second impact,

which has thrown her across. She's got discomfort in her lower back,

and at one stage, she couldn't feel her left leg.

Hello, and welcome to Real Rescues.

From centres like this, ambulances are dispatched

to emergencies across the region

and there are call handlers on duty around the clock.

On the show, we'll be seeing all the emergency services in action.

Let's start with the fire service.

They were called into action to rescue Ivy,

a four-year-old cocker spaniel.

She has an adventurous side

and she likes nothing better

than investigating the woods near her home.

There are so many interesting spots, including fox and badger holes,

and naturally, she just couldn't resist

the opportunity to check them out.

Two Urban Search and Rescue experts, Tony Brown and Graham Libby,

are using their specialist camera equipment

deep in the Hampshire countryside.

They're half a mile from the nearest road,

in a copse just outside Burghclere.

-I've got loads of debris at the present moment.

-Yeah.

What I'll do, I'll push it in, then withdraw it.

-Yeah.

-And see if it makes it clear.

-Keep going, keep going.

-That's a nice picture at the minute.

They're looking for signs of life four metres into a bank.

Oh, whoa, whoa! Come back, come back, come back!

Right, stop, stop. It's there. We've got him. He's alive.

-Spot-on, mate.

-Yeah?

Yeah, yeah. We can see him now.

That was the moment they found Ivy, a cocker spaniel.

She'd been trapped underground for four days.

With no food, water, or daylight, this very nearly became her tomb.

The rescue started five hours earlier.

I was called to an incident

where a dog had become lost.

It'd been missing for four days.

The owners had to go away

on a prearranged holiday.

We were fortunate enough that they have a housekeeper and gardener

who were minding out for the dog,

and they had been looking for the dog.

The children in the last four days had been putting up posters,

searching the local area.

But unfortunately, Ivy was nowhere to be found.

Later the day that I was called, Gordon, who's the local gardener,

before starting to cut the lawns,

decided to have another look for the dog.

And this time, he went into the woods

where he knew there was rabbit holes and badger setts.

And whilst walking through the woods,

he managed to hear the dog's very shallow breathing underground,

near a set of badger setts.

That was Ivy's first bit of luck for 90 hours.

She could now hear a muffled, familiar voice.

Gardener Gordon set to with a spade to dig her out,

but the ground was hard.

After four hours, he gave up, exhausted.

It was time to call in the RSPCA and the fire service.

On my arrival, I was confronted by

a badger sett, which, through legalities,

we're not allowed to disturb or dig.

However, the RSPCA inspector that was there was able to confirm

it was disused badger sett.

So that gave us the authority then to investigate the hole.

Using a torch and a mirror, I was able to slide myself

into the initial sett entrance, illuminate the tunnel,

and get the reflection of the dog,

about four metres away, down one of the chambers.

And it was really reassuring to know the dog was alive.

No-one knows how long a dog can survive without water.

It's thought to be somewhere between three days and a week.

Ivy's already well into the danger zone.

The usual advice the service gives to owners of trapped dogs

is to wait two days.

During that time, it should lose enough weight

to make an escape possible.

The potential for that dog to get out on its own accord

was absolutely zero. It needed to be dug out.

Buster called for some specialist help.

I realised that I had got very limited equipment

for the type of rescue that was needed.

The type of equipment that I needed

so that we could observe the dog, was to use

the UK Search and Rescue equipment,

similar to what they use in collapsed buildings in earthquakes.

Urban Search and Rescue is a special unit of the fire service.

Their cameras and sound sensors

have helped save many lives around the world.

A dog stuck four metres into a badger sett

is a useful way to practise their skills.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Come back, come back, come back!

Come back about a foot, Graham. Right, stop, stop. It's there.

We've got him. He's alive.

-Hang on a minute.

-We've got his eye.

There you go.

If I withdraw it a bit, you might get a better picture.

-That's good.

-Hold that like that, Tone.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-Come and have a look.

I'll pull out just a bit.

Tell me when.

That's fine.

Yeah, we see his face now, Graham.

Come back about six inches, Graham.

-Spot-on, mate.

-There?

Yeah, yeah. We can see him now.

Yes, you little scrumpkin!

Things are looking better for Ivy,

but she's still buried deep in pitch darkness.

There's a lot of digging to do before she's safely in daylight.

The emergency services in Britain deal with around 40,000 -

yes, that's 40,000 - serious road collisions every year.

And, of course, we all hope we won't be one of that number.

But one 24-year-old sadly was about to become a statistic.

SIRENS BLARE

It's late afternoon.

The firefighters of Southampton's Green Watch crew

are on their way to a serious collision involving two cars.

Five-four-papa-one in attendance, over.

Okey-doke. Let's go and see what they want.

One of the drivers is still trapped inside their car.

23-year-old Laura Venis

is complaining of excruciating back pain.

She's been hit head-on by a car that swerved to avoid a van

parked on double yellow lines.

Fortunately, an off-duty nurse was passing by.

She stopped Laura trying to get out,

and now she's inside the car holding her head still.

This will immobilise her spine, which is vital to prevent further damage.

Paramedic Ian Godwin is trying to find out

-just what's causing the pain.

-(LAURA) 'I wanted to get out.'

It was almost like adrenaline

had kicked through my body,

as well as pain,

and amongst other emotions.

And I felt really sick.

I felt just awful.

I didn't understand what was happening at all.

Hello, there.

Sean Foster is Watch Manager.

-(PARAMEDIC) Purely precaution-wise, we have got...

-So, roof?

-If we could have the roof off, please.

-OK, yeah. Certainly.

Can you send an assistance message?

SEU required. Cheers, Liam.

The special equipment unit will bring all the tools

they need to cut the roof off the car, so that Laura can be slid out.

Fortunately, the driver of the other car has walked away unscathed.

Laura is understandably upset,

and Ian is doing his best to keep her calm.

'I've never experienced pain like that before.'

And it's difficult to describe the pain as well.

It's so many different feelings you get, all in one go.

You feel sick, you don't know what to do, you want to run.

You can't do anything. You have to just sit there.

The special wedges will stabilise the car,

while they work to free Laura.

Two vehicles, one person trapped.

Extrication in progress.

Instant mode, Oscar.

The accident has drawn a lot of onlookers,

but Sean doesn't want them to get too close

whilst his crew are cutting through the windscreen glass.

Can you get the public away, please?

Obviously we've got someone in a car.

-We've got a few more on their way.

-All right, lovely.

Warren, can you come this side? Stop the public?

Laura is protected from the glass by the blue blankets.

But it's a terrifying experience.

'It was very, very loud. Very scary.'

The ambulance crew were great.

They were talking me through everything, just chatting to me.

Making sure I was OK.

And I just remember them crashing the roof to get it off.

It wasn't very nice.

But with the ambulance crew there, and speaking to me,

it made it much easier.

Cutters, called the Jaws of Life,

slice through the metal pillars with ease.

The roof is off. Now they can get Laura out of the wreckage.

Ambulance crew Debbie Tobart

has taken over control of Laura's head and spine.

Ian calmly explains to Laura

the next stage of the process.

The solid, long board behind Laura's neck and back

will keep her flat as they slide her out.

Laura is taken to A&E for X-rays on her neck and back.

Fortunately for her, there is no lasting damage.

Just severe whiplash and bruising.

'You don't realise the impact of the accident

'until it happens to yourself.'

Which, obviously, everyone thinks, "Oh, it'll never happen to me."

And then one second, you're fine.

Next second, you're in an accident.

There's nothing you can do. Out of your control.

Unfortunately, wrong place at the wrong time.

The fire crew are pleased and relieved

they could get her out safely and quickly.

It's taken just 20 minutes.

'It's always rewarding, obviously,'

to be able to assist someone who is in pain

and help their recovery.

When Robin investigated a leaking roof,

he was aware of all the potential pitfalls.

Except for the one that prompted a dramatic 999 call.

I'm very glad to say that Robin was, in the end, OK.

Here he is with Christine, who was on that phone call.

Christine, I know it's very emotional

-listening back to that, isn't it?

-Yes.

So what happened? He was stung...

When did you realise something was going seriously wrong?

He went into the lounge and started to collapse.

So I went over to dial 999,

opened the front door as I went past it

for the ambulance to come in.

-Dragged him off the sofa.

-Mmm-hmm.

Just remembered his head

as I was pulling him off.

-And then put him in the recovery position.

-Amazingly quick thinking.

Is that because...you were a midwife, weren't you?

-Did that help, do you think?

-I was a midwife,

but I was also a research nurse at Surrey University,

and because of being in research, you had to keep up your...

-Your First Aid. Did you?

-Yes.

Quite something, though, when it's actually your husband

that is very seriously ill.

And I love the way on the tape you're going,

-"Could you come quickly?"

-THEY LAUGH

-Yes!

-In kind of very polite but very persuasive way!

Robin, just tell us, how much do you remember after the stings?

Do you remember much of what was going on at all?

Well, I remember, obviously,

going into the kitchen

and telling Christine that I'd been stung.

And then I went into the lounge.

I can't remember anything after that,

apart from when I was aware that the paramedics

were there in their red boiler suits.

I could just see them through a fog, as it were.

And was aware that they were working very hard to help me.

And I know one of them said to you, as well,

that you had a near-death experience.

Yes, well, after I had come round and was reasonably compos mentis,

they loaded me onto a trolley and took me to the ambulance.

And it was as I was being put in the ambulance

that they suggested that I'd had a near-death experience.

OK, let's talk to Mandy. You are an expert in all of this.

It is anaphylaxis.

It was an allergic reaction, wasn't it, to the wasps?

Yes, to an allergen,

which can trigger any sort of allergic reaction,

and often does end up in anaphylaxis,

which is an overreaction,

the body's overreaction to a stimuli

that it would normally be able to cope with.

This can come out of the blue?

Because Robin's been stung many times by wasps.

It can develop over a time, or it can be something completely new.

Completely out of the blue.

And this is what you need if you have the tendency

to have anaphylactic shock.

Yes, you need an EpiPen,

which is adrenaline, effectively.

-You know what to do with this, don't you?

-Yes.

So if it happened again,

-you would use the EpiPen and call 999, wouldn't you?

-Yes.

I would do that. Yes.

Just quickly, what about the wasps? How are they doing?

-Well, we had them extinguished!

-THEY LAUGH

-Which I think is probably fair enough, after all that!

-Yes!

-Thank you. I'm glad to see you're well.

-Thank you so much.

-Thanks, Mandy, as well.

-Thank you.

For her 25th birthday,

Kay was given a balloon ride as a gift from her boyfriend, Andy.

The time was never right, though,

and it would be two years before she would actually become airborne.

It might have ended better if she'd delayed it a little longer.

Good Friday, 10am.

The Dorset and Somerset air ambulance team have been scrambled.

On board are paramedics Steve and Jim.

Phil is the pilot.

-Is everyone happy?

-Yeah.

A hot air balloon ride has gone badly wrong.

We're on our way to a 25-year-old female

who's come down heavy

in a balloon landing.

What we know at this stage

is that she may have a back injury.

We've been asked to attend by the road crew that are there.

That may be just because of the location.

It could well be because of the injuries.

At this stage, we're not sure.

Hot air ballooning is not an exact science.

Unpredictable winds mean balloon pilots

are sometimes forced to land in an unplanned spot.

The ground support vehicle's at three o'clock.

I think they're in this big field,

right three o'clock, low, with a big tree in it.

A land ambulance has only managed

to get within 100 metres of the accident site.

More suited to the conditions,

the balloon crew's 4x4 was able

to drive right over to the casualty, Kay.

-Any pins and needles at this moment in time?

-In my feet.

My left side here just feels really heavy to move.

Kay's birthday present balloon ride ended with a heavy letdown.

Coming towards the ground,

the balloon got caught up in this tree, instantly deflating.

The jolt sent Kay sprawling to the floor.

The basket then fell 30 feet.

The basket itself has then actually hit the ground,

having a second impact, which has thrown her across.

She's got a lot of discomfort in her lower back,

and at one stage, she couldn't feel her left leg.

So whether she's got an underlying cord compression,

or maybe a disc has slipped.

The pilot and Kay's boyfriend, Andy, both escaped unhurt.

But the worry is that Kay may have sustained an injury to her spine.

To keep it still and to protect it,

the land ambulance crew immediately strapped her to a long board.

Take a deep breath. Everything is all OK.

-Yep.

-Kay, do you have an urge to pass water?

-Yeah, but I've had that since we landed.

-Right.

From the crash, I thought I'd wet myself, but I hadn't.

You hadn't. Right.

Nerves in the spinal cord control continence.

Any loss of feeling in that area could also be a sign of damage.

ETA to you will be 12:15.

And as I said, it's the air ambulance,

so we need the porters ready, please.

Kay needs to be airlifted to a hospital in Bath.

Going by road would take three times as long.

Just going to pop a small needle into your arm, OK?

We just need to give you a slightly stronger painkiller, OK?

Just for when we transfer you in a minute.

Kay hasn't let the pain and shock

of her recent experience deflate her spirits.

-How old is Kay?

-27, but I could pass for 22.

I'm sure you could!

-21, I was thinking!

-THEY LAUGH

There's a big bird circling, in case no-one had noticed.

As long as it's not a vulture, you're OK!

THEY LAUGH

To avoid her getting agitated, the team have to keep Kay at ease.

With a spinal injury,

any sudden wrong move could be potentially life changing.

-We're supposed to be painting.

-Are you?

What were you doing in a balloon, if you were supposed to be painting?

Well, that's a good question!

(ANDY) Inspiration.

It is, isn't it? Blue sky thinking!

But, beneath her cheeriness, Kay IS concerned.

Everyone keeps reassuring me I haven't,

but I'm very sure I've wet myself!

I think I would, if I'd come down in a balloon and hit the tree!

< (WOMAN) Bye-bye, Kay! See you later, hon!

Any change in how you're feeling?

I'm hurting more, but I think just from moving. That's all.

-Right, so the pain's actually gone up, has it?

-Yeah, but it's just...

I'll give you another top up before we lift, all right?

Boyfriend Andy will have to watch Kay go up in the air again,

this time without him.

Where she's had the two injuries there, OK,

we just want to look at her leg. She's got a little bit of numbness.

I'm sure it's nothing too serious,

but if we get her X-rayed and checked.

-All right to get there?

-Hopefully they'll drop me off.

She'll see you at the other end.

Going to give her a quick goodbye?

-Nice big kiss!

-See you then.

-All right.

Right, this is where it gets all very noisy.

We're going to have headsets on, but if you need anything,

literally shout or point.

It will take ten minutes to fly to Bath's Royal United Hospital.

Kay's complaining of paraesthesia,

which is a sensation in her left leg.

This might just be bruising.

We're treating it as if there is an underlying fracture,

or even a disc or cord injury.

And after giving her the pain relief,

that's kept her nice and sedate and happy,

and stopped her from getting agitated,

which could cause further injury. Still all right, Kay?

OK, good.

Kay's second landing of the day is much gentler.

In the emergency department,

she'll undergo a full series of X-rays

to assess whether she has injured her spine or back.

We've spoken to Kay, and she's doing well.

No permanent damage.

She's just a bit bruised and battered.

She hasn't given up, though, on her high-adrenaline ambitions.

She'd like to go up in a helicopter again,

but this time, seeing a little bit more

than just the ceiling.

As you can imagine, we get lots of unusual calls coming into the centre.

One such call Jon was involved in,

and we brought in Clinical Supervisor Mandy.

Are you intrigued?

Jon's just about to explain all. What happened?

Basically, we had a group of guys that were out walking in the woods.

One of them felt like they'd been bitten by something.

The guys that called up said they were quite alarmed

-because they saw a snake nearby.

-A snake?

-That's right.

They thought the snake must have bitten the person.

They called for an ambulance.

We got our guys down. The crew were on scene, checked out the patient,

said he was stable, but said he did have to go to hospital

to get specialist treatment for the bite.

Specialist treatment, by the sounds of it, it was an adder, Mandy.

-That's what it sounds like.

-It's important that they know what kind

of snake, what colouring. For what reason?

Because most snakes, I believe, have different venoms and poisons

and it's important to get

the right antivenom for the right snake.

In this country, we don't have very many poisonous snakes.

I think adder is one of the only ones we have that run wild.

But in zoos and places, and certainly overseas,

they have more extensive banks of antivenom than we would keep

in our normal A&E departments.

I love the idea that in a hospital near a zoo,

you've got a big drawer with loads of different venom antidotes.

Amazing! Should we be worried?

Is it very dangerous if you get bitten by an adder?

It can be very dangerous,

because you can have an allergic reaction,

which can develop into anaphylaxis.

If you do see a snake that's bitten you, make sure you

work out what kind of snake bit you.

That's amazing. And our colleague that was bitten -

is he or she OK?

Yeah, fine, got them to hospital.

-They were treated and everything turned out well.

-Fantastic.

-Thank you very much.

-No problem.

Still to come on Real Rescues - they've located cocker spaniel Ivy.

Now the rescue team have to get her out.

Good girl. We'll get you out in a sec.

And are garden bonfires ever a good idea?

We're having words with him.

I think he's seen the error of his ways already.

He's feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Of course, everyone here is used to dealing with emergencies,

but not normally in this actual room.

But that did happen to Neil.

You were called when a friend collapsed on the floor -

Lee - weren't you?

Yes, I was working at my desk as normal that morning,

when I heard one of my managers ask if I'd give him a hand.

I stood up and saw Lee

collapsed on the floor, behind this desk,

apparently in a fit.

I went directly over to him, where one of my colleagues was trying to

unbutton his shirt, in order to fit the defibrillator pads.

You didn't mess about, did you? You ripped off his shirt!

Time is absolutely of the essence in these things,

so buttons are replaceable and people aren't.

So I ripped his shirt off and then his T-shirt,

applied the pads and the defibrillator administered a shock,

which brought Lee round straightaway.

That made you realise it was a cardiac arrest, did it,

-rather than a fit?

-Absolutely.

If it hadn't been a cardiac arrest,

the machine wouldn't have shocked him,

but that made it absolutely certain in my mind that's what it was.

He came round quite quickly, knew where he was?

Within about five seconds,

he was able to answer my questions intelligibly.

-OK.

-We were able to start getting a medical history for him,

so if he wasn't able to later on,

the hospital could have the details.

You couldn't make it up, could you? You saved his life.

This is what Lee remembers about all of it.

After being shocked once,

I woke up on the floor.

Neil had ripped my shirt and T-shirt open for the defib to be used.

I remember hearing

one of my colleagues on a call, which was ironic.

He was actually on a cardiac arrest call.

I could hear him giving instructions.

Shortly after that,

I was taken to hospital.

What caused Lee's heart to suddenly fail is unknown.

He has now had a defibrillator implanted, that will automatically

kick in if the same thing happens again.

I have this little box inside me and a wire,

so that if I ever have a fatal heart rhythm again,

then it'll give me shocks

to hopefully save my life.

Lee has now returned to his job as an emergency call taker.

I was in the right place at the right time

and we had the right equipment.

Defibrillators need to be everywhere.

They need to be in every public place, because they can save lives.

Lee was really lucky that it happened right here, where you

-were all able to help him.

-Yes, he was.

-I know you're busy.

-I'll leave you to get on with the rest of your work.

-Thank you.

Rescuers have found Ivy, the four-year-old cocker spaniel,

wedged into a disused badger sett, four metres from the entrance.

It's five hours since trapped cocker spaniel Ivy was found by her

owner's gardener, Gordon.

The dog will be hearing muffled sounds of the rescue attempt,

filtering down through the tunnels.

The noises are about to get louder, as the team get closer

with their equipment.

Using the camera, we were actually able to clearly pinpoint

the location of the dog, so we knew exactly where not to dig,

and where to dig just to the left of it or just to the right of it,

to make it a safer dig.

Gordon had pickaxes and shovels. He'd brought his garden tools.

I had digging equipment as well.

In turns, we were digging using shovels in the soil.

The earth is sandy and it's been hard going.

Almost two metres down, it's difficult to determine

the dog's precise position.

There's a risk they could harm her with the tools,

so it's going to have to be manual work from now on.

Basically, we're just using our hands to crumble away at the soil,

bringing it out by hand, and using my fingers, I managed to break

through two inches of soil, when I saw the dog's nose just

slightly to my left, and I was quite pleased.

Good girl. We'll get you out in a sec.

Good girl. Can I have a bottle of water?

It was very hot. It was very thirsty.

'It was nice to be able to give it water which it readily lapped up.'

Good girl.

'It calms the animal down and gives us

'a better chance of getting it out safely.'

Good girl.

Ivy's so tightly gripped by the earth,

she can only move her head slightly.

She'd chosen the wrong tunnel to go down.

Animals don't think like humans.

When we're trapped, if we can't go forward, we tend to withdraw

and see if there's another way.

Animals will always go forward.

The dog had torpedoed its way along using its hind legs,

so its body weight was on top of its front legs.

It had actually wedged itself into this narrow opening

of the chamber.

The dog's legs had been pinned down underneath her for four days.

Oh, you beauty!

Come on! Right, what we need to do then, is go left of this hole.

If we take this out here,

and then, I think we'll get her shoulders and she's out.

After a bit more cutting away,

Buster's able to get close enough to finally get his hands on Ivy.

-CREW MEMBER:

-Stand by, halfway out.

The four-year-old cocker spaniel struggles feebly,

in a bid to free herself.

Good girl.

Yeah. Just twist you.

We're out. We're free.

After more than 90 hours, she's above ground.

Good girl.

I was able to grasp the dog, and I had a chap behind me,

on my legs, and I was holding on to the dog whilst being dragged out.

Keep coming, mate, keep coming. Keep coming.

Ivy's legs have been left too weak to bear her weight.

I've got her. Thanks, Graham.

-Well done, mate.

-Well done, guys.

Well done, fella.

Buster congratulates Gordon. His determination to find her paid off.

-Well done, matey.

-Lovely. Just put her down there.

Put that lead on, just in case.

We were really surprised at the condition of the dog.

Although it was very sandy and dirty, it was very bright

and it wasn't struggling too much.

It was reacting very well and we were very pleased with that.

They can't take any chances. Ivy has been without water for four days.

I think the best thing is to get her down the vet,

in case they want to put some fluids into her.

Can I have some water?

Pass that water.

She's going to spend the night on a drip, being rehydrated.

It's been a close call for Ivy.

It would be very unusual for a dog to survive much longer underground.

By contrast, a few days later, a happy, healthy-looking Ivy

was ready to welcome her owners home from their holiday.

And here is the beautiful Ivy now.

Hello, sausage!

Oh, not so great!

Let me introduce you to the owner, Dana, and the man who found her.

Gordon, well done. What an amazing effort.

I've got to say, first and foremost,

she was in a pretty dodgy state when she came out, I presume.

That's right. She was very weak.

She was very weak indeed.

She couldn't stand up for a couple of hours.

But she was OK after that.

-She went off to the vet's to be checked over.

-Yeah.

You were away, weren't you, Dana? Which made it worse for you.

-Yes.

-Suddenly you get that great news, you come back.

Was she OK by the time you got back?

Yes, she'd been rehydrated at the vet's.

So by the time we came back, other than having a bit of a cough,

really she was, you know, perfect.

When you say a cough, were her lungs full of rubbish?

She had inhaled a lot of sand from being in the hole

so it took quite a while for that to clear

and I guess she probably had a very sore throat.

Does she recognise you, Gordon?

-Did she know that you are the man that saved her?

-I think so, yeah.

In a roundabout way, I think she did, yeah.

Did you get an extra big, long lick like I just had?

-You could say that, yeah!

-And is she back to normal?

Yes, she is. She does like to chase after things and dig in holes.

-But hopefully she's not going to go quite so deep.

-Brilliant.

Thank you, Gordon, for going to that effort,

hours upon hours of digging.

-Look after her.

-I'll try!

And stay out of the holes.

Around 26,000 pedestrians

are injured or killed on our roads every year.

They account for 27% of all road deaths.

People take their lives in their own hands

if they dart out between parked cars

and often the motorist doesn't stand a chance of seeing them.

Paramedics Chris Crosbie and Dean Woodford

are no strangers to this sort of accident.

We've been called to the Itchen Bridge in Southampton to

a report of a female who has been hit by a car.

Not sure exactly the extent of her injuries at the moment, but she is

reported to have gone over the bonnet and has some leg and pelvis injuries.

Rapid response driver Shane is already at the scene.

It looks like Bobby

has walked straight out in front of a car pulling away at green lights.

The good news is it was a low-speed impact.

Can we get a collar, as well?

Bobby is conscious, but not communicating.

It's making it difficult to assess her injuries.

You've been hit by a car, sweet, we need to look after your neck.

All right? Very slowly, we'll work out

if there are any other injuries

and we need to straighten you out and then we'll get you onto

a scoop stretcher and we'll pick you up and put you on the bed.

They're going to stabilise her neck.

At last, she is able to give them more information

about where it hurts.

OK, nice big breath in for me. Fill your lungs. And out again.

Any pain anywhere when you do that?

SHE MUMBLES

OK. Can you straighten your left leg? That's it.

Straighten it out for me. Perfect.

-Well done.

-On three - one, two, three and roll.

SHE CRIES OUT

-Well done, Bobby.

-Good girl. Well done.

OK. You've had a bit to drink today, your friends are telling me.

Do you know how much you've had?

Yeah, about three pints.

Three pints? Of?

Cider.

The amount of alcohol Bobby has drunk may affect the medication

she can take, but could also mask the true extent of her injuries.

You've been hit by a car and gone up over it and come off the side,

all right?

It is a significant way of being thrown about

and then hitting the floor.

One, two, three, lift.

RADIO CALLS

Can you straighten your left arm now?

We had a problem with that, didn't we? Where does it hurt?

The elbow...

In your elbow? OK.

Once Bobby is safely inside the ambulance,

the crew can start doing a more thorough examination.

I'm just going to listen to your chest, Bobby.

Take some nice breaths in and out for me.

Chris checks her lungs, while Dean looks out for broken bones.

You've got a couple of things that need looking at.

You've got a head injury and an injury down on your left hip.

Some swelling and a bit of a bruise there, I think,

where you've probably landed on the road.

So we do need to get you checked out, cos things can change,

but at the moment you're nice and stable.

-I'm freezing.

-You're freezing?

OK, well, the heater's on full blast at the moment,

so it'll be like a microwave in here in a minute.

Despite her own pain, Bobby is still concerned

about the woman who was driving the car that hit her.

Is that lady all right, that ran me over?

-Yeah, she's all right.

-Yeah, she's fine.

Now that her pain levels are going down,

Bobby's more concerned about her clothes,

which the crew had to cut off.

You cut my best pair of comfy jeans.

Well, it's an excuse to go shopping, Bobby, isn't it?

Bobby will get a thorough check-up in the hospital,

but the signs are that she's had a lucky escape.

Sometimes it's difficult leaving your emotions at the door

coming in or out of this place when you hear some of the calls,

and Kerry has had personal experience of that, haven't you?

-Yes.

-You got a call from your son's nursery.

-Yeah.

-What were they saying to you?

They basically called up saying a boy aged three

had fallen off his scooter and injured his leg.

It was a random call, cos they didn't know you were here, did they?

No, they didn't know I worked for the Ambulance Service.

Throughout the call, I didn't ask his name, but I had an inkling

from the cry in the background - you just have an inkling

when you hear your son crying, that you know it's going to be him.

At the end of the call, I asked for his name.

They confirmed his name.

That's when I told the caller that I was his mum

and that I was on my way.

Did you go straight on your way, or what happened?

My mum works across the road, so went over to him.

I arranged to meet him at the hospital,

so I picked up my husband

and went straight to resus A&E to meet him there.

And that must make your heart stop when you realise

you're dealing with a call and your little boy is hurt.

Yes, it did. When I was going out originally

before I got there, I was shaking so much I dropped my cup,

came back in, had a second call coming in

saying he was now unconscious, which then obviously

made my heart go a bit more and started to panic a bit.

-First he'd injured his leg?

-He'd injured his leg,

but I'm guessing the shock through the pain and everything

-then caused him to go unconscious.

-Poor little thing!

And he was in plaster and quite ill for quite a while?

Yes, he was in a spica cast for about seven weeks,

and it took him a while after he came out of that.

I've got a picture of it there.

That's pretty difficult to deal with, isn't it, for him and you?

Yeah, it was hard to get around, and we had to hire

a special car seat to actually mobilise him from A to B.

-So it was hard to get him around, but we managed.

-And how is he now?

He's fine, up and running around.

Good, I'm glad to hear it.

-I hope that call never comes in again for you.

-So do I!

-Thanks, Kerry.

-That's all right.

We've had some startling statistics on today's show,

and here's another -

it takes a family of four's weekly supply of water

to extinguish a small fire.

You can see the smoke, guys, look.

The crews of Southampton's Green Watch have been called out

to deal with a garden bonfire that's burning out of control.

They arrive to find a back fence and shrubbery well alight,

with the flames threatening to spread into the next-door garden.

Do we know what's in there? Cylinders or anything?

What sort of rubbish is in there?

Watch Manager Sean Foster needs to find out

whether there's anything explosive in the flames.

-No, we don't, but I had a chat with the neighbours.

-All right.

We'll get some water on it.

It's rubbish, but obviously I don't know

if there's aerosols or whatever in there, so visors down, OK?

Water on, please.

Hello, sir.

The embarrassed homeowner has appeared

on the other side of the fence,

watching the results of his handiwork

destroy the end of his garden.

It's taken the fence. I'll come round and see you.

'I think the gentleman's having a bonfire,

'and obviously he hasn't made adequate provision.'

I don't think there's a hose in place,

the bonfire's situated too close to the fence,

the fence is fairly dry,

and the bonfire's spread.

The flames are quickly out, but the smoke is getting thicker.

A potential hazard in fires like this

is toxic fumes from rubbish like old tyres or cans of paint.

One clue here is the colour of the smoke.

As you can see, the smoke's fairly white

and not a thick black or dark grey,

which would indicate rubber or plastics burning.

It's vegetation and wood.

Apart from its nuisance value, even this bonfire will take around

1,000 litres of water to put out -

as much as an average family uses in a week.

The fire's quite large, actually,

so it's taking quite a lot of water to cool it down.

We've set our fire appliance into a hydrant,

so we're using water from the water main

that goes to the fire appliance,

and then from the fire appliance it's relayed to the fire ground.

So we've used more than a tank of water

that we carry on our fire engine.

The fire had been left smouldering unattended overnight

under sheets of corrugated metal,

breaching several basic safety rules.

If you're having a bonfire, have a bucket of water

or a hose available, keep the bonfire away from

anything that's combustible - in this case, the fence -

so it needs to be in open ground,

away from anything that could cause the fire to spread.

The bottom of the garden is a wreck. It's a cautionary tale.

Before the crew leaves, Sean will have a catch-up with the homeowner.

It won't be a stern ticking off, cos it's accidental,

but we're having words with him, yeah.

I think he's seen the error of his ways already,

and is feeling somewhat embarrassed.

One homeowner there, a little bit embarrassed

and in big trouble with the fire service.

Gary has just joined me now.

We do get ourselves into the most ridiculous situations,

especially with fires, don't we?

Absolutely. I can remember one story,

a young man was trying to impress his new girlfriend.

She had a mouse infestation in her shed,

and he decided to light a bonfire

close to it so he could smoke them out.

He dug a little hole so the smoke could go under the shed.

Sounds a good idea, ish.

Yeah...right up until the point when the shed caught fire

and she lost all the children's bikes, their garden toys,

and their neighbour at the back lost his fence as well.

-Was she impressed?

-I don't think they're together now, no.

Right, yes. No. I mean,

if you are seriously going to have a bonfire,

what should you do? What precautions should you take?

If you have to have a bonfire, put the hose out first.

Don't wait for something to happen.

The hose is there as a last resort.

What you should do, if you have a problem,

is call the fire service, but the hose is there

just as an emergency thing to keep it knocked down a bit.

Would you tell anybody else, "I'm having a bonfire"?

Yes, if it's going to be a large bonfire

that'll go on for a long time, please tell the fire service,

because we need to know.

If we get lots of reports of smoke in an area,

we would then be sending out fire engines looking for a fire.

If we know there's going to be a bonfire in the area,

as opposed to sending a fire engine,

we can send a senior officer to check that's what's going on,

saving resources and time.

Yeah. I bet you'd much rather us not have bonfires at all, right?

Absolutely. There are so many things going on these days.

Recycle if you can. If you've got a load of garden rubbish

that you need to get rid of, take it to the local tip,

or the council sometimes have these green bags you can put it in,

so that's what we would recommend.

-Go and do that rather than burn down the fence.

-Absolutely.

-A lot cheaper.

-A lot cheaper. Gary, thanks very much indeed.

-You're more than welcome.

-Good advice, isn't it?

-Yeah.

You may not be impressed by me burning down the fence,

but I bet you'd be quite pleased if the fire brigade turned up.

-All those boys, eh?

-I don't know what you're saying.

-That's it for Real Rescues. See you next time.

-Bye.

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