Episode 19 Helicopter Heroes

If you're seriously ill or critically injured, every second counts,

especially if you're up high or off the beaten track.

But thanks to these guys, the people of the UK's biggest county

are never more than ten minutes from a hospital.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance can do 150 miles an hour

and every day brings a new life or death emergency.

Five million people depend on these yellow helicopters to bring life-saving care from the skies.

When a multiple pile-up closes Britain's highest motorway

or there's an accident on the shop floor,

the highly trained paramedics and pilots of the Helimed team are there to rescue the casualties.

Today on Helicopter Heroes...

Two buses crash and the driver is fighting for his life.

They're trying to see where his foot's trapped.

-There's a difficult landing for pilot Tim as the team struggle to reach their patient.

-Hello!

I don't know where we are.

The chopper heads into Yorkshire's steel city to rescue a quad biker.

He's got a possible fractured femur.

Paramedic Al is battling the blizzards to save people stranded in the snow.

Some of the Helimed team's most serious cases

come when least expected.

They're just as likely to happen when the chopper's busy elsewhere.

As road accidents go, it doesn't get much worse than this -

a head-on crash between a coach on the school run and a bus carrying elderly passengers.

Several people are already on their way to hospital.

The local ambulance service is treating this as a major incident.

Newfield is a tiny village ten miles south of Newcastle and is way outside Helimed 98's usual patch.

But the team has just dropped a patient off at a nearby hospital,

so they arrive before the locally based Great North Air Ambulance.

One of the bus drivers is dead...

The driver of the coach is trapped and while the fire crew struggles to free him,

it's up to flying doctor Jez Pinnell to assess his condition.

-Is he talking?

-He is, but...

-Not very much.

-It's best if you have a look, Doc.

He's going to come in now and see what he can do.

I've spoken to the officer in charge of the fire service about how long.

Not sure. So we're going to let him in. If you just tell him what you have to do. Excellent.

-I'll just go round and get a view from the other side.

-OK.

The good news is that driver Jack Hall has dropped off his last schoolgirl passenger

just moments before the accident happened.

The bad news is he's caught up in the mangled wreckage

and isn't likely to be getting out any time soon.

I see what they mean by "well and truly trapped".

Ambulance-wise, there's probably 25 people here.

Another few dozen firemen, half a dozen police.

Two helicopters, two doctors.

We're just getting rid of the door, so we've got a bit more access.

Unfortunately, the man driving the other bus was killed in the accident.

One of his passengers will be taken to hospital by the Great North Air Ambulance

while the Helimed 98 team focus on the trapped coach driver.

At the moment, they're trying to expose to see where his foot's trapped.

Once they've exposed that, they can get him sorted out, so they can pull him out.

They're having to cut away the vehicle. Crucial timescale.

Spinal boards here, Jez, ready.

Spinal boards ready.

But time isn't on their side.

Back at base, dispatcher Chris knows Helimed 98 has to take off before it gets dark.

They've got to be back on the ground a half hour after sunset.

Even when lives are at stake, pilot Chris Atrill can't break the Civil Aviation Authority curfew,

designed to prevent accidents.

I would say we need to be leaving here, worst case...

..half five. We've got plenty of time yet.

Driver Jack Hall has now been trapped for 45 minutes.

But these kind of operations can't be rushed.

Meanwhile, doctor Jez and paramedic Sammy Wills are trying

to keep him as comfortable as possible.

We're just drawing up some ketamine.

We're looking at putting the patient to sleep.

He's the driver and he's significantly trapped,

so this might be a bit of a prolonged entrapment.

We have no idea how this has happened. It's just carnage, really.

Because the patient is in a critical condition,

doctor Jez is planning to perform a procedure called rapid sequence induction.

This will mean Jack will be anaesthetised

and have a tube placed down his throat to keep his airway open.

We're just preparing now to RSI this patient. I'm just drawing up the drugs for Jez.

As the light begins to fade,

the Great North Air Ambulance lifts off with the injured bus passenger on board.

Our challenge also is daylight hours,

so we don't want to get caught out on the wrong side of it going dark.

But if needs be, we'll go by... we'll go by land.

Meanwhile, the Helimed 98 team have to hope the light will hold until their patient is freed.

We've got a number of options with the way he has to be taken out.

We can't take him out the front way. We can bring him down the back and out this window.

If we can fit him through the door, great, otherwise, we'll bring him out the back window.

Coming up, doctor Jez turns the accident scene into an operating theatre.

We're going to pop you off to sleep, mate, OK?

Helimed 98 heads into the city and paramedic Ben Anderson is on the case.

Possible fractured femur, the long bone in his leg.

And up in the peaks, there's a tricky mountain rescue.

Get your breaths in. Come on.

Thanks to postcodes and computer databases, finding a patient

who needs medical help is a lot simpler than it used to be.

But when you're a paramedic 1,000 feet up in a helicopter

and all you've got is a map reference, things get complicated.

The old quarries and woods at Conisborough near Doncaster

are a perfect playground for mountain bikers.

But when they have an accident, the emergency services often end up playing "hunt the patient".

Today, Helimed 99 has been scrambled to a cyclist

who has fallen around 15 feet to the bottom of a ravine.

We've just had an update from the crew on the scene.

They've now arrived at the patient

and he may have chest and back injuries.

-The ambulance is there now at your seven o'clock.

-Yeah, yeah.

The dense woodland makes it doubly difficult for the Helimed crew.

Not only does it block their view of the accident scene,

but it also means there are very few places to land.

Yeah, we've put down in a big quarry just down by the canal. We're going to head in...

Now they're on the ground, paramedic Pete Vallance and doctor Andy Pountney

are still struggling to find the patient.

Go another 50 yards, 100 yards and straight up to t'top and there's all hills and woods.

Nobody's turned up down there with you, have they, Daz?

We've spoken to the crew. They seem to think we're not far off.

We're still walking into the woods. No sign of anybody yet.

Hello!

We'll give you a call back if we continue to get lost.

I don't know where we are.

We're somewhere near...I think probably south-west of Doncaster

in a fairly densely wooded area looking for a mountain biker

who's fallen 15, 20 foot. We're struggling to find him.

We want to make sure we don't walk past the path that they're on.

Pete's run up into the woods to see if he can see anybody at all.

Pete is a keen runner in his spare time, so a long hike through the woods is no problem for him.

Hello!

And at last, they've tracked the patient down.

This was 41-year-old Stephen Fullerton's first time biking in these woods

and it will probably be his last.

He came down this bridge at this end, slammed on his brakes and went over the handlebars.

And he landed down here near that tree.

I couldn't move him. I had to get out on to the main road to find someone to come and get him.

He's almost certainly broken his collarbone. He's got a lot of pain

and a crunchy feeling over the shoulder blade and the ribs, so he's probably got some broken ribs.

You have to worry about the collapse of the lung underneath or any bleeding,

but he's got good amounts of air going in and out of his chest and his oxygen saturations are fine,

so we'll just keep a close eye and intervene, should he deteriorate.

There are now two problems facing the team.

They need to get Stephen safely out of the deep ravine

and then they must get Helimed 98 on to the ground in the middle of the woods.

Coming up, is this a bridge too far for pilot Tim?

He turns a disused viaduct into a landing pad.

You wouldn't want to land anywhere smaller than this.

Jez fears he's losing the fight to save a bus driver.

He's gone asystolic. Can we give him some adrenaline?

And the team shelter a patient from a Pennine gale.

We'll pass this over your head. Kate's going in with you.

Even though they rarely have time to enjoy the view,

the Helimed teams spend a lot of their time flying over some of the UK's most beautiful countryside.

But sometimes they face a tricky mission in an urban area.

The crew of Helimed 98 have been scrambled to their own back yard.

From their base at Sheffield Airport, they're heading into town

to bring pain relief to a man injured riding a quad bike.

Near where the old cooling towers used to be or as near as damn it, so it can't be far from here.

This is Britain's steel city with lots of back-to-back housing and industry.

It's not ideal territory for an air ambulance, but pilot Steve can handle it.

-Where am I supposed to be looking?

-Down at your three o'clock, that big field.

-The playing field?

-Yeah.

-Are you all happy in the back?

-Yeah. Looks quite gravelly, doesn't it?

Just a quick bounce down.

The quad rider Altaf is in agony and the nearest landing site is a quarter of a mile away.

Ben's anxious to get his stock of morphine to his patient as soon as possible.

This is Altaf. He's gone head-on into this car. Been in the standard position at the time.

It seems as if the collision's happened just here

where the quad biker's come up the road and collided with the front of the taxi,

throwing the rider on to the road.

Paramedics Tony Wilkes and Ben must work quickly to find out what injuries Altaf has.

Is that painful even to touch now?

That means he must say goodbye to his designer jeans.

He's got a possible fractured femur, the long bone in his leg.

We're going to put a traction splint on

which will hopefully straighten his leg and reduce any pain he's got.

Once the splint's on and we get an update from our desk, we'll know what we're doing.

If you get a fracture of this kind, you get a lot of muscle spasm and a lot of nerve pain.

This is a very serious injury. Patients with a broken femur can suffer lethal blood loss,

-so morphine is given to numb the pain.

-You can have a bit more, mate.

Quads are more common on farms than city streets, but Altaf is a skilled rider and his bike was road-legal.

He's badly hurt, but it could have been much worse. He wasn't wearing a helmet.

They are becoming more frequent on the roads, but no particular problem with them generally.

The road-legal ones are fine.

-Aaagh!

-The accident's happened not far from Sheffield's Northern General Hospital.

For all Helimed 98's speed, it will be faster taking him by road.

Yeah. Roger. He's had a total of 20 milligrams of morphine and he's got a traction splint in situ. Over.

Altaf's soon on his way to hospital,

just the start of what turned out to be several months of rehabilitation

before he was ready to get back on the streets of Sheffield.

Coming up, mountain biker Simon needs hospital treatment, but how do they get him out of the woods?

-And a harsh winter puts Al under pressure.

-That Jag's not going anywhere.

Let's return to the major emergency operation under way

on a road in Durham after two buses crashed.

In the village of Newfield near Newcastle, there's been a crash

between a coach on the school run and a bus with elderly passengers.

One casualty is on his way to hospital in the air ambulance.

The driver of the coach is still trapped one hour after the accident.

We're bringing him straight out the back.

When he does come out, can you go on to the trolley that's ready? We're going to put him to sleep.

Right, make a start with his platform.

It's impossible for fire crews to get driver Jack Hall out of the front of the bus,

so they're planning to build a platform and bring him out of the back window.

Paramedic Sammy is preparing a makeshift operating theatre, so Dr Pinnell can put Jack to sleep.

-Jez, we've just ketamine drawn up.

-That's lovely.

-Do you want any midazolam or anything?

-No.

-OK, so here you go. That is your kit.

-Lovely. Thank you.

Jack has head and chest injuries and his trapped foot has almost been cut off,

so it's better for him to be unconscious on the trip to hospital.

-Legs!

-Legs!

-Shin straps coming forward.

-One shin strap up.

-Right, I'm on. Second one up yet?

But it's by no means certain that he'll be travelling by helicopter.

By law, Helimed 98 has to be back at base in Leeds soon after sunset and time is running out.

Chris reckons we've probably only got a maximum of 20 minutes before we need to lift.

I think we're going to get stuck.

Ready, brace, move!

And rest there. Right, just straighten his body up a bit, lads.

Just keep your hand on his back, so he doesn't fall.

Jack is strapped to a spinal board

and it's a tricky manoeuvre to get him out of the bus without jolting him around.

Any sudden movements could make his injuries worse.

Keep going, lads, keep going. Well done. Well done.

Superb.

Jack, we're going to pop you off to sleep, mate, OK?

Watch the glass, guys. Watch your glass.

Can we take his collar off?

Putting Jack to sleep will help stop his head injury getting worse.

I can feel that passing through.

RSI is a complex procedure. Once the drugs have been administered,

Jack will no longer be able to breathe by himself.

That's why a tube has to be put down his throat.

It's a potentially dangerous procedure, even in hospital.

-Adrenaline!

-Coming up, Jack's heart stops beating. Can the team save him?

-Can we try some CPR?

And up in the Pennines, there's an unlucky break for a charity walker.

-This is Lynn.

-Hiya.

-Are you all right there?

Helicopter pilots hate trees. They're responsible for many crashes

and landing near them is fraught with danger.

But in South Yorkshire, pilot Tim Taylor must find a way

to rescue an injured cyclist trapped in the woods.

Aagh, me ribs, me ribs! Aagh!

Mountain biker Stephen Fullerton is laying at the bottom of a ravine with a suspected broken shoulder.

The dense woodland has made it difficult for emergency services to reach him.

And now they face the problem of getting him out.

We're going to take you up to the helicopter and fly you to hospital.

-You'll need to have some X-rays of your collarbone and your chest and your shoulder.

-All right, sir?

Helimed 99 is relocating.

But landing on a viaduct which stands 100 feet high

and is narrower than the span of the helicopter blades is going to test all pilot Tim's skills.

-We'll have four at this side and four up top and we'll lift him up. Are you happy?

-Yeah.

Oh, there's professionals here.

-Steve's mate is amazed at the emergency service's response.

-They've got a helicopter.

While Dr Andy Pountney keeps Stephen's pain under control,

paramedic Pete helps pilot Tim to navigate Helimed 99 on to the disused viaduct.

It's a tight squeeze.

One, two, three.

Nice and steady.

All right, step over.

Watch your fingers, guys and girls.

-Aagh! Aagh!

-Steady, steady.

It's not the only tricky manoeuvre being undertaken today.

The Fire Service Technical Rescue Unit have got the job of getting Stephen safely out of the ravine.

There's the chopper.

It's the first time Helimed 99 has landed on a viaduct

and pilot Tim isn't keen to repeat the experience.

So if you wheel round, so we've got the feet towards the aircraft...

I wouldn't really want to squeeze in anywhere tighter.

Fortunately, cos the walls are quite low and the blades are quite high,

there's no risk of the blades clipping the sides. You wouldn't want to land anywhere smaller than this.

Thanks to Helimed 99's powerful engines,

it only takes four minutes to get Stephen to Sheffield Northern General Hospital.

The same journey by road would take 40.

At the hospital, he's treated for a catalogue of injuries,

but two weeks on, he's well enough to return home and continue his recovery.

I broke my collarbone in several places and I broke six ribs,

punctured a lung and I was told that one of the ribs

that broke and punctured my lung

was extremely close to puncturing my heart,

so I was very lucky.

This accident has been a long time coming.

Stephen's passion for dangerous sports make mountain biking look pretty tame.

I've done bungee jumping, bridge swinging, caving, rock climbing, mountaineering.

All sorts. And I fall off a bike and do this!

So, it's just one of them things, innit? I'll still mountain-bike.

He'll be off work for at least two months whilst he heals.

Fortunately, pilot Tim's landing that day was more successful than Stephen's biking.

I know the viaduct. I thought, "How have they landed here?"

That was just unbelievable.

So that were impressive flying.

"How did you get this on here?!"

-Try some CPR?

-Coming up: the patient is in cardiac arrest and they're about to lose the chopper.

Unfortunately, I'm out of daylight.

Here in the Pennines, we're around 1,000 feet above sea level.

The temperature is around 3 degrees colder than it is lower down.

If you have an accident up here, you will deteriorate much more quickly

and that is when you really need the help of Mountain Rescue.

Paramedic Al Day gives the Helimed team their Pennine grip.

He loves the hills and he's the main link with Mountain Rescue,

the other half of a lifesaving partnership.

There's a good reason for that. When he's not flying, Al rescues people on the ground

as a leading member of the Calder Valley Rescue Team.

We're just on our way up to a couple of vehicles stuck in the snow.

These roads are only passable by four-wheel drive and it's very cold up here.

These guys are in a bit of bother, so we'll help them out.

This is his day off, but you can't keep Al out of trouble.

A January blizzard has trapped several motorists above Halifax.

-Will you pull me through?

-No, we'll leave your car here.

This is dangerous work. The temperature is well below freezing

and an arctic wind could cause hypothermia in minutes.

This one's broken down. It'll get shifted to the side.

Then the guy in the Discovery can get out. That Jag's not going anywhere.

As well as navigating a hi-tech helicopter, Al's just as happy with a four-wheel drive.

He knows the moorland tracks that criss-cross the Pennines like the back of his hand.

We've just had to pull two vehicles out.

We're still slipping and sliding.

It's just unbelievable

that anybody's got up here and tried to carry on through this.

Al was a volunteer for Mountain Rescue long before he became a paramedic for Air Ambulance.

He believes each role feeds into the other.

I've been doing mountain rescue for quite a long time.

It was great preparation for working on the Air Ambulance. In a lot of ways it's quite similar.

They're the type of jobs you go into and the fact that you're often away from the road, up in the wilds,

and having to think on your feet a bit and make stuff up as you go along and adapt stuff

and change your plans in order to do the best job for the casualty at that time.

Like Al, thousands of people are in love with the Pennines

and these peaks that separate Yorkshire from Lancashire have some of the most challenging hill walks.

Today Helimed 99 is on its way to a hilltop rendezvous with Al.

Somebody's broken their wrist. Where they are is about half an hour travel

back down to the land ambulance.

So it's best part of an hour before they can get them into the warm.

So we're going to go over there.

Paramedics Paul and Pete know that even a minor emergency up here can be serious.

An entrant on a long-distance walk above the town of Todmorden has had an accident,

1,500 feet up.

Linda Dean's fallen and broken her wrist. She suffers osteoporosis, a weakening of the bones.

-This is Linda.

-You all right there?

Even though he's on his day off, Al has prescribed a flight down from the hills.

The Todmorden Boundary Walk is a big walking event, about 200 people.

This lady's been out on the walk, tripped over, fallen onto her arm and broken her arm.

She's not too bad, but from here it's a fair walk down to the road.

It'll be quite difficult to get her down without a stretcher, really.

So we've asked for assistance from the Air Ambulance to make it more comfortable for her.

These hills are bleak.

Even in May, you can quickly develop hypothermia up here.

-Linda's been sheltering behind a monument.

-She does suffer from osteoporosis and had a fall before.

I looked round and she were down and her wrist has gone right back.

I don't know if it's broken yet.

-Can you walk unaided to the helicopter?

-Yes, once I get up.

We'll leave the Bacofoil on to keep a bit of chill off you.

-Are you a regular walker?

-Yes. Well...

-Cheers, guys.

Thank you very much, all of you.

Pilot Tim Taylor's often the butt of the paramedics' jokes.

You do know you're flying with him?

He says he's qualified, but no one's seen his certificate.

Despite the ribbing, Tim's actually a very experienced helicopter pilot who flew for years with the army.

His skills will ensure Linda reaches hospital in Huddersfield in a few minutes.

Once again, Al's saved a casualty of the Peaks a lot of pain and discomfort.

Linda's wrist was treated and a few weeks later she was back in the hills.

There are 55 Mountain Rescue teams across England and Wales.

All volunteers know their patches inside out. That specialist local knowledge makes all the difference

when someone has an accident well off the beaten track.

Dr Steve Rowe is another Mountain Rescue volunteer who often flies in the Air Ambulance choppers.

He's a consultant anaesthetist so his skills are invaluable to both teams.

It takes a minute or two to kick in. When it does, the pain will get easier, you can breathe easier. OK?

Today the Helimed team are on their way to the Rivelin Valley

-where a climbing group from London have had an accident. One has a badly broken leg.

-Aaah!

This is quite a way from where we were.

Yeah. I know exactly where it is, but I think where the kids will be playing in the trees,

it will be hard for us to get down. So we'll see.

If anybody can do it, Tim, that's you.

Looking at the valley,

we've been here before and it's quite difficult to get in and land,

so it may be that we're not able to offer much support,

but once we're overhead we'll see.

-Ambulance coming up t'road.

-Something's down here.

Pilot Tim Taylor has little choice. He must land at the top of the valley and let his colleagues hike.

Helimed 99. We're on the ground down at Rivelin.

I don't think we've had an update.

We're going to have to walk a couple of hundred metres to get to this guy.

We'll update you when we're on scene with him. Over.

Paramedic Pete knows he has a difficult climb ahead of him with a heavy rucksack,

-but at least he has a guide.

-Hi, there! Do you know the best place to come down?

Here?

29-year-old Ian Bell has fallen more than 20 feet.

His femur, the biggest bone in the body, is broken and he's in agony.

-This is Ian. He's fallen about five metres. Conscious throughout.

-Hi, Ian. Just relax.

-Aaah...!

-Breathing rate is 30 at the moment.

-Aaah!

-Equal expansion both sides of his chest.

He's got pain in his chest. There's no crepitus at the moment.

-His pulse is 64.

-Oh, my leg...!

-Is it OK there, Ian?

-A little pain.

-Got any salts, guys?

Ian's mates dialled 999 and got a response few patients can even dream of.

I'll just check your pulse.

As well as a helicopter and crew, there are two ground paramedics,

a fully-equipped Mountain Rescue team and two doctors, including Helimed regular Dr Steve Rowe.

Look at that, Steve.

Oh, right.

Ian's in a bad way. As well as his broken leg, they fear he may have damaged his spine.

-Aaaah!

-Ian? Ian?

Breathe in. Steady breaths in.

That's better. Nice, steady breaths.

The painkilling gas is helping, but Ian needs something stronger.

Dr Steve has the answer - a nerve block which numbs his leg.

Ian, you've got a needle in this arm so try to keep it nice and still.

He was in pain. I've done a nerve block on his leg.

It will hopefully numb his leg. It's not fully working yet,

but he's quietened down a fair bit. We can get his splint on.

The hardest bit is to come. Ian's leg must be straightened with the traction splint.

Right, we've got to put some splints on, Ian.

We'll put one around your waistband and tie the belt

and then a splint on your leg to pull it straight.

But this rockface is treacherous. The last thing the team need is another accident.

Good lad. OK.

We're going by road to the Northern General.

-Ready, steady, lift.

-Aaaaah!

Ian is slid onto the rigid spinal board for his trip to hospital.

Set to go onto the stretcher?

It is awkward here. We've got crags up above us and it's steep below.

But the road isn't that far,

which goes straight into Sheffield.

Have you got enough bodies there?

It's too dangerous to carry him back up to the helicopter.

He's not far from Sheffield Northern General.

He'll be going by road.

This is where Mountain Rescue teams come into their own. Most of the volunteers have climbed here

and they know the best route down. Ian will soon be in hospital.

Surgeons repaired his femur and he was sent closer to home,

but it will be some time before he climbs again.

The Arctic conditions of New Year 2010 meant the Air Ambulance and Mountain Rescue were relying

on each other's skills more than usual.

Climbing to 1,000 feet.

We're bound to a place called Froggatt, which is approximately 10 miles south-west of Sheffield.

The worst of the winter weather is behind us, but up in the Peaks there is still snow on the ground.

Not only that, but today there's a bitter wind causing temperatures to plunge even lower.

It's a really nice area, beautiful, and because of that we get a lot of walkers up there.

Occasionally, they get into trouble

and find themselves like this poor chap with a broken leg.

Helimed 98 has been scrambled to a 64-year-old who's stranded on the top

of windswept Stanage Edge.

It's Edale Mountain Rescue team.

-I'll see if anyone is talking.

-OK.

-If it's just a normal fracture, we can relocate to the ambulance.

-When a walker has an accident here,

there's a much higher chance of hypothermia, which can be fatal.

-Is that somebody down there?

-Yeah.

-They're waving.

-64-year-old Leo Cortz was out walking with his wife and friends

when he fell and broke his ankle.

Helimed 98, landing on scene. Over.

Even though Leo is wearing good warm clothing, his body temperature will drop extremely quickly

unless he's protected from the icy wind.

-I slipped and my foot went under me.

-Right. Which foot? This one here?

-I don't know if it's broke or sprained.

-The best way to protect Leo is to put him inside a tent

-called a bothy bag.

-This is where we get to keep you out of the wind and it gets lovely and warm.

We're going to pass this over your head. Kate's going in with you.

And then I need you to hooch your bottom up a little bit.

-Quite intimate, isn't it?

-It is!

Helimed 98 to Edale. Pass your message. Over.

'Morning. Just seeing what the situation report is up there. Over.'

The familiar voice on the radio is Mountain Rescue Dr Steve Rowe.

'All the usual kit's on its way up and should be with you in 5-7 minutes. Over.'

Roger that, Steve. Thank you.

Now just stay nice and still.

Leo says he has a high pain threshold, but he still needs some morphine.

-Have you ever had morphine before?

-No.

-No.

All right.

What we'll do, with you being relatively comfortable, we'll just give you a bit and see how you go.

Sometimes it can make people feel a bit dizzy and horrible. If that happens, just let me know.

'Pain management he's tolerating.'

The next bit, although it's only 10 metres to the aircraft,

because of the rocks, snow and ice

we're waiting for Edale Mountain Rescue to come and support us

and we'll carry him to the aircraft.

-Sounds like a party out there!

-It does, doesn't it?

Working on the road, you get used to working in weird conditions and just doing the best you can,

but it's quite odd in here with this strange, orangey light.

It's quite atmospheric, but...

Now Mountain Rescue are here, it's time for Leo to leave his warm and snug bothy bag.

The back of my head's been rubbing against this tent for 20 minutes.

I think there will be a static explosion when we get out!

There we go, Leo.

A vacuum splint will keep Leo's leg still and stable during the move.

There's an ambulance waiting on the road below, but rather than being carried on a stretcher,

Leo's going to get a lift in the helicopter.

When we take off, it's really noisy. I won't be able to hear you.

So just wave if there's a problem.

OK?

Leo's ankle is broken, but it's not a time-critical injury.

And, in any case, the nearest hospital doesn't have a helicopter landing pad,

-so it makes more sense to take him by road.

-Beautiful.

We're down!

OK, yeah?

Dr Steve Rowe is waiting near the land ambulance.

-He's been directing operations by radio.

-I've been controlling.

I knew the Air Ambulance was on scene,

so we just assisted with the carry. Now it's over to the land ambulance and free the helicopter up again.

When Leo gets to hospital, doctors confirm that he's broken his ankle.

Although he's now back on his feet, it'll be a while before he attempts another ambitious winter walk.

You'll be glad to hear all our patients are recovering well.

Now a bus driver badly injured when he collided with a coach is clinging to life.

His only hope is a high-speed trip to hospital.

Can you give him some adrenaline, please?

On a road in County Durham, flying doctor Jez Pinnell is fighting to save his patient.

-Shall we start some CPR?

-Yeah.

His heart has stopped beating.

Thanks to the team's prompt action, Jack Hall's heart is restarted, but could stop again at any time.

-Adrenaline, 1 in 10,000.

-Thanks. Just give him a couple of mils.

He's just been freed from the mangled wreckage.

He has serious head and chest injuries and his foot may have to be amputated.

He's not a very well man at all. This is just to keep him asleep.

Because it's taken so long to get Jack out, it's almost dark.

Pilot Chris Atrill has had to make a hard decision.

Unfortunately, I'm out of daylight. I've got enough to get back to Leeds,

but unfortunately I can't carry the crew and patients.

Under the UK's tough aviation laws, Chris has no choice. He has to fly home alone.

We'll take him to Newcastle. He's not able to go by air, which is unfortunate for him

and frustrating for us.

Reluctantly, pilot Chris heads back to Leeds, leaving Paramedic Sammy to travel with Jack by road.

It's been a tremendous team effort, great co-ordination.

Em, a very tragic accident, though. Very, very tragic.

But hopefully this gentleman will get there and make good progress.

I hope.

It's 10 miles by road to Newcastle General Hospital.

Doctors will be able to establish how serious Jack's head and chest injuries are.

They'll also decide whether he'll lose his foot.

It's nearly three months since Jack had his terrible accident

and his fiancee Michelle Dixon makes her daily visit.

Jack broke both arms and seven ribs. He also had to have an amputation.

-Did physio go again?

-Yes. 8.30 until 9.

-Right.

-And she wondered why I wasn't smiling!

'He was lucky not to be crushed.'

He was lucky just to lose part of his lower right leg.

I'd rather that than lose him.

Jack still doesn't feel comfortable talking about the accident. When he finally came round,

he'd lost his memory. He couldn't even remember he was engaged to Michelle.

He knew the face, he knew me, but didn't realise we were a couple.

He couldn't remember that at first.

I sort of said, "You do know we're engaged?"

And he went, "Are we?" And I went, "Yes, we are!" and showed him the engagement ring.

He went, "All right, OK. I can't remember that," but I brought some photographs in to show him,

so he could have a look. He'd seen our engagement pictures and our cake.

He just couldn't remember it, but he'd seen it.

Although Jack can recognise family and friends, he can't remember the accident.

Michelle's just glad he's alive.

What the ambulance crew did for Jack, I will never be able to thank them enough.

That's how the family feel.

And his friends.

Because, to me, without them we wouldn't have Jack now.

So I'll...

I'll never be able to thank them enough.

When Helicopter Heroes comes back:

the family day out ends in a car crash and a passing mum turns medic.

They asked if we had a First Aid kit.

A man loses his fingers in a factory accident. Can Paramedic Sammy save them?

There's so many nerve endings.

A cyclist is badly injured.

I'll just pop you off to sleep.

And the swimmer who didn't look before he leapt.

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd - 2010

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