Episode 5 Helicopter Heroes

When you're with someone who's critically ill or injured,

every minute you wait for medical help feels like an hour.

Which is why a helicopter like this can be the most beautiful sight in the world.

It certainly was for me when I was a copper.

This is the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and their business is saving lives.

From the Dales to the big cities of Leeds and Sheffield,

patients in the UK's biggest county

are never more than 10 minutes from a hospital,

thanks to this 150mph life-saver.

And every day brings a new life-or-death emergency

for its team of flying paramedics.

Two helicopters, four paramedics, five million patients.

Today, on Helicopter Heroes -

an injured walker needs help.

There was this awful crack.

But the team are struggling to land on a rocky hilltop.

You've got a big rock on the rear.

A deadly menace brings tragedy to the picturesque Yorkshire Dales.

It's high-speed impact, it's head-on, somebody's not moving in a car.

What happens when bikers take on gravity and lose.

There you go. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

And Helimed 99 flies to the rescue of a teenager injured in the snow.

Sledging down the hill, like an idiot.

Yorkshire's flying paramedics get a bird's-eye view of some of England's most stunning countryside.

The Dales and Moors are where the speed of the helicopter comes into its own.

When the winter sun shines, Appletreewick in the heart

of the Yorkshire Dales is a favourite lunch stop for ramblers.

But nearly 1,500 feet up on a peak overlooking the village,

one walker is going to be going hungry today.

Georgina Marsland has broken her ankle after a nasty fall on a hilltop footpath,

and her friends have just dialled 999.

We just come over a ladder stile.

And Georgina, either on the last or next to last rung, just fell off.

Presumably her foot was caught in the stile, and there was this awful crack.

We were heading for lunch at the Craven Arms,

which I've just rung and cancelled. Unfortunately!

Georgina and her friends are waiting for help from above.

Helimed 99's on the way.

We're flying to Appletreewick.

It's a lovely, beautiful area, popular with walkers.

It's quite isolated where we're going so we'll hopefully be able

to air lift her maybe to the ambulance or maybe to the hospital.

Yorkshire's a big place from the air. There's 6,000 square miles of it.

And paramedic Sammy Wills' job is to find an injured walker in a red coat.

It's not easy.

These are the group of trees going up the gill.

SHE CHUCKLES

-So it should be this side...

-Yeah, it should be down there.

-..of this ridge.

The team have only been told Georgina's near an isolated farm in a remote area of rugged Wharfedale.

This farm that's below us now, Steve, there's someone that's just come out and is looking up at us.

-The one we passed?

-Yeah, the farm we overflew.

The local land ambulance is having trouble finding Georgina, too.

-It's shot back in to the town hasn't it?

-Yeah.

Helimed 99, we're up at this detail at Appletreewick.

We're unable to locate the patient. Do you know if the land crew

have any idea or if they've got the patient on board?

-RADIO:

-'I'll call you back, over.'

-Helimed 99, roger.

Dr Jez Pinnell is used to this problem.

999 callers often don't provide the most accurate information.

People often panic, particularly if someone's quite poorly.

So they just give scant information to the telephone operator.

So we often find that what we get is different to what we expected to get.

-'York control... '

-Helimed 99 receiving, York control.

'I'll ring the caller and see if we can get a better location for you.

-INDISTINCT RADIO:

-'...a farm.'

I'm getting a wave at this farm, the guy in the field.

'Is a gentleman furiously waving to try and get your attention

-'at the farm?'

-He's on the track.

He was waving, yeah.

-OK, we'll go down and see, shall we? The field next to him, yeah?

-Yep.

Helimed 99, we've got visual with the gentleman

-who's on the phone to you now.

-'Thank you.'

-He's running down the path, Steven.

-Yes.

Do you want to stay here, Sammy, and I'll see where the patient is?

Helimed 99 doesn't often land to ask for directions, but today they'll make an exception.

Georgina's friend Geoff Kirk has hiked down from the hilltop where she fell, to guide in her rescuers.

-Yeah. OK, so it's on the top.? She's on the top there...

-There's three people - the patient and two others,

they ought to be waving to you.

She's cold and in shock.

For Georgina, the wait for help has already been an ordeal.

It's six degrees Celsius in the valleys but on top of the fells,

a biting wind makes it feel much colder.

Her husband Keith is trying to keep her chin up, but he's worried.

We've been sat here a while. I'm absolutely frozen.

At least pilot Steve now knows where his patient is, but there's a problem.

Just be aware of rocks that are hidden underneath the heather.

-Yep.

-Not a nice landing place.

Georgina was walking down from a boulder-strewn peak called Simon's Seat.

This is not a good place to land a three-tonne helicopter.

And it's quite boggy.

-Yes, see if we can find somewhere suitable.

-Where are you thinking?

Just have a look over there, see if it's flat, first.

You've got a big rock on the rear, Steve.

That's sloping again. That's a pain.

Steve's having real trouble.

Every potential landing site is littered with large rocks.

Steve needs clear ground to touch down.

And if he can't find somewhere safe,

Georgina's rescuers will have to hike up 1,500ft

from the valley below. Help could be a long time coming.

Coming up on Helicopter Heroes -

Georgina's in terrible pain,

but there's another setback for her rescuers.

That's sinking, that's sinking.

Helimed 99 descends into a blizzard

as the crew scramble to an emergency in the hills.

There's a race against weather of a different kind, as a rainstorm

threatens to ground the chopper and its patient.

Might have to come to the airport and arrange for an ambulance to meet us.

Paramedics reckon that in two years on an air ambulance,

they'll treat as many serious injuries as some ground-based colleagues see in a whole career.

But some injuries are especially tragic and avoidable.

The Yorkshire Dales are a playground for millions every summer,

but the crags and fells look down on communities that often aren't as idyllic as they seem.

I work in the rural area of the Dales, up in North Yorkshire,

and it does have its social problems.

And the crew of Helimed 99 are about to come face to face

with the effects of one of the fastest growing problems in the Dales.

Bye. They're saying one person not moving on it as well, on the job that's come in on this screen.

-What grid have we got, Chris?

-Sierra Delta 7...

At air ambulance HQ, the crew know minutes cost lives.

A BMW has collided head-on with a van at high speed.

On a road lined with dry stone walls,

there was no escape for the van driver.

Paramedic Pete Vallance's job is to navigate the chopper to the scene.

And today Helimed 99 has to beat the weather, with low clouds

obscuring the tops of the fells.

The shunt has blocked the A65, the main road

from the Lake District to the Dales. Driving to the scene

would be slow going, but Helimed 99 is doing 150 and they need to get there fast.

One definite fatal.

One poss fatal.

'The road is cleared for you to land. Over.'

Helimed 99, that's all received. Our reach time approximately 5-6 minutes, over.

The local emergency services have turned out in force.

Thanks to them, two patients are already on their way to hospital by road.

The chopper has Dr Anil Hormis on board. He's a hospital anaesthetist

who volunteers to take his skills to the scene of accidents.

Today his knowledge will be stretched to the limit.

The BMW's driver is unconscious in the back of the road ambulance.

This accident doesn't add up.

It happened on the brow of a hill, and the BMW had ignored solid white lines.

The paramedics have their suspicions about the cause.

When they fail to find a useable vein in their patient's arms, they're confirmed.

Accidents involving drivers influenced by drugs are a daily occurrence.

We're flying the gentleman through to Lancaster,

which is the nearest major hospital that we can attend.

The driver is fighting for his life.

His only chance is a rapid flight to intensive care in nearby Lancaster.

At the moment he's unconscious, multiple injuries,

he has been intubated at the scene.

We're having difficulty getting IV access,

and we'll be setting off hopefully within the next five minutes.

Just watch that arm. It might fall out, cos it's only...

It's 50 miles away, it'll take us 7-8 minutes to get there

but we're flying into a headwind so that might be slightly...

spread out, it might be up to 10 minutes to get there.

Dr Anil is used to monitoring patients in the quiet of Doncaster Royal Infirmary.

Today he has to do his job in the noise and vibration of a helicopter, at the same time

as coping with air turbulence caused by the Pennines, 1,000 feet below.

At the moment we've still got a heartbeat, we are breathing

for him, he has been intubated, so we are breathing for the patient.

That's really about it at the moment, he's got quite serious bone injuries as well -

fractured leg, possibly fractured pelvis, he's got chest injuries, head injuries, so...

not looking very good, unfortunately.

The driver's vital signs are dropping.

Intensive care at Lancaster's state-of-the-art hospital is now only minutes away.

Helimed 99's involved in a life-or-death race it could still lose.

Coming up - doctors begin their fight to save the driver,

but his family think they know why the accident happened.

His driving is erratic, it's too fast.

A walker needs help, but will she get it?

That's sinking, that's sinking.

Sliding!

And paramedic Paul's on standby

as daredevil bikers show off their skills.

Bad weather's the one thing the flying paramedics can't fight -

some days they can't even get off the ground.

But it's winter that really tests the skills of the pilots and crew.

It's below zero at Leeds Bradford Airport and it's business as usual

for the airlines jetting off to the winter sun.

But for the crew of Helimed 99,

snow means their job just got much harder.

The main drama

is landing in snow, because when it's all loose and powdery,

you get quite a lot of recirculating snow, so your plan

is to go out and practise once it's stopped snowing, and people stop chucking snowballs.

Being on high ground like this, you can get snow showers, and we just want to go off

and do a bit of training, just to do some snow landings. We've got to keep up to date with that,

cos it's quite a dangerous operation if we get a call.

Pilot Tim Taylor wants to practise the most difficult part of winter flying - landing.

And so he's heading up in to the rugged Peak District.

What they're about to try is difficult and potentially dangerous.

The snow cloud engulfs the aircraft so you lose all visual references outside.

Yeah, you'll get a whiteout,

so you try and let the pilot

know exactly where the snowstorm is before he gets to it.

..with you.

Tim's flying blind in a mini-blizzard.

Just before touchdown, he decides to have another go.

One wrong move and they could crash.

But this time, there's no mistake.

Helimed 99 is down. Tim's done it.

We don't get that much snow in the UK, so like today when we have got some, we've come out and practised.

Just so when we do use then in anger, we're thoroughly prepared,

and know what the experience is gonna be like.

But now Tim and the team will have to do it all again - for real.

High on a hillside in the Pennines,

a land ambulance crew have hiked for miles to reach 17-year-old Joe Haig,

whose afternoon out with his mates has ended in agony.

Sledging down the hill, like an idiot.

He's complaining of lower back pain.

We called the helicopter out because of the remoteness and the fact that where we were we'd be stranded.

Even though the snow's now thawing in the valleys of West Yorkshire,

there's still plenty left 2,000ft up in the hills.

That'll be a sledging job.

People go sledging on the hills, which can be quite inaccessible.

The helicopter can help out the crews

by being able to get close to the patient.

Landing up here won't be easy,

but finding their patient in a bleak white landscape has its problems, too.

Something in the middle of the forest here. Quite a lot of people in the middle of the forest.

-I can't see anybody injured there, can you?

-No, I can't.

There's somebody definitely waving there. They've been waving forever

since we've been going over. These three people here.

Right in the middle of the trees, look, there's somebody there... with a blanket and everything.

-Yes, I can see it.

-Aye?

-Yeah.

Finally, Lee spots Joe and the ground crew hidden in the trees that brought the sledge to a halt.

It's gonna be easier to come down

-with somebody, rather than going up.

-Yeah.

OK. Move, move, move.

Tim's training mission has paid off, but he couldn't see a dip in the ground concealed by snow.

Falling down a crater!

But they're down. And now the paramedics can get to work.

..Over there? He said it was a bit of a steep incline, but...

I don't know what he's been doing sledging in the woods when there's all that clear area

to go through out there.

Where is he?

The best way down for this guy is going to be on a sledge.

Hello.

Joe's in pain, and very cold.

You grab that for me. Ta.

We need to organise to be able to get him just of this incline a bit

which... The best thing for us to do is just slide him down.

Joe's going to hospital the same way he hurt himself -

only this time someone's watching out for the trees.

OK, I'll hold him there.

Let's just wait there a sec.

Joe's mates think he's just bruised himself,

but the paramedics know an accident like his can cause serious injuries.

Its levelling off now, that's the worst. It's easing. That's it.

He's not strapped to a spinal board for nothing.

People have been paralysed by accidents like this.

I was sledging down a hill, and I crashed into a tree,

bum first.

I tested this one out first and went down, then he followed me

straight after, and went straight into a tree, and smashed his back.

I'm in quite a lot of pain.

Ready, steady, lift. There we are.

They're more than a mile from the nearest road, and darkness is falling.

If it wasn't for the helicopter, rescuing Joe from the hill would be a difficult operation.

Keep going, keep going, keep sliding, and stop!

We were parked somewhere over there first and we realised

it were to far away. So got closer but it's still a bit of a trek.

It's probably the only place with any snow left

so it was worth going out this morning and practising.

INDISTINCT

The crew are running out of light,

but the nearest hospital is little more than a minute away.

Joe will soon be being checked out by doctors in a specialist accident and emergency unit.

Huddersfield, OK?

And what a difference a few hundred feet makes.

Down in the valley, the snow's turned to slush

on the football pitch that doubles as the local helipad.

Got goalposts on the left.

It's something I've always wanted to do, not under these conditions, obviously.

Joe's just fulfilled a lifetime ambition.

-Watch that slope.

-And we're clear.

And the good news - Joe had just strained his back and he'll be back

on the slopes of the Pennines the next time the snow falls.

Coming up - the story behind a rural car crash shocks the Dales.

He was introduced to drugs probably when he was about 15.

They took the life of his best friend.

And there's a life-or-death race to get an injured biker to hospital.

-Blood pressure dropping.

-Not far to go now.

But now, we're back in the hills of Wharfedale where the local landscape

is getting in the team's way as they try to reach a walker injured on a remote fellside.

1,500ft up in the Yorkshire Dales,

walker Georgina Marsland

is in pain after falling on a moorland stile

and breaking her ankle. She's stuck on a chilly hillside so remote that Helimed 99's crew

had to land to ask the way.

OK, so she's on the top there...?

There's three people, the patient and two others.

They ought to be waving to you.

But their problems didn't end there.

Pilot Steve Cobb's desperately searching for a landing site to put his chopper down,

but boulders and bogs litter the hilltop.

-And it's quite boggy.

-Yes, just see if I can find somewhere suitable.

-Where are you thinking?

We've got this flat bit over there, see if it's flat first.

After three minutes hovering over the summit of a peak called Simon's Seat,

pilot Steve chooses a spot.

That's sinking! That's sinking!

And sliding! Sliding.

INDISTINCT EXCHANGE

But he quickly has to change his mind as Helimed 99's landing skids sink into a bog.

This time Steve's taking no chances.

Before he risks lowering three tonnes of helicopter on to the hillside,

paramedic Pat Greaken's going to test the landing site for firmness.

Just jump out the side, Pat, and see if you sink.

Is it solid rock or bog?

It's solid and, at last, the team can get to work.

Hi, Georgina. Give me this hand, my love.

Just want to try and keep you well covered over.

It's probably broken her ankle. Can't get her boot off now to have a look but she's in a lot of pain.

She can't put any weight on it. As you can see,

we're quite away from civilisation,

the helicopter's just up there, 100 yards behind us.

She can't walk there.

We might be able to carry her up there on a spinal board, which is our Plan A. Plan B

is mountain rescue but obviously it's going to take them an hour to get up here,

which isn't a problem, but it's just a bit cold and she's been here half-an-hour already so...

Pat's given Georgina morphine to dull the pain. Elsewhere this would be a minor injury,

but on top of the Dales even the most trivial incident

can turn into something life-threatening.

The team's patient is getting colder.

She must be moved.

We are gonna try and get the lady up to the air ambulance.

We've given the lady morphine,

and put the lady on to the spinal board

and then slowly walk her up.

Georgina's ankle will need setting in hospital - a splint is the best they can do here.

-One, two, three...

-Push back.

And at least they can lift her off the wet ground.

One more, if you can do it again.

There we go.

Shall we hold her up and just see how...?

Let's just... I really think it's...

Just see what it's like between...

Meanwhile, Sammy and Doctor Jez are trying to find a route back to Helimed 99

up a steep, slippery hillside.

-'Roger that. I'll get a blanket then.'

-Make yourself comfortable.

At the top of the hill, at least someone's warm.

Steve's just making himself comfortable in the aircraft with a blanket,

keeping out of the wind, keeping himself warm!

You're gonna like this, Georgina.

But Jez and Sammy come back with bad news.

It's just really slippery underfoot, there's a lot of rocks - it's not too steep, and it's not too far,

but our stretcher is not really designed for carrying people

up the sides of mountains - it's an extrication device.

The state of play is, we're going to wait for a mountain rescue

or fire rescue to help carry you. It's a bit too steep and slippy.

Georgina needs the specialist equipment that only the local Fell Rescue Team will have.

And they could be an hour or more.

I've asked Geoff, who was the gent that met us at the bottom, if he wouldn't mind going back down again

to meet Fell Rescue and tell them exactly where we are, cos we don't want Fell Rescue delayed

getting up here, because I'm quite conscious of how cold it is up here, how windy it is.

If it gets a bit colder, and in the wind... She's out of the wind, behind a wall,

but people can become hypothermic, she isn't at the moment but it's something we have to bear in mind.

Luckily Sammy has some specialist equipment of her own in the rucksack.

The "bothy" is a sort of two-person tent.

It's cosy and could be a lifesaver.

It's a big factor, and I've learnt a lot from mountain rescue,

that cold does make a patient more uncomfortable.

So we've padded, put things underneath her,

and just getting rid of the wind makes a big difference.

As you said, isn't it, it's made a huge difference getting inside?

I was saying I feel really bad,

I'm sure there must be somebody else who needs it more.

And it just seems so silly.

But usually we are prepared when we go walking, we make sure we've got the correct clothing and footwear.

But, erm, even though they are strong ankle boots, it's...

-Accidents happen.

-Yeah.

It looks like Georgina could at last be in sight of the hospital treatment she needs.

But when Dr Jez speaks to Fell Rescue, there's another problem.

They've had a bit of difficulty getting people out, because obviously

they're volunteers, and people are on holiday as well.

The other difficulty they have had is getting hold of a stretcher.

They are saying that the nearest one might be Grassington or somewhere.

I'm not from round here but I think that's quite a way away!

Keep your feet warm!

The experts and equipment Georgina needs are still out of reach.

And it's getting colder.

Coming up on Helicopter Heroes - help arrives for the injured walker,

but there's another problem.

We'll have to take her up on a spinal board but with as many people as possible.

And a biker takes on a rock face - and comes off worst.

He's fallen away from his bike and hit his leg on a bit of a rock.

Behind every accident I can tell you there's a story.

And even in the picturesque Ribblesdale,

the same social problems that bring misery to our large cities are a factor in many tragedies.

The busy road linking the Yorkshire Dales and The Lakes has been blocked.

A BMW has crossed the double white lines

and collided head-on with a van.

The car is on the wrong side of the road.

The passenger has died.

The driver has massive injuries, but he's alive.

Helimed 99 has Doctor Anil on board today - he's an anaesthetist

and takes over the patient's breathing as they rush him to Lancaster Hospital.

From the Dales to the trauma team takes just 12 minutes.

The patient's family are all informed about the crash

and are rushed to the hospital to be with him.

Before they get there, 37-year-old Andrew Edmunson

from the market town of Settle in North Yorkshire

has a heart attack.

He couldn't have had more help.

Had he any chance of survival, the air ambulance gave him it.

But, unfortunately,

his injuries were too significant to live.

It wasn't enough, but they tried.

At the scene of the crash, Doctor Anil and the crew couldn't find a vein

in Andrew to get the anaesthetics they needed into his body.

They suspected he was a drug user who had been injecting himself.

Just coming up there...

Most patients we are able to get access to their veins quite easily

but this was a very unusual circumstance and, sadly,

it was the drugs that played the biggest part in that.

In the end Peter and Paul really struggled to get any access anywhere.

The only place that I could go was at the top of his neck,

and put a cannula,

an intravenous cannula in to the neck so I could give my drugs.

The air ambulance paramedics increasingly come across incidents like this involving illegal drugs.

But this is the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.

On the outside, you've got the beauty, the quietness, the charm of the Yorkshire Dales.

But deep down, there's always occasions where,

unfortunately, drugs are going to play a part.

And on this occasion, you know, drugs have raised their ugly head

and two people have died because of them.

Andrew Edmunson's family got in touch with Helicopter Heroes

and asked us to tell the story behind his accident.

His sister Sharon Holt wanted to say thank you to the people who tried to save her brother,

and sorry to those whose lives have been devastated by the crash.

She also wanted people to know that drugs can kill, even in the heart of a national park.

He took the life of his best friend,

and traumatised countless other people.

His driving was erratic...

It was too fast.

He overtook on double white lines, on the brow of a hill -

that's not the actions of somebody that's thinking.

He was introduced to drugs probably when he was about 15

and was still addicted to heroin when he died.

They were going to take his life in one way or another, whether it was this way or something else.

Helimed 99's paramedics know from experience that no matter how quaint the setting,

drugs are around, and they can impact

on the daily life of a rural community

in the same way as an inner city.

The fact is,

in rural North Yorkshire, the use of class A drugs

goes up year by year, and those who work on the front line have to deal with the consequences.

Crack cocaine taken intravenously

and then trying to drive is an absolute disaster area.

The effects on the whole system, especially your ability to make decisions,

your speed of movement, your judgment calls, are totally impaired.

You associate drug abuse of that nature with inner cities

and I think this just shows that drug abuse is so widespread that we can be anywhere in the country

and have to deal with drug abuse and drug problems.

And it's just raising the awareness to people that it happens.

Everybody tried hard for Andrew.

Everybody tried hard.

Unfortunately, he has left behind...a mess.

You don't like the way he lives and you don't like what he does.

But when they tell you that you'll brother's died, all of that don't matter any more, really.

He's still your brother.

Coming up on Helicopter Heroes - rescue is on its way to an injured hiker.

-So where is your helicopter?

-It's back up there.

-That far away?

250cc and enough horsepower to climb a rock face.

But there's one fact about off-road biking they don't tell you in the manual. When you come off it hurts.

And there's an awful lot of people that can tell you just how much.

Motocross and Trials bike riding is one of the fast growing sports in the UK.

Thousands of people take part in organised events like this one.

But even if you're an expert like these guys,

doing this is never going to be risk free.

Air ambulance paramedic Paul Bradbury is on hand just in case.

I think I want to put a deposit down on one tomorrow.

One of the reasons he's here is that he and all the Helimed crews

have had plenty of experience of picking up the pieces

when biking for fun goes wrong.

At a motocross event in a wood near Ripon, a young biker has come off.

It's just his knee. He's just come through here and just got in a rut and just overbalanced, basically.

BIKER MOANS

Paul and Helimed 98 are on the way.

The problem with trial biking

is the location where we actually find the rider.

The nature of trial riding,

they don't ride on the concrete road.

It's normally in the middle of the wood or up a hillside so that's where the air ambulance comes into its own.

14-year-old biker Stephen Brown is in great pain.

Can you put your good leg on top of your bad one?

He is miles from anywhere and the weather is closing in.

The cloud base is quite low down and it's quite breezy.

The young rider has been taking part in an organised, well-marshalled competition.

His knee is the problem. After the fall,

it isn't where it should be. The paramedics give him Entonox, gas and air,

for the pain.

-Good lad.

-Good lad.

-Deep breaths.

-BOY MOANS

As some of the other riders prepare the way to give Stephen

a clear path out to the helicopter, pilot Tim gets anxious.

I should imagine within the next four or five minutes there will be a dense bank of cloud, a bit of sleet

moving into the area, which will cause problems for us flying out.

We need to get the patient loaded as quick as we can.

As Stephen is taken to the helicopter a bank of cloud sweeps in.

They need to take off now.

Pilot Tim rings ahead to the control desk to tell them his plan.

Once we've taken off, we'll assess whether we can get to Harrogate

or go back to the airport and then arrange for an ambulance to meet us at the airport.

See you later, mate. You'll be all right. Don't you worry.

Once they are in the air, the decision is made.

We are taking you to Leeds-Bradford airport. What we will do is get

an ambulance to take you from there down to the hospital.

-Yeah.

-Don't worry. I know it's a bit bumpy but don't worry.

With its state-of-the-art air traffic control, landing at the airport is the only safe option.

Be like walking round with a pot on your leg - get some sympathy.

-Will I get crutches?

-I would think so, yeah, if you ask nicely.

And as they land, the ambulance pulls in to take a grateful,

and now pain-free young biker on his way to hospital.

Stephen's injuries were minimised by the fact that he was wearing protective equipment.

And if you do this sort of thing for fun, you're going to need it.

I have a motorbike of my own which I wouldn't part with for anybody's money.

My bike comes out the garage

and it's boots, leathers, protective jacket,

helmet, good quality gloves and a back protector.

But not everyone is like Daz.

Up and down the country, legions of young bikers, on common ground, are a frequent sight -

riding illegally, no supervision, without the right kit.

The ambulance service, OK?

And incidents like this in South Yorkshire are becoming all too common.

Yeah, this guy's got a nasty head injury.

We need to get some things under control. First of all, his airway

and then we'll take it from there.

-Yeah, very serious.

-You're doing well. That's grand, absolutely grand.

We are going to fly him to Northern General in Sheffield.

It's only about three or four minutes away so it shouldn't take us too long.

If they want to go out and have a good time then I would be the last person in the world

to stop them wanting to enjoy themselves on a motorbike. I've done it myself.

But the piece of kit that they don't wear is invariably where they will get injured.

If they don't wear boots - expect broken legs.

If they don't wear a helmet, they'll wind up with a fractured skull or worse.

Blood pressure dropping.

-Varied, isn't it?

-Not far to go now.

Pupils, are they reacting?

-Was he on the back of the other lad that was there?

-Yeah. That's why there was only one bike.

Fell off without a helmet.

Within a few minutes of leaving the scene of the bike smash,

the crew touch down at the accident and emergency unit

at Sheffield's Northern General Hospital.

They have done everything they can.

I have fallen off a bike many, many times.

So far, I've managed to get up and walk away but I would definitely say that's down to some decent gear.

Daz and Helimed 99 are on their way on their way to a wooded area

near a railway line somewhere near Rotherham.

Sometimes when they set off, the location details are all a bit sketchy.

It's the second... Well, anyway, here you are...

The air ambulances' unit manager, Mick Lindley, is back on the shop floor today as a paramedic.

Head towards the cart track. You can't miss it.

-You said that yesterday.

-What's the job we're going to?

Motorcyclists.

On the track. Off a cliff. Whee!

45-year-old Glen Leese has been trials riding for years

but no matter how good you are, if you fall down a cliff

it's going to hurt.

We were just going up those rocks there and all his weight went on that leg. And basically that was it.

The motocross event that's Glen has been riding is a downhill and uphill test of skill

and he's right at the bottom of the downhill bit with a badly broken leg.

Can I just get there where you are to have a little squint at him?

He fell away from his bike and hit his leg on a bit of a rock.

Glen's wearing all the right protective gear,

and before Daz can give him morphine for the pain

they need to get some of it off.

Now, two choices with this.

-Do you want me to cut it or lift it over your head?

-No, take it off. It's no problem.

-Let me help you.

And that's going to hurt too.

BIKER GROANS IN PAIN All right.

Listen, this might make you feel funny.

After Daz has delivered the morphine shot,

the carrying crew can begin the climb up, and it's tricky

when you're lugging a big biker with a broken leg.

We are going up that way up there, surely?

The biking community sticks together when one of their number are hurt.

It's been an uphill struggle and Glen's stretcher-bearers are relieved to see the top of the hill.

Keep going, keep going, keep going and down. Yes, lovely.

And another of Helimed 99's biker patients is on his way to get fixed.

Now when you're flying in the air at 150mph, distance doesn't mean quite so much as it does down there.

But up in the hills, one of Helimed 99's patients is still a long way from hospital.

Walker Georgina Marsland is sheltering halfway up a fell in the Yorkshire Dales with a broken ankle.

Helimed 99 had trouble landing on the rocky peak.

You've got a big rock at the end here, Steve.

And reaching the chopper with their patient will mean a difficult climb up a slippery slope.

But at last help is on its way.

Volunteers from the local Fell Rescue team have hiked 1,500 feet to help Georgina.

The trouble is they haven't brought the rescue stretcher

needed to carry her to the helicopter.

We've come to the decision that we'll have her up on the spinal board but with as many people as possible.

I think with eight people I think that's safe enough. Plenty of hands.

We should manage fine. She looks nice and slim

so I'm sure we'll be fine.

-Where is the helicopter?

-Back up there.

Can I have a lift back down again?

Oooh, snug as a bug.

There wasn't enough people to safely do it but I think now we've got you three,

I think there's enough people to safely do it.

What the team are about to try is a calculated risk.

But they have little alternative but to take it.

It's well over any hour since Georgina's fall.

She's cold and in pain.

But the only stretcher they have is difficult to carry uphill.

The climb is steep and there's only a dry stone wall to stop anyone who falls.

But they've done it and Georgina's finally reached Helimed 99.

Thanks.

Welcome to Yorkshire air ambulance.

-How does that feel?

-Fine.

-Yeah? Cool.

Georgina's going home from her day out in the Dales rather more quickly than she expected.

Hopefully we can land behind the hospital

and they'll meet us with a trolley so we don't need

a secondary transfer. And this lady is from Harrogate as well so it's ideal, really.

I'm not a walker, myself.

I'd rather stay home in front of a nice, warm fire watching television.

-Oh, Pat.

-Action man(!)

I openly admit I'm a couch potato when I'm not at work.

INDISTINCT RADIO EXCHANGE

Pat's patient will be in hospital within ten minutes

of leaving the hillside and she's very grateful, despite the time she spent waiting for her rescue.

It's been excellent.

It couldn't have been any better.

People are so kind and considerate and careful.

I really do appreciate it.

And after the flight, just the final careful lift into the hospital.

Two weeks on, and Georgina's back home in Harrogate.

She's a keen walker and runner and this isn't going to stop her.

It's a clean break so hopefully it will heal quickly.

And, um, hopefully, I'll have the pot off in four weeks

and then be able to go walking again.

And Georgina's so impressed with Sammy's miniature tent, she's planning to get one herself.

It just looked like, almost like a play tent for children. Very sort of small.

And as soon as she put it up, you could really tell the difference. It kept the heat in.

And it kept the wind off.

It's a really... We said we'd get one

for when we go out walking.

It's really good.

And Georgina plans to return to Simon's Seat

but this time she'll be more careful on the stile.

They seemed to run up the hill.

They were really, really, really quick off the mark.

They must have been very fit. And straight into the helicopter.

And that was done really professionally. I was very impressed.

When Helicopter Heroes comes back -

two walkers are in trouble when they are trapped after a freak road accident.

One of them is complaining he can't feel his legs at the minute.

In a wet and windy North Yorkshire village, their patient is freezing cold and in terrible pain.

We need to get him somewhere warm and dry.

There's a race against time to get an injured biker to hospital.

Can you feel me touching you?

And paramedic Sammy finds out what it's like to be on the receiving end of an emergency rescue.

We are not trashing your car. We are just trying to get you out of this vehicle safely.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd.

E-mail [email protected]